Chapter 4: Secrets Revealed

With their Duel Gang formed, The Enforcers quickly began cleaning the streets. In a month, they had already wiped out two duel gangs, taking over their turf. By now their name was known and feared, which is just the way they wanted it.

Their current raid was on the base of Magician's four, a quartet that looked more like Cosplayers than bandits, but looks can be deceiving. At the moment, Akiza, Jack, Yusei, and Kalin waited outside, waiting for Crow's signal. It wasn't long before the beacon on Kalin's duel disk started blinking. That was their signal.

"Let's Move!"

"Right!"

Kalin kicked down the door, the members of the Magician's 4 scattering when they saw who they were up against. Not that it mattered, because the moment Akiza had one captured in her Duel Anchor their fate was sealed.

"No more running! If you want to get out of here with your dignity, you'll face me in a duel."

Realizing he was trapped, her opponent, a short teenager with green hair, snarled and placed his deck into his duel disk.

"Let's duel!"

Akiza: 4000

M4: 4000

Akiza: 4000

"I'll start things off with my Evil Thorn (100/300)! But it won't stay for long, because I'm tributing it to activate its effect. Now you take 300 points of damage!"

Her opponent winced as the thorns pricked him, dealing him a small amount of damage.

M4: 3700

"And as an extra bonus, I can summon two more from my deck in defense mode! But don't worry, I can't use their effects, so you're safe for now. I set one card face down and end my turn."

"Don't think you've won because of that! First, I activate Foolish Burial to send Marie the Fallen One from my deck to the graveyard. Next, I summon Fire Princess (1300/1500) in attack mode! Destroy her weed on the left!"

The fiery sorceress created a ball of fire at the tip of her staff which she then threw, burning Akiza's monster to ashes.

"I'll then end my turn with three cards face down and end my turn. Your move."

"Alright then, I draw! First, I'll tribute my last Evil Thorn to summon Queen Angel of Roses (2400/1300))!"

"Hey, what gives? That's a level 7 monster, you need two tributes for that!"

"Unless I'm tributing a Plant monster, in which case I only need one. Now my queen, attack his Princess!"

"As if I would let it be that easy! I activate my trap card, Gravity Bind! Now level 4 or higher monsters can't attack."

Akiza groaned. As long as he had Fire Princess on the field and Marie the Fallen One in his graveyard, she was fighting an uphill batle."

"I end my turn."

"Running scared already? Its okay, I would two if I was facing someone as strong as me. Now that it's my Standby Phase, I think you know what happens next, don't you?"

Akiza growled as a red aura enveloped her, lowering her life points.

M4: 3900

Akiza: 3500

"Next, I activate my Bad Reaction to Simochi! Now any time you would gain life points, you lose that same amount instead, like with my Upstart Goblin! Not only do I get to draw a card, but I get to widen my lead!"

Akiza: 2500

"I think I've done enough damage for now, so I'll finish my turn by activating my Eye of Truth Trap card! Now you have to play with your hand revealed!"

Projections of the cards in Akiza's hand appeared over her head, revealing any potential strategies to her opponent.

"Its my turn, I draw!"

"Don't forget, since you have a spell card in your hand, you take 1000 points of damage!

Akiza: 1500

But Akiza wasn't worried, as her opponent soon found out when his Fire Princess was wrapped up in a rose bloom before being pulled into the ground.

"What happened?"

"My Queen of Fallen Rose's effect happened. During my Standby Phase, she destroys the monster on the field with the lowest attack, which in this case was your Fire Princess."

"Bah, so what? As long as I have Gravity Bind on the field your Queen can't attack!"

"Perhaps you'd like to take a closer look at the spell card I drew?"

Confused, the magician did so, and gasped in horror.

"No, not that!"

"That's right, I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon! Say goodbye to your Gravity Bind!"

Her shorter opponent could only watch in horror as his shield blew up.

"Now Queen Angel, attack him directly!"

Akiza's queen slashed The Magician with her sword, making him cry out in pain.

M4: 1500

"Wh-what was that? I shouldn't feel that from just a hologram!"

Akiza froze up. She thought she had her powers under control. Was…was she slipping?"

"I end my turn."

"I don't know what that was, but I'm going to find out! I draw!"

M4: 1700

When the gang member saw what card he had drawn, he grinned. This would be more than enough to secure his victory.

"I activate Nightmare Steelcage!"

Akiza remained stoic as the iron clad bars wrapped around her, preventing all attacks from coming in or out.

"Now none of us can attack for two turns, not that it matters. With my Eye of Truth Bad Reaction to Simochi combo, you'll lose before that unless you can get rid of the spells in your hand, and we both know that Seed of Deception won't do you any good. Face it, I'm going to win and my friends will pick off your teammates one by one. I might keep you around, though. A pretty little thing like you will make an excellent trophy."

Akiza nearly threw up at that comment. There was no way she'd ever let this creep anywhere near her.

"I end my turn there. Now hurry up and lose so I can claim my prize!"

Akiza snarled, her blood boiling as she drew her card for the turn.

Akiza: 500

"You'll be claiming nothing. I summon Twilight Rose Knight (1000/1000)! And when he's summoned, he lets me summon a level 4 or lower Plant monster from my hand, such as Lord Poison (1500/1000)!"

"Big deal. Summon as many monsters as you want, you still can't attack."

"Maybe not, but there's something you should know about my Knight. He's a tuner monster."

"What? You don't mean-"

"I do. Twilight Rose Knight, tune with Lord Poison! Prepare to enter a new world of pain! Rise forth, Black Rose Dragon (2400/1800)!

Her green haired opponent raised his duel disk to shield himself as the winds picked up, nearly knocking him off his feet as Akiza's monster graced the field.

"And before you bring up your Cage, let me tell you about my Dragon's effect! When she's Synchro Summoned, I can destroy all cards on the field!"

"What?!"

With a mighty cry, Black Rose Dragon summoned a massive gust of wind, destroying her and every other card on the field, including the cage surrounding her master. At first The Magician's 4 member was scared, but once he saw the new state of the field he laughed.

"Nice going, too bad you blew up your own field! Next turn all I have to do is summon a monster and you're done!"

"There won't be a next turn. I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Black Rose Dragon! Finish this creep off!"

Her opponent tried to run, only to be smacked by one of the Dragon's whips and be sent flying into a support beam, cracking it as his body fell limply to the floor.

M4: 0000

It was only when the holograms had faded did the full weight of what just happened hit Akiza. Panicked, she ran over to her opponent and checked if he was breathing. He was alive, just out cold, though there were several slash marks across his body. Marks that could only be the results of Duel Monsters.

"No…I was careful, I thought…"

"Akiza?"

Akiza turned to see her teammates approaching, no doubt having finished off the rest. And by the looks on their faces, she could tell they had seen everything. Unable to face them, Akiza ran away.

"Akiza, wait!"

But she didn't. She couldn't bear to face them after what they had seen.

Akiza sat on the edge of a rocky cliff, her legs pulled up to her chest as she sobbed. They knew her secret, there was no way they'd ever look at her the same way again. Sure, they may not say it out loud, but she'd know they were thinking it. She'd have to run away again, start over once more. If only she had been in control more…

"Akiza?"

Akiza turned her head away, unable to look at the man she had known almost her whole life.

"Go away, Yusei."

"Akiza, please, whatever's going on, I can help!"

"No one can help me! I'm a monster, a freak!"

"Akiza, please, tell me what's wrong. I'm your friend, I won't judge you."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Akiza sighed. There was no getting out of this.

"I have this power that, whenever I duel, I can make the cards come to life. Monsters, spells, damage, it becomes real. Before, people judged me for this, and called me a freak. I couldn't take it anymore, so I ran."

"That's when you came here?"

Akiza nodded.

"Even my own parents didn't want me. Now you guys don't want anything to do with me."

"Akiza, that's not true! Please, you don't have to be like this. You have a new life now, and people that love you."

"How can anyone love a monster like me?"

Yusei dragged her to her feet, turning her around to face him. Akiza looked into his eyes, confused…

Only for him to pull her into a kiss. Akiza was shocked, but happily returned it. After a minute, they pulled apart for air.

"Yusei, do you…how long…"

"A few years. I never said anything because I was afraid you didn't feel the same way, but after what you jus told me I can't hold it in anymore."

"You…you really feel this way? You're not lying?"

"I would never lie to you."

Tears welled up in Akiza's eyes again, but this time tears of joy.

"I feel the same way. I love you, Yusei Fudo."

"I love you too, Akiza."

"Um, are we interrupting something?"

Jack, Crow, and Kalin came running up.

"Akiza, you okay?"

"Yeah, and what happened back there?"

"And why are you two hugging?"

Akiza laughed. After all the drama, it was good to see her friends still treated her the same way.

"It's a long story. Let's get back to the hideout."

"Yeah, good call."

And as the group of five left the area, Akiza felt a large wave of relief washed over her. She knew things would be different from now on, but she knew her friends would be by her side no matter what.