Chapter 9
Distant End
She couldn't see or make out her surroundings. Red flames licked at her ankles and a partial wall of fire divided her view from one person in front of her. The shadow of her duel monster floated silently besides her, poised for attack at her unknown enemy.
Alexis raised her hand in signal of attack; her monster spread its wings wide and aimed with what seemed like some sort of javelin.
Suddenly the flames died down slightly, revealing the face she had always longed to see. At this, the monster froze in mid action, unsure of what to do since its master was caught between two choices.
The stinging heat fared no better; the air waved almost distorting everything that was caught between its flames.
Zane's eyes were lit with a sinister glow, a sick grin across his face.
"Are you going to kill me, Alexis?"
"Alexis! Alexis!" She awoke with a sharp start to find Zane shaking her shoulder. He stopped the moment she opened her glazed brown eyes.
His face seemed so reassuring, yet it frightened, and definitely, confused her. A few seconds ago, she was just about to defeat him in a duel. A corruption duel? It wouldn't make sense. It must've been all the stress that was left over from the days before.
"Sorry for waking you now, but we're here." Alexis suddenly felt a little colder as Zane took his hand off from her shoulder.
"No it's okay, I shouldn't have been dozing at a time like this." She said a little quietly. Her surroundings seemed so alien and a deep feeling of paranoia started spreading from deep inside.
"You were moaning and shifting a lot in your sleep, are you alright?" His face was full of concern. Alexis forced a shaky smile.
"I'm fine, Zane. I can't really be Sleeping Beauty when an entire organization are after our lives."
Their conversation was interrupted when Jaden stuck his head in between them from the seat behind. "Hey guys! I'm not riding in a plane for twelve hours ever again! Chazz kept throwing up in the bathroom for some reason. I though he was used to a plane. I mean it's technically HIS jet. Well anyways, I couldn't sleep that much. There's no food and I've been sitting so long that my pants are wedged up-"
"We don't like flying either, Jaden." Zane said flatly. Alexis giggled, trying to get that nagging feeling away from her.
Aster joined them. "You missed a lot of scenery, Alexis. There were the pyramids and countless piles of ancient ruins. I'm not really interested in them myself seeing as they're pretty much old, dead, and forgotten. You may though."
"I didn't pay much attention to them." Zane stated spontaneously. It was unusual of him to make such unnecessary statements.
Aster shot him a quick glare before walking off.
Alexis felt uneasy at this sudden bitterness between the two. She looked towards him for an explanation. "Did something happen?"
"No, nothing happened." The tone of his voice meant an end to a conversation.
She didn't question him again. As she turned her head to face forward, she caught a glimpse of Atticus' annoyed face.
What am I missing here?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When they entered the busy airport, no one noticed Atticus grab the back of Zane's collar and drag him to a place away from the general crowd.
"Look, I know you're kind of rash because of Aster coming in and out checking on Alexis, but you can't act so cold in front of her!"
Zane, behind his stoic expression, couldn't help but feel a little startled that Atticus was lecturing him. Though, he still felt like his privacy was being invaded. If it weren't for the countless times in the past that his life was being publicized even against his will, he would've snapped back at his best friend.
"I'm not upset with her. It's that ass I'm ticked with." Despite his choice of words, his tone was calm.
That didn't fool Atticus.
"You're losing your cool. This isn't the best time either. Remember the last time you decided to let yourself snap?"
Zane didn't need reminding and remained silent. Atticus went on.
"You saw Alexis while she was sleeping. You were right besides her. She's stressed, Zane. Having her boyfriend being a morbid idiot won't help her spirits. Ever since, you've been having some type of recluse complex."
As much as he didn't like it, Zane knew Atticus was right; or at least had a good point and let down his defenses.
"Yeah, fine. I'll deal with Aster for now since we're on the same side."
Atticus seemed satisfied. "Well it's good you don't need much convincing." He grinned, turning back into that fun-loving idiot he knew. "Let's go back. We shouldn't split up."
Zane nodded and they both walked out into the open.
Alexis was the first to spot them.
"Where the hell were you guys!? We almost started worrying."
"Almost?" Atticus laughed.
Alexis rolled her eyes. "Fine, we WERE worried about you two! Please don't do that again." She looked pleadingly up at Zane who looked away, feeling a little guilty.
"Sorry," he muttered.
The rest came trotting over. Jaden was sporting a travel backpack. Aster lowered his voice a little as he told the rest of his plan.
"What's left of the site's really dangerous and tourists aren't allowed. Plus it's practically in the middle of the desert. It'll be really suspicious if a big group like us was wandering around in the desert. Even if I already pin pointed the exact location."
"Are you suggesting we split up?" Zane demanded. He didn't like the idea at all.
"Actually I am," Aster answered. "It's for the better."
"I didn't like the idea at first," Chazz said. "But we'll have to do it."
Jaden nodded, serious. "You, me, and Aster will go out there Chazz will stay here with Alexis and Atticus."
Zane didn't know what to say. He was already indirectly rude to Alexis earlier, and now he had to leave her?
He opened his mouth to try and object but before is words came out, he realized he was out numbered. He looked at Atticus who gave him "go on. I can watch over her."
You better…"Alright. So we have all emergency provisions?" Zane asked looking at Jaden's backpack.
"Yeah, bottles of water, a knife. Aster has the GPS."
Aster turned to the three who were staying behind. "You guys stay here in the airport no matter what, okay?"
"Okay," they said simultaneously.
Alexis gave Zane a quick kiss. "Be careful, Zane."
"I will, now you watch out for yourself. I won't forgive myself if anything happens."
Alexis smiled in appreciation.
Then the two groups parted.
"I hope they're going to be alright." Alexis thought out loud.
Chazz was just about to offer his comfort but Atticus beat him to it.
Atticus reassured his little sister. "They will. You should know Zane. He's a tough guy. And Jaden and Aster? They're tough too."
She sat down on a nearby and conveniently empty bench. Her Data key dangled around her neck.
Then the worst happened.
Alexis gasped loudly, sharply, and suddenly as the key's cord snapped by force. She got up immediately and chased after the small figure that was running away, fast.
Increasingly behind her, Atticus and Chazz looked questioningly at her shrinking figure. But there was no time to explain.
"Get back here! That isn't a toy!" Alexis shouted as she shoved a woman and other people out of her way.
The boy was still in her sight thankfully but she couldn't catch up. Strangely, they were even. Then suddenly he made a sharp turn and Alexis followed.
Then she heard fast footsteps behind her and heard Atticus' voice. "What are you doing, Alexis!?"
"My Data key! That little brat stole it." She panted, pointing ahead of her and trying to quicken up her pace.
The two didn't notice the walls at their sides were turning darker and darker, as if they were disappearing. So did the figure of the thief.
Noticing something was wrong; Alexis stopped and looked behind her. Atticus was still there. Solid as ever.
Then everything vanished.
The key that was just suspended in midair fell and Alexis ran forward on non-existing ground to catch it.
The moment she wrapped her fingers around the cold silver screen, gravity took its toll and she could hear nothing but her own screaming.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Zane-you-drive-terribly." Aster said, his voice distorting over the bumpy ground. There were no roads and they were now miles away from modern civilization.
"I'm-sorry-but-at-least-I-have-my-license." Zane said between gritted teeth. Both of his hands were on the steering wheel. Their duel disks were at the back of the jeep.
Zane looked at the GPS and the road smoothed. "Since we're already between the Euphrates and Tigris, we won't have to cross any water, that's great."
"Hey, Zane," Jaden said, "The ancient ruins are around here somewhere and it's in the Mediterranean. And then the note said look at the location below. The tunnels are underground, do you think…?"
"That the caved in tunnels are supposed to be the place where we're supposed to meet? Damn, you're actually kind of smart Jaden."
Suddenly, Zane's cell phone rang.
"Oh what the hell now?" With one hand, he pulled out and flipped open his phone.
He couldn't hear a thing over the heavy rumbling. He switched it on to speaker.
It was Pegasus.
"Zane! Is everyone together!?" The other two were quiet.
"No. We had to split up to-"
"You fool! Do you know what happened!?"
This filled Zane with panic. Had the rest already been harmed?
"No, what happened?"
"You're manager's dead. Shiyo's dead."
Despite the harsh sunset, they all turned cold. Pegasus continued. "You know what this means. If even one Data key falls to the wrong hands the organization can take dire actions to their plans immediately! You must not let them do that. I repeat-" His voice flickered before dying out.
"We lost signal!" Zane said angrily.
"She's… dead?" Jaden asked, his eyes wide. He thought they were winning. He thought that no one was in any current danger. Yet one of their own had already fallen.
"This is not good, we have to turn back." Zane was just about to jerk his hand on the wheel but Aster stopped him.
"They're in the airport, nothing can happen to them there! It's us we should worry about, for all we know this can be a trap. A deadly one too."
Zane fumed even though he knew Aster was right. His mind felt clouded and we suggesting and doing all the wrong things. What was wrong with him?
Alexis, you better be okay!- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Alexis braced herself as she hit solid ground. The impact knocked the wind out of her. Atticus was a few yards away from her. He forced himself up and rubbed his head.
"Ow… Damn. Where are we?"
Alexis was thinking the same thing and looked around above her. There was a high ceiling. So high, it faded off into the darkness. Columns were half submerged in walls made of what seemed to be red gold.
Orichalcum? Alexis thought. She partially recognized it from the illustrations and descriptions she had found during her past studies.
Yet it all seemed so oddly familiar to her.
A voice made her snap her attention back to whatever was in front of them.
This time she could recognize it. The same masked voice from the night several days ago. "Sorry to give you such a hard landing, but there was no other way."
"Anguish," she snarled. Atticus looked at her. "You know him?"
"I see you know my name, well at least my alias. May I ask you how?"
Alexis stared hard at his covered face. The truth was… She didn't know how. She just did.
"I… don't know."
Anguish smirked and snapped his fingers. A duel disk suddenly materialized on each of their arms.
"Ah wow," Atticus blinked staring at his arm. "What do you want us to do?"
"You and your sister against me." He said simply.
Alexis asked, "What? Two against one? That isn't really fair."
"This is a matter of life and death. You should know this by now. Do you still care about what's fair, and what's not?" Anguish replied, his voice rising.
"Well this is your own mistake, I already know what cards you use!" Alexis stated, a little triumphant.
Anguish laughed. "Maybe, but something like that doesn't matter. That's a skill of a duelist."
"Whatever," Atticus said, he was still puzzled on how his sister knew this guy.
"Duel!" The three shouted drawing their cards.
"I summon Cyber Tutu in attack mode and set a facedown." Alexis declared. Her monster appeared in a flash of violet light.
"My turn," Anguish said. Alexis and Atticus noticed that he didn't draw a card. That meant he was about to declare an attack.
They were partially wrong.
"I activate Polymerization from my hand to fuse my two Cyber Dragons!" The serpentine silver creatures vanished in a flash of cyan light before having a larger, two-headed machine to replace them.
"Behold, Cyber Twin Dragon!" Anguish shouted.
The two didn't expect this. "What the fuck? Only Zane uses those monsters!"
Anguish didn't reply but declared his attack. "It's a shame that one of you is already going to fall. Cyber Twin Dragon, use both of your attacks on Atticus!" He pointed towards the older one.
The silver heads obeyed and fired broad beams of blue light.
"I activate Stray Lambs!" Alexis shouted quickly. Two small balls of fluff appeared on Atticus' side of the field. Both of them were destroyed as the beams hit them instead of him.
Alexis breathed in deeply. "You owe me, big bro. Make your turn count."
"Thanks sis!" He drew. "I summon Pitch-black Warwolf and sacrifice it for my Manticore of Darkness. I set two facedowns and end my turn. Now its up to you, Alexis!"
She nodded. "With Cyber Tutu's effect, I can attack you directly! Go!"
He barely flinched as the pink foot collided with his shoulder and a chunk of his lifepoints was taken away.
Anguish- 3000
Alexis- 4000
Atticus- 4000
"I end."
"That was nothing. Such a waste of a turn. Cyber Twin Dragon, Attack Alexis!"
Two more streaks of energy exploded on her side of the field.
When the smoke cleared, the field was emptied, yet Alexis still stood.
"I activated Sudden Change in Battle Formation! With this I can redirect one of your attacks to my Manticore of Darkness."
"You should still be missing lifepoints!" Anguish argued. "And my dragon should still be on the field."
Atticus shook his head. "I also activated my trap card, Reinforcements. This gave my Manticore 500 more attack points, making it evenly matched for your dragon." He looked at Alexis. A frown on his face. Despite his counter move, she still took a lot of damage. He looked soon enough to notice 2nd degree burns healing from her skin.
"T-thanks, Atti'. It helped me a lot." She smiled.
Anguish- 3000
Atticus- 4000
Alexis- 2200
"Well it seems you didn't evade my attack completely. I place two face downs and end my turn."
"Now I didn't really have to sacrifice much." Atticus said, drawing a card. "I summon my Alligator Sword! With my Manticore of Darkness' effect, I can send it to the graveyard to resummon my Manticore!"
Now attack his lifepoints directly!"
Atticus' monster let out a savage roar, letting out a thick tongue of flames. The golden light from the attack reflected brilliantly on the walls.
Alexis held back a gasp. Writings could now be seen. But before she can get a proper look, the fire collided with Anguish and the light was extinguished.
He grunted, his garments were smoking tremendously. Some parts were even burned off. Alexis grinned. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard.
Anguish- 700
Atticus- 4000
Alexis- 2200
"Not bad," he commented. He drew. "I use my Monster Reincarnation and summon one of my Cyber Dragons. That'll be all."
'Draw!" Alexis shouted. Her eyes widened as she realized it was her Data Guardian. The blank areas were still blank. She inserted it into her hand. "I'll use my own Polymerization to fuse Blade Skater and Etoile Cyber. So come out, Cyber Blader!"
A whirlwind circled the field before one of Alexis' strongest monsters appeared on the field.
"I equip her with Legendary Sword to boost her attack. Now go destroy that Cyber Dragon!"
Cyber Blader obeyed and with speed, it raised its arm in attack. However, Anguish countered.
"I activate my Attack Reflector Unit to sacrifice my Cyber Dragon for my Cyber Barrier Dragon." In a flash of green light, a dragon with a wide shield around its head appeared. "Next, I activate its effect to block your attack!"
Green light repelled the incoming attack, sending her monster back to her side of the field. "So close," she breathed. She turned to Atticus. "We can't attack with that dragon on the field."
"I end my turn."
Atticus thought hard. He had faced this deck many times, and lost many times. This was assumingly Zane's same deck. Yet he couldn't figure out a decent strategy?
Though I wonder… I thought Zane's cards were one of a kind.
-X-
FINALLY I updated. Sorry for SUCH the long wait. The problem is that I have school now and it's a pain. Guess you all knew that.
Ummm No data cards were activated yet. Ho hum.