Here's the next chapter! Sorry it took longer than usual. Please enjoy!
*School rooftop, Tokyo University Duel Academy*
It was lunch and Spiral was eating with Shroud, Naoto, Camaru and Lee.
"… Why are we eating up here?" Shroud asked.
"Because the girls are still mad at Spiral and you know that old American saying." Naoto answered. "'Bros before hoes."
"Hey, don't you call Momo a hoe!" Lee blurted out as everyone just stared at him. "… It's just not the truth."
"It's an expression." Naoto clarified. "Anyway, what are you going to do, Spiral?"
"I… I'm not sure right now." Spiral responded. "I mean… I do have feelings for Hikari, but I also have feelings of regret. I feel like I rushed in too quickly."
"Maybe you just need time right now." Naoto supported his friend. "Let's leave it alone right now. Let's try to come up with a new topic."
"Oh, you know, I had this weird dream last night." Lee brought up. "I dreamt that I was in my house and there was a secret passage connecting my front yard to Momo's front yard."
Shroud and Camaru were clueless as to what that meant, but Spiral and Naoto briefly stopped eating and widened their eyes.
"What do you guys think that means?" Lee asked.
"… I think dreams can be random and weird as hell." Spiral responded.
In the classroom, the girls were all having lunch together, excluding Hikari. They were all silent and nobody had said a thing. It was…
"This silence is awkward." Asuka took the words right out of my mouth. "Why is it just us girls here?"
"We don't want to talk about it." Momo answered bluntly.
Hikari then entered the classroom and Momo and Aura seemed to be ignoring her.
"Um, are you girls still mad at me and Spiral?" Hikari asked them.
"I think so." Chun responded in their stead.
"I don't even see what's so wrong." Asuka expressed. "Spiral's not the type to sleep with anyone and even if you girls like him, you're behaving like big babies because you couldn't get your way."
"Asuka, you don't understand!" Aura started yelling at her. "The difference is that he's only known Hikari for a few months! We've known him for years! Honestly, I'd be more accepting if he had slept with Momo!"
The argument started to make Hikari's eyes change into eyes filled with fear and sadness.
"Because at least Spiral knew her for over 10 years!" Aura continued to argue.
"That doesn't change the fact that you're all acting like spoiled brats throwing a tantrum!" Asuka shouted back.
"You're one to talk!" Aura yelled back. "Didn't you complain about how guys were despicable? !"
"At least I've somewhat changed since then!" Asuka shouted in response.
"PLEASE! STOP THIS FIGHTING! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Hikari screamed at the top of her lungs as she ran out of the classroom.
The whole classroom stared at Hikari as she left the classroom.
The guys were about to head back to their classroom when Hikari walked up to Spiral, her head kind of down for some reason.
"Hikari, are you okay?" Spiral asked in concern.
"Spiral… I don't think we should see each other anymore…" Hikari said in sadness. "Our being together has caused us all to start fighting each other. I don't want any of us to fight. I don't want any more fighting!"
Hikari started to cry and run away.
"Wait, Hikari!" Spiral called out to her.
Hikari just continued running and eventually was out of their sight.
"… Hikari…" Spiral mumbled to himself.
"What's up with her?" Naoto wondered to himself.
Later that day, Spiral was sitting on a flight of stairs, with his head in his arms and then Asuka walked up to him.
"Asuka, are you mad at me like the other girls?" Spiral asked.
"No." Asuka responded. "I don't think you did anything wrong. The other girls are just being selfish."
"Doesn't matter anymore." Spiral said. "Hikari said she doesn't want to see me anymore."
"What did you do?" Asuka asked.
"Nothing." Spiral answered. "She just doesn't want any of us to fight."
"Come to think of it, when I was arguing with Aura, she cried and ran off. The two of you sleeping together triggered all of this fighting, but why is she so against fighting?"
Spiral thought for a moment before speaking up. "…There's a chance she has issues with violence… I know she told me this in confidence, but I feel like this is moment is too critical for me to keep it secret. Growing up, Hikari was beaten by her drunken father."
"That's terrible." Asuka looked down. "Anything else?"
"That's all she ever told me. There must be more to that story."
Spiral then noticed that the bead on his bracelet was glowing again.
"This is the second time this has happened at the most inconvenient time." Spiral expressed.
Aura and Momo then walked up to them.
"Um, Spiral?" Momo tried to get his attention. "We're sorry for how we acted. And I'm sorry for kicking you in the groin."
"I'm sorry, too." Aura also apologized. "We were acting selfishly. And I'm sorry I yelled at you, Asuka."
"It's fine, but we've got an emergency." Asuka pointed to Spiral's bracelet.
Spiral, Shroud, Naoto, Momo, Lee, Aura and Asuka had all gathered and were inside the mirror world, ready to head down the elevator.
"She… didn't want to see you anymore because we were all fighting?" Aura tried to clarify.
"Yeah, it's possible she doesn't like to be around violence because of her father." Spiral responded.
"I had no idea…" Momo looked down. "Now I feel bad for how we treated her…"
"For now, we need to save whoever's stuck in here this time." Asuka told them.
"Yeah, there's plenty of time to apologize later." Naoto agreed.
"I do wonder who the new victim is…" Shroud expressed.
The group took the elevator to a new floor, 'B6' and when they reached their destination, the doors opened to reveal a distorted, grotesque church lobby. The architecture looked far more Satanic and evil than a regular church or shrine.
"What the hell is this place?" Naoto was disturbed by the surroundings.
"Am I going to burst into flames?" Shroud asked.
"It's not a real church." Lee answered to Shroud like he was being an idiot.
"Whatever the case, we should find our new victim." Spiral said as he opened the lobby doors.
They walked into the main chamber and it showed Hikari stuck in a guillotine like she was ready to be executed and someone right next to her, whom they presumed to be her Demon. Demon Hikari was wearing priestess clothing and her eyes had that red glow that many Demons seemed to have.
"I see we have an audience for today's execution." Demon Hikari said as she saw them enter the chamber.
"Hikari!" Spiral shouted. "Let her go!"
"She has committed heinous acts and will suffer the consequences just like everybody else!" Hikari rejected Spiral's demands. "Hikari Suta, you are here today for committing the crime of heresy! Let us review the circumstances in which you decided to commit this act! Your mother was always working while your father was always home, getting drunk, beating his own daughter and picking fights with his wife! As the fighting escalated, the more you wanted to run away from it all. And eventually, you did. You ran away and never returned."
"How… How?" Hikari was shocked she knew this.
"Please remain silent until I have finished reviewing the circumstances!" Demon Hikari told her. "One day, you met the Oracle and upon hearing about her cult, you immediately and willingly joined her side. Why did you join them anyway? Was it to bury the past? Because your family practiced Shintoism and you tried to join the beliefs you don't truly believe?"
"Wait… How do you know this?" Hikari was wide-eyed and scared. "I never told anyone any of this except for the Oracle."
"You want to know how I came to know your past?" Demon Hikari then kneeled down to her original self to meet her eye-to-eye. "It's because… I am you… and you are me."
"No!" Hikari started to shout. "NO NO NO NO NO!"
"It's the truth." Demon Hikari told her other self. "You changed your religion and accepted beliefs that contradict your own for your own selfish purposes. You committed the heinous sin of heresy for self-fulfilling purposes. And now you will suffer the consequences for your sins."
Demon Hikari held the lever that activates the guillotine.
"DON'T DO IT!" Spiral yelled.
Demon Hikari pulled the lever and the guillotine started to fall down. Spiral ran towards them so do something, but before the guillotine could reach Hikari, something had sent the top half of the death machination and its blade to be sent flying backwards. Spiral was shocked and he turned around to see that Naoto had summoned Aerodyne, without initiating a Duel.
"What the…" Spiral was shocked indeed. "Naoto? How did you…?"
"One time you were here, you said that the monsters and their attacks became real." Naoto recalled. "I thought that I could make my monsters real too and gave it a try. Thank God it did."
"Naoto…" Spiral muttered. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."
"You…" Demon Hikari started to become angry. "You HEATHENS! YOU WILL BE EXCOMMUNICATED AND EXECUTED! ALL OF YOU!"
"How about we settle this with a Duel?" Spiral challenged Demon Hikari.
"Curses!" Demon Hikari seemed annoyed. "When a Demon is challenged to a Duel, he or she must accept it! I have no choice then!"
Demon Hikari's left arm and eye were engulfed in a dark red shadow that turned into a Duel Disk and Duel Gazer.
"Let's Duel!" They both shouted as they started the match.
Demon Hikari (LP 4000) Spiral (LP 4000)
"I'll go first!" Spiral drew his first card. "I summon Legendary Guardian Energy Binder (Lv.2 700/500) in defense mode! Then I place one card face-down and end my turn!"
Demon Hikari then drew her first card. "First, I activate the Field Spell Demon Circle! Now I summon Heretic Knight (Lv.4 2000/1000)!"
A silver-armored knight with a dark brand on its helmet appeared on the field.
"Heretic Knight is treated as a Demon or Demonic monster, so I can use Demon Circle to summon another one! Then I pay 500 Life Points to summon a third! Now I overlay my 3 Level 4 Heretic Knights! I Xyz Summon Heretic Priestess (Rank 4 2700/2500)!"
Demon Hikari (LP 3500) Spiral (LP 4000)
The three knights became red shadows that enveloped Demon Hikari, transforming her into a robed woman with a golden headdress and her face was completely black and void of a face. There was also a book floating in front of her that was surrounded by some sort of magic ring.
"I am a Demon… from within your heart. I now remove one of my Xyz Materials to reveal your entire hand!"
Demon Hikari then looked through Spiral's cards as if she were wearing x-ray glasses. Spiral had two monsters in his hand and two Spell cards.
"Also, for each monster revealed, you take 600 points of damage!"
Demon Hikari opened her book and streams of energy went into Spiral's hand of cards, then the monster cards shot him with that blast, inflicting a total of 1200 points of damage.
Demon Hikari (LP 3500) Spiral (LP 2800)
"Next, I discard my entire hand so for this turn, I can deal piercing damage!"
Demon Hikari flipped to another page of her book and a bolt of lightning struck Energy Binder, destroying him and inflicting Spiral with 2200 points of piercing damage.
Demon Hikari (LP 3500) Spiral (LP 600)
"Please, leave him alone!" The real Hikari shouted in plea. "Kill me if you want, but don't kill Spiral!"
"This fool sealed his fate the moment he challenged me." Demon Hikari rejected the plea.
"No… it's because of me… that Spiral's about to die…" Hikari was about to cry.
"I'm not going to give up!" Spiral shouted out. "It doesn't matter if I love Hikari or like her… I'm not going to let her die!" Spiral drew his next card. "Perfect! This is over! I summon Legendary Guardian Wave Fighter (Lv.3 1400/800)! Then I Special Summon from my hand the Tuner Legendary Guardian Flame Lancer (Lv.3 1200/700)! Now I tune them together so I can Synchro Summon Legendary Guardian Echo (Lv.6 2400/1900)! And now that I've got a Level 6 Legend-type monster out, I can Special Summon from my hand Legendary Guardian Xin Ling (Lv.6 2400/2200)!"
A Chinese girl wearing a red and black Chinese dress with black leggings appeared in front of Spiral.
"Hikari, I'm about to do this so you don't lose faith. It's assurance that I won't lose!" Spiral continued on. "Before I do that, I'm going to set a card face-down and activate the Continuous Spell Legendary Aura! When I Xyz Summon a Legend-type monster, it gains 1000 attack points until the End Phase! Now I overlay my Level 6 Echo and Xin Ling! I Xyz Summon Legendary Guardian Yukimaru (Rank 6 2800/2200)!"
Out of the cosmic vortex appeared a lone woman, surrounded by ice. She had long blue hair and her skin was pale. She also wore a white kimono with a blue sash around it.
"Yukimaru…" Hikari muttered. "The strongest of the Guardians… I never thought I'd ever see her."
"Yukimaru is the best card I've got, so when I summon her, shit gets real!" Spiral proclaimed.
"What can she do that'll help you?" Demon Hikari mockingly asked.
"I'm glad you asked!" Spiral responded. "Thanks to Legendary Aura, she gains 1000 attack points, but there's more! She also gains 500 attack points for each Spell and Trap Card I've got! There are three on my field, so that means she gains 1500 more attack points! Now I reveal the Equip Spell I set face-down! Mage Power! This means Yukimaru gains a total of 1500 more attack points!"
"Don't you think Spiral's doing a bit of overkill right now?" Momo was a bit concerned.
"I think Spiral wants to finish this in a way that doesn't involve activating the self-destruction effect that these Demon Xyz Monsters have." Naoto guessed. "With this single attack, Spiral can wipe out the rest of her Life Points without having to rely on that effect. He's trying to win on his own terms."
"Yukimaru, finish this!" Spiral declared his attack.
A massive snow storm came from behind Yukimaru that completely froze Demon Hikari in ice. Then the ice shattered and Demon Hikari's Life Points were reduced to 0.
Demon Hikari (LP 0) Spiral (LP 600)
Demon Hikari was back to her original self and collapsed on the ground.
"Hikari, are you okay?" Spiral ran over to her.
"Spiral…" Hikari looked up at him. "What just happened?"
"That thing I just fought… was a Demon. The sins and suffering from within your heart." Spiral answered her.
"I… It's all true." Hikari started to sob. "I couldn't take the fighting anymore! I wanted to just leave my past behind me and forget about it, but all of you guys fighting… It brought back all of those painful memories! I didn't want you guys to fight… like my parents did."
"Hikari…" Aura walked up to Hikari and kneeled. "We're sorry. We didn't know how much this affected you. But the fighting's over. Everything's going to be okay. I promise."
Aura and Hikari stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Hikari then slowly got up and walked over to her Demon, who looked up at her.
"I went to great lengths to forget about the past." Hikari continued talking. "I even went so far as to join a different religion. I just wanted my childhood to be completely erased, but I guess it was pointless to do so. I could never fully confess my past because it was always too painful. I wished that my past didn't exist… but I realize now that if it never happened, I would never have people that can say they care about me without hollow words. I still have my Shinto beliefs, but the truth is I accept the beliefs of both my original religion and the cult. Actually, I don't think I ever gave up my Shinto beliefs, I merely kept them hidden. From now on, I'm going to be more true to my beliefs."
Demon Hikari smiled and transfigured into a woman with golden, blonde hair, wearing an orange priestess robe and holding a large book. She then turned into a Xyz Monster Card that floated into Hikari's hands.
"What's this?" Hikari wondered.
"It's proof that you've acquired the spirit to overcome your suffering." Momo said as she walked over to Hikari. "Let's go back home. You can stay at our dorm room for the night."
"… Thank you." Hikari was a bit surprised by their gratitude. "I didn't expect this from you."
"Well, I think we were just angry with ourselves." Momo told her.
"Why did this whole incident make you angry with yourselves?" Lee asked.
"Um…" Momo felt a drop of sweat fall from the back of her head. "Nothing."
Everyone started to leave the area and Hikari and Spiral stayed a bit behind. So far behind that the others couldn't hear the conversation they were having.
"Spiral, there's another reason why I don't think we should go out… at least not yet." Hikari started to quietly talk with Spiral. "I heard you say Momo's and Aura's names in your sleep, as well as mine. You haven't decided yet, but there's no hurry to do so. Take as much time as you need."
"… Thank you." Spiral smiled. "Oh, before I forget. Do you know how you got in here?"
"Huh? The only thing I remember is that I was in the restroom… but the rest is a blur. The only thing I can remember other than that is that someone came in… and there was something else, but I can't seem to remember it."
"I'm just glad you're okay." Spiral expressed. "That's what matters."
"I'm glad you're okay, too."
Back at the girls' dorm room, it was late at night and Hikari, Momo and Aura were still awake while the twins were asleep in the same bunk on the bunk bed.
"We're sorry we were mean to you." Aura apologized again.
"You've already apologized to me so many times." Hikari pointed out. "I think that's enough."
"But we've treated you like a bitch when we were the real ones this whole time." Momo stated. "I don't think we could ever make it up to you."
"Stop sulking about it." Hikari assured them. "It's all in the past and there's no way to forget about it. I just hope that we can all be friends."
"… Definitely." Aura smiled.
"And who knows?" Hikari said. "Maybe all three of us will be with Spiral."
Aura and Momo didn't exactly know how to respond to this, so their faces were frozen.
"I'm joking." Hikari said.
"…"
"Or am I?" Hikari giggled.
English Voice Cast
Todd Haberkorn Spiral
Laura Bailey Hikari
Alexis Tipton Aura
Monica Rial Momo
Yuri Lowenthal Naoto
Tom Gibis Lee
Caitlin Glass Asuka
Alison Viktorin Chan/Chun
Preview
Hikari: I'm glad that no one's fighting anymore!
Momo: Um… Yeeeah… Were you serious about-
Naoto: Oh, that's right! In the next chapter, we're gonna be watching Ms. Krystal's son!
Hikari: Is he cute?
Naoto: I saw the picture of Ms. Krystal and her husband and child a few chapters ago, so I think so.
Momo: Can I ask my question?
Naoto: No time!
Hikari: Next time on Awakening of the Soul! The Shadow Snake!
Momo: What snake? !
Hikari: Not the good kind, that's for sure. *mischievous smirk*
Momo: *blushes*
Spiral's Cards
Legendary Guardian Xin Ling
Legend/Effect (ATK 2400 DEF 2200)
Level 6/FIRE
As long as this card remains face-up on the field; Your opponent cannot select another monster you control as an attack target. If you control a Level 6 Legend-type monster other than "Legendary Guardian Xin Ling": You can Special Summon this card from your hand.
Legendary Guardian Yukimaru
Legend/Xyz/Effect (ATK 2800 DEF 2200)
Rank 6/WATER
2 Level 6 Monsters
As long as this card remains face-up on the field, monsters you control are unaffected by card effects. Increase the ATK of this card by 500 for each Spell/Trap Card on the field. Once per turn; You can detach 1 Xyz Material Monster from this card to destroy 1 card on the field, and if you do, increase the ATK of this card equal to the ATK of the detached Xyz Material Monster until the End Phase.
Demon Hikari's Cards
Heretic Knight
Fiend/Effect (ATK 2000 DEF 1000)
Level 4/DARK
This card is treated as a "Demon" or "Demonic" monster and cannot attack your opponent directly.
Heretic Priestess
Fiend/Xyz/Effect (ATK 2700 DEF 2500)
Rank 4/DARK
3 Level 4 "Demon" or "Demonic" Monsters
This card is treated as a "Demon" or "Demonic" monster and can only be destroyed as a result of battle. When this card is destroyed by your opponent: Inflict 2000 damage to the controller of this card. Once per turn; You can activate each of the following effects: *Detach 1 Xyz Material Monster from this card to look at your opponent's hand, and if you do, inflict 600 damage to your opponent for each Monster Card revealed by this effect. *Send all cards in your hand to the Graveyard, and if you do, this card can inflict piercing Battle Damage this turn.