Author's Note:
So this Chapter took forever to write - it's very long! I also think that it took me ages to write it because there is actual duelling in this Chapter, and I'm really bad at Yu-Gi-Oh cards!
I tried very hard to follow all the rules of the duel and to include some cool and different (and real) cards. But Aki's deck is the same one we see in anime (the field deck, not racing), I didn't add anything new or make anything up. For the villain, however…yeah, I did make up two cards. But to be fair they make sense in the context of the story and all other cards the villain uses besides the two at the end are real cards. I included some descriptions of monsters to make the duel sound more exciting – you can check out some of those descriptions online where available.
I also included a brief summary before and after each duellist's turn in order to make it less confusing.
Now, if you're like me, and don't really care for Yu-Gi-Oh duels unless they involve some character development and badassery then don't worry – there won't be too many duels in this fanfic. On the other hand, if you really love card duels, then don't worry either – there will still be some duels.
So thank you so much for reading and enjoy!
NineInchNailed.
Update: this chapter underwent a slight rewrite (grammar, writing style, etc) on July 27, 2011. Plot-wise, I added some imagery and feelings here and there, but overall nothing eventful. It's still within continuity.
"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."
~Edgar Allan Poe
At about thirty past five in the evening Aki Izayoi sat by the coffee table, impatiently checking her watch, and sipping on some overpriced coffee.
He was running late for over 30 minutes now.
His name was Ichiro Fukamachi and she met him last night at Kaiba's greeting gala. Well, technically, she'd seen him around the Academy before but she officially met him yesterday when he walked up to her and introduced himself. Accordingly with her new and healthy Yusei-free attitude, Aki tried very hard not to compare the new guy to Yusei and point out any of his "flaws" i.e. features that Yusei possessed and Ichiro didn't. And thus, she made an effort to identify that Ichiro was much taller than her – probably as tall as Jack – had nice brown hair, hazel eyes, and a cute dimpled smile.
This Ichiro approached her in order to ask her for a dance but (in-between shock, bewilderment and delight) flustered Aki refused: for some reason she just couldn't do it. She wasn't in the mood, perhaps. Nonetheless she was beyond flattered and delighted: it wasn't every day that she was treated like a normal person; some people still managed to recognize her as a Black Rose Witch that wrecked chaos during the Fortune Cup due to her inexplicable and terrifying powers. It hurt, sometimes, to hear these things (although most people tended to hiss behind her back it still often happened within her hearing range) but thankfully she was subjected to them rarer and rarer, and never when she was with all her friends. And she kept her abilities very hidden and couldn't even recall the last time she had used them; sometimes she liked to think (and hope) that they have gone away for good.
And at the gala Aki wasn't looking the way she usually did and so she thought that that was probably the main reason for the lack of harassment towards the "Black Rose Witch" that night. She wanted to optimistically assume that because she looked kind of pretty and non-threatening dressed like this that people – even those who already knew her as a psychic duellist – weren't as threatened by her as they usually were.
Although she rejected him, Ichiro decided to stick around regardless and instigated a conversation with her. With that, Aki happily complied. She decided to be a bit more informal and only gave him her first name and not her family name and Ichiro didn't seem to notice. She learned that he was a grade ahead of her and that he's never actually seen her around until today, and that he came to the gala because he was dying to see somebody from an actual Kaiba clan to make an appearance.
"I mean, the Kaiba family is responsible for almost everything that we know today!" Ichiro was saying excitedly, "And Kaiba Seto, the patriarch, he's a real legend! My father told me a story about how twenty years ago, when Kaiba Seto was departing from Japan for good – and this was a couple of years before the split between Neo Domino and Satellite happened, just so you know - and how, just before getting on a plane, Kaiba Seto turned to the crowd, then looked up towards the skyscrapers of then Domino City and said…" Ichiro paused then, for dramatic purposes, "He said, "This city will devour in its pain." And then he left. I was only about a year old when that happened so obviously I don't remember…"
Although Ichiro went on Aki stopped paying attention at that point. She was feeling slightly bored. She couldn't really figure why Ichiro was telling her this old tale. Maybe he was trying to impress her? Whatever it was, this story about Seto Kaiba's supposed last words was quite well known. People liked to speculate that Kaiba – who was pretty much the Bill Gates of Neo Domino – predicted the monstrous split in the cities due to old Momentum. It was, however, only a myth – it was never truly confirmed that it was what Kaiba said and most reasoned that his words were simply taken out of context.
But since Aki didn't want to be rude she just continued smiling and nodding to Ichiro's words. Involuntarily, she thought about Yusei and wondered what he was doing right now. Duelling practice, probably. She checked her mobile in case he, Crow or Carly left her messages asking where she was. But there were none.
"So, Aki-san…" Ichiro started to say and looked away, nervously smoothing back his hair, "Would you, maybe, like to get a cup of coffee with me, or something, tomorrow evening? You know, if you'd like to of course."
"Oh," Aki's face acquired a bright blush. This was the first time this has ever happened to her. She was being asked out. On a date. For real. With no hidden agenda, no prejudice about her "condition", no nothing. This was bliss.
…Or, at least, close to bliss because, after all, it was somebody other than Yusei asking her out.
"Yes, I'd love to," she replied with a bashful smile and Ichiro returned a shy smile in return. They exchanged phone numbers, went separate ways after the failed gala was over, and he texted her less than a minute later saying that he couldn't wait to see her tomorrow. Subsequently, she got a call from Carly asking where she was and inviting her to attend Crow's and Yusei's duel at the stadium nearby, and so Aki went to see her friends while texting Ichiro throughout.
Aki felt ashamed to admit it but she didn't forget that the following day was Yusei's birthday when she agreed to the date. What probably made it worse was that she didn't actually mind that it was on the same day, and even preferred it like this – it meant that she would still stop by and give Yusei his present but then leave without needing to sit there and watch the guys duel non-stop to an end… And yes, she knew which day it was because she remembered Crow mentioning it offhandedly a couple of months ago.
So here she was, on the day of Yusei's 20th birthday, waiting for Ichiro to show up at the coffee shop for their date and his lateness reaching the 45 minute mark by now.
Although she wasn't at all experienced in these matters Aki began to understand that this wasn't right. Nobody is late for 45 minutes for the first date, right? she thought as a terrible realization – which she had been persistently trying to ignore for the past thirty minutes – slowly began surfacing and giving her a reality check: Ichiro wasn't coming. And why? Probably because after the party last night he bragged to his friends about a girl named Aki he was going on a date with, and one of his friends must have told him that she was actually the infamous Black Rose Witch.
It didn't matter if it wasn't what actually happened: Aki didn't exactly have a good track record with people liking her (and especially in more-than-a-friend way) so how could she assume anything other than the worst case scenario?
She began feeling very self aware. She felt like everybody was staring at her now, as if they somehow knew that she was that psychic duellist, that she got stood up, that she was a loser.
Maybe – since she was stupid enough to wear her everyday outfit – Ichiro didn't actually know that she was a Black Rose Witch until he came to see her today, saw from the distance who she really was, and then made a run for it! Because instead of attempting to look different like she did last night she was naive and dressed how most people came to associate her with that wretched psychic persona.
With an empty feeling hallowing in the pit of her stomach, Aki got up and rushed out of the coffee shop, 45 minutes too late to save her dignity. On her D-Wheel she sped angrily towards the ocean harbour where she parked her motorcycle nearby and then leaned on the railing separating the body of water from the boardwalk. There, watching the waves wash up to the shore, she quickly deleted Ichiro Fukamachi's stupid phone number and fought herself from throwing her mobile into the ocean in frustration.
It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.
With grief, Aki wondered if she should just go back to Yusei's house where everybody was and just sit there, hoping that today would be the day he'd notice her, really notice her. But would that ease her depression or, in reality, make it much worse?
That was when cigarette smoke reached her nostrils.
Aki wrinkled her nose, brought out of her thoughts (she still deliberated which decision could potentially make her feel less pathetic), and with annoyance glanced over at the source of smoking.
It was a man standing by the railing some distance away from her, thoughtfully looking out towards the horizon.
Aki turned to walk away – not wanting to be bothered and just wishing to be left to herself on some empty spot – when the smoker suddenly spoke to her.
"Sunsets are indescribable in Japan, don't you think? Just under an hour now before it begins…" he mumbled.
Aki wanted to keep walking but deemed it to be a little impolite and thought she could make a small conversation before promptly making her exit.
"I guess," she replied, her eyes trailing off to look at the bridged Satellite Island off on the side, "Although, personally, I haven't been much anywhere else to compare."
"Compared to Sweden sunsets in Japan are exquisite, trust me," the man said and Aki shrugged. This conversation was going nowhere and she just wanted to leave. Was this the time to start making up an excuse?
"Oh, I see this bothers you. I apologize," the man suddenly remarked and Aki glanced at him apologetically only to see that he meant his habit. Before she could protest, the man dropped his cigarette to the ground, put it out with his foot, and then turned to face her for the first time.
Aki was looking at a man of a build similar to that of Jack's (Jack Atlas and his remarkable height were pretty much her bases for estimation for all the tall people), probably marginally shorter, and who seemed to be of unidentifiable age. He could have been anywhere from his late twenties to early thirties. His black hair was tied back in a pony tail and a couple of hair strands partially obscured his forehead. His eyes seemed almost black although Aki thought she saw a hint of dark, almost murky blue in them; there was also a slightly cold, apprehensive quality to them. The man was dressed quite simply in a pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a sleeveless black vest. There was a hoop earring in one of his ears.
"Hi, my name is Ka-" he suddenly stopped his introduction, had a moment of fleeting hesitation, and then quickly resumed, "Kimura, Mokuba.* What is yours?" He held out his hand for a greeting.
Aki ogled him with suspicion and then said, "I'm Izayoi, Aki," before reluctantly shaking his hand.
Mokuba Kimura laughed having noticed her mistrust. "In Swedish, "Ki" is pronounced very similarly to "Ka."* This is my first visit to Japan in twenty years so I'm having a hard time recuperating, you see," he explained, "It's nice to meet you, Izayoi Aki-san. Forgive me for prying but might you be Senator Izayoi Hideo's own daughter?"
Aki disliked it when people recognized her family name especially since that connection usually led to the connection of that name with her infamous psychic alter ego. Regardless, she nodded, hiding her discontent.
"Ah. Well, I could care less about politics. In fact, I usually do my very best to stay away from them," Mokuba said and smiled. At that Aki returned a smile, momentarily fascinated by the locket he wore around his neck. It was shaped like a Duel Monsters card.
"Well, anyway, I've a lot to catch up on so I better get going," Mokuba casually informed, apparently beginning to form a goodbye when suddenly he became distracted by something. "Gotta say...that's a strange motorcycle you've got there, Izayoi Aki-san," his eyes widened, "Wait...is that a duel disk attached to it?"
Aki stared at him with disbelief. "You mean...my D-Wheel?"
"D-Wheel?" Mokuba repeated with curiosity as he neared the bike to take a closer look. His face suddenly brightened. "Oh! So that's what they are!"
Aki was still gaping at this man with a surprised look on her face. Did he actually not know what a D-Wheel is? No doubt he claimed to have been away from Japan for many years but surely things couldn't have changed that much, could they? And didn't other countries have duelling too? "You've never seen a D-Wheel before, Kimura-san?"
"Blueprints of early prototypes only, many years ago," Mokuba answered, his whole attention still fixed on the fascinating method of transportation. "Never the completed product, however. Got to admit, it looks better than I ever thought it would." He laughed a little to himself then, "The whole idea was just so ludicrous when it first came up!"
Aki had no idea what he just said. But unable to help her unexpected interest, she opened her mouth to clarify some of the things (if he really meant that he used to be a part of D-Wheel production team in Sweden, and how he could possibly say that Duel Riding was ridiculous!) but she never got a chance to ask her questions.
Because then something happened.
It was the very first occurrence of its kind and it spiralled the wheels of this destiny in motion. After this event Aki's life – and the rest of the Team 5D's (and even Mokuba's too, to some extent) – would change, never to be the same again.
A man dressed handsomely in a well-off business suit and aged somewhere around mid to late forties, slowly walked up to the Signer and her curiously uninformed converser. He stopped a couple of feet away and for a couple of quick seconds stood there silently, simply observing. There was nothing unusual about this man – he looked like anybody else who worked in a high-rise office building and decided to take a walk by the harbour one fine evening – which was why Aki and Mokuba didn't notice him either approaching or stopping nearby. Or the fact that the harbour was now eerily quiet and empty except for the three of them. They didn't even realize they were being watched until the man abruptly began speaking.
No, screaming.
"You!" the man shouted, "So it IS you! How DARE you show your face around here after everything you've done?"
Aki and Mokuba were so startled that they almost jumped. Then Aki turned to face the unknown man, instinctually assuming that this was about her (after all, Team 5D's constantly found themselves in unpredictable situations), only to realize that he was addressing Mokuba instead.
"Excuse me?" Mokuba asked, looking perplexed, "Who are you and what is your business with me? I don't believe I've ever seen you before in my life!"
The older man's face distorted into a grimace of pity. "But you have seen me before. You were there during the Battle City tournament. You were there when your brother humiliated me. When he dared me to duel him and then destroyed everything I had with a single powerful card. And what for?" the man questioned, throwing his arms up in frustration, "For the sake of amusement and showing off his power! I have never forgotten that humiliation…but no matter, because now-" he pointed at Mokuba, "YOU will pay for your brother's crime!"*
Aki looked at Mokuba now, silently questioning if what the man was accusing him of now was true. It didn't make his allegation any less ridiculous however.
But Mokuba didn't appear any less confused. "What the hell are you talking about, old man?" he exclaimed, "Battle City? Do you even comprehend just how young I was then? WHY in the world would I remember a petty duellist who lost to my brother almost thirty years ago? Are you out of your mind?" And then, to Aki's surprise, he moved to stand in front of her, almost as if trying to protect her if anything were to go wrong.
The man seemed completely indifferent to Mokuba's rebuttal, almost as if he hadn't heard a single word he said. He smiled and displayed the duel disk on his arm. "Duel me, Mokuba. Duel me and prove to me that you're less of a scum than your cheater of a brother."
Mokuba gritted his teeth, legitimately angered now. But instead of disputing this man's insane claims, he said, "I can't duel you, I don't have a card deck. I've never duelled before and I don't plan to start now!"
Once again, Aki was staring at this strange Mokuba with disbelief. It was so ordinary for her to be living in the city of duellists that meeting somebody who didn't play Duel Monsters seemed almost bizarre.
The man shook his head. "You can do better than that, Mokuba," he responded, "Unless...you want blood on your hands." He reached under his jacket and fished out a large knife. There was a price tag attached to its handle.
Aki gasped, beginning to feel frightened, but nonetheless she stood her ground. Involuntarily her thoughts leaped to Yusei. She wished he was here now. He would have known exactly what to say and do.
"I said I can't duel you, old man!" Mokuba shouted, his hand sneaking into his pockets for a mobile phone, "I DON'T HAVE DUELING CARDS. What's wrong with you?"
"Wrong choice," the man hissed, but before he had a chance to make a move to do something, Aki came out and stood in front of Mokuba now. She had a determined expression on her face.
"I will duel you, for his sake. What do you say?" she suggested, her voice firm and calm although she was a turmoil of anxiety on the inside. Facing a duellist possessed by evil was one thing, but going against a dangerous man with a lethal weapon was something else all together. "Mokuba-san will stand with me so it will be as if you're duelling him, but with my deck. You want to duel to pay back for your loss? Then let's duel but please put the knife away."
"Izayoi Aki…" Mokuba whispered while gaping at the red haired girl in front of him, his face not concealing his genuine astonishment. "...Thank you."
The man cocked his head to one side, appearing amused. The fact that he seemed entertained by this situation made it creepier. "Alright then," he ultimately agreed, "Let's duel!" His duel disk activated and he snapped the deck of cards into it.
Aki slowly and cautiously moved towards her D-Wheel, not for a moment breaking the eye contact with the enemy, and then lifted the duel disk off the bike and fastened it to her arm. "Duel!" she exclaimed and the disk activated, automatically shuffling her deck. Then she touched her deck of cards, about to declare her turn when...to her greatest horror, her opponent decided to press his knife against his forearm and make a large vertical incision.
Aki couldn't mute a scream, feeling like she was going to be sick. Mokuba paled and stood there with a similarly horrified expression on his face.
The man raised his arms towards the darkening summer sky and murmured, "I offer a sacrifice worthy of a god's glory to possess the divine power of wrath, to withhold the sanctity of retribution, and to offer agony in return for righteous justice. Out of Order, Chaos to commence." He then knelt down and pressed his profusely bleeding arm to the ground.
A sudden gush of wind broke out and enclosed the three of them in a transparent and hissing funnel, while the ground beneath them began to shake. Where the man's wrist touched the ground blood red lines began forming a gigantic round glowing seal which stretched up to 40 metres in diameter. The symbols shaped inside the seal were of unknown origin although Aki noticed that at least a few of them seemed to be of Ancient Egyptian origin.
"What…the…fuck…" Mokuba Kimura managed, his mouth agape. It was like he was reading her mind.
"Now we shall duel. Take the first turn, stupid girl," the wounded man said. His eyes, by whatever mysterious side-effect, had turned completely scarlet red after the seal had finished forming.
"What is the meaning of this? What is this image?" Aki shouted at her opponent, regaining her balance after the moderate earthquake. She wondered if anybody else in the city felt it or if it were just those involved in this duel.
"This seal is called Sutekh Sacrificō," the man answered, "It requires a blood offering in order to materialize. Nobody will be able to leave the seal until a duel has ended, with one of us losing." He took a look at the cards in his hand and smirked. Apparently he likes what he sees, Aki thought. She glanced at her own cards and saw that she wasn't as lucky: she didn't have any immediate means to summon her precious Black Rose Dragon.
"Sutek Sacrifik- what? What does that even mean?" Mokuba mumbled under his breath, to no one in particular.
"But why?" Aki asked the man, "What's the point of all these theatrics?"
"It gives me power, the power to carry out long delayed justice against the brother of that slime," he replied with irritation and gestured at Mokuba, "And now stop bickering me with any more useless questions and make your move."
Aki wasn't going to give up until she could squeeze as much information out of him as she could. He considers this justice? This is revenge, she thought. "So your so-called justice is more important to you than your own life?" she asked and looked at his seriously damaged arm. He was rapidly bleeding out. The sight of that much blood was making her nauseous.
"When my opponent loses this duel then he or she bleeds for me, and their wounds heal my wounds. But don't you worry – my issue is with Mokuba so when you lose you can go free and he will get sacrificed instead. It's this simple," the man responded impatiently.
Aki felt Mokuba Kimura's glare drill into the back of her head. There wasn't any pressure on her to win this duel at all, nope, not at all…
"And if I win?" Aki pressed.
"You won't," the bleeding man answered in such a hostile and resolute tone of voice that Aki felt a shiver down her spine. She knew that she won't be getting any more information out of him.
Shaken up on the inside but completely calm on the exterior Aki declared her turn as she drew her card. What have I gotten myself into, she thought, Why haven't I just stayed with my friends today? It felt like the whole universe was telling her what a mistake she made by trying to be with someone other than Yusei; no, it was practically rubbing it into her face with its sick sense of humour.
[Aki Izayoi]
[Beginning of Turn One: 0 Monsters; 0 Cards on Field; 6 Cards in hand; LP4000]
"I summon Ivy Wall in Defence mode," Aki said, placing the card face up on her duel disk. Instantly a large and barren bush appeared on the field, its thorns sharp and pointed at her opponent, ready to defend their owner to the death. Attack points of 300 and superior defence points of 1200 showed up next to it.
"I also place two cards face down and end my turn," Aki concluded and two hidden cards appeared.
[Aki Izayoi]
[End of Turn One: Ivy Wall (Lvl.2) ATK300/DEF1200 in Defence Mode; 2 Face down Cards; 3 Cards in hand; LP4000]
She decided play defensively for now. She knew nothing about this man as a duellist and didn't even know what kind of a deck he had or what strategy he'd use. Playing defensive in a situation as such was always a wise decision.
"I honestly think that this is all just nonsense," Mokuba whispered to her while looking over at the cards in her hand, "I think he's pulling a bluff, no matter how convincing."
Aki was about to answer when she caught him gaping at her cards with a knowledgeable expression, and raised her eyebrows. Mokuba noticed her confusion and hurried to explain, "I know how this game works and I've been around duels before, it's just that I haven't personally played them."
Aki nodded her understanding and then commented on his observation. "Do you really think that this only a bluff, Mokuba-san? Do you honestly want to attempt walking out of the seal right now?"
Mokuba turned towards the glowing boundaries of the cursed circle, considered her words, and finally took a step back to the edge of the seal and carefully reached out. His hand touched an impenetrable wall. "Well, I'm convinced now," he remarked nonchalantly and returned to stand by her side. Aki sighed and decided to ignore him for now: she didn't need any distractions – her time was running out and if she was going to win this duel and save this mentally ill man then she had to do it as soon as possible.
"Watashi no turn!" the bleeding man declared and drew his card. He still had a grin playing on his features.
[The Man]
[Beginning of Turn One: 0 Monsters; 0 Cards on Field; 6 Cards in hand; LP4000]
"I summon D.D. Assailant in Attack mode," the older duellist said and an android-like monster with a great sword appeared. Its attack was 1700 and defence was 1600. "I also equip a Bing Bang Shot Magic card to my D.D. Assailant – this adds 400 attack points to my monster's original 1700. My monster's attack points rise to 2100! D.D. Assailant, attack her Ivy Wall!" the man exclaimed and pointed his finger at Aki's monster.
Aki stood her ground. Her Ivy Wall was in Defence mode which meant that she was safe from receiving any battle damage.
D.D. Assailant jumped across the field and swung at her Ivy Wall, obliterating it into pieces. Mokuba instinctively shielded his eyes from the bright light and the shards of Solid Vision. Aki remained unbothered, not even batting an eye, until she realized with shock that her Life Points went down from 4000 to 3100.
"But my monster was in Defence mode!" she exclaimed, outraged.
"Due to Bing Bang Shot when my equipped monster attacks a Defence Position monster whose defence is lower than my monster's attack points, this difference is inflicted as battle damage," her opponent explained and let out a short laugh.
"Then I activate my Trap card, Curse of Rose," Aki interrupted and hastily flipped up one of her face down cards. "When my opponent monster's attack changes this inflicts damage to my opponent equal to the difference between that monster's new attack points and original. Thus, you receive 400 damage to your Life Points," she proclaimed and his Life Points decreased to 3600. Nowadays, during every duel she participated in, there was always a fleeting moment in time that Aki felt a stab of worry: what if her powers manifested without her knowledge? What if something in her concentration failed, something fed on her emotions, and she lost any control she previously had? What if she accidentally hurt another (what if it was a child), especially since stress and tense nerves used to be big triggers for her?
The man's grin was unchanged when his Life Points decreased, thus signifying to Aki that so far she was doing a good job keeping her powers out of this duel. Her opponent was hurt enough already and she was trying to save him, not wound him further.
"And now," the man resumed as if nothing happened, "I end my turn."
Aki looked down at her hand. "When my Ivy Wall is targeted with attack it summons one ivy token on my opponent's side of the field," she said and a little blue plant with zero attack and defence points appeared next to the man. Her enemy remained looking utterly indifferent.
[The Man]
[End of Turn One: D.D. Assailant (Lvl.4) ATK2100 (due to Bing Bang Shot boost)/ DEF1600 in Attack Mode; Ivy Token (Lvl.1) ATK0/DEF0 on the field; 0 Cards on Field; 4 Cards in hand; LP3600]
"Now, my turn!" Aki said and drew a card, taking a quick peek at it. Again, no opportunity for Black Rose Dragon.
[Aki Izayoi]
[Beginning of Turn Two: 0 Monsters; 1 Face down Card; 4 Cards in hand; LP3100]
"I summon Phoenixian Seed in Attack mode," Aki said. A big plant seed in a shape of an eye appeared on the field. Its attack was 800 and it had zero defence points. "Phoenixian Seed's effect allows me to send this monster to the Graveyard in order to Special Summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis from my hand," she claimed, and as Phoenixian Seed disintegrated into thin air Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis took its place in attack mode. This stronger and magnificent monster appeared as a fragile and beautiful flower, and its attack was 2200 and defence was zero. "Now, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis attack D.D. Assailant!" she commanded and the monster charged towards the man's, inflicting a deadly strike.
Her opponent's Life Points went down further by 100 points. He was at 3500 now.
"When Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis attacks in battle it has to be destroyed after damage calculation. However, when Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis is destroyed, 800 points of direct damage are inflicted on my opponent!" Aki said and sent her monster into the Graveyard, watching as additional Life Points were drained from the man. This currently made him at 2700.
"But that's not all!" Aki went on, feeling empowered and significantly less nervous. It's going to turn out fine after all, she thought, This duel is progressing fast and in my favour. "I can choose to remove from play one Plant-type monster in my Graveyard in order to Special Summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis back to Defence mode. So I choose to remove my Phoenixian Seed so welcome back, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis," she smiled and observed as her monster took its place on her field again, this time in Defence mode and with zero points. "Finally, I place on card face down and end my turn," she concluded, and as a hidden card appeared she glanced back at Mokuba.
Mokuba smiled lightly at her and gave encouraging thumbs up. And as he did that, for whatever bizarre reason, Crow Hogan's image popped into Aki's head. Perhaps it was because this was a gesture reminiscent of her cheerful friend's usual antics.
[Aki Izayoi]
[End of Turn Two: Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis (Lvl.8) ATK2200/DEF0 in Defence Mode; 2 Face down Cards; 1 Card in hand; LP3100]
"My turn," the man declared and drew a card.
[The Man]
[Beginning of Turn Two: 0 Monsters on Field; Ivy Token (Lvl.1) ATK0/DEF0 on Field; 0 Cards on Field; 5 Cards in hand; LP2700]
"I summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer in Attack mode," he said and a monster in a form of a chanting Buddhist monk appeared. The monster's attack was at 1800 and defence at 700. "Now, Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, attack her Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis!"
What the hell is he doing? Aki pondered with bewilderment. The destruction of her monster, as she explained just minutes ago, would inflict 800 points of damage to him. Is his revenge driven by some underlying masochism? Or is he scheming something? It didn't make any sense and she was just going to remove from play her Ivy Wall in order to Special Summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis back.
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer neared her monster and smashed it apart. The impact of the blow caused Mokuba to cover his eyes again while Aki calmly watched her monster disappear. Yet another 800 Life Points were drained from the enemy (leaving him at 1900).
"Ah, in case you're wondering why I did that," the man suddenly said, almost as if having read her mind, "Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer's special effect allows me to remove from play up to 2 monsters from your Graveyard. And since you only have your Ivy Wall in there then you can't summon back your powerful monster. So-"
"Then I'm activating my Trap card, Cursed Ivy," Aki quickly interrupted and flipped up one of the face down cards on her field, "This card allows me to Special Summon one "Ivy" monster from my Graveyard – so I summon back my Ivy Wall in Defence mode!"
The large barren bush made its appearance on her side of the field again. Now at least she had some defence in case this guy was planning something after all.
"Perfect," the man commented, appearing completely indifferent, "Your Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis is removed from play. So I will place one face down card and end my turn."
[The Man]
[End of Turn Two: Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (Lvl.4) ATK1800/DEF700 in Attack Mode; 1 Face down Card; 3 Cards in hand; LP1900]
"Watashi no turn," Aki declared, drawing a card.
[Aki Izayoi]
[Beginning of Turn Three: Ivy Wall (Lvl.2) ATK300/DEF1200 in Defence Mode; 1 Card on Field; 2 Cards in hand; LP3100]
Aki's amber-brown eyes lit up when she saw that there was now a chance for her beloved Black Rose Dragon. She knew that she'd definitely be able to win this duel – and do it very soon too – but she still needed to draw a few more cards to make Synchro Summon possible.
"I play a Magic card Fragrance Storm!" Aki proclaimed, "It allows me to destroy one face-up Plant monster on the field and then draw one card from my deck. I choose the Ivy Token on your side of the field." She gestured at the Token and watched it disappear, "Also, when an Ivy Token is destroyed while it's on my opponent's side of the field, 300 points of damage are inflicted."
The man was borderline unresponsive when even more Life Points were drained from him. He was at 1600 now. He continued smiling that light inexplicable smirk. And Aki didn't fail to notice that he had become much, much paler and more slouched since the duel started. There was a small puddle of blood beginning to form under his feet. What was perhaps most disturbing was the fact that he didn't seem to be even aware of his injuries.
Aki had to go on so she drew a card and saw that luck gave her Twilight Rose Knight. She revealed that monster to her opponent. "If the card I drew due to Fragrance Storm is Plant-type, then by revealing it to you I can draw yet another card from my deck. So I draw again!" she said and picked up yet another card. Taking a quick glance at it she saw that it was perfect.
"I play my Tuner monster, Twilight Rose Knight!" Aki exclaimed and a small knight with a white cape appeared, his attack and defence points both at 1000. "Twilight Rose Knight's effect allows me to Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Plant-type monster from my hand – and I choose my Lord Poison!" A worm-like monster with thorns protruding from its skin appeared, its attack at 1500 and defence at 1000 points. "And now, I tune my level three Twilight Rose Knight to my level four Lord Poison in order to Synchro Summon this," she revealed a silver card in her hand, "My Black Rose Dragon!"
"…Synchro…Summon?" Mokuba slowly uttered. Even if he didn't know what this was (somehow), Aki wasn't going to waste precious time explaining it to him.
"Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom," she began chanting, "Synchro Su-"
"-Don't be so quick!" the man intervened and activated a face down card, "This continuous Trap card, Discord, prevents either of us from Synchro Summoning for three whole turns. Say bye-bye to your Black Rose Dragon."
Aki, disappointed and aggravated, placed her Black Rose Dragon back into her hand. So long for quick victory. "Then…I end my turn," she concluded and suddenly became aware of the soft vibration in her hair – it was the hair-curler device holding her bangs and which Divine gave her to help inhibit her powers a little. Aki began feeling uneasy and swallowed in a dry throat: this meant that frustration could still aid her lack of control and, if this should persist, then the horrible thing could happen. Am I not as capable of controlling my psychic power as I thought I was? Aki thought with alarm.
"You know what I noticed, Aki-san?" Mokuba whispered to her, breaking her spiralling train of thoughts. She actually welcomed his distraction this time. "I noticed that this duel isn't any more extraordinary than any normal duel," he said, "He doesn't seem to have very powerful monsters or Traps or Magics. The closest this duel came to extraordinary was when he blocked you with Discord…and obviously when he cut open his arm and summoned this strange force field. But other than these, do you get what I mean?"
Aki didn't utter a word but nodded her agreement. She thought that Mokuba Kimura was absolutely correct after all: it seemed to her now that this man's talk about some godly power, all these fancy theatrics and chanting to entrap them in some barrier, all of this was just to intimidate. In reality, the only thing this man was doing was committing a slow suicide. Sure his chosen method was unusual and quite sick but it only reaffirmed to her that he was ill and needed help. She was going to concern herself with the physics of this strange Egyptian-like magical field later.
[Aki Izayoi]
[End of Turn Three: Ivy Wall (Lvl.2) ATK300/DEF1200 in Defence Mode; Twilight Rose Knight (Lvl.3) ATK1000/DEF1000 in Defence Mode; Lord Poison (Lvl.4) ATK1500/DEF1000 in Defence Mode; 1 Face down Card; 1 Card in hand; LP3100]
"My turn," the man announced.
[The Man]
[Beginning of Turn Three: Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (Lvl.4) ATK1800/DEF700 in Attack Mode; 0 Face down Cards; 4 Cards in hand; LP1600]
"First, I play a Magic card, Dimensional Fissure," he activated the green card on the duel disk, "This card's effect makes it so that any monster sent to the Graveyard is removed from play instead – no more pulling monsters from the Graveyard for you. Then, I play this," he showed her a card, "Lighting Vortex! By removing from play one card from my deck all monsters on your side of the field are destroyed!"
"What?" Aki gasped. Her Twilight Rose Knight, Lord Poison and Ivy Wall disintegrated into thin air and she couldn't be able to bring them back. Trying to fight off despair, she activated her only hidden card. "Trap card open: Rose Flame! Each time a Plant-type monster is summoned to my opponent's side of the field, 500 points of damage are inflicted. Remember - when my Ivy Wall is destroyed an Ivy Token appears on your side of the field. So you receive damage!"
"Grasping at the last straws I see," the man commented with amusement, again unbothered by his rapidly decreasing Life Points which were at 1100 now. He didn't even pay attention when another tiny blue plant with zero attack and defence points showed up next to him. "You now have no monsters to defend you and no cards on the field to deflect the attacks. This is over," he played the second to last card in his hand, "I summon Bazoo the Soul-Eater in Attack mode." A monster in a shape of a large baboon appeared with 1600 attack and 900 defence points. "And now," the man's grin grew wide, now bordering on lunacy, "I tribute Bazoo the Soul-Eater and Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer in order to summon the power of darkness – La Magra* come forth!" He slammed his last card on the duel disk.
The ground beneath them began shaking once again and Aki and Mokuba fought hard to keep on their feet. An enormous dark shadow started to seep out of the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, and like mercury collected on the man's side of the field, blocking out the dim evening sky. It was constantly in motion, alternating between three physical forms of gas, solid and liquid; at one moment it was a pitch black fog, and then the other moment it'd appear as a vague human shape before smoothly breaking down into a poisonous red waterfall. Stats revealing an equal attack and defence of 3000 points appeared next to the monster.
Aki's eyes became as large as saucers. Something in the back of her head was telling her that arrival of this La Magra was a big deal: this was the power the man had been bragging about and this was the real effect of Sutekh Sacrificō. It had all been building up to summon this monster – perhaps the whole point of the seal and the sacrifice was to create the conditions for feeding it. What do I do, what do I do? thoughts scattered in her head. A direct attack at her Life Points was coming.
"…I think that now we're screwed," Mokuba muttered while staring at La Magra with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
We? Aki reluctantly thought, It's only "we" because you depend on me winning this duel.
"Now, La Magra! Attack her Life Points directly!" her opponent screamed and broke into laughter as the colossal shadow soaked into the ground and then reappeared in front of Aki. Aki looked up at it, unable to help herself feeling frightened, and somehow muted a shriek when La Magra suddenly consumed her.
And then there was nothing.
Aki couldn't see anything through the densest, most impenetrable darkness. There stood the deepest silence. She found that she was completely conscious, and that she could move her limbs however she was unable to see herself. "Where am I?" Aki wondered aloud but she couldn't hear a word. It was as if she was suddenly rendered deaf and blind. A sickening hollow feeling of hopelessness began sinking inside her. Tendrils of claustrophobia ripped into her and she felt as if invisible walls were beginning to close in and she was about to be crushed. I'm trapped! she agonized, That thing took me somewhere and now I can't get out. There is no way out! She would've screamed if she could. This was only a nightmare, it just had to be, right? Fighting against overpowering panic, she fixed a single tangible image in her mind; it was as clear as day and if there was no light in the darkness then she could always think of it and it would come, it could purge all shadows and create a reality of its own.
It was an image of all her friends as they were in Team 5D's: Rua, Ruka, Bruno, Jack, Crow, and Yusei. They were all smiling at her. They all believed in her. This was a vision so potent it was almost supernatural, almost magic.
And then the sensation started.
It started at her fingertips and then moved out further until it covered her whole body. It felt like light prickling, not pain exactly but discomforting in its own way. And then the opposite sensation occurred: the prickling suddenly centralized somewhere deep inside her and then rapidly spread out. And it didn't stop. It felt like all warmth was leaving her body, and with warmth all the somatosensory sensations began escaping as well. I'm...something is draining me... a thought flashed in Aki's head as numbness drowned her. The image of her friends started deteriorating; it was almost as if water ate through the paint – they melted, and melted away until there was nothing left of them. And Aki distantly thought – less and less coherently – how she…didn't actually mind this anymore. There was something comforting, almost good, in nothingness after all. No pain, no fear, no worries, no...friends... No consciousness, no feeling, utter oblivion.
"This is the best way to learn to balance yourself..." suddenly a voice floated out.
Aki groggily opened her eyes or at least she thought she did. Who is that...? she wondered.
"Could this be...your first time skating?" the voice asked. It was low, soothing, and bittersweetly familiar.
"I don't really come to places like this," Aki heard her own voice echo an answer. But it wasn't shocking or strange to hear this anymore. Aki felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach and a smile touched her lips. It was a memory, one of the loveliest she held. How could she possibly forget? How could she not recall every small detail, every word, every touch...how could she not remember him?
The memory came to life before her eyes then. She saw it now, almost like she was a bystander watching from the sidelines.
Yusei Fudo swiftly skated backwards, his cobalt blue eyes not leaving hers for a second, and then turned, and glided right back to her. He made it look so easy. He was so relaxed and yet so confident.
Is there anything he can't do? she admired him before realizing that it was her turn now. Trying not to blush furiously and hopefully impress him with her mad natural skills, Aki moved her feet…and the ground seemed to jump right from underneath her. Realizing she was about to fall flat on her face, she threw out her arms to grab onto something…and that something turned out to be Yusei. He caught her and steadied her, his hands firmly holding her arms, and Aki thought she was about to die from embarrassment or from happiness. He softly asked her if this was the first time she skated and she shyly replied that going to places as such wasn't her forte. And he didn't seem disappointed or annoyed or anything like that; instead, he held her hands in his own (Dying. From happiness. Now) and began skating with her, patiently helping her find her centre of gravity, and catching her whenever she tripped.
Reflecting upon that day later (an infinite number of times, over and over again), Aki thought that what really stuck with her was that he seemed to be having fun too. He smiled so much then. Once or twice he even laughed (Yusei…actually laughs?) when she joked to save her face or when she lost her balance particularly clumsily; but never at her, always with her. It seemed to her that for whatever reason he looked…happy. Probably the happiest she'd ever seen him.
Aki blinked and saw heavy clouds move along the bruised skin of the sky. She noticed that if she looked carefully enough she was able to see the tiny diamonds of the stars.
"Iz…oi Aki-s..n?"
She wished she could see them better: those magnificent lights the beauty of which was unrivalled. Abruptly her thoughts trailed off to Yusei again, however it was no longer the sweet memory of his lesson. Instead, Aki wondered what he was doing right at this second. And, with stabbing pain in her heart as harsh reality suddenly dawned on her, she wondered if he was with another woman.
"Izayoi Aki-san? Are you alright?"
Aki frowned, hearing that foreign voice calling out to her so clearly now. And then, blinking once, then twice, she realized that she was staring at the gloomy evening sky. She was lying on her back, she was still in a duel, and Mokuba Kimura was kneeling next to her. She saw worry plastered on his face.
"What…happened?" Aki mumbled, slowly sitting up. Her head was spinning.
"You disappeared in that thing," Mokuba nodded towards La Magra's shadow on her opponent's side of the field, "And then it released you and you fell down."
Could this have been a psychic attack? Aki pondered as she got to her feet but not without Mokuba's help because she was having some difficulty keeping her balance. Did that La Magra somehow materialize? "Kimura-san…how long did it last?" she asked, hearing her voice sounding feeble.
"What did?" he asked.
"How long was I…in it?" Aki clarified.
"A couple of seconds, tops," Mokuba estimated.
A couple of seconds, Aki thought, It felt like hours. It felt like it was never going to release me. She drew in a breath and let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes. She was feeling so exhausted…it was almost as if La Magra's attack somehow sucked all the energy out of her. Or maybe that's exactly what happened; maybe it fed on her life force until the only thing left was the most profound hopelessness.
Aki's Life Points went down from her high 3100 to measly 100 points in one turn.
"I did say you wouldn't win, didn't I?" the sacrificial duellist asked with a low snicker. By then his skin took on a worrisome ashen complexion but, as always, he didn't seem to notice or to care.
Aki forced her eyes open, barely able to think about anything other than sleep. Right now. For weeks, if she could.
"I end my turn," the man said, "And now you can amuse me with your last turn. Let's hope you'd at least be able to put a monster in Defence mode!"
[The Man]
[End of Turn Three: La Magra (Lvl.9) ATK3000/DEF3000 in Attack Mode; Ivy Token (Lvl.1) ATK0/DEF0 on Field; 0 Face down Cards; 0 Cards in hand; LP1100]
Aki glanced down at the single card she was holding and slowly it began occurring to her just how dire this situation was.
Her only card was a Magic that couldn't protect her or buy her a turn. And even if she managed to draw a Tuner monster on her next turn, it wouldn't do her any good – she would need at least another monster, in addition to the Level 1 Ivy Token on the man's side of the field, to summon her ace monster. In addition to that she couldn't actually Synchro Summon for two more turns.
Aki chewed on her bottom lip. What now? Her best bet was to draw a Trap card like Ground Capture which would allow her to halve the damage from La Magra, so she could wait these turns out. But what were the chances that her opponent wouldn't summon another monster and then attack her directly with that one?
Familiar waves of panic began pumping adrenaline through her system and temporarily restored some of her lost energy. Wide-awake now, Aki worriedly looked from her card to her deck. She didn't know what to do.
"Izayoi Aki-san…" Mokuba whispered while looking over at the useless Magic card in her hand. Aki met his gaze and a mutual understanding passed between them – her and a stranger for whose life she was responsible. It was an understanding that this duel might be over.
"Kimura-san," Aki spoke up quietly, "Please, if you could do me a big favour right now: if you've got your phone on you, then I need you to call somebody. Immediately."
Mokuba shook his head, "I've tried already," he despaired, "I tried sending a message but it didn't go through. No reception. It looks like he put us in some sort of insulated vacuum."
Aki took in a shuddering breath. If any of her friends were here…then they would have supported her, empowered her. She would have somehow found a way to win. And maybe just hearing Yusei's voice would have been enough.
She looked down at her forearm where the mark of the Crimson Dragon was imprinted. She desperately wished for it to glow so that her friends could find out where she was. But for some reason it wasn't activating.
Gathering the remains of courage, Aki placed her hand on the deck of cards and closed her eyes. Maybe…if she believed enough…maybe a miracle would happen. The pin in her hair had completely stopped vibrating after La Magra's attack – probably because her energy had been sucked out, she was too weak to even imagine using her powers.
This was it.
"My turn," she declared quietly and, keeping her eyes tightly shut, drew the fateful card.
[Aki Izayoi]
[Beginning of Turn Four: 0 Monsters on Field; 0 Face down Cards; 2 Cards in hand; LP100)
Aki's amber eyes hesitantly flickered open and she peaked at the new card.
It was a Trap called Doom Petal Countdown. Aki's heart sank so low she almost collapsed along with it. It was useless. She needed a monster to defend herself so how could a card that required her to have monsters in the Graveyard help her in any way? After all this time her deck had finally let her down.
And then it suddenly clicked in her head. The wheels started turning and her eyes widened.
She knew exactly what to do.
"I place a card face down and end my turn," she said, setting the newly drawn Doom Petal Countdown.
[Aki Izayoi]
[End of Turn Four: 0 Monsters on Field; 1 Face down Card; 1 Card in hand; LP100)
The dying man laughed out loud."I see you were unlucky enough to not even draw a monster!" he exclaimed, "And seeing how your Trap cards have been up until now, there is no threat with this one. Get ready to be cut up, Mokuba!"
Aki's expression didn't change while Mokuba gritted his teeth.
"But oh yes, for the sake of formalities I have to do it properly. So – my turn!"
[The Man]
[Beginning of Turn Four: La Magra (Lvl.9) ATK3000/DEF3000 in Attack Mode; 0 Face down Cards; 1 Card in hand; LP1100]
The man glanced at his new card and burst out in yet another laugh. Aki's pulse was racing: she didn't know if he'll attack her directly or if he'll try to disable her Trap first.
"I'm going out with a bang, it seems!" the man howled, "Let me show you what else La Magra can do before your friend becomes a corpse. I activate an Equipment Magic card, Drain Leach!" He slammed the card on his bloodstained duel disk. "Drain Leach* allows for all the Life Points I lost during the duration of this duel to be added to La Magra's attack until the End Phase. Since you were generous enough to deduct 2900 Life Points from me, La Magra grows stronger by that amount!"
It sounded like the overwhelming dark fog sighed, and then it nearly doubled in its already colossal size as its attack went up to 5900.
"God…damn…" Mokuba whispered.
Aki was still expressionless, successfully hiding her anxiety.
"Gotta say, you've put up a pretty fun game, little girl," the man chuckled, "But there was absolutely nothing you could do to prevent this. Alas, say goodbye to Mokuba. But if it's any consolation he's slime and you won't miss him when he's gone."
Mokuba clenched his fists. "Bastard…"
The man ignored him and gestured the enormous form of La Magra at Aki. "La Magra, attack her Life Points directly!"
La Magra let out another menacing hiss and began seeping into the ground to perform its attack when Aki flipped up the only hidden card on her field. "Trap card open – Doom Petal Countdown!" she shouted, "This card allows me to remove from play one Plant-Type monster in my Graveyard in order to inflict 300 points of damage."
The man shrugged, looking unimpressed.
"However," Aki went on, "If there are no Plant-Type monsters in my Graveyard then Doom Petal Countdown inflicts 300 points of damage for each Plant monster that's been removed from play."
"…What?" the man gasped, taken aback. La Magra remained in its spot, still making inexplicable sighing noises.
"I have no monsters in my Graveyard, thanks to you, but I have plenty of monsters that were removed from play!" Aki exclaimed, "Phoenixian Seed, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis, Twilight Rose Knight, Lord Poison and Ivy Wall. That's five monsters, 300 points of damage each – 1500 points of direct damage."
At that the man let out a distressed scream and clutched his head. "Can't be, can't be!" he shrieked.
Aki turned and looked at Mokuba who appeared as stunned as he was relieved. "It is done," she said quietly and he nodded.
The man continued screaming as 1500 points were depleted from his 1100. When his Life Points reached zero, La Magra hissed loudly and then vanished along with the Sutekh Sacrificō seal.
[Winner: Aki Izayoi]
The man collapsed.
Aki and Mokuba rushed to his side and with shock saw a man whose eyes – previously shaded with red – were crystalline and filled with tears. His skin was gray. His whole body was shaking so bad it was almost to the point of seizure and he was lying in a small pool of his blood.
"H-h-h-help me, p-p-please… P-p-please… Call m-m-my wife…" the man was begging them almost inaudibly.
Aki covered her mouth in horror. She saw that it was no longer a cruel irrational man she had just duelled – it was a poor injured person somehow driven by a nonsensical revenge motive and possessed by something unspeakably evil.
Mokuba immediately got out his phone and dialled a short number.
In under a minute at least ten black cars with tinted windows appeared. Some men in suits exited them and approached Mokuba who quickly began giving explanations as well as orders.
Aki didn't pay notice of them and couldn't look at or hear anything other than the dying man's sobs. She knelt and gently gathered the man's freezing hands into her own, her lips quivering as she fought back her tears. "What is your name?" she asked.
The man swallowed with difficulty and replied: "S-Suzuki, m-m-my name is Suzuki…Tetsuo…"
"And I'm Izayoi, Aki," she whispered in response, tears blurring her eyesight, "…You…you will be alright, Suzuki-sama, you will be alright…" I couldn't save you…I couldn't save you! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!
Tetsuo Suzuki cracked a weak smile. "It is nice to meet you, Ak-k-ki-chan."
"Aki-san, get up! We're taking him to the hospital!" Mokuba instructed and with ease pulled Aki away from the dying man. His bodyguards then carefully picked up Tetsuo Suzuki and put him into one of the cars, and then drove off with a screech. Aki, borderline paralyzed from shock, couldn't even begin comprehending who these mysterious men in suits were or why they were doing what Mokuba told them.
Mokuba then pushed Aki into the backseat of another car and sat next to her, ordering the driver to hurry and follow the first car to the hospital.
"My first day in Japan in almost twenty years. Who could've thought that something like this would happen?" Mokuba mumbled to himself while gazing through the tinted glass at the rapidly flashing streets, "This city will never seize to have problems, I suppose. There will always be something happening here."
Not a single word of what he said registered with Aki. Instead, she borrowed Mokuba's cell phone and with violently shaking hands managed to dial a number she knew by heart.
Her call was only answered after she incessantly called back a second time.
"Who is this?" asked a deep smooth voice. Sometimes the sound of that voice could practically trigger an orgasm in her. But not today.
"I need your help… something really awful has happened. I'm going to be at Seiroka Byoin ER. Please hurry," she pleaded.
"I'm on my way, Aki," Yusei said and hung up.
Aki dazedly returned the phone to Mokuba and her stare dropped to her hands stained with Tetsuo Suzuki's blood. Then tears clouded her vision and she could no longer see anything.
Footnotes:
*1 - Holy crap, it's Mokuba Kaiba! HE'S ALIVE! …and old...ish.
*2 - Lol, so not true!...not that I would really know...but I can't believe Aki buys it!
*3 – This is a reference to episode 60 of original Yu-Gi-Oh. Pretty much there was a scene where Mokuba Kaiba encounters a bully who was breaking the tournament rules. When the bully tries to intimidate him, Seto Kaiba shows up and kicks the bully's ass with Obelisk the Tormentor, his Egyptian God Card. I'm intending the mysterious guy who's challenging Mokuba/Aki in this chapter to be that bully from the past.
*4 – I made up this card and took the name of La Magra from the movie "Blade" (1998). My taking of this name has a point – in the film, La Magra was a "Blood God". It sort of fits into this story.
*5 - This card is also made up.