Last chapter! :D YAAY! Almost a year later! I'll have the Epilogue up in the next day or two and this is finished. Now tell what do you think of the duel between Raza and Ali this chapter? Review Below, Let me know!
UUERREEEEERR!
This eerie sound reverberated through the ship as it was falling. On the top of the hall, an intricate prison made of chains surrounded everyone. Colin was separated from both Ali and Raza. He could feel the pain of Raza's venom as it coursed through his bloodstream.
"Gah ah ahA!" Colin groaned in pain, unable to get up off the ground.
Ali kept looking back in his direction whenever he groaned in pain. She then turned back to Raza, whose snake-like Duel Disk was all set and ready.
"Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock." Raza counted down. "Running out of time."
Ali simply scowls at him and readies her Duel Disk.
"Duel!"
Raza (LP 4000) Ali (LP 4000)
Ali drew first. "First, I'll set one card face-down and summon Forbidden Lycan (Lv.4 1900/900) in defense mode! That ends my turn!"
"Going defensive." Raza observed. "First turn predictability." Raza drew his first card. "Ah, I'll activate the Exchange Spell! Now let's see your hand!"
Ali reluctantly revealed her hand, which had three pieces of Exodia in it. Raza used his chain to take Exodia the Forbidden One.
"Can't have you unfairly winning, now, can I?" Raza mocked Ali. "You need to earn it."
Raza then showed Ali his hand so she could take a card. Ali took his Venom Serpent card.
"I end my turn!" Raza left Ali dumbfounded.
*I don't understand!* Ali thought to herself. *He had Venom Swamp and Venom Snake in his hand! He could've used that to weaken my monster! And he has Rise of the Snake Deity as well! Why not at least set that face-down?*
UUERREEEEERR!
*No time to think!* Ali realized as the ship was still falling and drew her next card. "First I activate Graceful Charity to draw 3 more cards and discard 2!" Ali drew 3 cards and discarded two of the cards in her hand. "I'll switch Forbidden Lycan into attack mode and summon Forbidden Lancer (Lv.4 1700/800)! Now attack Raza directly!"
As Lycan was about to slash Raza with his claw, Raza held up his arm and Lycan tore the sleeve, though the skin and caused Raza to bleed, inflicting Raza with 1900 points of damage.
Raza (LP 2100) Ali (LP 4000)
Then Lancer stabbed Raza in the shoulder with his spear, inflicting him with 1700 more points of damage. Raza didn't seem to react to the realistic attacks.
Raza (LP 400) Ali (LP 4000)
"I'll set one card face-down and end my turn!" Ali ended her turn.
Raza drew his next card. "Your move!"
*Is he serious? !* Ali thought in exacerbation. *He's planning something! He has to be! He's only one attack away from losing… This might be my only chance to end this, though. I need to take it!* Ali drew her next card. "Lancer, finish Raza!"
Lancer jumped forward at Raza, but before he could strike, a burst of green flames came out of the hull in front of Raza and sent Lancer back towards Ali. Then out of the side came a snake tail that wrapped itself around the entire ship; the wings, the turrets, almost every inch of the ship was wrapped by it. It was a giant green-scaled snake with demonic red eyes, which didn't even look like snake eyes, fangs that looked more like they belonged on a dragon, and chains that looked like Raza's chain wrapped along the snakes body.
"Behold," Raza smiled. "Diabolus, The Chained Serpent (Lv.0 3000/2000)."
Diabolus was able to wrap entirely around the battle ship and seemed to be bigger still since it's body was still partially inside. It was the most terrifying creature Ali had ever seen.
"That's Your soul Card? !" Ali fearfully pointed out. "You tricked me into summoning it."
"Mm, Not really." Raza replied. "Unlike all the other Soul Cards, I can summon Diabolus at ANY time! From my first draw, till before I draw my last card!"
"Any time?"
"Any Time!" Raza Laughed. "You thought you had me, didn't you? 'Why isn't he playing his cards?' 'He's wide open!' 'I can win this now!' That's probably your thought process, right? Not knowing I had the advantage the whole time! OH YEEAAAH! There is NOTHING better than giving hope to your enemy before ripping it all away. That's absolute Despair right there!"
"You could have summoned it at any time? ! Ugh, I'll switch both of my monsters to defense mode and end my turn!"
"That's it? Aw, how sad. Oh well, now I guess it's time to get serious!" Raza then drew his next card. "I activate the Field Spell Venom Swamp!"
Out of the battleship formed mossy plants and poisonous, murky water around Raza and Ali in a circular area.
"Diablous, time for lunch!" Raza commanded his massive serpent.
The chains around Diabolus wrapped around Lancer and then its head lunged at Lancer so that its head and Lancer were under the water of the swamp, the force of which caused the water to shoot up as if it was the water was deep. When Diabolus' head came out of the water, it had already devoured Lancer.
"And I'll end my turn with a face-down!Oh, and when Diabolus attacks a monster in defense mode, his power increases by 500!"
The snakes came out of the swamp and bit Diabolus and Forbidden Lycan, decreasing their attack points by 500.
"There's also something about Diabolus that I think I should tell you." Raza said.
Another head came out of Diabolus' body and it grew a second head.
"Whenever Diabolus loses attack points, he's unaffected by that effect and I can Special Summon a Token with the same attack and defense as him!" Raza explained. "And when Diabolus' attack power increases, so does the Token's."
Ali drew as he turn came up. "First, I'll summon Venom Serpent (Lv.4 1000/800) in defense mode! And then I activate the Spell Card Forbidden Treasure Trove! This allows me to draw cards equal to the total Level of any two monsters I have! I only have two monsters and they're both Level 4, so I can draw 8 cards!" Ali drew 8 cards from her Deck. "Now I summon Mystical Synchron (Lv.3 1200/800)! Then I equip her with the Equip Spell Synchro Boost to increase her Level by 1 and her points by 500! Now I tune Mystical Synchron with Forbidden Lycan to Synchro Summon Cirrus Sky Dragon (Lv.8 2900/2800)! I'll set three more cards face-down and then activate equip my dragon with Mage Power, granting him 2500 attack and defense points, 500 for each Spell and Trap! Cirrus Sky Dragon, destroy Diabolus!"
Cirrus Sky Dragon shot a cold, foggy breath at Diabolus. This didn't destroy Diabolus, but it did reduce Raza's points to 0, though he can't lose the duel with a Soul Card out.
"How can your monster survive that attack?" Ali was bewildered.
"Oh, you're gonna kick yourself when you hear this!" Raza said in joy. "Only another Soul Card can destroy Diabolus! And as I recall, you have a Soul Card in your Deck, but how do you summon it again? Oh, that's right! Two Level 12 monsters! Too bad you don't have any!"
"That's what you think!" Ali responded.
"DON'T YOU LIE TO ME!" Raza shouted in anger. "I HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU DUEL FOR YEARS, YOU ANNOYING LITTLE GIRL! I HAVE SEEN YOUR DUELS SINCE YOU WERE AT MONT ST. MICHEAL ACADEMY! I KNOW YOUR DECK AND YOUR CARDS BETTER THAN YOU DO!"
"..." Ali remained silent. "You've been following me for 7 years?"
"From the second I saw you when you entered that Academy, I knew you would be the one to bear the White Rose. And I can't tell you how long it took to pull the whole plan together! It all started way back when this card game was first founded by Pegasus! It was the first time since the War of the Roses that the spirit world had been revealed to the people of this one. As the game's popularity grew, Kaiba Corp came up with an Ingenious idea. Create 'Virtual' Monsters to make it far more exciting! This allowed the spirits to channel their essence into a visual form, allowing the monsters to walk among us! Oh Kaiba Kaiba Kaiba! He had a passion for the game like no other. With the game's popularity sky-rocketing around the world after the Battle City Tournament, he established the very first Duel Academy for gifted Duelists. This is where I come into the picture. Using an Alias, I founded the Internatonal Dueling Association (IDA)! And I used bribery, blackmail, and murder to make my organization respectable and by doing so, I established Duel Academies all over the World! Mont St. Micheal, New South Wales, Isabella Royal, Niagara Falls – They were all Founded by ME with the soul purpose of Tracking down those who would become the Rose Guardians!"
"You were looking for us?" Ali asked. "All that time?"
"I found others who could've worn the Marks before you. But there was an Unfortunate turn of events...After I had turned, the Roses sealed their powers away so Sheh could be sealed. So I had to free the powers to free Sheh. I found my answer in a Cult of Fanatics who wanted to use a ritual to grant themselves the power of the Spirit Rose. To do that, they needed the blood of someone blessed by a former rose guardian and LUCKILY...one such person was blessed by a former Azure Rose."
"Asharu Skyler and Aurora." Ali put together.
"DING DING DING! Give the girl a Cookie! After seeing him duel in the Freedom Cup, I knew Aurora had to be with him. So I did what any good mastermind would do. I took an old cliché and kidnapped his pretty little girlfriend to make him duel the Cult leader in the ritual. Asharu won, of course, but at the very second he did, heh heh, Zero Reverse. New Domino City almost destroyed itself in an Ener-D Explosion and the force of that explosion, combined with the Magic of the ritual caused the Seal on the Roses to be Broken and 4 of the nine selected duelist worthy to wield them. But just 4 wasn't enough. So I had to wait and keep searching and not everyone went to Duel academies, so it was hard, But I found all of you! Now I needed the Spirit Rose-"
"So you created the world Tournament and Lured Set and the Gods out after us." Ali interrupted.
"YES! And the rest took care of itself! HA HA!" Raza laughed. "And Now When your friend over there dies, it will all be worth it! Everyday, I went on with the desire to kill the Red Rose! And That day is finally here!" He looked at Colin laying helplessly in pain in his chained cage. "He will pay for what happened..."
"Raza," Ali said calmly. "Listen to yourself."
Raza stopped for a sec and looked at her with a blank look.
"You gone through pain every day of your life just to get revenge on someone who had nothing to do with Joan. Can't you see how empty and meaningless that is? On top of that you KNOW Sheh is responsible for her death and you let him convince you he was trying to help. He tricked you! Lied to you! He just wanted to use you as his pawn!"
"I KNOW THAT!" Raza shouted. "You think I'm Stupid? I know Sheh is using me for his own gain. Do you know what that gain is? So Deaths like Joan's never happen again! We are going to kill all sinful life in this world and rebuild it a new."
"I see, so you're just Religious fanatic?" Joan asked.
"No, I just enjoy seeing peoples lives ruined!" Raza answered.
"Then your a hypocrite." Joan responded. "You enjoy ruining peoples lives, but you blame the red rose for ruining yours. If you really enjoyed it, shouldn't you be embracing your own despair?"
"SILENCE!" Raza said as he drew his next card. "MY MOVE!"
When Ali's turn had ended, more snakes came out of the swamp, and bit every monster on the field. Cirrus Sky Dragon and Forbidden Lycan both lost 500 attack points, while Diabolus grew a third head.
"I activate the Equip Spell United We Stand to increase Diabolus' power by 500 for each of my monsters! Now they each have 5000 attack points! Now the first head will attack your Lycan!"
Much like with Lancer, the chains wrapped around Lycan and the head lunged at it and while under the murky water, Lycan was completely devoured. This also increased the attack power of each head by 500.
"Now my two remaining heads will attack your dragon! Oh, and each time Diabolus attacks an attack position monster, he gains 1000 attack points!"
One head lunged at Cirrus Sky Dragon, but phased through its cloud body and landed in the water. This caused a wave of poison water to hit Ali and inflict her with damage.
"I activate the Continuous Trap Overcoat! As long as this is face-up, all damage I take is halved!" Ali retaliated to Raza's attack as her body was coated with a strange aura, which resulted in her only taking 300 points of damage.
Raza (LP 0) Ali (LP 3700)
"And now my heads have 6500 attack points, which will soon be 7500!"
The third head struck Cirrus Sky Dragon with the same results, inflicting Ali with 800 points of damage.
Raza (LP 0) Ali (LP 2900)
"I'll finish with a face-down!" Raza ended his turn.
The snakes shot up from the ground again and bit every monster. Cirrus Sky Dragon had its power dropped to 4400 and Diabolus grew a fourth head.
Ali drew her next card. "I'll switch Cirrus Sky Dragon to defense mode!" *This way he won't get at my Life Points.* Ali thought to herself. "Now I activate my face-down Forbidden Lockdown Trap! I remove a Forbidden monster from my Graveyard and you can't attack for a number of turns equal to the Level of the Forbidden monster I removed from play! I removed Lancer, so you can't attack for 4 turns!"
Four pillars of golden light struck down in front of Diabolus, barring them from Ali's side of the field.
"That ends my turn!" Ali concluded.
While the duel went on, the ship continued to fall. It began to lean forward a bit and everyone could feel the gravity nudging on them.
Colin felt the pull as he rolled against the chains. *Gooooood!* he thought. *This is painful!*
He tried to pull out Raza's knife, but it was stuck and it just hurt him more. "AAHAAHAAAA!"
He took a deep breath and grabbed onto the chain and pulled himself up so he could see the duel. As he watched, his eye started to glow red.
When Ali ended her turn, the Venom swamp attached another snake to Cirrus Sky dragon weakening its attack to 3900. As for Diabolus, it just grew its fifth head.
"That's Five!"Raza said. "That's a full house!" He then drew his card. "Go, Mystical Space Typhoon! And I'll use it to destroy your Forbidden Lockdown."
A Mystical vortex appeared, ready to destroy her trap.
"I Activate Forbidden Dark Spell!" Ali called, activating her last trap. "At the cost of 500 life points, and can protect all my traps!"
The vortex disappeared, infuriating Raza. "Fine!" He said. "I end my turn!"
Al drew her next card. "I'll summon Forbidden Android (Lv.4 1450/1500) in defense mode and activate another Trap! Sky Guardian Shield! If I have a Forbidden monster on the field, I can select another monster I control and that card has to be attacked! I'll use Cirrus Sky Dragon as the shield! That ends my turn!"
The snakes came out of the swamp again and bit every monster. Diabolus was unaffected while Cirrus Sky Dragon and Forbidden Android lost 500 attack points.
"I see what you're doing!" Raza analyzed. "You're building yourself an impenetrable wall I can't break through! You're just waiting for me to make a mistake, but, girl, I don't make mistakes!" Raza drew his next card and smirks menacingly. "I activate the Spell Shadow Venom! This negates all face-up Spells and Traps for one turn!"
The venom was shot at Raza's Venom Swamp and Ali's Overcoat, United We Stand, Forbidden Lockdown and Sky Guardian Shield.
"Now, Diabolus, destroy her Android!"
One of the heads breathed a green flame and incinerated Ali's Andoird.
"Since my Android was destroyed in battle, I can draw a card!" Ali pointed out as she drew a card.
"That won't do you any good!" Raza said. "Diabolus, attack her dragon!"
One head breathed the same green fire the other one fired at Cirrus Sky Dragon.
"Why attack? You know my dragon can't be destroyed in battle" Ali pointed out.
"That's why I have my Trap! Umbra Anguis! If a monster has the ability to not be destroyed, that effect is negated!"
Cirrus Sky Dragon was burning in the green flames and Ali watched in horror as her monster was actually destroyed.
Colin watched as Ali's last defensive line was destroyed. "No..." he muttered to himself. The Pain from the poison was felt all over his body. As he pain agonized him, both of his eyes turned red...
"Sorry it had to end this way Ali," Raza said sincerely. "I honestly tried to help you...DIABOLUS-"
An Eruption of Shadows exploded from inside Colin's Cage, causing both Raza and Ali to jump back and fall down. The chains were destroyed and this caused pain to Diabolus as each of its heads screamed. Ali looked up and saw Colin, completely normal, fall down to the ground.
"Colin!" She called and ran over to him. She flipped him over onto his back and saw that Raza's knife had been destroyed and removed from his chest. There was a hole in his chest where his blood was streaming out. "What happe-What did you do?"
"Heh just a magic trick." He said trying to laugh. *Cough Cough Cough* "Man this sucks."
"You're joking right now?" Ali asked. "You never change."
"Yeah welll...GGrr!" He said with the pain still overwhelming him, he took a deep breath and he held up his right hand. Ali grabbed his hand and held it. "Look...Tell Rita-"
"Don't." Ali said to him. "You'll survive and you can tell her yourself. You always survive."
"I know," he said feeling reassured. "This is just in case. Just tell her...tell her..." His breathing became very heavy and he couldn't finish his thought and Ali felt his hand go limp.
"Colin? COLIN!"
Raza got to his knees and shook his head. He grabbed his hat, that got knocked off, and placed it back on his head as he got to his feet. He then turned to Ali and saw him by Colin...only he didn't see them...he saw Joan and Atticus in their places. Seeing them like that made him angry. "...DIABOLUS! KILL THEM!"
The three Remaining Heads combined their attacks and burned the area around them until it consumed them.
"That's it then." Raza said, then he looked at his duel disk.
Raza (LP 0) Ali (LP 0)
"Finally." Raza said. "I can relax now..." Raza lowered his head and closed his eyes with a smile across-
"We're not done yet."
Raza's head Shot up and his eyes widened. As the Fire died down he saw Ali standing up with her body turned to her left side. Colin's body laid down at her feet.
"No way!" Raza said. He looked down at his duel disk again then back up at her. "Your Life points are gone! You should be DEAD!"
Raza then noticed a red gleam on Ali's left hand. She lifted it up and the Red Rose mark was on her left hand, as was a single duel monster card.
"Not yet." She said. Ali turned her head and showed that her left eye was red.
"He transferred his Rose to you? !" Raza Panicked. "There is no way he should know how to do that!"
"He figured it out." Ali answered. "And Gave me one last card to play...HIS Soul card."
Ali took the card and placed it on her duel disk. The Shadows began to form into a physical form. Two claws and two legs cladded in ancient greek armor. A Red Cloak which covered over its body. A White mask covered its face...except for its pure red eyes.
"Raza," Ali said. "let me introduce you to Knossoss...Knossoss Reincarnated (Lv.0 3000/2500)!"
Knossoss turned his head around so he's turning directly at Ali.
"Figures... you of all people..." Knossoss muttered to her. "Killing me once was not enough, now you have to control me."
"I think it's poetic justice." Ali responded to Knossoss.
Knossoss then turns back to Raza, who was shaking and wide-eyed. "You're afraid... good"
"Yeah? Well, I have the more powerful monster!" Raza shouted. "DIABOLUS, KILL THEM!"
The two heads who have yet to attack breathed green flames at Knossoss. Knossoss then reached for Ali's negated Mage Power and Overcoat and absorbed them. Then he held out those arms and used his hands to block the attack.
"Y-You blocked the attacks?" Raza asked in extreme surprise.
"By sending a Spell or Trap I have to the Graveyard, Knossoss can negate an attack." Ali explained.
"I like this new power." Knossoss said.
Raza was in total disbelief seeing this. The turn ended and snakes came out of the Venom Swamp again and bit Knossoss' arm.
"Oh, right! My Venom Swamp is still active!" Raza realized.
Knossoss then took the snake that bit him and ripped it off.
"Knossoss' attack power can't fall below 3000." Ali also explained as she drew a card. "And here's another thing.: Knossoss hates it when monsters are stronger than they should be."
"What do you mean?" Raza asked.
"She means..." Knossoss' hand started glowing and all of the attack points Diabolus gained suddenly disappeared and its attack power returned to 3000 for each head.
"Since I have a Trap on my field, I can bring back Mystical Synchron from my Graveyard!" Ali said as she brought back one of her cards. "Now I activate the last of Knossoss' effect! If I control another monster, I can reduce that monster's power to 0 and add those attack points to Knossoss!"
The black aura surrounded Mystical Synchron and the aura was sent to Knossoss, increasing his attack power by 1200. Knossoss then reached into the ground and pulled out a bone sword.
"Give the order..."
"Attack."
The bone sword glowed the black aura and when Knossoss swung it, the aura was released into an energy arc which struck all five of Diabolus' heads. Diablous' body then fell apart, the chains surrounding it breaking apart as it disappeared. When the chains fall over Raza, he covers his face with his arm. When he looks up, he sees Knossoss with bone sword and...
GKUEE!
Knossoss stabbed Raza right through Raza's gut and he was twisting the sword, making the blow much more painful. Raza then coughed up blood and fell to his knees when Knossoss removed the sword from his gut.
At that point, the ship finally hit the water and the water rushed up into the machine as it started to sink down.
Knossoss' spirit then returned to the card. Ali looked down at Raza, who was clearly in a lot of pain considering all of the blood that falling out of him. As soon as the ship hit the water, his hat was blown away by the wind. Ali then summoned Cirrus Sky Dragon and used him to fly her and Colin to safety.
"You think we're done? !" Raza shouted at them. "You think this was a victory? ! Sheh has returned and your friend is dead! You've lost more than you could possibly realize!"
Ali turned to Raza, her eyes back to normal. "You can go ahead and die now, Raza."
"... I wish I could" Raza simply said. "I really wish I could."
Cirrus Sky Dragon took off with Ali and Colin on it. Raza watched from the top of the ship as it flew away. He felt the water rush over him and completely take him over.
Ali looked down as the entire battleship sank into the ocean, disappearing beneath the dark waves. Ali looked down at Colin, who still appeared lifeless. Then, out of the corner of her eye, there was a gleam. She turned her head to see the sun rising on the horizon, which caused the aurora in the sky to disappear. Seeing the bright, yellow sun made her smile. She then turned back to Colin and slapped him across the face.
"Ow!"
Colin then shot up.
"That hurt!" He said to her.
"I knew you weren't dead. Besides, you didn't want to miss that beautiful sunrise, did you?" Ali asked.
Colin then looked over at the sunrise and rubbed his face. "Wow, that is nice, but you didn't have to slap me."
"Well, I sure as hell wasn't going to kiss you again." Ali jokingly responded.
"Hey, I know you liked the last one. Don't try and fool me!"
"I will push you from this dragon if you keep talking, so shut up."
Colin kept his mouth shut and looked out at the sunrise.
Raza's Cards
Umbra Anguis
Trap
If your opponent controls a monster whose effect lists "cannot be destroyed", negate the effects of that card.
Diabolus, the Chained Serpent
Reptile/Soul/Effect (ATK 3000 DEF 2000)
Level/DARK
During either player's turn, you can Special Summon this card from your Extra Deck. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, you cannot lose the Duel. When this card is destroyed, you lose the Duel. This card cannot be destroyed as a result of battle except when this card battles a Soul Monster. When this card attacks a Defense Position monster, increase the ATK of this card by 500 when the battle is resolved. When this card attacks an Attack Position monster, increase the ATK of this card by 1000 when the battle is resolved. If an effect would activate that would decrease this card's ATK, this card is not affected and Special Summon 1 "Diabolus Head Token" (Reptile-type/DARK/Level 0/ATK ? DEF ?) whose ATK and DEF are equal to the ATK and DEF as a face-up "Diabolus, the Chained Serpent" you control. When this card is destroyed, destroy all "Diabolus Head Tokens" on your side of the field.
Shadow Venom
Spell
Until the End Phase, negate the effects of all face-up Spell and Trap Cards on the field.
Ali's Cards
Forbidden Treasure Trove
Spell
Select up to 2 monsters on your side of the field. Draw a number of cards equal to the total Level of the selected monsters.
Forbidden Lockdown
Trap
Remove from play 1 "Forbidden" monster in your Graveyard. Your opponent cannot attack during his/her number of turns equal to the Level of the monster removed from play by this effect.
Sky Guardian Shield
Trap/Continuous
You can only activate this card while you control a "Forbidden" monster and at least 1 other monster. Select 1 monster on your side of the field. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, your opponent must choose the selected monster as an attack target.
Knossoss Reincarnated
Fiend/Soul/Effect (ATK 3000 DEF 2500)
Level 0/DARK
You can only Special Summon this card from your Extra Deck when your Life Points are 0. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, you cannot lose the Duel. The ATK of this cannot be decreased to below 3000. When your opponent declares an attack, you can send 1 Spell or Trap Card you control to the Graveyard to negate the attack. You can reduce the ATK of 1 monster you control to 0 to increase the ATK of this card equal to that monster's original ATK.