Yu-gi-oh/RWBY Chapter 15
Out of Mind
The ride was awkward, Velvet had no doubts about that. Blake and Tetsu seemed to be in a staring contest, despite Tetsu being the driver. Still, she preferred this to what she just witnessed. What was all of that? Dark-synchro monsters? Rings of blue fire? Sacrifices? Velvet was unprepared for all of this.
The radio at the start of the car starts up, and Tetsu picks it up. "Trudge here." "We need you over at the hospital where Yang Xiao Long is being held." Yang Xiao Long? Velvet was intrigued. This was the chance of a lifetime. She was despondent to hear Trudge refuse. "I can't. I'm escorting a suspect over to Fall." "This is starting to get out of hand. If you don't get over soon, we're gonna be overrun by press and fanboys trying to find her." Trudge lets out a long sigh before saying "I'll be right over." and turning from his route to get to the hospital.
Once they parked, Velvet thought the other voice in the radio wasn't kidding. She couldn't even see the entrance, there was such a crowd gathered. Trudge got out of the car and glared at Blake. "Stay. Put. Both of you." He then locks the doors before running over to aid the other Security officers in handling the situation. Velvet's enthusiasm drops when she remembers that she was handcuffed too. She suddenly feels something brush against the handcuffs, prompting her to turn around. Blake is using some metal picks on Velvet's handcuffs.
"Wait. You could have gotten out at any time?" "Yes. But I didn't want to. I have questions for Cinder. Go, while he's distracted." Blake explained. "But he locked the doors." Velvet complained. Blake fishes something out of her back pocket, and does something that makes a clicking noise. Suddenly, the doors unlock. Velvet looks at Blake and is about to ask how she did that, but realizes she's wasting time. She rushes out and near the crowd, too busy figuring out a way in to notice the spider that crawled off the car and towards the hospital.
Yang felt silly being in the hospital room. It was just a broken arm, she'd be back up in a few days. The cast was a little itchy, though. But it did give her some time to think. Think about what she saw during her duel with Ruby. The temple she saw was almost an exact match to the one in Cinder's basement. Why was Cinder so obsessed with all this stuff? What did she know that she wasn't telling everyone? Yang heard a clutter outside and got up to investigate. She saw a bunny girl in a nurse's outfit tripped over on her face. This revealed different clothes underneath the nurse's clothing, leading Yang to suspect that she wasn't actually a nurse.
"You okay?" Yang asked. Velvet desperately tried to get up, a task made harder as she kept slipping on spilled supplies she had knocked over. After she was successful, she answered. "Yes. I'm fine. My name is Velvet Scarlatina, and I'm here to-" Before she could finish that sentence, the lights went out, leaving Velvet more concerned with screaming until Yang went over to comfort her. "Maybe we should get out of here." "Yeah. Maybe."
Trudge leaned against the wall of the hospital hallway, sipping a coffee cup. He sometimes resented the press. Tonight, he really resented the press. They seemed more like bloodhounds than reporters, and his voice felt sore from shouting to keep them from practically rioting. The whole situation left Trudge so tired that he didn't feel the spider's bite until it was too late.
Yang and Velvet wandered the hospital, cursing that the layout was so confusing that they got lost multiple times. Their journey stopped when they noticed Officer Trudge blocking their way, with an odd expression on his face. Yang was hesitant. "Hey, Trudge. We need to get out of here, now. Can you help us?" He responded by readying his duel disk, revealing a mark of a spider with one leg.
"Yang, be careful. Blake faced someone with a mark like that!" Velvet warned. "What?" Yang was shocked. What was Blake still doing in the city? "The guy wasn't himself, and he used this really scary monster called a dark-synchro monster!" As she was explaining, a blue fire appeared behind them and behind Trudge, trapping all three. "Yang Xiao Long, you will be sacrificed to open the Underworld!" He said, in a manner so unlike his own.
Yang readied her own duel disk, but Velvet protested. "Wait! Your arm! You can't duel like this." Yang turned to her. "Can you duel?" "Uh, a little…" "Then you'll have to duel for me." Velvet normally would jump at the chance to duel with the legendary Yang Xiao Long (She was a huge fan), but the circumstances spoiled the mood. Nonetheless, she grabbed the top 5 cards of Yang's deck to begin the duel.
Trudge also draws 5 cards before drawing his next card. "I summon Warm Worm." (Level 3/1400). "I end my turn." Yang has to elbow Velvet to get her to draw. "Uh, I draw!" She then shows Yang the cards, and Yang looks them over. "If I have no monsters, I can halve Vice Dragon's attack and defense to summon it from my hand." Yang announces, and Velvet hurries to bring it out, so as not to disappoint Yang. A purple dragon with green wings appears (Level 5/2000-1000). "I then tribute it to summon Strong Wind Dragon!" The purple dragon gives way for a larger, green dragon (Level 6/2400). "If Strong Wind Dragon was tribute summoned using a dragon, it gains attack equal to half the original attack of its tribute." (Strong Wind Dragon 2400-3400).
"Strong Wind Dragon, attack Warm Worm!" The dragon flies over and unleashes a sickly green flame on it. "When Strong Wind Dragon attacks a defense position monster, it can deal piercing damage." (Trudge 4000-2000). "Alright! You're not the Queen for nothing! Uh, well…" Velvet exclaimed, before remembering that Yang isn't queen anymore. Trudge laughed a deep, hollow laugh. "When Warm Worm is destroyed, you must send the top 3 cards of your deck to the graveyard." Velvet looks over at Yang, who gives a look of assent. She puts three cards in the graveyard.
Yang points at a card in Velvet's hand. "I set a card and end my turn." Velvet almost drops the card from nervousness, but manages to set it. Trudge draws another card. "I summon Shield Worm." A large worm in thick armor appears (Level 4/800). "When it is summoned, I can switch it to defense position to send cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard for every insect I control." The worm takes a defensive stance (2000) as Velvet has to put another card in Yang's graveyard. "I set a card and end my turn."
Velvet draws a card. "I activate-" Yang begins before Velvet interrupts "Strong Wind Dragon, attack Shield Worm for game!" The dragon attacks again, and destroys the worm again, but Trudge's life points are untouched. "Huh? But Strong Wind Dragon can-" "Shield Worm protects me from any battle damage with it. I will now activate my face-down, Regret Reborn, to bring back Shield Worm." The worm returns, and Velvet has to send another card to the graveyard. "I'm sorry, Yang. I just got so excited from dueling with you I got carried away." If Yang has a reaction to this, she doesn't let it show. "Summon Shield Wing in defense position to make up for it." Velvet does so, ending their turn (Level 2/900).
Trudge again draws a card without a word. "I activate Worm Bait. If I control a Worm, I can summon two Worm tokens, but I can't summon level 3 or 4 monsters this turn." Two small grubs appear next to Shield Worm (Level 1/0). "I will then tribute them to summon the dark-tuner Chaos Rogue!" The grubs disappear and in their place is a large, hulking man with a vibe of evil intentions (Level 8/0). "This is bad. The last guy used one of these to summon that dark-synchro thing!" Velvet warned. "I dark tune my level 8 Chaos Rogue into my level 4 Shield Worm! Dark Synchro Summon! The holder of forbidden knowledge, Dark Diviner!" A wizard in black and red robes appears, carrying a scepter with 4 orbs on it (Level -4/2000). "A negative level?" Yang asks. "Yes." Trudge taunts. "But first, Chaos Rogue's ability! When it's used to dark-synchro summon, you have to send the top 5 cards of your deck to the graveyard!" Velvet sadly sends the 5 cards away.
"Dark Diviner, attack Strong Wind Dragon!" The wizard winds up his staff, and shoots out a blast of dark energy. "Dark Diviner can't be destroyed by battle, and if it attacks a stronger monster, you lose cards for every 100 points of difference." The beam splits, one staying on course for Strong Wind Dragon, and the other hitting Yang's deck, rendering 14 cards blackened and covered in a fog. Velvet takes this as a clue to discard those cards, worrying that so many were lost. "Then, Dark Diviner makes the attack points of your monster become equal to its own. Dark Drag Down!" The original ball hits Strong Wind Dragon, who doesn't even flinch. (3400-2000).
"Strong Wind Dragon can't be destroyed by battle with a monster of equal attack." Yang states. Strong Wind Dragon shrugs off the attack. "I end my turn." Velvet draws a card before breaking down. "This is bad. I should have listened to you earlier. Now you only have…" Velvet counts the number of cards left in Yang's deck. "8 cards left! What are we gonna do?" Yang puts up a smile in an attempt to inspire confidence in Velvet. "That doesn't matter. We're winning this turn. First, activate the effect Rematch Knocker in the graveyard. It was sent there by Warm Worm a few turns back." Velvet nods, then says "I activate the effect of Rematch Knocker in the graveyard! By tributing a monster, it can be brought back from the graveyard!" Strong Wind Dragon is split in two, and out of the crack jumps a scrappy goblin in wrestling attire covered in bandages (Level 3/600).
"I tune the level 4 Shield Wing with my level 3 Rematch Knocker!" Yang shouts. "Strength will be known to all as it rocks the very foundations of the earth! Synchro Summon! Appear, Brawn Brawler!" A large, muscular man appears, flexing his muscles and showing off his boxing gloves (Level 7/2500). "Brawn Brawler, attack Dark Diviner!" The man pounds his fists together, and chargers forward. "When Brawn Brawler attacks a monster with a lower attack, that monster's attack drops to 0 and its effects are negated. Brawn Burst!" (Dark Diviner 2000-0). The brawler lands a solid upper cut on the wizard, sending Trudge flying (Trudge 2000-0). The mark on his arm disappears, and the spider crawls away again.
Velvet says to Yang "We need to get out of here. There could be more of them." Yang nods, and the two leave.
Blake waits in the car, wondering what's taking Trudge so long. She notices someone walking closer to her from the outside, and when they lift their cloak, Blake is certain she's seeing things. After all, he's supposed to be dead.