Me: *Munching on a piece of chocolate* I feel so accomplished.
Yusei: About what?
Me: I finally finished 5ds Prank War. Seriously, that went on longer than I thought it would. Also, I currently hold the high score for everything on a Quizlet thing for my language arts class.
Sky: How long did it take you to do that?
Me: About an hour. Actually, at one time I held the top 20 scores for the Scatter game on it. *Takes another bite of chocolate*
Leo: *Pokes head in the room* Can I-
Me: No, you cannot have any of my chocolate. My family gave it to me. Go away.
Leo: Aw… *Leaves*
Me: Okay, I'm going to actually put the chapter up now! I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5ds or Pokémon (but I have so many of the games and cards). I only own my OCs, Sky's Deck, and the rulings for the cards Shoshan uses. Enjoy!
Chapter 39
Pain. Blinding, searing pain. And then… nothing.
"No!"
I jerk awake, breathing heavily. Seven times I have had that vision, so I know it's important. Still, why did my powers have to show me that vision? I haven't been able to sleep well since the first time I had it—when Bruno came.
And that's when the realization hits me again. My powers. They've been gone since my loss to the fake Jack. No visions—except this one, repeating in various ways—no Duel Spirits, no making cards real, no magic, nothing. And frankly, it's getting really annoying, especially since it's been two weeks of this.
I slow my breathing, shoving that scene, that horrid, death-filled scene, to the back of my mind. Rubbing my eyes, I head downstairs to get breakfast. When I don't see my brother in the garage, I remember how someone had requested his help in Crash Town, and that he might not be back for a few days.
Still, I don't really like it. I'm used to seeing Yusei in the garage every morning when I wake up, whether he's working or asleep on the couch. I don't even know why someone from a place in the middle of the desert would need his help.
My unease is added to with the fact that Crow is out running some early deliveries, Jack lounging around… somewhere… and Bruno is still asleep. The garage is too quiet for my liking.
Knock, knock.
I glance up, and walk to the door. I can see Shoshan is standing there, so I swing the door open.
"Oh! Ah, hey Sky! You're actually the one I wanted to see," Shoshan says.
He reaches up and pulls off a scarf that he had wrapped around his head, covering his mouth and nose.
"Do I… want to know?" I ask slowly. "You didn't just rob a bank, or something, did you?"
"No!" he shouts. He pauses, and firmly shakes head. "Sorry, I mean no. Escolar and Sydney both have the flu, and I have a pathetic immune system. So, I was wondering if I could come over here?" He posed it as a question.
I laugh. "Shoshan, you already are here," I point out.
"True…"
"Besides," I add, "it's too quiet for my liking today. You can come in."
I step to the side. Shoshan slides past me, and I close the door. "So…" he trails off. "This is where you live." His tone feels like it has a sort of accusation in it. Or maybe even… a hint of jealousy? But for what?
"Yeah," I say after a short pause. "Normally Yusei and Bruno would be holed up next to the computer, and Crow and Jack would be having an argument over something. It's not usually this quiet." I shift my weight awkwardly.
"This is going to be a long day," Shoshan groans.
"Probably."
And with absolutely nothing happening here, 'probably' is leaning more to 'definitely'. There had to be a way to pass the time. The idea came to me after a long moment of awkward silence.
"Shoshan, would you like to have a Turbo Duel with me?" I blurt.
Shoshan smiles. "Sure! I've never actually seen your Deck in action."
I grin right back. "Let's go then!"
XXX
"Duel!"
Shoshan's Life Points: 4000, Sky's Life Points: 4000
"You can go first, Sky," Shoshan says.
I hold back a smile. "Maybe chivalry isn't dead just yet. Thanks. Although, you might regret this choice." I draw my card.
Shoshan S.C. 1, Sky S.C. 1
A quick glance tells me I have a decent starting hand, and a way to pull off a good combo. "I'll start by Summoning the Tuner Celestial Synchron, in Attack Mode. Then, its ability lets me Special Summon a Level 1 monster like Celestial Eagle from my Deck. And to top of this, I can Special Summon Celestial Wizard since I have out a 'Celestial' monster."
A small silver robot appears next to me, a hand on a tiny crank in its side. Flying over it is a gray-streaked eagle. Shadowing them is the wizard, his staff giving off a faint glow even though it's light out.
Celestial Synchron ATK: 700, DEF: 1800, Level 3; Celestial Eagle ATK: 1000, DEF: 0, Level 1; Celestial Wizard ATK: 1800, DEF: 1000, Level 4
"Wow, that's a good job," Shoshan says. "Three monsters in one turn-"
"Make that four," I interrupt. "I Tune my Level 3 Celestial Synchron with my Level 1 Celestial Eagle and Level 4 Celestial Wizard! As night falls and darkness rises, the stars gather together to form one mighty beast! Synchro Summon! Bring forth the light, Celestial Dragon-Quasar!"
My signature silver and purple dragon spirals into existence. With it, I swear a faint breeze ruffled me, and I hope it was my powers. More likely it was just the air around me.
"Since this is the first turn, I'll just end with a face-down," I say.
"It's my turn then!" Shoshan draws his card, looks at it, and smiles. He must have a decent combo, but exactly what it would be is beyond me. I've never seen his Deck in action before.
Shoshan S.C. 2, Sky S.C. 2
"I Summon Meloetta Aria Form to the field in Attack Mode!"
A girl-like monster dressed in black appears next to Shoshan. Her green hair has lines, like the five-line staff for musicians on it, and also has dots representing notes on it. I think it is a fitting design.
Meloetta Aria Form ATK: 1600, DEF: 1400, Level 4
What is he planning to do? Meloetta stands no chance against my dragon. Unless its ability makes up for its lack of power?
Sure enough, that's what happens. "Meloetta Aria Form has a special ability: if I send two cards from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard, I can choose one of your monsters. During your next turn, its ability is disabled and it can't attack. Since you only have one monster out, I have to choose it," Shoshan explains. "Go now, Meloetta! Harmonious Freeze!"
Shoshan pulls the two cards off his Deck, smiles, and then discards them. His monster then starts singing, and giant eighth notes form around my dragon in a circle. I frown. Guess I'll have to use a different monster next turn.
"I'll end my turn with three face-downs," Shoshan finishes.
"I won't let this ability stop me. It's my turn!" I announce.
Shoshan S.C. 3, Sky S.C. 3
I flip over my card. Hmm. There isn't much I can do now, but at least it's something. "I Summon Celestial Defender to the field in Defense Mode!" I say.
My silver warrior appears, holding his giant shield. He kneels down in a defensive position, and promptly turns blue.
Celestial Defender ATK: 500, DEF: 2000, Level 4
"I'm also going to Special Summon Celestial Knight-Saturn, since I have a 'Celestial' card out. And, because I Summoned him in this way, I get a card back from my Graveyard. I choose Celestial Synchron," I say.
My Tuner monster returns to my hand, and next to my dragon appears a knight in pale yellow-streaked armor. He bears a long, dark gray sword with a stone that matches the color of his armor in its hilt.
Celestial Knight-Saturn ATK: 2000, DEF: 1000, Level 4
I glance at Shoshan's field. Out of his three face-downs, I'm almost certain that one of them is going to be a trap if I attack, and with Quasar's ability sealed this turn, I don't know if the best idea would be to attack. Still, he's probably just going to activate Meloetta's ability again, so I should just try to get rid of it now.
"Celestial Knight-Saturn will attack your Meloetta Aria Form," I declare.
Shoshan smirks, and one of his face-down cards flips up. "I counter with my trap Relic Song. See, when a 'Meloetta' card I control is selected as an attack target, I can negate the attack, after which my 'Meloetta' is destroyed," he says.
"Why would you want to destroy your own monster?" I ask.
"You didn't let me finish explaining," Shoshan replies, "I then get to Special Summon one Meloetta Pirouette Form from my Deck as a replacement."
Meloetta Aria Form starts to sing a very calming melody, and my knight halts in his attack. Then Meloetta glows for a few second. When it dims, Meloetta looks entirely different; her hair a deep red instead of green, and it is also wrapped around her head.
Meloetta Pirouette Form ATK: 2100, DEF: 1700, Level: 5
"Well, I guess that forces me to end my Battle Phase," I sigh. "I'm going to end with a face-down. Your turn, Shoshan."
"Actually, before the end of your turn, I'm activating the Continuous Trap Spirit Barrier, so I won't take Battle Damage as long as I control a monster," Shoshan says. "Now, it's my turn!"
Shoshan S.C. 4, Sky S.C. 4
"Yes!" Shoshan shouts. "I remove from play my two WIND-Attributed monsters I sent to the Graveyard earlier, Shaymin Sky Form and Tornadus, Master of Winds along with my LIGHT-Attributed Meloetta Aria Form from my Graveyard in order to Special Summon Rayquaza, Lord of the Sky in Attack Mode!"
A long, green, snake-like dragon appears and curls itself above the Combat Lane. Its yellow markings glow in the light. Rayquaza bares its claws and glares at my own dragon.
Rayquaza, Lord of the Sky ATK: 3500, DEF: 3500, Level 10
Crap, it has more power than my Celestial Dragon-Quasar. And I don't even know what its ability is. I'm sure since it's a Level 10 monster the ability is going to be pretty good.
"Time for battle! Meloetta Pirouette Form, attack Celestial Defender with Calypso Sonic!" Shoshan declares.
I tense up, and decide to play a face-down. "I stop your attack with my Speed Spell-Celestial Reflector."
Shoshan shrugs. "Then Rayquaza can come down and finish the job. Go now, Rayquaza, attack Celestial Defender with Draco Meteor!"
A ball of light and rock formed in front of Rayquaza's mouth, and when Rayquaza roared, it flew upward and then exploded. Multiple pieces of the meteor strike my knight, and he shatters into tiny pieces.
When no extra effect happens, I'm sort of glad. So, its effect doesn't activate when it attacks or destroys a monster in battle. What does it do?
"I'm going to be nice, and end my turn at that," Shoshan says.
"My turn then, I draw!"
Shoshan S.C. 5, Sky S.C. 5
I look at my card. Perfect. "I Summon Celestial Synchron a second time," I say. "This way, I can Tune it with my Level 4 Celestial Knight-Saturn. In the depths of the night sky, light shines as a pale reflection of all of our hope! Synchro Summon! Rise up, Celestial Dragon-Moon!"
My new dragon has a black body, with wings barely lighter. Light gray lines mark her face and arms, and her eyes are a stunning bright green. She whips her tail in anticipation.
Celestial Dragon-Moon ATK: 1500, DEF: 2700, Level 7
"You're going to have to do better than that," Shoshan points out. "Rayquaza has much more power than it."
The corner of my mouth twitches. "I wasn't going to stop there—I play my Speed Spell-Celestial Fusion! When I have five or more Speed Counters, I can send monsters from either side of the field or my Extra Deck to the Graveyard, as long as one of the monsters is on the field, and I can Fusion Summon a 'Celestial' Fusion Monster in return. So now, the darkness reigns as Celestial Dragon-Twilight comes forth!"
My third dragon has six wings, just like his counterpart Celestial Dragon-Dawn. Unlike Dawn, however, Twilight has dark orange wings and his body is a lighter shade of purple. He also has piercing blue eyes, unlike Dawn's deep red ones. Twilight curls his wings in front of himself, and turns shades of blue.
Celestial Dragon-Twilight ATK: 2500, DEF: 3500, Level 10
"There! My dragon's Defense Points are the same as your dragon's Attack Points! We're going to be at a stalemate for a little while," I say. "I'll switch Celestial Dragon-Quasar to Defense Mode and then set-"
Shoshan shakes his head. "You won't be setting anything. Rayquaza, Lord of the Sky has an ability called Air Lock: it prevents you from setting any card as long as he's on the field."
That gives him a pretty good advantage. "Okay, then I'll just end my turn."
"This stalemate won't stay here for long," Shoshan says as he draws his card.
Shoshan S.C. 6, Sky S.C. 6
"Hmm, I can't end the stalemate yet, but… I'm going to release Meloetta Pirouette Form in order to Tribute Summon Zapdos, Bird of Lightning!"
The bright yellow bird has jagged feathers, and I can tell that being the 'bird of lighting' is very fitting.
Zapdos, Bird of Lightning ATK: 2400, DEF: 2400, Level 6
"Rayquaza, finish off Celestial Dragon-Quasar!" Shoshan orders.
I flinch as one of my favorite cards is pummeled by the resulting meteor shower. Shoshan is going to pay…
"And that will be the end of my turn," Shoshan says.
"My turn!" I whip my next card out, and flip it over.
Shoshan S.C. 7, Sky S.C. 7
I narrow my eyes, and think about what to do. I can't just stall, because Shoshan would end up either powering up Rayquaza enough, or he would have enough Speed Counters for Speed World 2's damage effect, combined with a ton of Speed Spells. I need to end this quickly. It's just too bad I don't have more Speed Counters.
"I end my turn," I say slowly. I had no monsters to Summon, and that Air Lock ability won't let me do anything with my Spells or Traps.
"Good, it's my turn then," Shoshan says.
Shoshan S.C. 8, Sky S.C. 8
"I'm going to Summon Piplup in Defense Mode," Shoshan says.
A small blue-and-white penguin appears next to Shoshan, and then fully turns blue.
Piplup ATK: 1000, DEF: 1000, Level 2
"That's the end of my turn," Shoshan says.
"Time to shake things up!" I exclaim, drawing my card.
Shoshan S.C. 9, Sky S.C. 9
"I play the effect of Speed World 2, so by removing 4 Speed Counters I can inflict 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell in my hand. I have two," I say, revealing Speed Spell-Celestial Shockwave and Speed Spell-Celestial Force. "And, I can activate this effect twice."
I spin around, facing Shoshan, and my Duel Runner shoots a streak of light that passes through Shoshan's Duel Runner.
Sky S.C. 1, Shoshan's Life Points: 800
"That ends my turn," I say, spinning back around.
"Time to speed things up then," Shoshan says.
Shoshan S.C. 10, Sky S.C. 2
"I'm going to…" he trails off, glances at my dragon, and then at me. "I'm going to activate Speed World 2's effect to remove 4 Speed Counters and inflict 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell in my hand." He flips over one card from his hand—a Speed Spell that I don't recognize. "That means-"
"Actually, I'm going to activate my Trap Hallowed Life Barrier," I interrupt. "I'll discard one card, and all damage to me this round becomes 0. Too bad you can't take back the four Speed Counters that you already used."
Shoshan S.C. 6
Shoshan nods a few times. "You seem to be able to get out of any situation, Sky. Is there anything you can't do?" he asks.
Yeah, like use any ounce of my powers. Or, apparently, defeat a fake Jack Atlas. But I don't let onto this. I fake a laugh, and reply, "Probably, but I wouldn't t… tell…"
Something clicks. Immense pain floods my head, and I slam my brakes. Good thing I did, because not even a second after, multiple fragmented images fill my vision. They weren't enough to know exactly what was going on in them, but I could see Yusei and Kalin… two kids… an explosion… and both Yusei and Kalin lying on the ground in what appeared to be a ravine.
I let loose a huge gasp and jerk upwards. Shoshan is standing over me, his green eyes filled with worry. "Sky, what just happened?" he asks. "One second, you were perfectly fine, then you suddenly stop, and fall forward on your Duel Runner."
"I…" Really, I don't know what to say. I may have just had a vision, and as far as I know, Yusei, Jack, Crow, and Sydney are the only ones who know about them. Frankly, I didn't want very many people knowing about them. "I think Yusei is in trouble."
There. It was vague, and Shoshan didn't know how I knew this.
"Um… Do you need my help?" Shoshan asks.
I lock eyes with my friend. "Uh, sure, that would be fine. We need to go, now. Yusei's in Crash Town," I say. "It'll take a few hours to get there, and lots of things can happen in that amount of time."
"Okay. We'll have to finish this Duel later," Shoshan says. He gets back on his Duel Runner, and heads off the Combat Lane.
I follow after him. What was that click I swear I heard just before my supposed vision? Could it… whatever it is… have something to do with my blocked powers?
XXX
Me: …And there you have it! Oh, and the first line was only the tail end of the vision.
Sky: Why am I not surprised that you put in a plot twist?
Me: You know me too well!
Shoshan: I liked the chapter!
Me: Of course you did, because you're the only one other than Sky that talks in it.
Shoshan: Yeah…
Sky: I think you did better with the descriptions of the monsters.
Me: *Nods* I tried harder. It's difficult for me to translate an image in my head to writing. Well, I just hope that everyone liked this chapter, and I'd love you to leave a review! I'd really like to know what you think! Oh, and Crow wanted me to tell you guys that he'll flame this for you.
Sky: Where is he, anyways?
Me: I filed a restraining order.
Sky: …But… How…?
Me: Don't ask.