Chapter 22: Minus World! Find Regulus The White Lion!

The dark wasteland of the Satellite is dark, lit only by the monkey sign burning in the earth.

Lua gets to his feet, tentatively, breathing heavily. His life points stand at 3200.

Compared to Demak's untouched 4000. "It's your turn, kid." Demak says.

"Lua…" Says Sakura. "Lua won't be able to survive that damage! What can we do?" Ushio asks.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to draw? If you surrender instead, you'll die painlessly." Says Demak.

"Whatever! I promised to protect Luca! My turn! I draw!" Lua says. He draws Morphtronic Magnen Bar. "Think! Due to Magician Ape's effect, if I summon a monster, he gains control of it. In that case…" Lua thinks to himself. "I summon Morphtronic Magnen Bar in defense position!" Says Lua.

Morphtronic Magnen Bar has 100 defense points and is a Level 1 monster. "I set one card and end my turn." Lua says.

"So, there's nothing you can do." Says Demak.

"I promise to defeat him, Luca!" Lua thinks to himself.

In the spirit world. Luca and Kuribon are running through a dark, foggy forest. "Like I thought, this is the spirit world. I have to hurry and rescue Ancient Fairy Dragon and return to my world. Lua is in danger!" Luca thinks to herself.

Flashback. "My servant named Regulus will come meet you. Combine your powers and free me." Ancient Fairy Dragon says. The flashback ends.

Back to the present. "Ancient Fairy Dragon, did you bring me here? If I don't free you, we can't defeat the Earthbound Immortals." Luca thinks to herself. As they run, apparently without tiring, they come to a hilltop overlooking a modestly-sized town. "There's a city over there! Let's go, Kuribon!" Says Luca. Kuribon coos, in reply.

The town's streets are cobbled and empty, its buildings plain, impeccably-hewn stone.

Along the exterior walls of the buildings are spaced unusual staves, apparently standing on their own, tilted to one side or the other. A staff of this type tapers to a blunt point at the bottom, and the pole, gray with a single black stripe coiling around it, is taller than Luca by about a foot. Capping that is a black device shaped like a squat letter T, with two arrows on each horizontal tip, like the hands of a clock. Directly above that is a golden piece shaped like a stylized U. "Is anyone here? Huh?" Luca asks.

In two side-alleys off the street she's walking on, she sees small people clustered, watching anxiously. These are not normal people, but small humanoid duel spirits, watching her, fearfully.

"What are you all doing?" Asks Luca. As she approaches, they vanish behind the corners, running to hide.

"Wait a second!" Luca says. She runs to the beginning of the alleyway and tries to call after them, she's alone. "What's going on?" Asks Luca. Kuribon coos. "Huhh! You over there…" Luca says.

There's one more little duel spirit peering down the alley at her. The little female in a layering white dress darts away.

"Please don't run away!" Says Luca. They run after, but the little fairy has a huge head-start down the next street.

Luca stops to catch her breath. "Why is everyone running away?" Luca asks. They look around and see more duel spirits peeking out of doorways, cautiously, all of them little.

When they see they've been noticed, they vanish.

Kuribon coos and floats across the courtyard they're standing in. "What's wrong, Kuribon?" Asks Luca. Kuribon's hovering at the top of a flight of stairs that leads to another part of the town. Luca joins him, as a ball bounces up the stairs and into her hands, as though happy to see her. "The ball bounced up the stairs. What's going on? Huh?" Luca asks.

Elsewhere in the courtyard, a leaf drifts upward to a branch of the tree above it, and seems to reattach. "Look. The leaves are reattaching to the branch." Says Luca. More leaves keep doing the same thing. "Do events happen backwards in this world?" Luca asks. Kuribon coos. "What is this?" Asks Luca. There's another of the staves they've seen around the city standing beneath the tree. "I've seen it around." Luca says. A wind suddenly picks up. "What?" Asks Luca.

A couple of the town's duel spirits are yelling to her as they run for cover. "They're coming!"

"Huh?" Luca asks.

"They're coming to capture spirits!" "Hurry up and flee!"

"What do you mean? Uh." Says Luca.

Black fog rolls out of a nearby street, just like it did in the Satellite.

Luca drops the ball in shock, and it bounces out toward the fog. "Oh no! This way, Kuribon!" Luca says. Kuribon coos.

The ball Luca dropped rolls through the fog, and is popped by a steel-toed boot. In the wake of the fog, several monkey-like soldiers have appeared, each carrying a staff like the ones around town. "Rrrgh! I smell them! I smell spirits!" "Where are the spirits?" "You go that way. I'll search up ahead." "Search over here! I'm going this way!"

Luca is hiding behind a corner down an alley. "Who are they?" Asks Luca. Kuribon coos. Luca's pocket lights up. She takes out her deck, her cards are glowing. "The card spirits…" Luca says. She holds it in both of her hands and closes her eyes. Sunny Pixie and Sunlight Unicorn are just as afraid as Kuribon. Luca stands before them and lays a gentle hand each on Unicorn's nose and Kuribon's cheek. "Don't be scared." Says Luca.

A gaggle of duel spirits run past their hiding place.

A monkey follows them, and looks to the side, spotting Luca, her glowing deck and Kuribon. "Hm!" "Ahh!" Luca says. Kuribon and the lights from her cards take off after the fleeing duel spirits, terrified.

As the lights flee, they resolve into Sunlight Unicorn and Sunny Pixie, fleeing with Kuribon.

The monkeys pursue. "Found them! Eheheh!" A monkey raises its staff.

"No!" Says Luca.

The staff's 'hands' change from vertical to horizontal, and purple fire-mist comes shooting out of the end of the staff. It hits Sunny Pixie and she squeaks, turned into a tablet of stone that resembles her card.

The same thing happens to Sunlight Unicorn, and finally Kuribon.

"How does it feel to be minus? Heheheheheheheh!"

Luca's been watching all this from further up the stairs. "What should I do? Kuribon and the others..." Luca says.

"She's over there!"

"Huh?!" Asks Luca. She runs.

"Catch her!" "Cut her off! Trap her from both sides!"

As Luca runs through the city, she doesn't notice that her reflection in the windows she passes is occasionally upside-down, or reflected on the upper-story windows above the ones she actually passes. Finally she rounds a corner and the monkeys are walking toward her from either end of the street, she's trapped. Luca runs down an alleyway and reaches the end of it. "A dead end! What should I do? Huh?" Luca asks. She heard something.

One of the stones in the pavement is actually the entrance to a hidey-hole. Someone lifts it and beckons to her.

"Ah." Says Luca.

"My turn." Demak says. He draws. "I activate Magician Ape's effect. By sending one card in my hand to the graveyard, I gain control of one of your monsters." Says Demak.

"Rrgh." Lua growls under his breath.

"Cursed Needle!" Demak says.

"Oh no! He took Lua's monster again!" Says Ushio. "You're wrong." Sakura says. "Huh?" Asks Ushio.

"You fell for it! When Magnen Bar is in defense position on your side of the field, your monsters can't battle!" Lua says.

"Ha! Well done!" Says Ushio.

"Then, I'll get rid of this obstacle. I release Magnen Bar to Tribute Summon Fighter Ape!" Demak says.

Fighter Ape has 1900 attack points and is a Level 5 monster.

"One thousand nine hundred attack points?" Asks Ushio.

"Fighter Ape attacks you directly!" Demak says.

"Stop!" Says Ushio.

"I activate my trap! 'Remake Puzzle'! By destroying a Morphtronic monster on the field, the Battle Phase ends. Then I can Special Summon one Morphtronic monster from my graveyard whose Level is lower than Morphtronic Magnen's. Come, Morphtronic Magnen Bar!" Lua says.

Morphtronic Magnen Bar has 100 defense points and is a Level 1 monster.

"You avoided pain this time, but I wonder how long you'll last. I end my turn!" Says Demak.

"Luca, I'll give it my all!" Lua thinks to himself.

Aki, Hotaru, Jace, Minako and Kakyuu have stopped driving, looking up at the monkey symbol in the distance. Aurora's fur is standing on edge, her eyes fixed on the sign in the sky. "The monkey geoglyph…" Minako says. "There's a duel against a Dark Signer, but…" Says Aki. Her arm is dark.

As is Jack's. He's noticed the same thing, and he's stopped moving, too. "There's no response from my mark. That means a Signer isn't battling him?" Jack thinks to himself.

Yusei's noticed that his sign hasn't appeared either. He looks at it and then back up at the monkey symbol in the sky, silently.

In the spirit world, the monkey-soldiers are standing in the dead-end alley Luca ran into. "Where did she go?" "Search more!"

Another monkey runs into view on the main street. "This way!" The other monkeys follow him away.

When all is quiet, Luca and her new friend peek out of the hidey-hole beneath a paving stone in the alley. "They left." "Thank you. You saved me." Luca says. They climb out and her new acquaintance pushes the stone back into place. He's shorter than Luca, with long, black hair and light blue eyes, clothes in blues and browns, a purple conical helmet, that's too big for him, and a gnarled wooden staff, with a crystal set into the top. "Little girl, you came from a different world?" "Uh." Says Luca. "Sheesh, why would a child wander into the spirit world all alone? If I wasn't here, who knows what would've happened to you." "This isn't how you talk to someone older than you! You're still a child, too." Luca says, defensively. "I'm not a child. Even though I look like this, I'm a senior citizen." "Huh?" Asks Luca. "My name's Torunka. Nice to meet you, little girl."

A little while later, they hide from monkeys outside in an abandoned-looking building. "You're all Spellcaster spirits?" Luca asks. "That's right. They've captured all the other spirits. We managed to escape, but the minus curse turned us into children." Says Torunka. Luca leans away. "Minus curse?" Luca asks. "Yes. Minus energy is so powerful that it can turn back time." Says Torunka. "What do you mean? Tell me in detail." Luca says. Torunka sighs. "Spirits used to live peacefully together in this world." Says Torunka.

Flashback. "Everyone used their unique abilities to help each other, so we had a peaceful and rich life. But everything changed when those hunters came to Shubank City. They're trying to change everything in the world into minus. If the Cursed Needle is set to minus, it unleashes a minus curse that traps spirits." Torunka says, in voice-over. "Cursed Needle?" Asks Luca, in voice-over. The flashback ends.

Back to the present. "Ahh! Do you know a spirit named Regulus?" Luca asks. "Regulus? How do you know Master Regulus?" Asks Torunka. "I came to this world in order to rescue Ancient Fairy Dragon." Luca says. "Are you a Signer?" Asks Torunka. "Does that mean you know? Where can I find Regulus? Please tell me!" Luca says. "No. It's too dangerous to meet him right now." Says Torunka. "Dangerous?" Luca asks. "Master Regulus has been acting strange lately. He shows his fangs at anyone who approaches him. Master Regulus is agitated because he couldn't protect Ancient Fairy Dragon." Says Torunka. "But I can't rescue Ancient Fairy Dragon without Regulus! We also need to rescue Kuribon and the other captured spirits! Please tell me where I can find Regulus!" Luca says. Torunka sighs. "He's hiding in Poyaru Forest." Says Torunka. "Poyaru Forest. Torunka, guide me there!" Luca says. "That's crazy! If we leave right now, we're going to get captured!" Says Torunka. Luca creeps out the front door of the building and runs down the street.

Torunka runs out after her. "Torunka, hurry!" Luca says. "Stop being cruel to the elderly!" Says Torunka.

A monkey soldier notices them, as they run through a cross-street. He beckons to others. "There they are!"

"Uh! They found us!" Luca says. "I told you so!" Says Torunka.

"Stop!"

As they round a corner at the bottom of a slanting street, Luca notices several glass bottles sitting on the ground and stops running. "Wait!" Luca says. She sets up the bottles, lying them down. "Luca, this isn't the time to play!" Says Torunka. Luca reaches up and flips the vertical hands of the nearest staff to horizontal.

Things turn upside-down, and the bottles roll uphill toward the pursuing monkeys. Each one of them slips on one and ends up ultimately rolling up the hill with it.

"Oh!" Torunka says. "Now's our chance. Hurry!" Says Luca. She runs off and Torunka follows.

A few hills over from the town, he and Luca walk into view. "They're not chasing us anymore." Luca says. "I can't walk any further." Says Torunka. He sits on his knees, exhausted, leaning on his staff. "Sheesh, you should try harder since you're a boy." Luca says. "I told you that I'm old! I won't walk one step further!" Says Torunka. "Oh well." Luca says. She sighs, and kneels, offering him a piggyback ride. "C'mon." Says Luca. "Huh?" Torunka asks. "Hurry up and get on. I'll carry you." Says Luca. Torunka's surprised that she would do this, just to have him along. "Thanks." Torunka says. He climbs on and Luca keeps going, with him clinging to her back. "Poyaru Forest is that way, right?" Asks Luca. "Luca, you're a strong child." Torunka says. "Me? I'm not strong. When I was young, I was always sick." Says Luca. "Really? But I sense heroic power from you, Luca." Torunka says. "That's not me. It's the power of a certain individual who's protecting me from afar." Says Luca. "Are you talking about Ancient Fairy Dragon?" Torunka asks. "No… It's a person who's always by my side." Says Luca.

Meanwhile, Lua's quite unaware of such confidence, facing down Demak with gritted teeth, nervously. "My turn! I draw!" Lua says. He drew Celfon. "It's here! I summon Morphtronic Celfon in attack position!" Says Lua.

Morphtronic Celfon has 100 attack points and is a Level 1 monster. "Dial on! When Celfon is in attack position, it dials a number between one and six, and I look at that many cards from the top of my deck. If there's a Level Four-or-below Morphtronic monster, I can Special Summon it! Three cards!" Lua says. He drew two spells and Morphtronic Remoten. "I have one! I Special Summon Morphtronic Remoten!" Says Lua.

Morphtronic Remoten has 300 attack points and is a Level 3 monster.

"A Tuner Monster, I see." Demak says.

"Then I activate the spell card 'Level Mirroring' from my hand! Magnen Bar's Level becomes the same as your Magician Ape!" Says Lua. Magnen Bar's Level changes from 1 to 3. "Level Three Remoten tunes the now Level Three Magnen Bar and Level One Celfon! In order to protect world peace, courage and power dock together! Synchro Summon! The emissary of love and justice! Power Tool Dragon!" Lua says.

Power Tool Dragon has 2300 attack points and is a Level 7 monster.

"All right! Lua brought out a Synchro Monster before he did!" Says Ushio. Subaru and Velvet are both happy to see that Lua brought out Power Tool Dragon, smiles of childish delight on their faces, in their own ways. Sakura has a satisfied half-smile on her face, proud of him despite her worry. "He's properly analyzing his opponent's field while he duels. Your skills have improved, Lua." Sakura thinks to herself.

"Hahahahahahaha. A toy dragon? Since you're not a Signer, that monster is appropriate for a phony. Hmhmhahaha!" Demak says.

"Don't make fun of me! Due to Power Tool Dragon's effect, I can add one random Equip Spell in my deck to my hand once per turn! I equip the Equip Spell 'Break! Draw!' on to Power Tool Dragon! When the equipped monster destroys your monster in battle, I get to draw one card. After I use this effect three times, this card is destroyed. Power Tool Dragon, start the counterattack! Attack Magician Ape! Crafty Break!" Says Lua.

It's destroyed. Demak's life points are now 2500. "Uuug-uuuugh!"

"Since Power Tool Dragon destroyed your monster, due to 'Break! Draw!'s' effect, I draw one card." Lua says.

Demak looks as though he's trying not to give something away, his bubble will be burst soon enough.

"How's that? Stop underestimating me because I'm not a Signer! I have Power Tool Dragon, the most powerful dragon!" Says Lua.

In the spirit world. Luca and Torunka are hiking along. He's still on her back. "Hey, Torunka." Luca says. "What is it?" Asks Torunka. "Where do they take the captured spirits?" Luca asks. "After they're turned into minus, they're taken to Zeman the Ape King's castle." Says Torunka. "Zeman the Ape King? Is that their leader?" Luca asks. "Yes. No one knows where he came from or what his true goal is." Says Torunka. "Zeman the Ape King…" Luca says.

A tall monkey-staff stands at the foot of Ancient Fairy Dragon's mountain. Someone speaks. "Ancient Fairy Dragon, your sealed power will become minus and belong to me." A bolt of lightning strikes the staff from the clouds above and it shatters and disappears.

Another staff turns purple-misty and shatters, this one held by a massive ape sitting on a throne. "I need Regulus to completely turn Ancient Fairy Dragon into minus." Before his dais, torches and monkeys with their arms upraised stand in a ring around a swirling pool of liquid. On the wall, Kuribon's image in stone can be seen between two other tablet-cards.

"Hahahahahahaha!" Says Demak. He's holding a hand over one eye, as though he has a headache.

"What's so funny?" Lua asks.

"That's the spirit. It would be rude to the gods if this minor battle of destiny wasn't entertaining." Says Demak.

"What do you mean by minor battle? I'm risking my life in this battle!" Lua says.

"We offer this duel to the great gods! My turn! I summon Dark Tuner Dark Ape in attack position!" Says Demak.

Dark Ape has 0 attack points and is a Level 2 monster.

"Ah!" Lua says.

"Dark Tuner?" Asks Ushio. "Be careful, Lua!" Sakura says.

"Then I activate the spell card 'Dark Wave' from my hand! Fighter Ape's Level becomes its Level multiplied by negative one." Says Demak. Fighter Ape's Level goes from 5 to -5. "Level Two Dark Ape tunes Level negative Five Fighter Ape! Born from darkness, become the ruler of the negative world! Dark Synchro! Appear, Zeman the Ape King!" Demak says.

Zeman the Ape King has 2500 attack points and is a Level 7 monster. "When Zeman the Ape King attacks, you can't activate spell or trap cards until the end of the Damage Step." Says Demak.

"I don't care if it's a Dark Synchro monster! I'm not scared! I have Power Tool Dragon on my side!" Lua says.

It's true, Power Tool has 3200, and Zeman has 2500.

"Lua, that's the spirit! You have more life points than him!" Says Ushio. Sakura remains silent.

"Since Dark Ape was used to Dark Synchro, I get to draw one card from my deck." Demak says.

"Ohh." Says Lua.

"I activate the Field Spell 'Closed Forest'!" Demak says.

"Field Spell?" Asks Lua.

"This is bad! If the Field Spell activates, he has everything he needs to summon an Earthbound Immortal!" Sakura says. Subaru and Velvet cling closer to her, scared of the change in atmosphere and taking in their mother's words. Grim lets out a deep growl, as his dark fur stands on edge.

"Uuuuooaaaaagh!" Lua screams.

Through the purple mist, almost within it, can be seen ghostly dead trees, their branches spiking toward the sky.

In the spirit world. The forest Luca and Torunka are walking through is not unlike the Field Spell. It's even more dismal and misty and dead than the forest she arrived in. The green of the leaves is dull, almost lifeless, and there are staves standing at the foot of several trees. Leaves are drifting back up to their branches one by one. "This is Poyaru Forest?" Asks Luca. "The fog is getting thick." Torunka says. "Many things are also moving backwards here." Says Luca. "Be careful, Luca. As I said before, Master Regulus has lost his composure." Torunka says. "Regulus! Come out! I need to talk to you!" Says Luca, calling out. Torunka shushes her, frantically. "Shh! What if he attacks us?" Torunka asks. "It's fine. If we talk, he'll understand. Regulus, please! We're not enemies!" Says Luca, calling out. Torunka tries to shush her again, terrified, but before he can say anything.

Something leaps out of the bushes at them. They cower. Luca opens her eyes, tentatively. "Regulus?" Luca asks. She sees what she's looking at and gasps. The creature snarling and growling at them from atop a rock has the mane and body of a lion, the horn of a unicorn and a tail more like a mouse's. He's wearing scratched armor, built to fit him, bedecked with globe-like, light blue jewels at the shoulder and hip. This must be Regulus. "Master Regulus…" Says Torunka. "He's Regulus?" Luca asks.