Chapter 18: Sorrow and Loss

"Mei... look!" Dad pointed towards the parking lot of the stadium, slowing down.

I had been looking over the reports on the attacked ambulances when he drew my attention, so I looked up and over to see what he was so stressed out about. Much to my horror, their was another ambulance. They were loading someone in; and even though I couldn't tell who it was, it became clear when I spotted Yusei nearby, looking worried. My worst fears were coming true in front of my eyes and my world suddenly became blurred by tears. Regardless, I bailed out of the car immediately, and ran over. Later, it would occur to me that if Dad had not slowed down, I would have probably seriously hurt myself.

My father knowing me shockingly well aside, I was at the foot of the stretcher seconds before it was fully loaded in, in time to see my brother's unconscious form on it and the paramedics fussing around him, putting in tubes and checking blood pressure. I started to climb in before one of the people yet to get in pulled me away.

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to step back."

"That's my brother! I'm riding with him!"

He stopped me again, "Ma'am with the recent attacks I can't-"

I decked the man with a single punch, kicking him in the gut so he wouldn't stand, "That's my brother you bastard!"

Someone grabbed me from behind and I broke the hold, using an judo technique to send him back-first to the asphalt before realizing it was only Yusei trying to calm me down. He looked completely flabbergasted at the event and was slow to get up. I tried to climb in again, but a Securities officer pulled me back.

I was about to deck the cop too in my frenzy, but my Dad's voice halted me, "Mei, stop! Koyou wouldn't want you freaking out like this, or getting in trouble."

I backed away, crying, "I said I'd be there for him if he needed me! I said I'd be there!"

Dad grabbed me and hugged me tightly, the medics taking the chance to shut the back of the ambulance and get away. I noted the three securities bikes forming a protective perimeter. It put me only slightly at ease that whoever was attacking the ambulances might get spotted before he attacked at least. I wanted to go after them I the car, but the vehicle was already nearly out of sight in its haste to get Koyou medical attention.

Yusei got up and dusted himself off, forgiving my attack as if it never happened. I pulled away from Dad and went to him, "What happened? How bad is he hurt?"

Yusei tried to hide his own concerns for my sake, "Nothing lethal since they stopped the bleeding, but he's probably going to be in bed for a week or more. He might have a broken shoulder too." He glance at my father before looking to me again, "Koyou was trying to get through to Aki, but he seemed to have some kind of strange power of his own. He scarred the ground with fire and drew a card I've never seen. Koyou even inflicted real damage on Aki by accident. She freaked out and screamed something about her father."

Dad groaned, "Aki's father hit her out of anger once when she was five. I didn't think the trauma was so deep on that one. I'm not too clear on the details, but she was a daddy's girl before her powers surfaced. It probably jarred her pretty bad."

Yusei looked to him, "She was at Duel Academy under your care right? It seems you trained her. What can you tell me about her?"

Dad had an unreadable neutral expression on her face, putting his arm around me to give me strength as he talked, "Do you want to know about the person or her dueling? Both have changed a bit in three years."

"Both."

I looked to Yusei in disbelief, "You're going to try and help her too, aren't you?"

Yusei nodded, "Even if I hadn't promised Koyou, I feel like I need to help her. I think I can get through to her."

"Koyou thought he could too."

Dad shook his head, "If I know the two of them, there was no way Koyou could have gotten through to her. She sees him as a painful memory, and Koyou refuses to see that Aki isn't the idealized person he think of her as. It may sound strange, but Aki can't be saved by someone in love with her."

Yusei looked away, frowning, likely thinking of how bad my brother was hurting on the inside.

I was trying my best not to be angry with them for still wanting to help her. If my brother, who had been gravely wounded twice at her hands couldn't hate her... then it was silly for me to. Yusei was fulfilled my brother's wishes, so I shouldn't hold it against him for being a good friend.

Dad got back to Yusei's question, "That aside, she's formidable as a duelist. Aki knows very well how to manipulate her Black Garden field spell to the fullest, and use the counter strategy against the opponent. However, against you, she'll probably be aiming to use her dragon as much as possible to take you down quickly. Divine probably saw her wavering last round and put it in her head to end things fast."

Divine... the name brought a bad taste to my mouth. That insidious man had come to Duel Academy years before to investigate the rumors of psychic duelists at the school. He wanted to take Aki, and expressed an interest in my brother in I as well after learning Dad had powers. However, Dad used those very powers to send him packing. At this point I was wishing he'd gone all the way and killed him. Now he had twisted Aki into a monster and had hurt my family. Whatever his goal was wasn't clear, but judging by the feel of the man, it was nothing remotely good for the world.

Yusei nodded, pulling out his deck and placing a card in the extra deck, "I was hoping to save my Stardust Dragon for Jack, but I promise to do whatever it takes, and I think I'm going to need everything I've got. I can't let those Arcadia Movement people continue using her as they wish."

Dad nodded.

A short time later, the duel began with the announcer's usual baying, "Yeah! We've reached the finals! The winner of this match will gain the right to challenge the king. Who will have an audience with the great king and have a chance to overthrow him? The first challenger is the Black Rose Witch, Aki Izayoi!" She rose to the field in a gout of smoke as the crowd spat the usual cruelty at her, "And next is the shooting star of Sattelite, Yusei Fudo!" Yusei rose to the field to the first cheers he'd gotten the whole tournament. "Everything up to now has lead to this point! Now, the final match starts!"

"Duel!" disks were activated and starting hands were drawn.

Yusei: 8000 vs Aki: 8000

Again, fortune favored Aki, "It's my turn, draw. I set one monster, then place a single face down card. Turn end."

"Draw!" Yusei pulled a card from his deck, "I summon Ancient Gear Knight. Now, attack her set monster!"

The monster given to him by my brother, charged lance first and destroyed the set monster, a Wall of Ivy. Aki activated an effect. "When Wall of Ivy is flipped face up. An ivy token is summoned to my opponents field in defense."

Yusei glanced at the token, "Turn end."

"My turn, draw." Aki drew, "I activate the trap card Cursed Ivy, which revives Wall of Ivy and sets it on the field in face down defense. Turn end."

The duel wasn't going as intensely as the last, both duelists taking the time to feel each other out. Of course, Aki didn't know Yusei's deck very well, while she knew my brother's from watching him duel countless times in the past. Yusei's style was a little cautious to begin with.

However, he was making his move, drawing a card at the start of his turn. "I summon Junk Synchron! Now I tune my level 3 Junk Synchron to my level 4 Ancient Gear Knight! Clustering roars, turn into an echoing arrow which tears through the sky! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Show yourself, Junk Archer!"

The announcer gasped, "A new synchro we haven't seen! Yusei is seemingly pulling out all the stopps to avenge his fallen comrade!"

Yusei proceeded, "I activate his effect. Once per turn, I can remove one monster my opponent controls from play. Go! Dimension Shot!" the slender mechanical warrior leveled an arrow at Aki's set monster, firing an arrow that bent reality on impact, folding the space into itself and causing the set Wall of Ivy to vanish.

Aki's Cursed Ivy shattered, "Since Wall of Ivy was removed, Cursed Ivy is destroyed, summoning two ivy tokens to your field. "Next, I release Junk Archer to special summon Fortress Warrior. A hug armed golem appeared on the field with 1200, that quickly rose to 3500, "Fortress Warrior gains attack equal to the attack of the released warrior monster. Direct Attack!" A barrage of bullets assailed Aki, nearly cutting her life points in half. "I end my turn. During the end phase, the monster I removed returns to you."

Yusei: 8000 vs Aki: 4500

"It's my turn. I draw. Next I flip Wall of Ivy, adding another token to your field." the token appeared, sealing off Yusei's monster card zones completely, "Next, I tribute Wall of Ivy to summon Cruel Angel – Queen of Rose. Despite its level, it may be normal summon with the release of only one plat-type monster." The beautiful rose angel card I had given her blossomed onto the field, "I end my turn with a face down."

Yusei drew, "Fortress Warrior attacks Queen of Rose!"

"Trap card open! Wall of Thorns! When you attack an attack position plant monster I control, all your attack position monsters are destroyed!"

Fortress Warrior shattered, causing Yusei to flinch from the spray of shards, "Gah! I end with a face down card."

"My turn, I draw!" Aki drew and the effect of Queen of Rose sent the monster charing at an Ivy Token, cleaving it in two. "Queen of Rose, during my standby phase, destroys the weakest monster on the field!"

Yusei was suddenly wracked with pain, "GAH!"

"When an Ivy Token is destroyed, you take 300 points of damage!" Aki activated a card from her hand, "Equip spell: Cruel Thorn!" Queen of Rose's sword was suddenly serrated with thorns, "This card equips to a plant I control. Queen of Rose may now pierce the defense of monsters, and all effect damage dealt by a plant type monster is doubled! Queen of Rose attacks Ivy Token!"

The announcer roared, "This is worse than a direct attack!"

The ivy token shattered, the spray of shards giving Yusei cuts of over his body and riddling his senses with pain from the increased effect, "AAHHH!"

Yusei: 4700 vs Aki: 4500

He struggled to his face and seemed surprised, across the field, Aki was smiled. He stared at her, "I see, there's a part of you that enjoys this."

Aki went wide-eyed, seeming on the verge of tears, "You say I enjoy this?" she gritted her teeth, "I end my turn."

Yusei drew. "I set a card. Turn end."

Aki drew, "During my standby, another of your tokens is destroyed and you take 600 points are damage!" Aki grin as Yusei buckled slightly from the pain.

Yusei grunted, "So I was right."

Aki gasped, then quickly tried to shut him up, "Queen of Rose, attack his other token!"

Yusei activated his trap, "Trap card: Card Defense. I discard a card to negate your attack. After that, I may draw a card." The grid of cards shielded the token from the blow, "Aki Izayoi, you enjoy inflicting pain."

Aki got angry, "Shut up. You're speaking nonsense!" she ended her turn.

Yusei drew at the start of his turn, "I understand now why Koyou couldn't get through to you. He couldn't accept the truth. I activate the spell card: Tuning! I add another Junk Synchron to my hand, then send cards from the top of my deck to the grave equal to its level: three." the cards were sent, "I summon Junk Synchron and his effect activates, bringing the Fortress Warrior I discarded earlier. Next I activate the effect of the Quillbolt Hedgehog Tunind sent to the grave. When I control a tuner, it is special summoned." there it was. With Junk Synchron at 3, 2 level 2s, and the level 1 ivy token, he had enough for a level 8 synchro summon, his mark began to glow and Aki's own marked resonated with it, "I'm tuning my level three Junk Synchron with my level 2 Fortress Warrior, my level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog, and the level 1 Ivy Token! Clustering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!" a large white dragon with a slightly humanoid form roared to life with 2500 attack, "Go! Attack her Queen of Rose! Shooting Sonic!" the dragon reared back and blasted a stream of silver sparkles at the rose angel and shattered it, inflicting minor damage. However, the synchro and attack had cleared three big threats from the field.

Or so I thought, until Aki activated an effect, "Cruel Thorn is destroyed along with the monster you attacked. Its effect on destruction activates, destroying Stardust Dragon and inflicting damage to you equal to half its attack points."

"Stardust's effect activates, whenever an effect that would destroy a card is activated, I may tribute Stardust Dragon to negate it. Victim Sanctuary!" Stardust vanished in a spray of stars.

Aki grinned, "The damage is a seperate effect!"

Yusei was suddenly assailed by thorns, taking 1250 damage, "AHHH!"

Yusei: 2850 Aki: 4400.

The crowd started yelling at her again, and Aki looked down at her feet, "That's right. I really am a witch. I'm a wicked woman that inflicts pain on others and enjoys it." She smirked, "It's fun! Inflicting pain on all those who drove me into solitude because of my powers." She opened her eyes with a maniacal glint in them, "It's truly really fun!"

Yusei looked at her calmly, "I end with this face down card. During the end phase of the turn I used Stardust effect, its is special summoned back to the field."

Aki cletched her mark as the dragon returned, "Wretched mark! I hate this mark! If it weren't for this power I would-"

Yusei looked to her with steely determination, "You've never enjoyed you powers, not completely. The truth that Koyou could not see is not that simple. The truth is that the one you really hate is yourself!"

"Yes. This birthmark signifies people that have transcended normal humans. That is why I hate myself. My whole life I felt like I had to live with my destructive power. Nobody, not even Kou-sensei could help me. However, the more I accepted that power, the more it turned into a compulsion to use it. After I destroyed those who finally accepted me, tore their lives apart... after they rejected me too... I gave up on being myself!" She held up the Queen of Rose mask Koyou had made for her once, "I made a new self. When I'm in the mask I'm not me... I'm pain incarnate. I'm the Black Rose Witch. A foul women who relishes in the inevitable destruction she creates! It wasn't long before Divine told me that I didn't need the mask as an excuse and I was fine just how I am."

Yusei tried to speak, "That's-"

"Those words saved me. I just need to live. I don't need to think or worry. Just feel."

"You need to think on your own!"

Aki was crying as she shook her head, "I don't need to think, I have Divine. He'll guide me."

"You can't escape the pain by running from it, Aki!"

"I have to... there's nothing else I can do."

"Yes there is! The person that rejects that pleasure is still inside you! You have people who care about you and accept you if you'll only let them in! As long as you still hate that part of yourself you can start over!"

"Just shut up... I can't! It's too hard! All I can do is destroy!" She put on the mask with a look of despair on her face.

Finally, I forgave her. I could forgive her because I understood what was in her heart all too well. I had walked that same road, but to a lesser extent. Koyou had been right. If I could only put myself in her shoes, understand the pain of being the inflicter when you couldn't help it, then I would be able to see why they all refused to stop trying to help her. I started crying for her... my sister in sorrow. I even understood how much that mask was a burden. It was the last memory of a life she had totally destroyed. It was a token of the feelings she'd betrayed. That mask had become a tiwsted thing, rather than the gift of affection it had originally been.

The Black Rose Witch drew, "I summon Twilight Rose Knight and its effect activates, summoning a level four or lower plant monster from my hand. I summon Botanical Lion! I'm tuning my level three Twilight Rose Knight to my level four Botanical Lion! Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!" the aptly named creatures appeared in a swarm of petals, "Its effect activates, destroying all cards on the field! Black Rose Gale!"

Yusei acted, "I activate Stardust Dragon's effect, tributing it to negate and destroy the effect!"

The rose dragon raged, but Stardust embraced it, sacrificing itself to take on the destruction and pulled Black Rose with it. However, Aki wasn't through, "I activate Monster Reborn. Rise again! Black Rose Dragon. Direct attack: Black Rose Flare!"

A gout of cold flame surged for Yusei, only to be blocked by a metal scarecrow, "I activate Scrap-iron Scarecrow! Once per turn, it negates the attack and re-sets on the field."

The flame suffered some backlash, breaking off a portion of Aki's mask, "Gah! I end my turn with two face downs."

Yusei drew, "I summon Max Warrior!" A mechanical warrior in tribal garb appeared, "Now, Stardust attacks Black Rode Dragon!" the dragon shattered. "Max Warrior attacks you directly!

"Gah!"

Yusei: 2850 vs Aki: 2500.

Yusei set a card, "I end my turn." Aki drew, but Yusei cut her off, "Tell me Aki, if you really have consigned yourself to enjoying this, why are you still crying?"

She touched her face at the revelation and realized her tears were still flowing.

"That feeling in your mark. That throbbing. It's the sign that the time to change has come. Doesn't it feel like it's pulling us all together as Signers? Telling you that you don't have to shoulder your pain alone anymore? That pain is asking for something, and to find out what we have to think for ourselves. Is this mark truly so wicked? Or is it the solution?"

Aki cried even harder, "I don't want to! My turn! I draw, then activate Wicked Rebirth!

I got up and made a break for the exit Aki would leave the field from. The whle trip I was watching the duels on various screens. The end was coming. I could sense it.

"This card revives Black Rose Dragon! I activate Black Rose Gale!"

Yusei activated Stardust Dragon, "Victim's Sanctuary, I tribute Stardust dragon to negate the effect." Aki went to use a spell, but Yusei activated a trap, "I activate Cosmic Blast! When a dragon-type synchro monster leaves the field I inflict damage to you equal to its attack. 2500!"

The trap fired a surge of energy towards Aki, and her life points plummeted to zero. Her mask fell away, revealing eyes that begged Yusei for help. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, Divine had wrapped his coat around her and was leading her away. The annoucer roared that Yusei Fudo would be going to the finals. I cared little and gave chase, only to be blocked by some of Divine's goons. There was no getting to her.

Yusei was a little shcked to see me, but consoled me, "There will be another chance. Her heart is open now. So she'll be ready to listen."

I turned and smiled, "Yeah, thanks. Koyou would be happy." I went over and hugged him. He accepted immediately.

Moments later he tensed up, "Ummm, could you stop grabbing my butt please?"

I laughed, "Sorry."

I left him there blushing for a moment and walked away. He followed soon after and we walked back to where we could reunited with Dad and the others. B chance we can across a trobuling scene. Some paramedics were arguing with one of the arena's medics."

"I told you, we're here to pick up that Kou person who was injured. We were caught in traffic. Is he still alive?"

The medic was totally perplexed, "But, that makes no sense! The ambulance already picked him up!"

I froze... then rand over and seized the paramedic, "You! Show me our credentials!"

He was too frightened to argue and pulled out his ID. Sure enough they were valid. Yusei looked at them over my shoulder and posed the million dollar question, "If you guys are the paramedics... where's Koyou?"

Next Chapter: King and Calamity

Set in stone events: a revelation about Koyou's mark, Yusei vs Jack, a vision of the future, and the build-up to the finale (of this part of the series).

A/N: OMG! Main character kidnapped? Probably by the main villain of the arc? OMG 'point-of-no-return event' as alluded to!

Countdown to the End of Stardust Accelerator (probably set in stone): 2