/ Duel Universe
/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma
/ Ch 20: Leaders
/ word count: 2030
Monster World:
The duels were grueling, the courses near impassable, after a week, only about 1/3 of the recruits had gotten their second run win. Some people began to notice who the top duelists were. A few weren't surprised that Captain Freeman had passed the test. He showed them so much while on the Washington and even had a decent win streak for those months traveling back to Earth. They also noticed how Dark Magician Girl kept close by to where he was, not standing directly beside him, but was always in eyeshot of one another. Did she have feelings for the Captain? But wasn't she the one to suggest there not be any sort of human-monster relationships? One thing was for certain, Lieutenant Commander Carson was none too happy about her near-constant presence. Even if she was needed to oversee some of the security for the device, she made it apparent she wouldn't leave his side if she even thought Dark Magician Girl was near. One day the Dark Magician Girl was seen talking to her mentor, and they were in deep discussion about something. Akiza saw this as well and tried her hardest to sneak up close to listen in.
"You know I'm right about this master! If he won't seize the power granted to him, it could mean the end of the human race forever!" She was saying.
"He is not the only one my apprentice, we still haven't found the ones worthy of the other cards." He said. "Have patience, there's still time."
"But time is almost up. If they all cannot be found soon. He will have no choice but to lead them all! There is darkness in some of these humans' hearts. I've felt it and I know you have too!" She said.
"Yes, I've felt it. But it is only in a few. A few we can manage." He explained.
"All it will take is a few." She stated. "When it comes to light, that the humans and monsters could come to blows, the alliance we have made with them will crumble. Humans will never trust us again for millennia!"
"It's alright my apprentice, whether the humans stay an ally or not, whether they remember our existence or not, does not matter. Once the time is right, if the unthinkable should happen, we will close the barriers between our worlds once again and live in peace." He said comfortingly.
"That won't be possible, their technology is at a stage now, they can rip open the fabric between our universes with it. Closing the barriers wouldn't be enough. We'd have to sever all connections to their realm." She explained.
"We cannot! Our continued existence depends on the human world to survive!" He declared.
"I know, that's why we need to stop this before it gets out of hand, and he is the only one that can do it right now!" She said.
"Who is the one watching out for the Underworld Alliance?" He asked.
"The Blue-Eyes clan are watching them. So far it..all..com.."
Their conversation continued but they began to walk away from their last location.
Akiza couldn't stay close enough to hear anymore, she needed to tell Shelly what she just heard. So she moved away quietly and as nonchalantly as possible. Some of the Alliance monsters were on lookout patrol and noticed the conversation as well. They motioned for the best ears to listen in on the words spoken and found out that they were being watched. They will have to be even more careful if their plans were to succeed. Akiza made her way to the Officers Mess and requested to her Sergeant to speak with Lieutenant Commander Carson.
"Lieutenant Commander Carson is currently on her third trek through one of the courses. You'll have to wait until she's done." He said.
Akiza nodded and went to the waiting area for either Shelly to finish or be teleported back. She'd never seen Shelly get teleported back yet. As far as anyone was aware, Lieutenant Commander Carson was the only one to make it through the course, twice, undefeated. "It's good exercise," She was always saying, though nobody would agree with her, grumbling about how hard it was. Captain Ka'an Freeman had gone through the course twice, it's rumored he made it to the end twice, but nobody knows for sure. He doesn't talk much about the first run, but everyone saw his second. He had faced Elemental Hero Neos and Dark Magician in battle once again, he lost life points to both, but the heroes and spellcasters were no match for him. The humans were beginning to see him and the others that had won the course training, as the ones to lead them in the coming battle.
"Captain! How do you keep defeating the courses!?" Lee shouted as he ran up to me. "I've been through three times and I haven't gotten past one yet." He huffed a bit as he reached me.
"It's not that hard Lieutenant, you just need to find the right adjustment to your deck. And make sure you're not worried about anything else when you're dueling." I explained. "It's just you, your deck, and your opponent. There is nothing else to think about."
He looked thoughtful for a moment, his eyes darting down and to the side. He's thinking about her and their child, I thought to myself.
"I don't know sir, it seems like to me that there's more to it than that." He noted.
"Maybe there is, but you have to be able to not think about what is not currently in your control at that very moment and trust that the issue is being taken care of by others and the ones you love. Sarah is no slouch at being a mother and your mother makes sure that they're well cared for. So if you, who is going to be on the battlefield, are constantly worrying about them back where it is safe, will never be able to pass a trial such as these courses."I explained.
"What about the Commander? A lot of people know that you two are a couple, but you both seem to just cruise through these courses like it was nothing. Not even the other Sergeants have gone through as many times as yourself or her." He said.
I wasn't sure how to answer such a question, sure we were a couple, have been ever since we left the solar system, but we, unlike some people, haven't done it yet. We wanted to be at home, settled in, and safe before we tried to bring a child into the world. And now we're about to embark on a mission of absolute danger with death assured. We may never get the chance to have children of our own. One or both of us were liable to die in the battle ahead. The thought of it was ever constant in my mind, I wasn't sure about Shelly, maybe it was part of her ferocity going through these courses. I know it wasn't part of mine. I let go, I didn't think about anything else besides the opponents I faced. She never even crossed my mind while I was in battle. Then a troubling thought started to build in my mind, what if I wasn't in love with her, just infatuated, ever since I first saw her, her looks, her attitude, her mannerisms. Was I even in love with her? No! No dammit! I can't think about this now!! I need to remain focused on the task before us.
I turned and walked back towards the courses, "I need to find a strong opponent." I said.
Lee raised his hand in protest and wanting to talk to me more, but the look I had on my face, and the feeling I left the moment with, he withheld his words and watched me leave.
"Aye..sir." He sounded regretful, or like he just didn't want me to leave, but he wouldn't question his commanding officer.
Lieutenant Commander Carson was just stepping out of the course exit hole from the underground maze. She liked the way the maze was hardly the same whenever she'd go back through it. Akiza was waiting for her near the exit, she was looking through her deck and wasn't paying attention.
"Aki!" Shelly shouted, scaring Akiza, making her jump.
"Ah! Don't scare me like that sis!" She said.
The girls giggled together for a moment, two adoptive sisters sharing a laugh.
"Aw come on little sis, ya' know I'm only funnin' ya," Shelly said.
"Yeah, I know it. Say, when are you gonna have a kid so I can have a niece or nephew to look after?" Akiza asked suddenly.
Shelly stopped short and sort of lost composure of her proud nature for winning more duels.
"K..kids?" Shelly stammered.
Akiza looked sidelong at her big sis and stifled a laugh.
"I...I'm not...I mean..we're..we haven't.." Shelly's stammering continued.
"I'm joking big sis! Gee, you'd think I was trying to force you and Ka'an to just hurry up and get down to business already." Akiza said, but she turned away and let the tone in her voice drop. "Sis, I overheard something today."
Shelly noted the change, and even though she was still flustered a bit, she leaned forward and placed a hand on her sis' shoulder. "Aki? What is it?" She asked.
"It was Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, I think they were talking about Ka'an. How he has something and he's supposed to do something with it soon." Akiza went into the whole story of what she heard.
Shelly listened as they walked along, as she listened, her military training kicked in and she would occasionally look around and up to the sky to make sure they weren't being followed or listened in on. But she had a feeling that something wasn't right, like she had eyes on her, eyes she couldn't see.
"So what can we do about it sis?" Akiza questioned. "If there are humans and monsters planning to betray one another, how will we stop something from happening?"
"I don't know, but I do know we're not alone." Shelly got down to Akizas' ear to whisper as quietly as she could. "Someone or something is here with us." She barely got the words out when the ground suddenly collapsed below them.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!" They screamed at the same time.
The ground closed up before the noise could carry too far. Someone walked by and looked in the direction of the noise, there was nothing but dirt for miles.
I was walking into the start of a course when my duel disk and deck began to glow and vibrate.
"What's this now?" I questioned.
A rainbow was my answer as the small purple ball popped out and onto the ground before me.
"Rainbow Kuriboh? What're you doing here?"
"Kiri, Kuri! Kuri, Kuri!!" He bounced around excitedly, up in my face, and wouldn't stop messing with me until I was well back and away from the course.
"Kuriboh, what has gotten into you!?" I asked aloud, and a flash of light shone from behind as my answer.
"Ka'an!" A voice came from behind, Dark Magician Girl approached.
I turned to see the blue and pink magician appear.
"Some humans have gone missing. The Blue-Eyes clan I had over watching the humans said two women went missing near the exit to the underground course." She explained.
"What humans? When?" I asked, turning to face her.
She looked sad, but she took a breath, "Akiza and...Shelly." She said finally.
The world went red, I wasn't even sure I was breathing until I tried to speak, I took in a lung full of air and asked with a growl, "Who took them!?"
"They're calling themselves the Underworld Alliance. A group of monsters that are spouting hate on humans to a select crowd of monsters. Darkworld and other fiends are leading the pack." She began, but I wasn't listening.
I moved away from the entrances of the courses and went outside.