Chapter 24- Breaking Through Despair

Julie continued to cry on the ground. There seemed to be no way to get her to stop. Drake thought he might as well try again.

"You won't fail us!" Drake said, but Julie ignored it. Drake turned to Matt. "Can't you do anything?"

"Nope." Matt said. "I don't have the attachment to her required to break this game."

"But she loves you!" Drake said.

"And I don't have that kind of attachment." Matt repeated. "I know how she feels about me, but that doesn't matter. I can't return those kinds of feelings to her. Therefore, I will not be able to break through."

"Oh…" Drake turned to Keith. "What do we do? Matt and Flynn can't do anything."

"We have to get her back in this first." Keith said.

"Right!" Drake said. He turned back to Julie. "Come on, Julie! We need you!"

"But…"

"No buts! You can do this!"

"I…but I've already failed…"

"Not yet! You're still in this!"

"I…but I…I… yes, I can!" She wiped her eyes and stood up.

"I'm not done yet." Said the fiend. He didn't look too pleased that he hadn't broken Julie yet. "But now I am. I'll end my turn with you in this horrible position."

"Okay." Julie drew a card. "This will do…I activate End of the World! Now, by tributing monsters of eight stars…" She sent Dark Blade and Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World to her graveyard. "And I can summon Demise, King of Armageddon (Dark/Fiend/Ritual/Effect, 2400/2000) in attack mode! Granted, he's only the equal of your monster…but not if I add a little to him! I activate my facedown card, Axe of Despair! Granted, Demise already has a pretty cool axe, but this one gives him an extra 1000 attack points! (3400) Now, Demise, kill the Hieracosphinx!"

Julie: 3200

Fiend: 3000

"And now that your monster is destroyed, you lose a memory!"

"So what?" The fiend said. "It doesn't matter to me."

"Fine then. I wonder how you'll feel after it's all gone…" Julie said. "Oh well, I end my turn."

"Heh. You've walked right into a trap!" The fiend drew a card. "And now, I sacrifice my Sphinx to summon my best creature- Exxod, Master of the Guard! I special summon him in attack mode!"

"So? He has no attack points!" (Earth/Rock/Effect, 0/4000)

"Right now he doesn't, but once I activate Shield & Sword, his attack and defense switch! So now he has 4000, and because this spell affects Demise too, his attack drops slightly to 3000! Now, Exxod, destroy Demise!"

Julie: 2200

Fiend: 3000

"And now, let's keep the torture rolling! Who shall you forget now?" The fiend smiled evilly. "There isn't much left…"

Julie's eyes widened, and tears filled her eyes. "No!!! Drake! Come back! I don't want to lose you too! Especially not you! Come back! I… I love you!" Apparently, her cries didn't help, because she fell facedown on the ground. Drake could tell by her shaking body that she was crying hard. And he couldn't help her. He wanted to reach out and hold her, to comfort her, except that he knew he couldn't. She wouldn't feel him there.

Keith looked helpless. He was the only one left who could help her, and he was at a complete loss. "What should I do?"

"I don't think you can do anything." Matt said. "She's absolutely destroyed, she's lost the two people that she cared most about, and she's broken down. I don't know if she has enough strength to pull through. You do know, Mai didn't win her duel against Marik. I don't know if Julie will be able to change that."

"She can!" Drake said.

Matt sighed. "I wish I had half the faith in her that you do."

"Can't you see the future? Can't you guess what's going to happen?"

"Nope. I haven't been able to for a while. I'm functioning on my natural intellect."

"Oh…" Drake was depressed. He wanted to help Julie, and knew he couldn't. It killed him; it tore him apart inside. There was a killer pain in the center of his chest and he couldn't do anything about it. Drake felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I know how you feel." Matt whispered in his ear. "It hurts, doesn't it? To be unable to help someone you care about… but you have to be strong. You have to believe in her, that's all we can do now."

Drake nodded. The pain didn't go away, but Matt's words had a funny effect. It calmed him down. It made him believe in Julie again. Now if she would just believe in herself! He thought. Julie slowly got onto all fours, still crying. Then she got to her feet. Her face was streaked with tears, but she looked determined.

"Ha! Ready to get beat down again?" The fiend said.

"No. I'm going to take you down." She said. "They may not be around anymore, but my friends are still relying on me. And I've still Keith… one last friend… but that's enough!"

"It doesn't matter! Soon he'll be gone as well! And it's still my turn. So now, I'll set two cards, and set a monster in defense mode! That's all for now."

"Okay, now that your done, I can destroy your Exxod! Because your turn is over, the effects of Shield & Sword are done, and his attack points go back to zero." Julie drew a card. "And now, I'll activate my spell card, Gateway to Dark World! With it, I can special summon Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World from my graveyard! Now, Goldd, attack Exxod!"

"I activate my Waboku trap card! Now you'll do no damage!"

"Curses… I'll set a card and end my turn."

"Fine then! It's time to destroy you!" The fiend drew a card. "Now I'll play my facedown card, Call of the Haunted! I'll use it to bring back my Hieracosphinx! And now I'll flip summon my monster, Great Spirit (Earth/Rock/Effect, 500/1500)! When it's flipped, the Great Spirit reverses the attack and defense values of one Earth monster! So now Exxod has 4000 attack again! And because I flipped an Earth monster, Exxod does 1000 damage to your life points!"

Julie: 1200

Fiend: 3000

"No! She's going to lose!" Drake said.

"Go, Hieracosphinx, attack her Goldd!"

Julie: 1100

Fiend: 3000

"And because I destroyed your monster, your last memory is gone!"

"No!" Julie said, and spun around, looking right at where Keith was. It was apparent that she couldn't see him there. "No! Keith! But… now I'm…"

"Yes, you are all alone!!!" The fiend began to laugh. "You have no friends left! They have all abandoned you! And now, you shall fail!"

Julie fell slowly to her knees. Drake couldn't feel the pain she must have felt, but he could see it in her eyes. They were empty and distraught. He could see her sanity slipping away as she came to grips with apparently being alone. He couldn't help himself. He ran towards her.

"Drake, wait!" Matt shouted. Drake ignored him. He couldn't take it any more. He could no longer bear seeing Julie so defeated. He knelt down in front of her. He knew she couldn't see him, but he felt like he had to do something. He laid his hands on her shoulders.

"Julie, don't do this! I can't bear to see you like this!" He said. He could feel her shivering under his grip. She didn't seem to notice that someone was touching her.

"I'm…I'm so cold…why is it so dark? It's getting colder…there's no one to help me… I…I feel so dead…" She mumbled. Drake could feel her skin under his hands getting cold.

"Julie! Listen, please! You have to hear me! There are still people who care about you! There are people who need you! I need you!"

And then something incredible happened. Julie looked up and stared into Drake's eyes. Her eyes were glazed over, but there could be no doubt. She knew who he was. "What? Drake? What's happening to me? I've failed you…I can't do this."

"Yes you can! You're one of the best duelists in the entire school! You can beat this guy! Now get back in this game!" And, without explanation, Julie threw her arms around him and started sobbing into his shoulder. "Come on! This isn't the time for this! You've got to do this!"

Julie let go. "You're right. Thanks, Drake." She stood up. Drake smiled at her and stepped out of the way.

"Walk all over him." He said. As he walked back toward the others, he noticed that Matt was smiling. "What?"

"Only you could have done that." He said. "Good job. That might be what she needed."

"Oh, boohoo!" The fiend said. "So touching! But it doesn't matter! I'll crush her this turn! Go, Exxod, annihilate her!"

"I play my facedown card, Draining Shield! This negates your attack and gives me life points equal to your monster's attack points!"

Julie: 5100

Fiend: 3000

"Grr… Great Spirit, attack directly!"

Julie: 4600

Fiend: 3000

"Just a scratch." Julie said. "You done?"

"No, because now my Spirit can go into defense mode and set a card! Now I'm done."

"Too bad Exxod now has no attack again." Julie said, and drew a card. "This isn't going to be pretty for you! I activate Fulfillment of the Contract! Now, by paying 800 life points, I can special summon Demise again!"

Julie: 3800

Fiend: 3000

"So? Once he attacks, I'll activate my trap and destroy him!"

"No you won't! Because now I'll use his special ability! By paying 2000 life points…"

Julie: 1800

Fiend: 3000

"…I can destroy all cards but Demise!"

"No! But it still doesn't matter! You haven't won yet!"

"I have. I activate my Rush Recklessly spell card! This gives one monster a temporary 700 point boost! So, now Demise has more than 3000 attack points!"

"NO!"

"Demise, attack him directly!"

Julie: 1800

Fiend: 0

The fiend let out a horrific wail, then exploded. Julie, weakened by the stress of the duel, fell back down to her knees. Drake ran back to her and threw his arm over her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" He said.

"It's just that…the others are gone…" she said.

"No we're not." Matt said. "We're still here, right here, right behind you." She turned around, saw all three, smiled, and began to cry again. But they were happy tears.

"Oh, I thought I had lost you all forever…" she said.

"Nah, of course not." Flynn said.

"How could we ditch you?" Keith said. "You're too sweet."

"Thank you…" Julie said. Drake helped her to her feet.

"Thank god that's over with." Drake said. "It was killing me."