Sekhmet: I don't know why, but my brain was just refusing to work this chapter. I don't consider my part in this my best work and frankly I'm embarrassed.
Susano-o: Yeah I was getting frustrated. I had explained the plot like 1000 times over the last few weeks, but it all went out the window here.
Sekhmet: I tried to understand, really I did, but it just wouldn't stick for some reason.
Susano-o: Well it's over now and hopefully the next chapter is better.
Sekhmet: And with a touch of "you owe me a fucking apology" angst for those who like angst.
Susano-o: Lets go.
Duel 54: Resident Jigsaw
The chute dropped Alexis into a large room, divided in half by a large glass pane. "Oh great," She groaned standing up to look around the room for a way out.
"I'm afraid you won't be leaving," A voice from the other side said. Alexis turned to see an Obelisk Blue student standing there smirking. "Not until you beat me." The kid looked like he hadn't slept in three weeks, hadn't eaten in four, and had an unusually lustful look in his eyes, though it was also hollow.
"Wait...Daigo?" Alexis said, confused. "I thought you disappeared with Atticus?"
"Well now I'm back and we're dueling." Daigo snarled.
"Daigo we need to get out of here before Viper finishes whatever he's planning," She insisted. "Wait….oh don't tell me you're working for him too?"
"No, I'm working for someone else. But we're not going anywhere until we duel. There's physically no way out." He chuckled.
"Daigo we have to go," Alexis glared walking around the room to find an exit.
"There's no way out! There won't be a way out until you duel me!" Daigo laughed.
"Fine," Alexis snapped, activating her duel disk. "Then I'm sure you won't mind giving me the first turn," She said, drawing her card. "I summon 'Blade Skater' (1400/1500) in attack mode, and I'll set one face down and end my turn."
"My move," Daigo smirked. "I summon 'Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4'(1600/1000)," He said, smirking as a metal bird/dragon the size of a cassowary appeared on the field. "then I'll send him to attack your 'Blade Skater'!"
"I activate 'Doble Passe' turning your attack into a direct attack," Alexis ordered as 'Horus' fired a black ball of flame at her 'Blade Skater', who quickly ducked the blast and let it smack into herself (Alexis LP: 8000-6400).
As her life points went down, water suddenly flowed in from the top of the cell. "What the-?"
"Everytime we take damage, these cells will fill with water," Daigo explained. "And when we reach zero, game over."
"Oh perfect time to forget my bikini," Alexis snarked. "Well you're about to get wet too, when 'Doble Passe' hits you back for my 'Blade Skater's' attack points!" She finished as her 'Blade Skater' skated turned its duck into a spinning kick that smacked Daigo in the back of the head (Daigo LP: 8000-6600).
"Oh well that won't help you next turn," Daigo smirked. "I set a card and end my turn."
…
The tiger was swiftly defeated. In any normal match, the tiger would have easily won, but Shirley was no ordinary crocodile.
"Good girl Shirley!" Jim cooed, putting bandages on a few wounds that she had accrued. He hoisted her back into her carrier. "Now to go find the rest of them.
The sound of a very large object crushing something brought his attention up to a giant robot. "I'd say that's a good place to start."
...
"You say that," Alexis said, drawing her card. "-But my 'Cyber Petit Angel' (300/200) will make sure I win by adding 'Machine Angel Ritual' to my hand, Now I'll send 'Blade Skater' to attack you again!"
"You fool, you can't get over my 'Horus'," Dagio laughed.
"Don't need to, the second effect of 'Doble Passe' allows my monster to attack you directly," Alexis chuckled as her 'Skater' slammed into Daigo again (Diago LP: 6600-5200), making the water come up to his thighs. "Now I'll use my 'Machine Angel Ritual' to summon 'Cyber Angel Idaten' (1600/2000!)" She yelled as the entire room was covered in metal and her 'Skater' and 'Angel' were combined together in a giant smelter to create a red haired jet god in front of her. "I'll set two cards and end my turn, and take my 'Machine Angel Ritual' back from my graveyard from 'Idaten's' effect."
"Hope you don't get too attached to her," Dagio chuckled. "I activate 'Mask of Weakness' to decrease your 'Idaten's' attack by 700 points," He smirked as the mask flew out and forced itself on 'Idaten's' face (Idaten 1600-900/2000). "Now 'Horus' destroy her monster! (Alexis LP: 6400-5700) and now I'll send him to the graveyard to summon 'Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6' (2300/1600)!" He yelled as his smaller bird caught fire and exploded into a larger bird that took to the sky to fly around Dagio.
Alexis grit her teeth and drew her card looking at the card she smiled. "I summon 'Cyber Egg Angel (200/300) and use its effect to add 'Ritual Sanctuary' to my hand and now I'll play it," She smirked as the entire room became a wedding hall. "I'll send a spell card to the graveyard to add a Light Ritual Monster to my hand, now I'll use my 'Machine Angel Ritual' to combine my 'Egg' and 'Benten' to summon 'Cyber Angel Izana' (2500/2600)!" She chanted summoning a four handed angel with multiple weapons. "Now I'll use her effect to make you send a spell or trap to the grave."
Dagio's smirk remained as he put the card to the grave. Alexis glared, but continued. "Now 'Izana' attack 'Horus LV6'!" She ordered. Izana swung her spear around and stabbed it straight into 'Horus's' chest (Dagio LP: 5200-5000). "And now Izana can attack you again!" (Dagio LP: 5000-2500). "I'll set a card and end my turn."
…
In fact, 'Mobile Base' being summoned caught everybody's attention. Like a beacon of misunderstood hope, it let everybody know where Syrus was, and the gravity of the situation.
"No no no, not my baby!" Yuko shrieked. She ran towards the direction of 'Mobile Base'.
"Yuko come back! You don't know what's out there!" Hassleberry yelled after her. It was too late, and she was already climbing through bushes.
"Let's just follow her. She looks real manic right now." Jesse said. With not much else to do, they followed her carved path of destruction through the forest.
...
Daigo laughed as the water went over his waist and almost to his chest. "Glad you're not worried about dying," He smiled, drawing a card. "I activate 'Level Modulation', you get to draw two cards and I get to resummon my 'Horus LV6' (2300/1600), Now I play 'Level Up!' to send 'LV6' to the grave to summon 'Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8' (3000/1800)!" He yelled as 'LV6' exploded and became a massive dragon-like bird floating behind him. "'Horus' attack 'Izana' Black Mega Flame!" A jet of black fire erupted from 'Horus's' mouth that roasted 'Izana' to cinders (Alexis LP: 6400-5900). "I'll set a card then end my turn."
Alexis gulped as she looked up at the massive dragon, knowing now she couldn't use her spell cards as long as this giant chicken was on the field. "I draw," She said looking at the card. "I summon 'Cyber Tutu' (1000/800)," She said, summoning her card. "And since all your monsters have higher attack than my 'Tutu' she can attack you directly," (Daigo LP: 2500-1500). "I'll set two cards and end my turn."
"My move," Daigo said, drawing his card. "And then sent 'Horus' to annihilate your 'Tutu!"
"I activate 'Waboku'!" Alexis yelled.
"Wrong!" Daigo laughed. "I activate 'Malfunction', by paying 500 LP I can stop that trap and return it facedown (Daigo LP: 1500-1000), (Alexis LP: 5900-3900). "That'll be all for me."
…
Adrian clambered through the vents of the building, blocking off the ridiculous amount of motion sensors with little caps. He could hear 'Mobile Base' get summoned through the vents.
"That doesn't sound good…" he thought, but pressed on with his task.
...
Alexis smirked. "And that's what I wanted," She said, drawing her card. "I activate 'Urgent Ritual Art'!" She yelled, activating her face down. "Now since I don't control a Ritual Monster, I can banish 1 Ritual Spell from my hand or Grave and this card's effect will become that card's effect, so I'll banish my 'Machine Angel Absolute Ritual' and use its effect to shuffle 'Izana' and 'Cyber Petit Angel' to summon 'Cyber Angel Vrash' (3000/2000)!"
The wedding hall was covered in metal once again except this time the smelter was gushing lava and multiple pipes were spewing fire as the two monsters were forged together into one tall four winged and armed cyber god. "'Vrash' attack his 'Horus' with Nandaka's Purity!"
'Vrash' summoned a large sword to her hand as it met 'Horus' in a clash of wills that ended with both of them destroyed.
"What a waste," Daigo laughed.
"Not when I activate my 'Call of the Haunted'!" Alexis yelled as 'Vrash' returned to the field. "Attack him directly with Sharanga's Blessing!" 'Vrash' quickly summoned a bow to her four hands and pulled it back, then let it go to send an arrow of light through Daigo's chest faster than he could see (Daigo LP: 1000-0).
"That's the end," Alexis smirked as the water in her cell drained, but the water in Daigo's quickly started rising over his head. "Damn it," She cursed as she started looking for a way to break the glass.
….
Yuko punched a boar out of the way with the help of Dreadroot's fists, sending it spiraling into a tree. She pried her way into the clearing just in time to see the duel wrap up, Stein disappearing over the edge of the trench and Syrus fall back onto the dirt. She dashed across the bridge and scooped his crumpled form into her arms. "No, no please!" She prayed, taking his pulse. She sighed in relief, he was alive, just exhausted.
"Corporal, you shouldn't go running off like that when dangerous animals are around. What if you had run into another tiger?" Hassleberry said, climbing out of a bush.
"I still would have punched it." Yuko replied. "Darling, wake up…" she chided.
Syrus coughed like he had smoke in his lungs. "Yuko? What happened?"
"You won." Yuko replied, hugging him tight.
"Yay…" Syrus cheered, still exhausted.
Jesse followed into the clearing, climbing out of another bush with more difficulty. "Is everyone here?"
A few seconds later, Jim also emerged from the forest. "Not quite. We're still missing Alexis. I think I know where she went though."
…
As Daigo tried to pry his way out through the trap door at the top of the room and Alexis beat on the glass with a rock to no avail, both doors were opened from the outside. She didn't see who yanked Daigo up, but Yuko and Syrus had lowered a rope for Alexis, who grabbed it and was pulled to safety. When she got to the surface, it was revealed that it had been Jim and Hassleberry who had pulled up Daigo, now unconscious.
"Alright, is everybody here now?" Yuko asked.
"Looks like it." Jesse replied.
"Good. Let's keep going then." She said.
….
"Good, but not good enough."
Adrian was slammed against the wall so hard that it cracked. He'd finally broken into Viper's lab, gotten into a fistfight with him and lost, leaving him actually stuck there like in some anime. As he struggled to free himself, a voice spoke to him.
"Hello Adrian Gecko…." The voice said. "You are….quite interesting."
"Who are you?" Adrian asked, glaring around the room.
"No one important…. But you are important to me…."
"Why?" Adrian asked.
"You can do many things for me….and I can do many things for you….let's have a chat…."
...….
"Here we go," Hassleberry said as the group busted through the door into Viper's lab, empty of Viper luckily.
"Ok spread out," Alexis ordered. "Look for anything that explains what he's been doing."
"10-4," Hassleberry said with a salute as he looked over one of the desks, Jim and Jesse took the others, while Alexis, Syrus, and Yuko looked around the rest of the room.
"There's got to be something here to explain what's been happening around the school," Alexis wondered out loud as she worked at one of the consoles.
"Well what is this for?" Syrus asked pointing at the giant tube in the middle of the room.
"I don't know," Hassleberry said, holding up some papers. "-But I don't think it's anything good, take a look at this."
Everyone looked at the pages, which detailed a small excavation of the remains of a monster from the Abandoned Dorms.
"It can't be," Alexis said shaking in shock. "I thought the abandoned dorms were exorcised after we beat Titan."
"Well looks like something was still in there," Hassleberry said. "And I think it's inside that tank."
Alexis walked over and tapped the tank, suddenly the orange goo inside tried to attack her finger.
"I wonder if it'll die if we break the tube. Best not to find out I guess, it could attack us." Yuko noted.
Alexis didn't respond as the goo started speaking to her. "You…..I recognize you….," The goo spoke. "Yes….you're his sister….maybe you'll be a suitable sacrifice."
Alexis jumped back in fear. "Guys, I think I know what this is!"
"What?" Everyone asked, but stopped when they were suddenly thrown back against the wall by an unseen force, Yuko especially was repeatedly hit till she was nearly unconscious on the floor.
"Oh don't worry about that," Viper smirked. "You won't be around long enough to care," He laughed.
"Viper you snake!" Hassleberry yelled trying to get free.
"Thank you," He laughed. "Don't get comfy," He said looking at the tank. "You'll be food to fuel the return of my son soon enough."
Syrus slowly shifted his arm enough to press the phone button on his PDA. "Rose we need help," He whispered. "We're under the abandoned lab Viper has all trapped and is going to kill us, Yuko is unconscious we really need your help….please."
Alexis looked over at Syrus and with as much strength as she could muster she moved her head closer to his PDA. "Rose….baby….I need your help," She pleaded.
"Are you ready?" Viper asked the goo.
"Yes….their energy will be enough to return me from this wretched state…" The goo laughed, then the entire base then shook. "What was that!?"
"I don't know," Viper said, checking his monitors, only to see most of them had been covered by a blackness. "What is going on," He growled, flicking through cameras rapidly till he saw one that was working, before it was suddenly destroyed by a tendril of darkness. "No! I was so close!" He screamed slamming his fist down on the console.
"We must move….." The goo said. "Open the tube….I will attach to you and we will leave…."
Viper nodded and went over to the glass, another quake rocked the room and then the far wall exploded, inkly blackness quickly filled the room, followed by an angry Rose.
"Hello there," She growled. "You have something that belongs to me."
Viper glared and used his own powers to force Rose's darkness back. "You couldn't just leave well enough alone, could you?"
"You couldn't just fuck off back to the mainland couldn't you?" Rose countered. "Now are you going to lay down and let me kick your ass or are you going to make it hard for both of us?"
Viper glared and put his hands up, Rose growled and threw her jacket off as well, running at Viper at full speed.
"Time for you to sleep!" Rose yelled flying into a spinning kick. Viper blocked it and threw her off with a telekinetic blast. Rose flung a darkness tendril at him, slicing his chest open.
"Ah!" Viper yelled, throwing her back panting. "Not bad," He glared. "Untrained, but good."
"Wanna give up?" Rose asked walking around Viper, making sure to stay away from her friends.
"Of course not," Viper said, cracking his knuckles.
"Viper…." The goo growled. "We need to go!"
Viper stopped, then jumped back with a telekinetic jump, shattering the tank in an instant and allowing the goo to wrap around his arm. "Goodbye," He smirked, hitting a button on the console.
"Lockdown sequence initiated, please evacuate the facility through the nearest emergency exit." Viper laughed as he jumped down a hidden escape tunnel that closed up behind him.
"Damn it!" Rose snapped running over to everyone. "We got to move!" She ordered pulling them off the wall. "Yuko you ok?" She asked, shaking her shoulder. Muffled, very angry swearing erupted from Yuko's mouth. "Good you're ok, let's move people!" She yelled waving her hand at the opening she made.
The group dodged and weaved through the closing doors as quickly as possible, Rose throwing a few tendrils out to hold them up when possible, before they ended up in a room with multiple doors, all closing at once.
"Anyone know the way out?" Rose asked.
"No we didn't go this way," Alexis answered. Then one of the doors stopped moving as two wire jacks held it up.
"This way!" Axel yelled, waving them through, Yuko gave him a glare but followed as they finally reached the hallway with the elevator. "Come on everyone squeeze in!"
"Joy," Yuko sighed as they crammed their way in and hit the button, finally returning to the surface.
…..
"Well that was awful," Rose said as the final door slammed shut. "And Viper got away, fuck."
"Rose, you're back!" Syrus cheered, and hugged her.
Rose blushed but returned the hug, Hassleberry joined in as well, while Jesse and Jim looked on smiling. In fact, everyone seemed at least moderately happy that she was back...except Yuko.
"Come on, we have work to do. This is an island, he can't get far." She said in a clipped tone.
"Right," Alexis said looking at Rose. "First we should go see how Chazz is doing and see if Crowler can help, we'll need everyone to find him."
"Right." Yuko agreed. With that, the group set out for their first destination.