Sekhmet: Good news, the world isn't ending!
Susano-o: And we're actually uploading something!
Sekhmet: If we're lucky, maybe we'll have something up by Christmas too!
Susano-o: Hopefully before then, but anyway here we go!
Duel 65: Why Not Doors?
As the rumbling cane to a close, the entire school shifted to another dimension. This one was rocky, with a sky of swirling blue grey energy, a single sun in the sky and a bunch of pillars with chains on them.
"So where are we now?" Yuko asked.
"We're not home yet. We need to keep going through the dimensions until we find our own again. It'll be awhile before the batteries are recharged, and we can only go forward." Bastion explained.
"How long will that take?" Syrus asked.
"About 8 hours."
"Well, if we're stuck here for 8 hours, I should take Rose to Satorious and see if we can get this demon exorcized." Yuko said, hefting Rose over her shoulders and heading off to find the man in question.
…
A soft knock on Satorious' door alerted him to a visitor. When he opened the door, and looking a lot less evil this time, Yuko dumped Rose's body at his feet.
"I know this is highly unusual given our history, but I need your help. Rose is infested by a demon."
"A demon? Not to be rude, but what makes you think I'm a qualified exorcist?" Sartorius asked.
"I don't. But I know I can't do this alone, and you were the only person I knew who might be able to help." Yuko said. Rose groaned.
"I don't know how much help I'll actually be, but I can try." Sartorius said.
"Great. Let's get this shit started. Who knows when she'll wake up." Yuko said, dragging her to the middle of the room. "Lie down and put your head next to hers. If we do it right, our souls should link up and we'll both go to her Soul Room."
"Ah yes, soulwalking. I think I'm familiar with the practice." Sartorius said.
"Yeah. I have a kernel of Darkness that I'll try to share with you. I've been practicing in my own Soul Room, and using it we can summon monsters like Stands if we need them." Yuko said.
As the two laid their heads down and drifted off to sleep, their souls left their bodies and flowed into Rose's body.
…
Sartorius's soul room was a chaotic jumble of strange looking objects all surrounding a small table. Wooden masks floated behind him singing strange tunes in time with the bubbling of potions and the turning of pages. Upon the table was a small crystal ball and a set of tarot cards that gently danced around the edge in time with the beat of the room. Sartorius sat down at one side and gestured to Yuko to take the other seat. Yuko complied and sat down.
"Alright then," Sartorius said, waving a hand over the ball. "I thought it would be best if we entered through my room, in case your other friends decide to use the connection as a way to slip your bindings."
"That's probably a good idea. I've soulwalked before, but never into an unwilling target. There's probably gonna be some kind of barrier that we need to break through. Since it's all cognitive, it shouldn't be too hard, but you never know." Yuko said.
"Shouldn't be too hard," Sartorius said as the ball started turning black. "Rose has no training and relies on her Darkness to shield herself from outside influence, with your remaining piece we should be let in without interference," he explained as the swirling darkness gave way to red. "Ok now put your hands on the ball."
Yuko put her hands on the ball. Sartorius took his hand and placed it on top as he pushed his spirit inside, grabbing Yuko's along the way as they were sucked inside. The two were transported into a dark hallway that kept spinning with walls lined with doors. Yuko recognized one as the door to her soul room and the other next to it was Sartorius's judging by the large tarot covering.
"Oh god this place is a mess!" Sartorius shouted looking at the constantly shifting doors. "How does she think like this?!"
"It's probably a defense mechanism. The Pharaoh Atem's soul room was much like this, a stone maze of doors to prevent anyone, even himself, from finding out the truth." Yuko said. "With that in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these doors are booby trapped."
"...do you think she's really that smart?" Sartorius deadpanned.
"I don't think she's that smart, I think she's that scared." Yuko said. "As far as I could tell, she's always been afraid of her inner mind. If her rooms are trapped, it's to keep others out of her head."
"Well," Sartorius sighed. "I suppose we should start with door number 1."
"Right." Yuko agreed, and opened the first door, stepping behind it to avoid any traps. Inside was a room filled with overflowing boxes of paper stacked upon boxes in a never ending maze. "Memories maybe...or perhaps emotional baggage…?" She wondered.
Sartorius opened one up and read the page. "Set Masked Change then flip on Opponent's draw phase for Dark Law, then dab," he read.
"So this is all her dueling strategies. We won't find what we need here." Yuko said.
"Unfortunately not," Sartorius said, closing the box, nearly tipping over a stack taller than him in the process. "Shall we continue then?"
"Yes. We can't leave until we find that demon." Yuko said, and opened the next door. Inside was a cacophony of explosives, ranging from the sting of gunpowder in the air to C4 blocks. "This must be where all her latent anger is stored."
"Huh." Sartorius said, looking around. "Seems like there's another wire leading to another room through the wall."
"We should probably follow it. If the demon knows how to exploit this room, it can and will cause disaster." Yuko said. She closed the door and followed the wire path to the next room. This one opened to an island paradise.
"A brief moment of refuge...this must be where her happiness is 's barely anything in here though…" Yuko noted. "Usually this area is more developed."
"Maybe it's not that then," Sartorius suggested taking a step inside, only to jump back when a mass of crabs dug their way out of the sand.
"Crab crab crab crab" they chanted in unison as they scurried around the sands.
"Crabs?" Yuko said, picking one up. "No, they're Tuna Crabs, a type of squat lobster. Why are there so many here?" As she held it a flash went through her head.
"Damn Yuko when you wear that swimsuit you are just trying to make me horny I know it!"
Yuko chucked the crab off into the distance. "I'm never wearing that again. What the hell, they're all her thoughts?"
Sartorius's brow furrowed as he picked one up too.
"Damn it Chazz I told you to replace the milk, I'm gonna undo the bolts on your toilet for this!"
"I think these are just her random thoughts," Sartorius concluded.
"Hand hand hand," the crabs said as they crowded the two. "Food food food frighten."
"We don't have any food." Yuko said.
"Isn't this one of those meme things?" Sartorius asked.
"The tuna crab meme, yes." Yuko said.
"Right...well let's continue then." Sartorius said, walking through the mass of crabs that swarmed around their feet and sending them random thoughts.
"Why are there never any cliff bars in the canteen? Seriously who keeps buying all of them!?"
"Why is every stand in Jojolion so complicated? Who needs this many restrictions?!"
"Why was Bosco just a bear in Avatar? Like really it was never explained and if he was a product of breeding he must have terrible restrictions?"
"Huh? What was that….nothing I guess…"
"Ok! I know I heard something that time!"
"Wait….its in my head….Wait did you just respond back!?"
"Who are you and why do you keep torturing me!?"
Sartorius cringed. "I think these are older thoughts."
"Yeah I don't like this. Maybe this is the route we need to go down though. Something about finding the truth in great suffering." Yuko shuddered.
Sartorius paused and sighed. "Yuko, It's not that deep fam," He deadpanned. "Come on we're almost there."
"It was just a thought." Yuko said. As they continued, the surrounding area got darker and darker until it was barely more than a black recess.
"There," Sartorius said pointing. "The wire runs into that hatch, her subconscious I bet."
"Oh boy. Let's see what dwells in the depths of Rose's subconscious." Yuko grimaced.
Sartorius opened the hatch, unleashing a torrent of writhing dark energy tendrils that started destroying everything around them.
"Frighten frighten frighten," The crabs said hiding under the sand.
"Silent Hill apparently." Yuko said, jumping into the hole. Satorious followed, and into a darkened room of Sumerian construction, there were no windows or doors and the only light seemed to come from a single candle in the center of the room sitting on a plate held in the hands of a Rose statue. The floor was also littered with photos of Rose throughout her life.
A laugh that was all too warm for the room cut through the air. "What's that I smell? Fear, anger, and confusion? Now this is something I can work with!" Yubel jeered, holding up a block of C4, a stuffed bat, and a fox skin in a clawed hand. She crumpled the three objects together into a mangled mess.
"Get out of here, weirdo!" Yuko said.
"Weirdo? Who are you calling a weirdo?" Yubel asked.
"It's justified! You've burrowed your way into my friends' soul room, fucked her up, and now she's got anxiety!" Yuko accused.
"You paint me a parasite!" Yubel said in mock shock. "You don't have all the facts!"
"Which are?" Sartorius asked.
"I love her." Yubel purred.
"Cool motive, still trauma." Yuko said. "Now get out of here!"
"You'll have to drag me out of here with my cold dead wings!" Yubel jeered.
"If we must." Sartorius said. He made some gestures with his hands, and shadowy tentacles shot out of the bottom of the floor. Yuko did the same, hers coming from her palms. Yubel easily dodged them. Sartorius snapped his fingers, and everything paused for a second before suddenly jolting forward. Yubel was restrained by the tendrils, barely able to wriggle.
"What the hell was that?! What happened?!" She yelled.
"I skipped time with the help of "Arcana Force XXI: The World." Satorious said.
"What?! What?! No, I do not consent to this, only Rose can do that to me! Hey, watch the ass!" Yubel cried, getting sucked past them, out of the happiness room, down the corridor, and into Satorious' soul room.
"Did it work?" Yuko asked.
I think so. Wait…." Sartorius started, before stifling a burp. "Pardon me."
"Well ok then. Let's get outta here. Yuko said.
…
"Guys we have a problem," Bastion said, frowning. "I think the switch has been sabotaged."
"How so?" Jim asked, looking over his shoulder.
"There's this inside the switch," He said, showing them a burned out card. "It set our destination specifically to this dimension, someone wanted us to come here for something."
"It's Adrian," Jim said. "I know it."
"How?" Axel asked, confused.
"He's sus," Jim answered.
"Fair enough," Everyone agreed.
"Also I think he's a spy working for Nightshroud and has someone inside the school, we've been short food and supplies," Jim explained. "He disappeared right as we got here claiming he was about to throw up, and hasn't come back since."
"Makes sense," Axel said cracking his knuckles. "Ok we'll go get him."
"Quickly you two, we'll be leaving soon," Bastion said, the two nodded and left on their monsters.
….
"She's waking up," Sartorius said.
"Let's hope this works." Yuko said nervously.
Rose's eyes opened and she slowly surveyed the room.
"Rose? You ok?" Yuko asked.
"...What?" Rose asked confused.
"Are you feeling ok?" Sartorius asked.
"...I….don't know," Rose said looking around. "I don't feel….anything."
"Emotionally or physically?" Yuko asked.
"...yes." She said slowly, her eyes unsettlingly empty. Yuko pulled Sartorius off to the side.
"We fucked up. I don't know what went wrong, it was a simple extraction." Yuko said.
"I see that, how did it go so wrong though?" Sartorius asked, scratching his head.
"Maybe we unknowingly disturbed something, or left something uncovered. We need to go back in." Yuko said.
"Yes," Sartorius said, turning back to Rose, only to be met with an empty bed. "...Should have expected that," He sighed.