"I'm telling ya: something's out there."
"Well, duh, Don. We're underwater. Sealife ain't exactly invisible."
Two sailors were walking down one of the hallways in the soon-to-be underwater Academy. "That ain't what I mean! Did ya hear about the ice?"
"Shh! Not too loud, ya lout! The last thing The Admiral told us was to keep the cold problem under wraps while the South Academy Head-Honcho was here!"
"Somethin' ain't right about it, Joe." The other sailor spoke up. "Even for underwater, how did an entire boiler room freeze over a single night? Not to mention that Karru keeps hearing things."
"Karru's full of crap, the man cheats at poker even after he gets caught."
"He's full of crap, but the way he looked before they brought him to the nursery, he looked scared out of his wits."
As the two sailors left the room, no one noticed the glass behind them start to fog up and freeze.
[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]
Wilona woke up in the middle of the night. At least, she thought it was night. It was hard to tell the time being underwater now. But the reason why she woke up was because her flip phone was ringing.
Wilona thought it odd. She didn't have any bars when she tried to call Alexis or any of the others when they arrived. So who was calling her at this time? How as well?
"Hello?" Wilona, still half-asleep, picked up the phone and answered it.
"Ah, my starlight."
Wilona sat up straight from her bed. Her eyes snapped open.
"I'm sorry I couldn't call. I was... out of it longer than usual."
The green-haired girl put on her slippers and started walking out of her room. "No, no! It's great to hear from you again, mum. Are you resting? Are they treating you well there?"
"Oh, they are. But as soon I was ready, I wanted to hear my starlight's voice."
"Mum," If anyone else that knew her was there, they would have been surprised to hear how soft Wilona's voice was at that moment. "Why do you have to call me such an embarrassing name?"
"Because you are my starlight." Even at the bottom of the ocean, Wilona could see her mother giving a small smile after those words. "I am a little tired, starlight. Can you please sing for your dear mother?"
"I-I don't have a guitar with me." Wilona found herself saying while she walked at a faster pace. As she did, she did not notice the windows behind her starting to freeze.
"Please?"
Wilona walked past a sliding door that revealed what looked to be a five-star restaurant. In actuality, it was one of the many cafeteria areas this Underwater Duel Academy would soon employ. While the Slifer Red girl wondered how a pirate-like man could even afford all of this, the area she entered by accident was to her favor. She spotted a Piano by one corner of the room in a miniature stage. Wilona was drawn to the piano and removed the tapestry before setting it up.
"... Okay, mum." Wilona breathed in deeply as she sat down on the cold, wooden seat.
Silence filled the dimly lit room.
Wilona played several notes that tumbled one after the other like children rolling down a hill down in autumn.
"~I'm glad I never lived next to the water, so I could never get used to the beach...~" Wilona never noticed the ice. Especially now, she didn't notice the cold air ironically stop its dark creeping as she began to sing. "~And I'm glad I never grew up on a mountain, to figure out how high the world could reach.~"
Wilona kept singing. She didn't know that as she did, on the other side of the world, a weak woman gave the tenderest smiles and fell into her pillow. The Slifer Red didn't know that the ice that crept behind her was melting. Silent whispers of hatred lost their presence as her voice started to gain strength with the music. And she was so busy playing that she didn't notice one of the doors opening up.
Wilona kept singing the song until the end. She looked at her phone and heard only silence behind it. "Goodnight, mum. Or whenever it is for you there." She closed her phone with a snap noise. When the noise echoed, she heard a loud growl coming from behind her.
The light green-haired girl blinked several times before she realized she was staring at a- "Is that a bloody alligator? But we're canyons-deep under saltwater!?"
"Crocodile, miss." Wilona recognized the Australian accent. When she followed the voice, she assumed that her mind must be playing tricks on her. Why was there a crocodile and a cowboy in an underwater aquarium/school funded by a pirate-wannabe!? The worst part was why she wasn't as surprised as she wanted to be. "And sorry about the disturbance. You were playing quite the tune."
"It's fine. I was finished." Wilona stood up and set the piano down. "You're not one of the Admiral's men, are you?"
The cowboy tipped his hat upward. It was then that Wilona spotted the bandage over one of the cowboy's eyes. "Now, do I look like a pirate?"
"These past few months have been very eye-opening in such a way that the word 'normal' has lost all meaning to me." Wilona folded her arms. "For all I know, you could be."
The Australian, one-eyed cowboy gave off a scoff that sounded like a laugh. "The name's James Crocodile Cook, but most fellas call me Jim. I'm a student of South Academy and not a pirate."
Wilona looked down at the crocodile.
"That's Shirley, me good friend. I think she's taken a liking to ya." Jim went down to pick up and place the gator into a special carrier on his back.
"I'm flattered." Wilona watched with interest, especially at the fact he had a custom made baby-carrier for gators. "But may I ask why you're here at the dead of night?"
"I could ask you the same question."
"I got a call from my mother. Now let's hear your answer."
"I'm letting Shirley go for a walk. This cold weather is making her want to hibernate, and I can't quite let her go to sleep now."
Their tones were pleasant and teasing towards each other, but the crocodile was the only one who sensed the tension in the air. The other two could tell the other was hiding something.
"Well, I'm off to bed. It's too cold here. Maybe the Admiral should work on heaters." Wilona started to leave.
"G'dnight." He heard Shirley start to growl. "Hmm, you don't say?" Soon, Jim left the room and headed back towards his guest area. As he did, a lamp from the other side of the room opened up.
Jim turned his attention to the other side of the room. "Chancellor Tsunami. I was just about to report what I found."
"Sorry for the entrance, Jim. The sea around us was restless, turbulent. That was until a while ago. Did you find anything?"
"Well, not what you expect." The environmentalist explained. "I ran into one of those students the good Admiral commandeered. And as if we were in a child's movie, she started to sing." Jim noticed the surprised look on his chancellor's face. "Now, she was a talented one too. Made me forget what I was doing for a second, but it also calmed down both Shirley and the bad juju in the air." The one-eyed young man put a hand on his chin. "Sings like a princess, acts like an evil queen..."
"Is she related to the mysterious whirlpools around the area?"
"I don't think so. But something tells me what is causing all those disturbances might be attracted to her. Last thing we need is a Runaway spirit going all King Kong on the poor sheila."
"Then I'll keep an eye on both of them. I wonder why Mr. Anacis choose those two as part of his first batch of students. There's too much going on to be a coincidence."
[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]
Jaden and Wilona followed the Admiral as he gave them the tour around the area. The two had to admit that it was one of t he most advanced-looking places in the world.
"Man, how'd you get this much money? I thought the richest guy in the world was Seto Kaiba."
"Ah! Now that is quite the story!" The Admiral laughed once before he slowed down in his walk. Wilona and Jaden noticed the rich man's body language looked lethargic. He shook his head. "Never mind that, I bet yar want to see the Duel arena!?"
"An underwater duel arena, sweet!?" Jaden excitedly screamed.
Wilona sighed but followed the two.
The two Slifers followed the Admiral to the center of the Academy. There, they were treated to one of the most breath-taking sights they saw in their life so far.
It looked like the Roman Colosseum, restored to the point where it looked liked it was newly made, yet laced with technological marvels such as giant plasma screens above the bleachers. Instead of a floor, it had reinforced glass that showed the ocean beneath. Fishes and other sea life swam, giving a sight that most aquariums wish they had.
"This looks sweet! Imagine dueling here!" Jaden looked to Wilona, only to see his friend glare at him. The Slifer Ace winced before he laughed nervously. He had forgotten about them trying to escape at that moment.
"That ain't a bad idea!" The Admiral cried out. "In fact, The South Academy Chancellor brought his best student along! How would you two like to be the first duelists to break in the new arena?"
Wilona fought the urge to slap her forehead when her friend said yes before the Admiral finished his sentence. They were supposed to be escaping!
"S-Sir!" The two Slifer Students spotted a sailor looking panicked as he ran up to the Admiral. "W-We," He looked over to the children. "It happened again."
Whatever it was, Wilona noticed the Admiral's face turned to a scowl before he dropped it and turned to face them with a smile. "I'll be right back. Feel free to give the arena a closer look."
"Really?!" Jaden cried out before rushing down towards the Arena. As the Admiral left, Wilona asked Honest to tail after him before going after Jaden.
"Think about it, Wilona! Even the fish will think I'm an awesome duelist!" The brunette exclaimed while he stood on top of the arena.
"Yes, because fishes are capable of enjoying duels." The light green-haired girl crossed her arms. "May I remind you that we're trying to escape!?"
"Sorry! Sorry! It's just this duel arena was so cool! ... It's so cool that I'm getting shivers!" Jaden grabbed his arms and exhaled. When he did, he could see the warmth of his breath. "I said, cool, not cold!"
Wilona found herself shivering as well. It wasn't just Jaden, did the temperature suddenly drop?
The two students heard a strange sound before they both looked down. When they did, all the fishes swam out of view as if there was a predator in the area. Not only that, they saw figments of glass starting to freeze up.
Winged Kuriboh appeared and cooed frantically.
"What do you mean, it's here?" Jaden asked the little creature.
He didn't get an answer from Winged Kuriboh. Instead, he got an answer from below as they saw something start to move deep below them. They couldn't see past the lights, but they could tell that whatever it was, it was big, and it was slow. They both could tell that slowness was only temporary.
"Okay, maybe we should leave," Jaden finally gave an idea Wilona could agree on.
"Let's go after Honest." Wilona and Jaden didn't waste any time as they ran after the man and where he left a while ago.
As the two started to run, Jaden asked, "You think it's the same voice we heard a few nights ago!?"
At that moment, the entire underwater school started to shake violently.
As the two regained balance, a sailor walked past the two from another pathway. However, he looked at the two and said, "Do you kids still not have sea legs yet?"
"Wait, you didn't feel that shaking?!" Jaden asked.
"What shaking? If you landlubbers are feeling a bit oxygen deprived, you can go to the center lobby. There are trees planted there and filtered air." With that, the sailor continued walking as if nothing was wrong.
"What? Didn't he feel that shaking?" Jaden helped up Wilona.
"I don't think he did." Wilona looked confused. "There's something off about this place."
"Ya don't say?"
Jaden and Wilona turned around. The green-haired girl instantly noticed the familiar Australian Cowboy she met last night.
"Fancy meeting you here again, Sheila."
Jaden looked at his friend. "I thought your name was Wilona?"
"One day," The girl in a cap muttered under her breath before looking to Jim. "Crook, to what do I owe this pleasantry?"
"I take it you two also felt that presence a while ago, did ya?"
Jaden gasped as Wilona kept still. "Whoa! How do you know what happened? And who are you? And why is Wilona calling you a crook? And is that an alligator?"
Jim sighed before reintroducing himself. When Jaden was caught up to speed, he answered the important question. "The Chancellor and I are here on a mission. We came to this place pretending to be interested in expansion and collaborating. When in reality, we've detected some pretty sketchy things that might involve a gateway to the Spirit World."
"You know about the Spirit world?" Jaden asked as Winged Kuriboh floated out from behind the Slifer Red.
Jim tipped his hat as he looked in Winged Kuriboh's direction. "Know about it? Why do you think the dueling schools exist?"
"What?" The green-haired girl raised her brow as Jaden also blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
It was Jim's turn to look confused. "Wait, you two don't know? Here I was under the impression Duel Academy recruited those that can see Duel Spirits!" The South Academy student watched the baffled look on the two's face. "Alright, perhaps the Chancellor can give a better explanation to all of this. Come on, you two. We'll be right in the thick of it."
Jim led the two Slifers to his chancellor in a private room. While Jaden was excited to see Mako Tsunami again, the South Academy teacher was brought up to speed.
"I see. So you two came here against your will. Mr. Anacis is far more stubborn than I originally thought." Mako Tsunami sighed into his hand before he pointed to Jaden, specifically what was on his neck "And who knew that the student he happened to collect was someone who holds a Spirit Gate Key."
"You know about the Spirit Keys?" Wilona was rather surprised that the existence of the Shadow Riders and such information existed outside of the school.
For one second, Mako gave a solemn look towards the two students. He seemed to be thinking of something before he looked to Jim. "Are there any cameras, mikes, or nearby people?"
"I'll double-check it again, boss." Jim did several quick scans. "Still nothin' but fancy doohickies and other dysfunctional doodads."
"I should start using more Australian words." Wilona fought the urge to slap Jaden's head after hearing that.
"Thank you, Jim. What I am about to say does not leave this room. Where to begin? Hmm, perhaps it's best to start from the beginning. When Pegasus created Duel Monsters, he based them on Egyptian relics."
"He did? I thought he just made it up!"
(Yuki, why are you even in school?) Wilona sighed deeply after thinking to herself. "Please continue, Mr. Tsunami."
"The point is that the relics he based them off held power, real power. Duel Monsters is more than a game, but some kind of ritual that allowed people to connect with worlds beyond this one." Mako looked at the two Slifers. "You two know this, don't you?"
The two Duel Academy Student shared a look. They had several adventures into the Spirit World even before they encountered the Shadow Riders. And it seemed as if the Current Shadow Riders also had the ability to pull people into parts of the Spirit World.
Mako seemed to accept the action of the two as a yes. "Of course you do. If you're a Spirit Key Guardian, then you know about this. But not everything from the other world is... friendly."
The two thought back to the Aliens, their First night at the Abandoned Dorms, and the Gravekeepers. Those memories weren't very pleasant.
"The First Shadow War before Duel Academy's birth was the last straw. Pegasus organized more dueling schools to be built after that fiasco even though Duel Academy was under Seto Kaiba. The purpose of the schools was two-fold: to help train the new generation of duelists and to keep an eye out for potentially dangerous Duel Spirit Activities." Mako motioned to himself. "Pegasus asked me to be the head of South Academy, and after some convincing, I accepted."
"Oh yeah!" Everyone looked at Jaden. "Now that I think about it, Jesse said some similar stuff about North Academy! He said they were basically secret agents for Duel Monsters!"
(And note to self, make sure Anderson is tight-lipped for his own secrets.) Wilona thought to herself.
"That's not an inaccurate statement." Mako gave a small smile. However, he then frowned. "That brings us to where we are now. Strange anomalies have been happening around the seas for the past few months. Storms and tidal waves appearing out of nowhere, people being shipped wrecked, and the most telling of all: nearly all surviving victims claim they saw eyes glowing from the sea and claim they heard a voice seething with hatred."
"Hey, Jesse told me that's what happened to Chazz!" As soon as those words left Jaden's lips, Wilona made doubly sure to make Jesse tight-lipped.
"Yes, and what's more curious is the fact that all of this happened after Mr. Anacis made his discovery." Mako furthered explained when h saw the confused look on Wilona and Jaden's face. "You see, Mr. Anacis was a treasure hunter and not a very successful one. But one day, he claimed he found the greatest treasure of all and appeared with a trove of undersea chests containing lost artifacts and gold. And with that suspicious amount of gold, he started to create an underground School, which coincidentally is nearby all reported rising cases of sea anomalies..."
Wilona noticed what he was implying. "All of those facts made you want to investigate this, right?"
Mako gave a solemn nod. "Yes, but so far, we've found nothing of interest."
"Really? We just saw something below the school." Jaden blurted out.
Those from South Academy glanced over to the Slifer Red boy. "What do you mean by that?"
[Tag Force: Heroes and Villians]
"I'm telling ya, boss! We don't know how the boiler rooms keep freezing like this!" A sailor told The Admiral as they walked down the hallway. Honest was trailing behind the man with too many gold accessories.
"Just get it fixed! I can't have the South Academy Chancellor figuring this out! We'd lose more money if he knew this!"
"R-Right, sir!" The sailor saluted before running off.
Honest watched the coated man start to look around him. Then the Admiral started to hurry towards a direction Honest was not familiar with. The angel spirit was curious about this action. Soon, he floated after the man. The more he did so, the more suspicious The Admiral, or Mr. Anacis, became. He started to avoid his employees, and when he entered his luxurious office, he opened up a globe to reveal a hidden switch that he activated and revealed a sliding door behind a bookcase. The Admiral went down the secret path, and Honest followed after him.
Something was wrong. Honest thought he was incorporeal, but he could feel his entire being start to freeze the further he went down. A piece of him wanted to leave and report this to Wilona, but he wanted to know what this man was doing. Curiosity won over the Duel Spirit though he tried to be warier of his surroundings. To the Duel Spirit's surprise, the end of the path looked like it was just recently submerged. Barnacles, puddles, and pieces of broken wooden ships were all across the floor. The more Honest kept moving, the worse he saw such as rusted weapons and even skeletons. At the end of the path was a bright light, or at least that's what he thought. The Admiral stopped in front of a blue pearl the size of a watermelon that was placed atop a pedestal.
"Why are ya freezing the darn place!? You said you'd give me whatever I want if I did what you said!"
Honest didn't know why The Admiral was screaming at the Pearl, but he felt a shift in the air.
"The boy?" Mr. Anacis spoke as if he heard someone speak to him. "You want him and that South Academy student to duel already? ... Alright, fine. But ye better keep yer promise!" Even though the seaman screamed that he suddenly flinched away from the pearl in fear. "I errr. Right! I'll be going now."
The captain quickly made his way out of the place. Honest decided he saw enough and decided to report what he saw to Wilona and Jaden.
...
"!?" The Angel Duel Monster found himself frozen. Try as he might, he could leave from where he floated.
"Did you think I would not see you?"
The temperature dropped further.
"Did you think me a leper who cannot know if a being is in front of them? You think me a fool?"
Honest found himself turning around. As he looked back at the pearl, he noticed it open like an eye, revealing a black pupil staring right through him.
"I hate you."
Honest found himself even unable to make a sound. This might prove to be a problem as the temperatures dropped to dangerous levels.
"I HATE YOU!"
And the Angel felt pain like no other.
[Tag Force: Heroes and Villians]
Jaden watched Wilona pace back and forth after putting on his duel disk. "Why are you nervous? I'm the one going to duel Jim in a bit." Duels never made Jaden nervous. In fact, when the Admiral set up the first duel of the Underwater Academy between him and Jim, he was stoked! However, Wilona had been weirdly silent this whole time since the announcement and even up to the event.
"Have you seen Honest?" Wilona turned to her friend.
Jaden thought back. "No, I haven't seen him in a while. Isn't he just resting in your deck?"
"He's not in my deck. I," She shook her head. "That's not the point; he usually makes sure I know where he is. But I haven't seen him since I told him to spy on Mr. Anacis."
Now that Jaden thought about it, he's never seen Wilona look... worried. It was making him nervous.
"Well, if he's in trouble, just do what you did before: go and help them."
Wilona opened her mouth. But no argument came out. She had to concede that Jaden's simplicity won out this time. "Alright, I'll go and look for him. Have fun in your duel."
"Oh, I'm psyched about it!" Jaden exclaimed before he saw Wilona walking out of the door. "Wait, heads up!" The Ace of Slifer Red tossed an Academy Duel disk for Wilona to catch. "In case you run into any trouble!"
Wilona fought the urge to sigh and just shook her head with a small smile. "Thanks, Yuki. Do me a favor and knock the croc off the crooked Cook."
"You got it!" The door closed behind her. "I think," Jaden started to think back on what she said before Winged Kuriboh appeared. "Do you sense where Honest is, buddy?" When Jaden heard the sad cooing, he put his hand on his chin. "You can't find him either. That does sound like a problem."
The door to the locker room he was waiting in opened up again. And in came one of The Admiral's men. "The Duel Stage is ready for you."
Jaden stood up after the man left. "Okay, I know that there's a chance of that creepy thing lurking around the area again, buuuuutttt it really is a sweet duel arena!" He looked to Winged Kuriboh. "You'll warn me if something's about to happen, right?"
Jaden's Duel Spirit was eager on this part. With that, Jaden raced out of the room. "Man, I get to be the first guy to duel underwater! Wait till Sy and the others hear about this!"
It didn't take long for Jaden to return to the underwater arena. Unlike before, there were no longer signs of ice or that strange Duel Spirit. However...
"And dar he be, lads! The up and coming ace of this here Underwater Academy! Name still pending!" An electronic voice echoed throughout the area before it was washed over by a sea of cheers. The chamber filled all seats with many of the staff of the future school.
Jaden had to admit, he may have been kidnapped, but he was loving the attention he was getting.
"You sure seem to be in good spirits for someone who was brought here against his will," Jaden looked across to see Jim preparing what looked to be a custom duel disk.
"I mean, I'm not going to pass up a duel with the best of the South!" Jaden exclaimed as he primed his Duel Disk.
Shirley started to growl. But this didn't sound like one where she sensed a predator. Jim smiled and took a stance. "Well, I suppose I am a bit curious as to what kind of skills you have."
The two smiled as the noise died down in the arena.
"And we're all set! Are you ready folks!?"
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"DUEL!"
[Tag Force: Heroes and Villians]
"What was I bloody thinking!?" Wilona whisper shouted as she power-walked down the halls. "I don't even know where Honest left! What am I supposed to do? Take out his blasted card and use it as a dousing rod?!"
Despite her complaints, Wilona did just that. "At this point, Duel Academy may as well declare that Yuki becomes Valedictorian!" She stopped complaining when she felt Honest's card starting to pull her hand in the opposite direction.
"... I need a cuppa after all this cause I'm getting knackered." Wilona decided to stop complaining for the rest of the school year. She followed the pull of Honest's card and eventually came to what looked to be the office of The Admiral, by all the fancy gold plating and how his name was jewel-encrusted.
But what was curious was that it was already unlocked and left open. Wilona peeked through the crack and saw Mako Tsunami looking through the desk.
"Mr. Tsunami?" Wilona noticed the man still before relaxing as he saw the girl.
"Wilona, right? It's good to see you, kid. Well, better you than any of the Admiral's men." He went back to looking through papers on the desk. "I take it you also thought of using Jaden and Jim's duel as a distraction to do what you need to?"
"... Y-Yeah," Wilona decided to focus back on her card. She found it odd that it was pointing towards a bookcase until she noticed the faint slide marks on the floor.
Before she could step forward, she found herself looking at a globe nearby. The globe looked normal- too normal when everything else in the room had bits of gold or gems encrusted on them. Wilona touched the item and felt something was inside it instead of it being hollow. She was able to open it up and found a switch inside. When she did, the bookcase she was looking at slid open to reveal a secret passageway. The two looked at each other, and Mako gave a huge smile one would see from a child instead of a grown man.
"God, I missed adventure like this!" The large man ran into the passage, leaving Wilona to look at her card.
"Hold on a little longer, Honest."
Wilona followed after Mako. Past the eerie sights they saw, they came to the end of the path where they saw a blue pearl on a pedestal.
"What is that?" The two got closer to the item. However, Wilona felt a strange chill in the air, one that felt even more foreign than what she and Jaden felt from a while ago.
"You."
A voice surrounded the two.
"Who are you?"
"Is... is that coming from the pearl?" Mako Tsunami looked back towards the eerie object.
"You are not the greedy man. I tolerate... yet I hate him for bringing me here. I hate where I am. I hate it here. I hate hate hate..."
"What is he talking about?" Wilona asked before she shook her head. "And where is Honest!?"
Silence filled the air, but the air felt thicker and became harder to breathe. Both Mako and Wilona could see the warmth of their breath.
"You. You were with that angel? The one the fat one let in here?"
Wilona recognized that this thing knew where Honest was. However, she did not like the rising tone of the already hateful creature.
"The fat one. He told you! He told all of you! Was the pale shine of those trinkets I gave him not enough!? Fine, our pact is now broken! You will all feel my wrath!"
It was at that moment the room-no-the entire underwater building started to shake.
The pearl exploded with light before vanishing in that flash of light, leaving behind two stupified snoopers. When they opened their eyes, they noticed the pearl was gone.
"I don't understand what happened," Mako looked around, "But I do know something bad just happened."
Wilona noticed the Gravekeeper's Medallion was glowing. As it did, the two heard a groan. The green-haired girl recognized the voice. Her heart sank as she did, but her feet were already moving before her ears could recognize Mako calling for her.
The room had changed. No one could notice in the darkness. The water was higher, there were more barnacles across the walls, the walls were more dilapidated, and the ice froze into sharp spikes. Wilona didn't care that the air got colder and the ice got sharper.
All she cared about was the angel half-frozen, half-trapped, and partially stabbed in ice.
"Honest!" The girl cried out. As she got closer, her medallions started to glow and the ice melted around the Duel Spirit, freeing him from his prison. Wilona helped the spirit. "Please be alright!"
Mako chased after the girl. "A Duel Spirit? He is solid?"
Honest opened his eyes. "Wilona... you must leave... now."
"Don't talk, you idiot! You're a spirit: how do you heal!?"
Honest grabbed her hand in a vice-grip. "Ms. Wilona, we are all in grave danger."
"Stuff it. You're injured. Blast, do you even have the same biology humans do?!"
"Wilona, please. We're not in the spirit world."
The girl blinked as even Mako looked to the angel. "What do you mean we're not in the Spirit World? You're solid! And the Shadow Riders have done this before!"
"He's not a Shadow Rider. It's some powerful Duel Spirit." Honest struggled to rise up even with Wilona and Mako helping him. "I don't know how, but this is a pocket dimension he perhaps doesn't even know he created."
"This situation sounds more complicated than I originally thought," Mako spoke up.
"Something is wrong. I sense him in both the Human World and the Spirit World simultaneously. Yet, it is like he is both there and not. If I do not understand it, I can only imagine what this is doing to the Spirit's sanity."
"From what I can piece, it's started to sound like he's stuck between the Human and Spirit world. And it's causing all this madness." Honest and Wilona looked to Mako. "Believe it or not, I've heard and seen things just as crazy. An Atlantis-based apocalypse being one of them. Granted, I wasn't there, but..." Mako stood up. "
Wilona sighed as she realized the scope of what was happening. "Let me see if I got this right. Mr. Anacis was a treasure hunter. One day, he chanced upon that... thing... which happened to be a Duel Spirit trapped and pulled between both worlds, and because Mr. Tsunami and I found it, the Spirit dragged us into its pocket dimension to get vengeance on us?"
"Not just us," Honest gasped.
Wilona slowly turned to her friend. "What do you mean, 'not just us'?."
"I sensed it a while ago. He dragged everyone into this pocket dimension."
The cap-wearing girl had her eyes widen. "Yuki?"
Mako and Wilona helped up Honest and walked out of the room from where they came from. As they did, it no longer looked like an underwater academy. It looked more like a giant building made of sunken ships.
"I hate you."
The voice echoed throughout the entire area.
"I asked for little, and you took too much! If I will be trapped here, I am making all of you my playthings for all eternity!"
"This bodes poorly," Wilona whispered. "We need to get to Yuki and the others!"
The three did so. However, as they did, they noticed more and more ice instead of wooden planks.
When they finally returned to the arena, the three were horrified to learn that the once grand arena looked more like a torture chamber with over a hundred people frozen solid with fear on their faces.
"Yuki!?" Wilona looked down at the arena. Her heart sank. In the center of the arena, there were four frozen figures: two boys, a crocodile, and a flying furball.
Wilona moved forward, but Mako raised an arm to stop her. She scowled but saw the narrowed eyes of the older man back down in the arena.
In the center was The Admiral... however, he was kneeling in the center of the arena clutching his head in what looked like pain.
It was then that Wilona felt the Chancellor move. "Stay here," He said as he put on a Battle City Duel Disk on his arm.
Wilona watched as Mako Tsunami made his way down the stairs towards the center of the arena.
"Spirit! Know your rules! Duel me!"
"D-Duel?" There were two voices that spoke: one of the pearl and one of Mr. Anacis. They both overlap, but there was a deadly tone that overpowered the human half. "Arrgggh, but why ye be wanting to leave? The School was just about to begin! It is a grand opening!" ... At first?
Wilona narrowed her eyes towards the possessed man after she set Honest down.
"NO! YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE AS I! I be in a good mood, Chancellor! STOP! What do ya saw to our collaboration then?"
Mako noticed this. Whatever control the Spirit Was trying to exert wasn't as strong as even the Spirit assumed. That was one good thing going for them.
The Chancellor of South Academy saw an opportunity. "How about a friendly wager? We duel, and if you win, I'll give my full support for this new Academy. I'll even get Pegasus to endorse it. If I win... well, we'll have to talk about other means of support next time."
"Haha! It be a deal!"
The Admiral primed his duel disk. Mako placed a deck into his duel disk.
There was a shift in the ice and the black waters all around the area. Beneath the floors, a figure—a big figure—swam just underneath the ice with its eyes glowing and then disappearing as it came.
It looked as if the two were about to start. However, Wilona looked over to Yuki and Winged Kuriboh's frozen form.
"LET'S DUEL!"
Mako: 4000 LP
Mr. Anacis/Admiral (Possessed.): 4000 LP
"I take the first turn!" Mako screamed as he took the turn and a card. "I play The Legendary Ocean Field Spell!"
Wilona stepped back as the area around them started to change. She felt waters starting to rise around them as the familiar sight of the Field Spell was revealed. The Slifer Red girl recalled during the duel between Jaden and the Admiral that Jaden held his breath when the fake water came in. However, this water did not feel fake at all. She found herself holding her breath when she and everyone else became fully submerged.
"Wilona, you don't need to hold your breath here." Honest's voice made Wilona raise her brow. However, she trusted him—and she wasn't good at holding her breath in the first place. The light-green haired girl found out she could breathe underwater.
"Legendary Ocean lowers the level of all Water Monsters by 1. That means I can normal summon level 5 monsters as level 4! Come forth, The Legendary Fisherman!"
Legendary Fisherman - [Type:Effect Monster/Sub-Type:Warrior/Attribute:WATER/Level:5(4)/ATK:1850/DEF:1600] (ATK: 1850 → 2050/DEF: 1600 → 1800)
A man that looked much like Mako, but even less dressed, appeared wielding a spear and riding atop a shark.
"I'll play one card down and end my turn."
Turn 2: Spirit. Cards: 5.
The possessed man gave a strong laugh. "I knew there was something I liked about you! I WILL FREEZE YOUR BLOOD FROM THE INSIDE AND RIP IT OUT YOUR BODY! Ye be a water duelist too!"
"I was THE water duelist, Mr. Anacis." Mako Tsunami began before he motioned to his opponent. "But let's see your deck."
There was both laughter and a snarl as the man drew his next card.
"I play my own spell card, Pacifis, The Phantasm City!" The waters behind Anacis started to form. The wall behind him broke off, and instead of a glorious ruin of a once-great city like with Mako's field, the shadows parted to reveal a broken, forgotten, yet seemingly desolate ruins covered in seaweed. "Now, where I be getting this card? WITH LEGENDARY OCEAN IN PLAY, I NORMAL SUMMON TERRORKING SALMON!"
Terrorking Salmon - [Type:Normal Monster/Sub-Type:Fish/Attribute:WATER/Level:5(4)/ATK:2400/DEF:1000] (ATK: 2400 → 2600/DEF: 1000 → 1200)
A large creature emerged from the sand with a blast of bubbles. For a fish, it was as large as a shark with its eyes glowing like that of a predator's.
"Pacifis activates! When a Normal Monster is special or normal summoned, I can search for one Phantasm Spiral Card from my deck and bring it to me hand! If only other treasures were so easy to find!"
"Phantasm Spiral?" Wilona raised her brow. "Wait, he never had those cards in his duel with Yuki."
After the Admiral took the card, he pointed to Mako's monster. "I will RIP your monster to shreds!"
The Terrorking swam right for Legendary Fisherman.
The former Duel Veteran pushed his hand out. "I reveal my continuous trap, Sea Stealth Attack! This trap card allows me to play the field spell, Umi, if I have it in my hand or graveyard. But Legendary Ocean already functions as Umi! Instead, with an Umi-substitute on the field, I can activate one of two effects: at the start of the damage step, if a monster whose original level was 5 or higher battles a monster, then that monster is destroyed!"
The trap card made the Legendary Fisherman avoid the blow. Then the warrior type monster launched his harpoon right into one of the eyes of the attacking monster-salmon.
Even though Mako was able to fend off the attack, he kept his focus on his opponent. Or specifically the field spell behind him.
The ruins behind him started to form a vortex of bubbles that looked unnatural.
"If an opponent's card is activated," The possessed man began. "Pacifis has a secondary effect that lets it summon a powerful Phantasm Spiral Token."
Behind the bubbles, something started to move. The waters were darker behind The Admiral. Yet, they could see what looked to be some horned, giant sea creature with glowing eyes.
[Sub-Type:Wyrm/Attribute:WATER/Level:8(7)/ATK:2000/DEF:2000] (ATK: 2000 → 2200/DEF: 2000 → 2200)
"Tokens with 2000 attack points?" Wilona raised a hand to her chest. "I've never seen a token with a single point before."
"I'll end me turn there."
Turn 3: Mako. Cards: 3
Mako drew his next card and spotted the token watching him like a predator about to pounce on prey. However, the second card caused the Southern Chancellor to smile.
"Alright then, feast your eyes on this! Thanks to Legendary Ocean, I can normal summon this level 5 monster! Come forth, Legendary Fisherman 2!"
From above, everyone spotted a small, whale-like creature swim into the view of Mako's field. There looked to be this younger man that looked similar to the first Legendary Fisherman. In fact, the first monster seemed to smile fondly at the newcomer with a fishing hook crossbow. However, both of them focused their attention on the mysterious token.
Legendary Fisherman 2 - [Type:Effect Monster/Sub-Type:Warrior/Attribute:WATER/Level:5(4)/ATK:2200/DEF:1800] (ATK: 2200 → 2400/DEF: 1800 → 2000)
"Now I've got a monster stronger than your token! But thanks to my trap card, my first Fisherman can easily destroy your monster before the damage step can even begin! Go, Legendary Fisherman!"
The first Legendary Fisherman rushed forth. Despite the water, he moved and struck like lightning, taking down the beast before it could even move.
"You're wide open! Legendary Fisherman 2!" The second one launched his arrow-hook. It sailed through the waters before hitting the shoulder of the Possessed man.
?: 1600 LP
The man hissed. "I WILL REMEMBER THIS."
Mako narrowed his eyes as the Admiral's head shook and he returned to normal. The Chancellor then had an idea watching him: he would need to defeat The Admiral before the Spirit could take full hold of him. "I'll end my turn after that."
Turn 4: ? Cards: 5
The spirit behind The Admiral drew his next card. When he did, the waters started to move behind him once more.
"I do not like the looks of that." Wilona cried out.
"I play Ancient Rules! This allows me to normal summon a normal monster without tribute. I choose Spiral Serpent!"
The waters shifted and formed as something rose from the ground. It was big, perhaps half the size of the arena and it looked close enough to the silhouette a while ago.
Spiral Serpent - [Type:Normal Monster/Sub-Type:Sea Serpent/Attribute:WATER/Level:8(7)/ATK:2900/DEF:2900] (ATK: 2900 → 3100/DEF: 2900 → 3100)
Wilona raised her brow at the new monster. "Wait, why is he only summoning Normal Monsters?"
Mako overheard this, and he realized that the Spirt only summoned Normal monsters. Something was off about that.
"I now play the equip spell, Phantasm Spiral Scale, and give it to Spiral Serpent!" The card revealed itself, and the serpent monster started to look different. "Destroy that second Fisherman!"
"Did you forget? I still have Sea Stealth Attack!" Mako declared as his monster started to move towards the large beast to counter-attack.
The second fisherman on his steed swam up to the head of the creature. Then, he fired another arrow right for the neck of the giant sea beast. However, the arrow gave a noticeable clang as it made contact with the neck of the beast. The shock of the attack not connect made the second Fisherman stay still long enough for the Spiral Serpent to devour him whole.
Mako: 3300 LP
The Chancellor of South Academy flinched in pain as his life points fell.
"This here equip spell prevents me monster's destruction from both battle and card effects! Your traps don't work anymore! Ayarharhar!"
"Oh, sure, posses the man, but keep his annoying laugh," Wilona muttered under her breath.
"I'll end me turn there."
Turn 5: Mako. Cards: 3
"I should tell you," The South Academy Chancellor began. "When Legendary Fisherman 2 is destroyed, I'm allowed to search for a level 7 water monster from my deck and bring it to my hand! So I'll do that after my draw!"
Mako looked up and removed a card from his hand. "I now special summon this monster by tributing Legendary Fisherman!"
Gone was the original. From above, something descended on to the field with unbelievable speeds. There was someone there, someone that could only be described as 'Legacy'. Also, he looked very much like the Southern Chancellor.
"I summon Legendary Fisherman 3!" Mako Tsunami declared.
Legendary Fisherman 3 - [Type:Effect Monster/Sub-Type:Warrior/Attribute:WATER/Level:7(6)/ATK:2500/DEF:2000] (ATK: 2500 → 2700/DEF:2000 → 2200)
"When he's summoned to the field, I can banish all monsters my opponent's controls! That means your scale equip spell won't protect your monster!" Mako motioned his hand forward. As he did, The Admiral's monster screamed as Mako's monster rushed in and fired his hook gun in almost point-blank range.
"The price for a powerful effect means that 3rd cannot attack the turn he used the effect." Yet the Chancellor did not seem done with his turn. "I now activate the Spell Card: Legacy Hook! If Legendary Fisherman 3 is on the field, I'm allowed to special summon both Legendary Fishermen back on to the field in attack mode!"
As he declared this, the two fishermen returned beside the 3rd. There was something stunning about seeing those three cards together. And now? The spirit trapping them all was about to feel their wrath.
"The chancellor's opponent did not have any cards on his side of the field. If the attacks connect, we'll win!" Wilona cried out.
"Go my fishermen! End this duel and free us!"
And all three Fishermen rushed for the possessed man. However, no one noticed the movement in the background of Mr. Anacis' field spell.
There was an ear-shattering scream that exploded and stopped all incoming attacks on the possessed man.
"...See, Phantasm Spiral Scale has another effect. When me monster is removed from the field by an opponent's effect, I'm allowed to special summon a normal monster from me deck with the name Phantasm in it. Then I can equip it with this spell card. And I... I WILL NOW BRING THE SUFFERING THAT I PROMISED YOU!"
The area started to rumble as the dark aura around the Admiral started to overwhelm the rich man.
"Nosozack Krumalokiltu Mirakvankiokesjugry...," Wilona raised her brow as she heard what seemed to be gibberish coming from the man.
"I..." The girl turned to Honest. "I have never heard those words before. But I've heard rumors of old Spirits keeping dead languages. If this is true, then how old is this Spirit we face?"
The Admiral continued to chant as a card flew out of his deck that had this cold air around it. The Admiral reached for it, the tips of his fingers froze up, but he didn't seem to mind.
"EMOC HTROF!" He yelled as he slammed the card into the Admiral's duel disk. "Phantasm Spiral Dragon!"
The vortex behind Anacis expanded and swallowed the man whole. The current in the waters became turbulent and all three Fishermen were forced to retreat to Mako.
As the vortex died down, Wilona recalled something all those nights ago: the being that fought a Level 10 Winged Kuriboh, Diabolos. She recalled him because as the waters died down, and as a figure unfurled it's wingspan, spanning almost the entire arena, she remembered how close they were to being damned in not-hell.
It was starting to look like they were in that situation again, only much...
Phantasm Spiral Dragon - [Type:Normal Monster/Sub-Type:Wyrm/Attribute:WATER/Level:8(7)/ATK:2900/DEF:2900] (ATK: 2900 → 3100/DEF: 2900 → 3100)
Wilona quickly saw and spotted The Admiral's body fallen on the floor. However, his hand that held his duel disk was still raised.
Mako noticed this too. Instead, he picked up a card from his hand. "I play one card face down and end my turn!"
Turn 6: Phantasm Spiral Dragon. Cards: 3.
A card flew up from the deck, along with the remaining cards in the Admiral's hand.
"Now", The voice sounded clearer now. It was akin to that a voice one would only hear in the deepest of darkness. "I activate the Equip Spells: Phantasm Spiral Horn and Phantasm Spiral Fang. Spiral Horn allows me to attack all monsters on my opponent's side of the field and prevent my opponent's spell and traps from activating. While Spiral Fang increases my attack points by 1000 and nullifies monster effects!" (ATK: 3100 → 4100)
They watched as the horns started to glow while the fangs of the horned dragon grew.
The Slifer Red girl started to calculate 3 attacks of 4100 compared to Mako's mid to low 2000s. She didn't like the results when she first thought of the numbers. "If those attacks connect!" Wilona started to scream.
"They won't! I reveal my other trap card! Hunter's Legacy! For this turn, I take no effect or battle damage! And by the end phase, whatever damage I would have taken is dealt to my opponent instead!" Mako smiled as he knew that his opponent had lower life points than him. Even attacking the strongest of his monsters would result in a near defeat of the Spirit. Even if he didn't attack, Mako was sure he had another combo to—
Phantasm Spiral Dragon roared as he started to gather a dangerous amount of energy.
"W-What!? I just said that my trap card prevents battle damage, and it will return it back to you!"
If the beast heard him, it didn't seem to care. It unleashed a torrent of power as a beam that destroyed all three Legendary Fishermen in one fell swoop.
Mako and the others braced themselves from the impact of the attack. As the water settled into an eerily still state, there was nothing between The Chancellor and a very angry fell-dragon.
"Grr! You fool! I still take no battle damage! And now whatever damage I would have taken gets sent to you!" The water duelist declared.
However, as he said this, nothing seemed to happen. In fact, the waters became more still, colder too.
"W-What's happening?" Wilona asked as she looked around.
"Do you think, I ended my turn? Do you think I'm finished?" The Beast's tone was cold but everyone could tell it was slowly rising. "I hate that. I hate this! I HATE YOU! I PLAY THE TRAP CARD PHANTASM SPIRAL ASSAULT!"
"Wait, but that's from the hand!"
"If Umi is on the field this card can be activated from the hand. There are two of them! This trap card allows me to target one Phantasm Spiral Dragon that has destroyed 3 effect monsters with 3 or more different Phantasm Equip Spells. And if those conditions are set, I win the duel!"
"A Win-condition card!? Here at this moment!?" Mako screamed at the top of his lungs as he heard that.
The Phantasm beast gathered a dangerous amount of energy. "I will make you suffer for your arrogance! Perish!" His voice carried through the still waters before he unleashed a torrent of power right directly at Mako.
"No!" Honest and Wilona shrieked as the attack even seemed to erase the outline of the muscular man.
Phantasm Spiral Dragon: 1600 LP (Winner)
Mako: 3300 LP
When the attack died down, there was this ice... prison. Or it looked more like a tomb with how it was twisted and formed to look like a spike. The waters all vanished, returning everyone back to their icy, nightmarish prison.
"Oh, no." Wilona gasped.
The Dragon then turned to Wilona. It too started to gather energy to give the girl and the Angel the same fate. "YOU ARE NEXT!"
"Not so fast."
A new voice appeared that snapped Wilona, the dragon, and Honest towards the sound of the voice. However, Wilona was surprised to see her would-be rescuer. He wore the same black and white attire, spiky blonde hair, and the distinct black and white mask. These were all traits that she saw before.
"Now this looks like a lot of fun." The Second Shadow Rider spoke in an excited tone. "Does anyone mind if I... intervene?"
[Tag Force Heroes and Villians]
{A/N} First post of the new year! Whooo! This took a long time to make. So I did a little character and world-building in this chapter. There's a direction I want to go hopefully in the future, but I thought I'd add some stuff I wanted to in this story. I'm not fully happy with this, but at the same time, I didn't want to drag it out too long. I'm excited about the next parts of this story, so hopefully, I can do more writing this year.
Peace out guys, be safe and be kind.
(Altered/Added Cards.)
Spiral Scale, Spiral Horn, Spiral Fang: made up Spell cards to pull off combos. One of them I made specifically to destroy Fisherman 3 because he's an invulnerable monster.
Pacifis: This technically doesn't activate in the battle phase.
Hunter's legacy.
