Oh gosh, so so sorry about the major delay! I got into a car accident and just barely got out of the hospital. :/ BUT! I made it back just before Christmas so why don't we consider this a "Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays" Present? Kay? Kay. As usual I would like to thank my ever so lovely and amazing reviewers; Magdalene Thorne, mcoyne, FiringShootingStar, JuneGilbertVivianRaeven, and my ever so mysterious guest reviewers! I'm so happy you all are enjoying this story!
Disclaimer: Yeah, still don't own Yugioh 5Ds.
Crow had been doing his morning rounds and as he stopped at the Duel Academy, one of the teachers had ordered a new computer and thanks to Akiza's recommendation he was asked to deliver it. He ignored the stares as he walked through the halls, having accomplished his quota for the day the red head duelist was more excited to get home and see Raven.
'It's weird looking forward to seeing someone, especially a girl someone. But it's also kinda nice too, I'm sure with her in the pit with us we can win the WRGP.' He blushed as images of her in a cheerleading outfit came to mind, he quickly shook his head. 'Behave Crow!'
That's he heard a couple of the students gossiping, under normal circumstances he would have ignored it but when he heard the name "Jack Atlas" he decided to become very fascinated in some posters advertising the WRPG.
"The Jack Atlas is on our course? What for?" one of the boys asked disbelievingly, which was true, Jack would never come to this course, it was as he put it "Not dignified enough for me." 'Whatever the heck that means.'
The kids continued, "I have no idea, my friend from class said it looked like he was dueling some girl."
"Ehh? Seriously?!" Crow could hear the surprise in his voice, as his friend continued.
"Yeah but the weird part is even after she lost the first duel they just kept going, even though she kept getting creamed by him."
"You don't think she's his student or something right?" the kids laughed and shouted their "No ways" before walking off. 'Jack didn't really take her here to turbo duel did he?' when Crow really thought about it though, it was something Jack would do.
He sighed and decided to go take a look; he hadn't seen her Turbo Duel and was curious. As he made his way down he found Akiza, Leo and Luna heading in the same direction. As they made their way down he stopped by a window that looked out on the stadium; Raven and Jack were sitting there, but they were talking with a third person, Crow couldn't explain it, but something told him that was not a person he wanted her to duel.
When the purple runner lined up with the other man's he felt a sense of urgency and quickly turned running down the halls to get there.
~0~0~0~
It seemed to take forever to get to the stands and as the four of them climbed down the stairs Crow saw the duelists were about to pass them. Leo getting excited to see her Turbo Duel ran down the remaining stairs, cheering her name.
Raven was in the middle of her turn when she glanced up, and instead of smiling she looked almost…scared. And looking at her opponent he could see why, the man smiled widely at them, reminding the red head of a cat he'd seen back in Satellite that finally found a mouse to hunt.
Crow saw Jack following behind them, a frown on his face as he past. "Jack! What the hell man?!" the blonde either didn't hear him or choose to ignore him, though he supposed it was the former.
"I don't like the feel of that guy she's dueling. He seems…I don't know how to explain it; like there's a deep darkness inside of him that's going to swallow her up." Akiza's voice was grave, but it validated what he felt when he first saw him.
"I sense it too Akiza…you don't think he's from Pandora do you?!" Luna sounded frightened but neither of them could say just where this man had come from. Leo looked confused but turned back to the duel, "You guys worry too much!"
Crow hoped that's all it was as Raven continued her turn; "I'll summon my friend Red-Eyes Black Chick in attack mode! But don't think he's sticking around for long because I'm using his ability to send him directly to the grave to summon out my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
True to its name a black dragon appeared next to her previous dragon, its eyes were a crimson red as it roared out. 'So far she seems to have this handled, maybe we were just over reacting?'
"Next I'll use my newly awakened dragon to attack your Aurkus! Go Inferno Fire Blast!" The dragon opened its mouth wide as a ball of energy formed, whipping its head back it sent the attack, engulfing the man's monster, it let out a yell before vanishing and depleting his lifepoints down to 2800.
"Now to finish off this turn I'll use the effect of my Armed Dragon Lvl 5 to bring out the amazing Armed Dragon Lvl 7!" The medium sized dragon vanished into a bright light as a larger scarier version of that card came onto the field, sporting an impressive 2800 attack points. "That's it for now Isaac, its your move."
The man smirked mockingly, "So you really aren't planning on bringing that monster out are you?" Crow winced as his mark began to glow and burn, "I don't need him to take you down!"
As he watched on the screen he noticed her own back was beginning to glow faintly, she clutched at her shoulder painfully. 'What is he talking about? What card does he want her to summon?'
Isaac shook his head as he drew a card, "Even without my Aurkus I can still beat you hands down, here let me show you; first I'll summon my Lumia, Lightsworn Summoner in attack mode!" A dark skinned girl in pure white and gold robes jumped onto the field with 1000 attack points and 1000 defense points.
"And thanks to the effect of my Wulf, Lightsworn Beast in my grave I can summon him straight from my graveyard as long as there is a monster with the name 'Lightsworn' on my side of the field, come join this little party my beast!" A large muscled Wulf man thing howled loudly as it came to the field, wielding a golden axe and 2100 attack points.
Isaac seemed to consider his next move; "Sadly thanks to your damned Acceleration Limiter's effect I cannot play any speed spells, nor can my monsters attack yours. So I think I will just end my turn now."
Raven nodded and drew her card, but Isaac interrupted her; "So are those people your friends?" she didn't reply, but even Crow could see her shaking horribly. "They do know you're life is a sin against our laws right?" his eyes widened, 'Don't tell me he's from...'
Isaac laughed, "Or how it was your fault your parent's suffered and died? From the day your cursed powers awakened they suffered the most, but we being merciful people tried to help you with our purification." He sighed, "It's too bad really, those two were foolish enough to protect you and even provide an escape! Now look at you, hanging around people and passing your disgusting life away in this city, and look what's happened? The people here are now suffering for your selfishness!"
Crow clenched his fists hard, Raven just stared down at her runner, the card she just drew shaking luckily Jack spoke up now; "What rubbish are you talking about? Raven didn't cause any of that to happen! She came here looking for happiness and that is in no way selfish!"
Crow sighed, 'Great…now I owe him for that.' "Yeah! We're happy to have her in our lives!" Leo yelled, "Don't listen to him Raven! Nothing that's happened is your fault!" Luna joined in.
"Believe in yourself Raven! We'll always have your back!" Akiza shouted, Crow smirked and as they passed by again he yelled; "WIPE THE FLOOR WITH THIS ASSHOLE SO WE CAN GO HOME!"
She stared wide eyed at them and smiled, he vaguely noticed how drenched in sweat she was, but passed it off as Isaac started laughing, loudly. "Oh my! Well it seems you've cast an enchantment on them sinner girl! I'd be happy to purify them after I'm finished with you."
'Purify?' but his question was swept away as a large red glow encompassed Raven's body, her once pale blue eyes now shining a bright yellow. Their marks burned, he could feel her anger as on her back the complete mark of the Crimson Dragon appeared. When she spoke though it was a mix of her own voice and someone else's, a deeper older voice;
"You touch them and I swear I will end you, you worm! I'll protect them with my life! Now on with my turn so that I can finish you! Since I have 5 speed counters I'll play the speed spell Call of the Red-Eyes, with this I pay 3 of my speed counters to call any card from my deck with Red-Eyes in its name and I choose my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon! And thanks to its ability I can send the Red-Eyes on my field to summon him straight from my hand."
Black smoke rose between them as a black dragon with orange jewels on its wings appeared on the field, its roar seemed to shake the very ground and when a window broke behind them he remembered she was a psychic duelist, so everything was real!
He ran up to the edge of the track and jumped down to the sidelines, "Raven! You gotta calm down! You're powers going to go crazy if you don't!" she turned toward him as they passed, and placing a hand on her head she shook it.
Instantly the glow around her body vanished and her eyes returned to their normal color, "I refuse to act like the monster you're calling me!" she breathed hard, "Now…allow me to finish this; my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon gets an extra 300 attack points for every dragon card in my grave, and since I have 3 he gets an grand total of 3300 attack points!"
The dragon roared again as its attack points increased and it seemed to grow in size, Crow smirked at her skill, 'You wouldn't think by just looking at her that she's this good, she might even give me a run for my money.'
"Now my dragon unleash your fury and attack his Wulf, Infernal Darkfire!" A blast of black fire hit Isaac's monster incinerating it on the spot and taking his lifepoints down too 1600.
Crow's heart beat in excitement, "Yeah! You got this duel in the bag Raven!"
'Yes! One more attack and he'll be gone for good!' Raven wiped the sweat from her face as she took heavy breathes, it was like there was water in lungs! But she couldn't focus on that right now, at this moment she had to end this duel and send Isaac away before he could get to her friends.
"Now…I'll end this with my Armed Dragon Lvl 7, attack his Lumia with Dragon Sonic Sphere!" the metal armor her dragon wore began to spin and turn, the energy from this gathering around him. Roaring loudly it sent the attack toward his monster, Isaac laughed.
"I activate my Lightsworn Fairy's effect from the grave!" Her eyes widened, 'No! He can't!'
"This allows me to negate an attack on a Lightsworn monster and destroy the attacking monster!" Her dragon cried out as a bright light enveloped it and blew it off the field, "And that's not all; see when this monster's effect activates you end up taking all the damage I would have just taken!"
The light turned on her and she screamed as pain shot through her body, as it faded she slumped slightly against her runner, it was getting harder and harder to breathe and for some reason it was hot.
Her lifepoints dropped down to 2200, it took everything she had just to look at her hand but finding nothing she sat up, "I-I e-end my t-turn…" her voice was shaking horribly and she was sure if it wasn't for auto pilot she would be swerving badly.
"Raven! Are you alright?!" Jack rolled up next to her, worry in his amethyst eyes. Smiling slightly she gave him a weak thumbs up, Isaac sighed and she turned her attention back to him.
"It's too bad Raven, I was really hoping I didn't have to do this. But it seems your stubbornness has forced my hand, oh well." He smiled as he drew his card, Raven knew that smile it meant he was about to deal the finishing blow and it would be crippling.
"I use the effect of my Judgment Dragon that I just drew, and the 4 Lightsworn cards in my grave to summon it straight from my hand!" The clouds parted as white light lit up the field, white feathers floated down as a piercing roar shook the air. A white feathered dragon glided down and landed beside Isaac's smiling form, its whiskers floating beside its head with 3000 attack points and 2600 defense points.
"And since your little spell card's effect has worn off I'm going to use these speed spells; Force Summon, now I can force you to summon out your Magna Drago." She gasped as the card in her hand played and a red scaled dragon appeared on the field.
"No! Stop!" she could feel her back beginning to burn again as her heart hammered against her chest, "No can do! Now I play Force Synchro which as it's name implies forces your two monsters to synchro summon!"
Raven watched in horror as her monsters floated upwards, rings of red light circled around them. The field was bathed in red light as the cry of a new dragon floated down, this one bright red with bright yellow eyes. "Crimson…Galaxy…Dragon…" Raven felt her consciousness begin to fade as it roared from next to her, with 3500 attack points and 3000 defense points.
"See! That wasn't so hard." She could hear in condescending tone as she struggled to stay conscious, "T-That's the…Crimson Dragon!" Jack's voice forced her to look at him, his face a mix of shock and awe.
"Now that that's taken care of its time for my favorite part; I play the spell card Lightsworn Judgment! And since I have a Judgment Dragon on my side of the field I can attack your Crimson Galaxy Dragon! Judgment light!"
Raven shakes her head and forces herself to move one last desperate card, "I-I don't know what you're up too but I activate…my trap, Draining Shield! Now your attack gets negated and I gain lifepoints equal to your monsters attack points!"
She smiled, 'Yes…this is it. I'm done, I can go-' but her thoughts are cut off as her trap is destroyed, eyes wide she looks at his field; "Royal Decree negates all other traps on the field, and since I played Divine Judgment even when my monster gets destroyed you get hit with the combined attack and defense of my monster when he goes to the grave!"
"T-That's 5600 points…" She looked at Jack and knew if he stayed where he was he would get hit, turning off auto pilot she slammed into the front of his D-Wheel causing him to swerve and finally stop behind them as white light shined down on her.
"You can't escape the light of Judgment Raven, and what you're about to feel is the price of your sin." Isaac's red eyes glared at her, nothing but pure hatred reflected in them. She heard her name called out and smiled, "It's a price I will gladly pay for them Isaac."
This seemed to take him by surprise, but he didn't comment has a large bolt of lightning crashed down on her. Closing her eyes she screamed as sliced through her body, then everything was swept away by the darkness.
Jack watched in horror as a bolt of lightning struck down on his would-be sister, the girl he had promised to protect. Smoke rose from her runner as it toppled over and slid sideways across the ground, but he didn't pay attention to this as Raven herself flew off, hitting the track hard and rolling on the ground before sliding to a stop a few feet from her runner.
Jack heard Crow and the others yelling, but it was background noise to him as he ran over to her form, falling to his knees as he came upon her. She laid on the ground her torso facing upward and her legs scrunched sideways as if she were sleeping, but as the blonde carefully removed her helmet and saw the blood and sweat on her face he knew she definitely wasn't.
Both of her arms were bleeding where she had skidded across the ground and as he carefully leaned her against him he could feel it soaking into his white clothes, but again he paid little mind too it.
Crow appeared in front of him his hands hovering over her, unsure. All around them it seemed as if time had started moving in slow motion, something wet hit her face and it was then that it registered that he was…crying.
A voice broke through the fog of slow motion, looking down he saw bleary pale blue eyes, his heart beat fast as her shaky hand reached up to wipe away the tears that had slid down his cheek then over to Crow's own face to do the same. She smiled weakly;
"That's…not good. Kings don't…cry for something like this." Her voice was soft but it was there and he realized how right she was. It was undignified for a king to act in this manner, he frowned and wiped away the remains of the tears.
"That's the Jack Atlas I know…" she turned toward Crow, her thumb running gently over his cheek his own hand holding it firmly there. "Don't…make that face…I like it when you smile." She tried smiling herself but it only ended in her coughing hard.
Crow wiped his eyes on his glove and smiled widely, "Like this?" a small smile graced her lips, "E-Exactly...if it's n-not to much trouble..." she coughed again, "C-Can you take me to Dr. Schmidt?"
"W-What? um..sure, but why? Raven?" he eyes slid shut again, the hands on their faces going limp and falling to the ground beside her. "No…hospitals…please…" she whispered and was gone again.
Jack nodded and gently picked her up, he barely noticed Akiza standing off to the side consoling the twins as he got onto his runner. Crow ran up, "What the hell are you doing?!"
The blonde glared at the red head, "Exactly what she said! It's my fault she's this way so it's my responsibility to make sure she survives, even if it means going against you!"
Crow's eyes got wide, he dropped his head and nodded silently. "I'll call Yusei to tell him and meet you at Martha's later." He nodded, "Take good care of her Jack, I'll never forgive you if you don't."
He nodded again and took off, 'I wouldn't either Crow.'
;A; Ahhh i'm sorry Raven, looks like you're revenge is gonna have to wait. I hope you all enjoy your Holiday's! Please Review with any questions, comments or any thoughts you might be having.
Till next time! :3