The sound of mortar fire thundered in the air like a calamitous hurricane, with Ms. Hibiki and Ninja Nan being right in the eye of it all. The white-garbed Yakuza thugs made up the swirling walls of the storm, and everything outside of those walls was nothing but pure chaos and destruction. Inside the eye of the storm two women, one clad in the long red coat of a headmaster of Slifer Red and the other in a pure black bodysuit, faced each other silently. Between them the air felt like it was full of invisible currents that buzzed with electricity, waiting for someone, anyone to break the stalemate now that the duel was declared.
Ms. Hibiki was the one who broke that stalemate, ruthlessly taking the first turn before Nan could protest.
“I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards!” Ms. Hibiki snapped out. “Then I pay 1000 of my own life points to activate Delinquent Duo, which forces you to discard one random card and one card of your choice, all from your hand.”
Nan’s flat expression didn’t change at all as she pitched two cards from her hand to her graveyard before motioning for Ms. Hibiki to continue.
“Next up is the continuous spell card Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen! While I control no monsters, I can special summon one fairy monster from my hand. Come to serve me, Darklord Nergal (2700/2500) in attack position!”
Then, as the hooded dark-winged angel settled onto the professor’s field, Ms. Hibiki placed one card face down and ended her turn.
“Draw.” Nan muttered, tossing away the captain’s face she held in her offhand to better grasp her cards. It fell to the boards of the dockside with a sticky ‘splat’ of skin hitting wood. “Nothing but fruitless struggling. I was like you, once. I thought I served a master worth following, as all ninjas should. Then he fell at the hands of a child and my mind was forcibly opened to fully understand the unstoppable power of the Light.” She chuckled, the noise sounding out of place amongst the grim surroundings and her own face, one that was still expressionless. “The seer does not possess any amount of control over me, of course. Nor over my friend in the jungle. Our efforts are of a voluntary nature. But… heh, it doesn’t matter. The seer knows all and sees all. He will win today no matter what happens, and everyone will die. All I can do is to try and find some favor with the Light, in order to have a chance at being accepted into the fold when the world is made new once more, bathed in the bright image of the ceaseless Light.”
Nan gestured to the thugs surrounding the two women. "These worthless dregs will not last long. Only those who fight and win under the seer have a chance. That is what I learned after that fateful day in New York City."
“Get on with it.” Ms. Hibiki growled. “I don’t have time to waste here.”
Nan shrugged half-heartedly. “Yet I do. Whatever. You should feel proud of yourself, teacher. You were considered a great enough threat that I went out of my way and risked my life to recover a part of that anomaly’s collection. The majority of it may have been sealed away by that boy and Seto Kaiba’s men, but they neglected to scour the underbelly of the Hudson River. Thanks to their mistake, I am now far stronger than I once was.”
The shadows around the dock thickened as Nan spoke, their weight becoming almost oppressive in nature as they settled around the shoulders of the duelists.
“I activate a continuous spell card of my own, Six Samurai United! Next, I summon forth The Six Samurai – Zanji (1800/1300). Because I summoned a Six Samurai monster, one Bushido Counter is placed on my continuous spell card. Then, since I control a Six Samurai monster, I can special summon the Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan (1800/500) from my hand. One more Bushido Counter shall be placed on Six Samurai United.”
Two formidable-looking samurai casually walked onto the field. The first one, Zanji, was clad entirely in yellow samurai armor, wearing a helmet that looked like it had two rabbit ears sticking out from the top of it, and wielding a glowing yellow naginata. The second monster, Kizan, was Zanji’s complete opposite. Covered in armor of black and gold, the solemn samurai had a curved helmet and a samurai sword that gleamed with a cold, yet wicked light under the glow of the distant fires.
“Six Samurai United’s second effect will now activate.” Nan declared. “I can send it to the graveyard in return for drawing cards equal to the number of counters on it.”
“All that work for a Pot of Greed.” Ms. Hibiki drily observed.
Nan nodded her head in acknowledgment. "Perhaps so. However, I shall still enter my battle phase regardless. The Six Samurai – Zanji shall attack your monster!”
“It won’t have enough attack points.” Ms. Hibiki snorted.
“But since there is another Six Samurai monster on the field, your monster will be destroyed by Zanji’s effect at the end of the damage step!” Nan swiftly countered.
“Or it would, if not for my next move!” Ms. Hibiki confidently announced her counterplay with a snap of her fingers. “The effect of Darklord Tezcatlipoca shall activate in my hand! If a Darklord monster I control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, I can discard this card instead!”
In response, Nan revealed a spell card in her hand. “Quick-play spell, Asceticism of the Six Samurai, activates! I target Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan with its effect, which will allow me to special summon one Six Samurai monster from my deck with the same attack points but a different name. Kizan has 1800 attack points, so I can bring forth another copy of Zanji!”
Another yellow-armored samurai leaped out of the shadows and onto the field like a graceful rabbit while the first Zanji collapsed into a bloody heap from Nergal’s counterattack.
Nan flung out her hand to gesture again at Ms. Hibiki’s Darklord monster. “My second Zanji shall strike at your Darklord Nergal! While I still take the damage, Zanji’s effect will activate at the end of the damage step!”
This time Ms. Hibiki did not have anything to say as Zanji’s glowing polearm weapon pierced through a chink in Nergal’s armor, even as the fallen angel’s red halo let out an eerie glow in response that washed over Nan’s body and caused her clothing to smoke. However, the damage was done and Ms. Hibiki’s monster was shattered into a million pieces just seconds after Nan’s second Zanji collapsed into an unmoving heap on the field.
“Now that my samurai have sacrificed themselves to create an opening, it is a ninja’s duty to exploit that! Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, attack my opponent directly!”
Ms. Hibiki: 1200 Ninja Nan: 2200
Ms. Hibiki flinched as Kizan’s sword opened up a bloody wound on her shoulder, but as soon as Nan ended her turn with a face down card being set, she powered through it and yanked a card out of her duel disk.
“I draw. You will regret sacrificing so much to destroy one single monster.” Ms. Hibiki bit out the words. “I summon Darklord Ukoback (700/1000) in defense position, using his effect to send the spell card Darklord Contact from my deck to my graveyard. Now that my graveyard is prepared, allow me to reduce the efforts of your last turn to dust! By discarding Darkord Amdusc and Darklord Superbia, I can take Darklord Contact from my graveyard and add it to my hand through Amdusc’s effect.”
Ms. Hibiki’s eyes sharpened and she snapped her fingers as she revealed the spell card added to her hand barely a moment ago.
“Darklord Contact, activate! I special summon Darklord Superbia (2900/2400) in my graveyard in defense position. Superbia will allow me to special summon one fairy monster from my graveyard, which shall be Darklord Tezcatlipoca (2800/2100).
One by one a series of dark angels roared to life onto Ms. Hibiki’s field to the sound of screaming trumpets. The red-winged Darklord Ukoback shifted where it stood, allowing the chains around its body to rattle ominously. The dark red wings of Darklord Superbia flapped in the air, causing the darkness around the duelists to shift in rhythm with the strange fairy’s movements. The dark purple feathers of Tezcatlipoca’s headdress glowed with an eerie red light that was reflected across the shiny black surface of the Aztec angel’s armor.
“Entering the battle phase!” Ms. Hibiki sternly announced. “Tezcatlipoca, destroy that samurai!”
“Not so fast!” Nan countered. “Trap card, activate! Negate Attack! Your attack is foiled and your battle phase ends!”
Right as Tezcatlipoca’s obsidian claws were an inch away from rending Kizan’s armor, a swirling red vortex appeared in the thin air between the two monsters to absorb the frightening attack.
Nan drew a card as Ms. Hibiki’s turn ended with no further actions from the woman. For the first time since the duel started, the usually expressionless ninja showed a reaction – her lips curled upwards in a slight smile.
“How interesting~.” Nan drew the words out like they were a succulent dessert she was savoring after a wonderful meal. All of a sudden, her previous apathy, one that had almost bordered on nihilism, was replaced with a glint of interest. “How interesting indeed. I was beginning to wonder if this would ever appear.”
Nan’s eyes turned away from the card she’d just drawn to look straight into Ms. Hibiki’s eyes.
“I wonder… how much do you truly know of what happened in New York City that fateful day?”
Despite herself, despite her extreme desire to see the duel end as quickly as possible, Ms. Hibiki answered Nan’s sudden question.
“I know enough.”
Nan giggled. The sound rang out across the docks, a complete anomaly amongst the deadly shadow duel and the cluster of empty-faced Yakuza thugs that surrounded the women.
“That tells me more than you think. The duels that happened that day… when Phillip Jenson murdered my master, when that hooligan Big Shoe fell to Adrian Gecko and Anastasia Capet, when Kaiba erased the last vestiges of the man whose death taught us so much… well, allow me to show you the truth of that day, the new power that supersedes all current summoning methods to bring forth a new era of power!”
Before Ms. Hibiki could respond, Nan’s hands moved to create a series of strange signs and her form began to blur. The circle of Yakuza thugs widened as the men backed off in one smooth movement. The blur of Nan’s body became less than even that, to the point that Ms. Hibiki could hardly make out her opponent’s form as it moved, bouncing across the dock, against the side of the ship, even hitting the water with enough force and speed that the surface remained solid. If it were in lighter circumstances, other than the duel to the death that it was now, Ms. Hibiki would have even compared the ninja’s fast and erratic movements to that of a pinball being flung through a machine at the maximum speed possible. Each time Ninja Nan’s blurred form struck an object, the ninja’s speed increased. Over and over again, until…
Until Nan’s body was moving too fast for Ms. Hibiki’s eyes to track. All that was left of her opponent were the words the ninja left hanging in the air behind her.
“Summoning the level one monster Shien’s Squire (300/700) in attack position! And! Sending the level one tuner Shien’s Squire!”
“Tuner?” Ms. Hibiki echoed in confusion.
"Sending the level four monster Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan! One and four are brought together to form the fifth! I synchro summon Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En (2500/1400)!”
The air shuddered and crackled. The shadows thickened, and Ms. Hibiki began to hear strange and archaic whispers from the darkness, quiet to the point that she couldn’t understand them, but loud enough that she could still hear them. The two monsters on Nan's side of the field melted away to nothing, their armor swirling around in a formless pool that soon began to ripple as a red-armored samurai steadily walked out of it. The samurai possessed a sword that was over half the height of Ms. Hibiki. Its edge gleamed a silver hue in the warm light let off from the fires in the distant campus. The warrior itself was completely clad in red armor, with the only unarmored parts of its body being two black and gold wings that sprouted from its back.
Nan’s body slowed down, coming to a complete halt once more now that her strange new monster was summoned. She placed one card face down and moved to her battle phase.
“Shi En, destroy Darklord Superbia!”
Ms. Hibiki expressionlessly watched the new monster, something she’d never seen before, destroy her defending Darklord. At first glance the ninja’s field appeared weak. She had one face down and that new Shi En monster, which lacked the attack points to deal with her monsters. However, what remained a fact was that the ‘synchro’ monster was a completely unknown variable with unknown abilities. She could overpower it with her Tezcatlipoca, but would Shi En have an ability which could stop that from happening? It had to possess something strong enough to devote the resources required to summon it. That thought alone was enough for her to consider some amount of caution when dealing with that monster.
“I draw.” Ms. Hibiki muttered as Nan ended her turn. However, on the other hand, thanks to her Delinquent Duo and the lengths her opponent had gone to destroy her Nergal, Nan was quite low on resources. Only one card facedown, one monster on the field, and precious few cards in her hand. Meanwhile, Ms. Hibiki was quite the opposite.
“Fine.” She bit out. “You think your cards represent a new era of power? Maybe. But I think the old era of power still has more than enough to deal with your petty tricks! I sacrifice Darklord Ukoback and Darklord Tezcatlipoca to tribute summon Darklord Morningstar (3000/3000). When this monster is tribute summoned, I can special summon Darklord monsters from my hand or deck equal to the number of effect monsters you control.”
“One, then.” Nan concluded.
Ms. Hibiki nodded. “One. My choice will be Darklord Nasten (2600/2600). That won’t be all, however, because now I pay 1000 life points to activate Nasten’s effect! This will allow me to take the effect of Darklord Contact from my graveyard and copy it, though Contact will get shuffled back into my deck in return. That effect of Contact will allow me to return Darklord Superbia back from the graveyard, who will in turn allow me to special summon Darklord Tezcatlipoca from the graveyard once more.”
More and more dark-winged angels flashed to life on Ms. Hibiki’s field, but she was far from done yet.
“Now! Darklord Morningstar’s effect activates, sending three cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard.”
Ms. Hibiki glanced through the cards. One Edeh Arae, one Asmodeus, and one Darklord Descent.
“Three Darklord cards were sent to the graveyard due to this effect, which means I will gain 1500 life points in total."
Ms. Hibiki: 1700 Ninja Nan: 2200
“And?” Nan’s voice was back to the emotionless monotone it was before she’d synchro summoned.
Ms. Hibiki’s fingers snapped, the sharp noise echoing amongst the shadows as she revealed her face down trap card.
“Darklord Uprising, activate! By sending one Darklord monster from my hand or field to the graveyard, I can fusion summon one monster by using monsters from my hand or field as materials!”
As soon as Ms. Hibiki sent Darklord Desires from her hand to the graveyard to fulfill the cost, Nan leaped into action.
“Your move triggers the effect of Shi En! Once per turn I can negate the activation of a spell or trap card! Furthermore, your trap card will be destroyed!”
“Useless!” Ms. Hibiki shouted back and snapped her fingers a second time. “Once your Shi En’s effect resolves, I can use the effect of Tezcatlipoca, sacrificing 1000 of my own life points to copy the effect of Darklord Uprising in my graveyard! Furthermore, as my monster is simply applying the targeted trap card’s effect, I can avoid paying the cost of my trap card! However, as the cost was not paid, I will not be able to gain life points from the final part of Uprising’s effect.”
Ms. Hibiki: 700 Ninja Nan: 2200
Ninja Nan’s face blanched as Ms. Hibiki’s life points fell once more while three of the four monsters she controlled were crushed together in a swirling vortex of bones and bloody feathers. The vortex picked up speed as a single monster gradually emerged. The monster’s mere presence was enough to silence the whispers of the shadows, though the shadows themselves still remained, albeit diminished in the face of the pitch-black armor of the twelve-winged angel.
The angel’s armor seemed to swallow up the very light itself, with only the glowing purple of its sword being allowed to gently illuminate the surroundings, washing over the pale faces of the Yakuza thugs that surrounded the duelists. The angel possessed a shield as pure pitch-black as its armor, with one blood-red ruby that glowed in the center.
“Sending Darklord Morningstar, Darklord Nasten, and Darklord Superbia to fusion summon my strongest monster, the first among the fallen, The First Darklord (4000/4000)!”
As the twelve-winged angel descended, the world fell silent. Even the sounds of explosions in the distance could no longer be heard.
“Then, since my monster was fusion summoned using Darklord Morningstar as material, I can destroy all monsters my opponent controls!”
“That may be so, but I have a response of my own!” Ninja Nan hastily retorted. “Trap card activate, Six Style – Dual Wield! Since the only monster I control is one face up Six Samurai in attack position, I can target up to two of your cards to return to the hand! The choice is obvious, being The First Darklord and Darklord Tezcatlipoca!”
“Well played… is what I would say if my monsters could be targeted!” Ms. Hibiki roared back. “While The First Darklord is under my control, he has a continuous effect that prevents you from targeting any of my fairy monsters with card effects. As you may expect, each and every one of my monsters is of the fairy type, including my fusion monster!”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Nan’s face paled as the desperate last-minute slash from Shi En fizzled into nothingness, as the trap card required that specifically two cards on the opponent’s field had to be targeted, no more, no less. Even though Ms. Hibiki’s continuous Valhalla card could still be targeted, there was no second option available. Shortly after, Shi En was blasted apart by a wave of light from The First Darklord’s effect.
Ninja Nan closed her eyes as Ms. Hibiki transitioned into her battle phase. She had no monsters to defend herself, nor any face down cards left that she could use.
“No matter.” The expressionless ninja declared as The First Darklord’s sword rushed through the air to slice at her head. “We’re all dead. The seer will win, regardless of my loss here. Regardless of anyone’s loss. We’re all dead and you just can’t see it yet.”
Nan’s head flew off her neck in an arc that caused it to land in the water, sinking deep below its depths as the ninja’s body collapsed to the wooden floor of the dock.
Ms. Hibiki: 700 Ninja Nan: 0
Ms. Hibiki’s eyes roamed around the dock as her two remaining Darklords retreated into the fading shadows now that the duel was over. They glossed over Nan’s headless body, over the scattered cards that had once made up the woman’s hand, briefly noting that of the two cards left, one of them was a singular copy of Kuriboh, while the other was just another samurai monster. Finally, her eyes rested on the white-clothed circle of men around her. Each one of them pulled out a duel disk one by one with smooth, mechanical motions.
“So this is what your ‘seer’ has resorted to doing. I don’t suppose you thugs would allow me safe passage back to the campus now that your captain has fallen.” Ms. Hibiki scowled and reset her duel disk, not even waiting for an answer to her rhetorical question. With another half-movement, she leaned down and snagged the fallen ninja’s deck, placing it in the back pocket of her headmaster’s coat for later examination.
The first man stepped forward wordlessly and activated his own, drawing five cards and staring at her with an empty expression. Behind him, ten other men, adorned with countless tattoos that twisted around their flesh, waited patiently in line for their turn.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A constant rain of mortar shells was steadily colliding with Banner’s barrier by the time the last few stragglers had made it to safety. Soon after that the teachers streamed out of the classroom where they had met with the talking cat, barking out order to regain some semblance of control over the situation while Bastion, Jaden, Chazz, Alexis, and Syrus slipped around the side to pose their own questions to the professor.
Banner’s classroom looked just as it normally did during the day, aside from the large mirror that was now resting on top of Banner’s desk, and the strange, almost tree-like structure of black iron that loomed in the background, glowing a warm red color. Banner himself was sitting on top of the mirror to peer down at it with his tail wrapped around his haunches.
“How may I be of service to you, Mr. Misawa?” Banner was the first to speak, though his eyes were still locked steadily on the mirror.
Bastion coughed into his fist to clear his throat. Part of him was almost irresistibly curious about the mirror, but there were more important questions to ask first.
“Professor Banner. My apologies for disturbing your contemplations, but is there any way we can help? Phil went out to try and deal with whatever weapon is attacking us, and I overheard the other professors doing roll call. Most everyone is accounted for other… other than the ones that didn’t make it.”
Banner let Bastion’s dispirited words linger in the air for a few moments before he gestured with his tail for the small group of students to come closer.
“Come closer. I have already shared much of what I know with my colleagues, but most of them are not in a position to fully understand what is going on. You children, however, acquired valuable experience in combating the Shadow Riders. In fact, Chancellor Shepperd himself thought of your group as strong enough to be worthy of the knowledge of the key keepers. So, come closer. Peer into my mirror, and tell me what you see.”
Bastion inched closer, with his friends close behind. As one they looked into the mirror. It was almost like a camera system, with the mirror being broken up into multiple different views. Some views showed the depths of the jungle, others a vision of the beach, one displayed the docks, and the rest showed various parts of the burning wreckage of the campus.
"That's Phil!" Bastion exclaimed as half of Phil's body flitted in and out of view of one of the cameras as the boy picked his way through the jungle.
“And Ms. Hibiki.” Alexis pointed toward another view that showed the headmaster of Slifer Red leading her signature Darklord monsters in a pitched duel against a cold-faced woman in a black bodysuit who brought forth an array of samurai monsters in response.
Chazz, however, pointed toward the largest, most central view. “That’s the weapon?”
Banner licked the back of his paw and raised it to groom the fur on the top of his head.
"Indeed, Mr. Princeton. A duel spirit taking the form of a mortar. It is not one that I have seen before, though that hardly means much. The number of duel spirits in the spirit world is immeasurable. The ones we know, the ones that take the form of cards in this world, are only an insignificant amount. It appears to be commanded by the man in the blue jacket. A mage of formidable power, no doubt.”
“Who Phil is in a collision course with…” Bastion muttered with equal parts concern and interest.
“We’ll see.” Banner offhandedly replied, turning his attention to Ms. Hibiki’s duel. “The enemy has brought their own forces to the island and they seem quite determined to stall Mr. Jenson as long as possible.”
“Time… is a problem, I assume?”
“Quite so.” Banner said with a flick of his whiskers. He moved one of his paws to wave over the mirror, causing one of the views near the edges to change focus from the edge of the jungle to show a birds-eye view of the building they were currently in. “My barrier will eventually fail if the bombardment continues. When it fails, we will all die. Well, you will all die. My soul will be automatically transferred to one of my spare homunculi,” Banner added, almost like that last part was a whimsical afterthought.
“How long?”
Banner paused in thought before answering Bastion’s question.
“Well before the sun rises. My best estimate is midnight.”
Bastion rubbed his chin in thought and checked his watch. “Ominous. That gives us two, maybe three hours at most?”
“Precisely.”
While that information sunk in, Jaden sent a glance through the window of the classroom, where he could see the teachers moving around.
"Chickens with their heads cut off, Mr. Yuki," Banner said before Jaden could ask his question. "I cannot blame them, to tell you the truth. None of them are versed in the ways of magic, nor do they have experience in matters such as this. I revealed the estimated time limit to them, and their best plan is to make their way to the ruins of the administrative building while the majority of the fire is directed at my barrier.”
“Who…” Chazz began, but Banner once more responded before the question could be fully voiced.
“Chancellor Sheppard’s last known location was his office, on the top floor of that very same building. He has not been seen since.”
“They hope that he will know what to do.” Bastion concluded.
“But…” Alexis’s hands shot to her mouth in horror, “That building was completely destroyed!”
“Therefore, Sheppard is most likely dead or severely injured.” Banner replied. “However, I understand their concerns. Vellian is unconscious. Midori was caught in the enemy’s trap at the docks. Sheppard is missing. And because Midori still carries the duties of the Ra Yellow headmaster on her shoulders in the wake of Marco Bernardello’s death, that means all the leadership in the academy is currently unavailable.”
“Dang. We really don’t have much room to work with. I kind of feel like a fish in a barrel right now.” Jaden’s uncharacteristically grim joke echoed the concerns of everyone in the room.
“That is exactly what I am.” Banner agreed. “This barrier prevents me from leaving the area for fear that it would dissipate. My magic is the very resource being used to channel the spellwork I used to form the barrier. But you lot…”
Chazz’s steely gaze settled on one of the windows, staring at the mortar rounds that splashed against the barrier beyond like droplets of rain on an umbrella. Meanwhile, Alexis nervously tightened her duel disk and Jaden’s face was set in a frown.
“We can’t stop the teachers from attempting to rescue Sheppard. They are doing what they think is best, rescuing a man who is knowledgeable with situations like these.” Bastion concluded. “I believe in Phil’s strength, and Ms. Hibiki is one of the strongest duelists on the island. Phil will handle the mortar as he originally planned. Ms. Hibiki will be able to duel her way out given time. What we need to do is prepare for what happens next.”
Bastion, of course, left the other part of Phil’s message unsaid – the request to send in Jaden if he failed. There was no doubt in his mind that Phil understood the danger of sending out the very same person in possession of the key half. The statement left the key part unsaid, the part where if Phil was to fail, he believed that only Jaden's absurd luck would be able to save them.
“Next?” Jaden echoed in confusion. Beside him, Syrus mirrored his expression, while Chazz, Alexis, and Banner nodded knowingly.
“Those men in white surrounding Ms. Hibiki and her opponent, for instance.” Bastion explained. Then he gestured to another camera, where a muscular man in a white suit could be seen falling to the ground with a wordless cry. Nothing else of note could be seen in that picture, until moments later when Phil came into view and expressionlessly stepped over the fallen man. "There is no doubt in my mind that the cult managed to bring an unknown amount of forces onto the island. The only reason we haven't seen them yet is because of that mortar. I imagine it poses the same danger to everyone, regardless of who they serve. Once Phil silences it, then the vultures move in, likely with the goal of taking Jaden’s half of the key to activate whatever terrible thing it corresponds to. Professor Banner, your barrier allowed all of the students in without any issues. Would it stop the cultists?”
Banner shook his head. "No. Unfortunately, I built it to withstand ranged attacks on the off chance that some of my old enemies were to discover that I teach at this school. Anyone can walk through the barrier. That was another concern of the teachers. The administration building is close, close enough for them to rush back if that happens.”
Bastion stabbed his finger downward at the mirror, pointing at the scene on the docks.
“We must assume that there are more of these men. I don’t know if they are willing participants of this madness, or are brainwashed like Raizou and Rose were. Either way we must be prepared to defend this position. We fought the Shadow Riders. Some of us were chosen as representatives in Kaiba’s tournament and also for the teachers versus students duel. No matter what, we must defeat whoever this… cult of madmen sends forth. Winning and losing in a duel against them is what decides the brainwashing. We cannot allow that to spread like a disease among our classmates, among our friends!”
“Hey, count us in too.” Zane’s stoic tones added in. Bastion turned to look at him with an approving nod. At the doorway stood not only Zane, but Atticus and even Chumley.
“Yeah. Forget losing here.” Atticus said with a vicious grin. “I’ve been under the control of a freaky magical existence before. I ain’t ever letting that happen again. Not to me, not to anyone else. Especially not to my precious baby sister.”
Chumley raised a portable electric grill. “I might not be the best duelist, but I’ll feed everyone up a fighting midnight snack! They say an army marches and fights on its stomach, and I’ll be darned if anyone here gets anything less than my most premium grub going down their gullets!”
“Ah, you’re pretty good yourself, Chum.” Jaden added while chuckling. “Your koalas are super crazy strong!”
“Those knaves will get their due justice.” Princess Rose’s voice chimed in. Bastion’s head whipped over to face where her voice was coming from, just in time to see her finish sliding through an open window. “Valiant Bastion, did I hear correctly that my brave knight has already plunged straight into the fight?”
Bastion’s eyes widened. Not only did Rose slide through the window, but Jasmine and Mindy were right behind her, each shooting a wink toward Alexis.
“Yes.” He eventually replied. “Phil is out there risking his life to stop the bombardment.”
Princess Rose’s nose rose high in the air as she took on a haughty look. “As expected of Sir Phil. It would not do for this princess to be a damsel in distress while my knight is on the battlefield. You may count on my assistance in this matter!”
“Rose told us she saw you guys plotting in here.” Jasmine hesitantly spoke up. “I’m… this is really, really freaky and scary, but we’re not about to let Lexy fight alone.”
“Don’t forget, we stomped Syrus and Phil pretty good last year in a tag duel!” Mindy added with a bit of cheer that only seemed halfway forced.
Syrus groaned. “Yeah, but we didn’t even get to finish it, and Phil was freaking wasted. I thought that butthead was going to die of alcohol poisoning right then and there.”
The sound of Banner’s tail striking the desk broke up the hubbub. All eyes turned toward the professor.
“Very well. Midori and Vellian would have my head for this, but that is a consideration for later. Ladies and gentlemen, I have a strong belief of my own that Phillip will be successful in his endeavor. He has access to strategies beyond what should be in the realm of possibility. When that time comes, we must pour our every effort into defending this location. Besides… even if we fail, and everyone were to die, I… admit I would miss this teaching position. It is quite a comfortable life.”
Bastion smiled and scratched the part on Banner’s head where his ears met his skull.
“Thank you. If we all died, we’d miss you too.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Vellian Crowler’s eyes snapped open. His body was heavy, like someone had piled several tons worth of weights on top of it. He could remember… the last thing he remembered was Midori rushing toward him as he collapsed in the bathroom. That’s right. He’d been poisoned.
His eyes darted around to try and get a bearing on the situation. If Midori had found him, then he would have been taken to the infirmary and put in the care of the always capable Fonda Fontaine. Yet, the ceiling he was staring at was definitely not the ceiling of the infirmary. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken, it was the ceiling of a classroom.
“Vellian?” Fonda’s voice asked in surprise. “Vellian, can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?”
Crowler's eyes moved to meet Fonda's gaze. His colleague looked, well, extraordinarily careworn to the point he began to feel a rising sense of concern for her.
“Four.” He eventually replied. His head still felt rather cloudy, but his vision still spoke true.
Fonda nodded. “Good. You must be confused. That enemy you were worried about finally attacked. The infirmary was destroyed. I was able to get a few students to help me turn this spare classroom into a temporary fix.”
Crowler attempted to rise to a sitting position, but Fonda hurriedly placed a palm on his chest to push him back down.
“No!” She exclaimed. Worry was thickly infused throughout her voice, worry and a strong hint of stress. “You were at death’s door just a day ago. Your food was laced with a drug called Digitalis, which was sped up to speeds normally unheard of through some sort of magic.”
“Does Lyman know exactly how it was done?”
Fonda shook her head. “Not the specifics, but he said it’s more than possible for most mages to do with the right materials since the only magical part is speeding up a process that would have eventually happened anyway."
“I see.” Crowler closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. The more he breathed and the longer he was awake, the lighter the weights on his body felt. His cloudy head would become clear given time.
An explosion rang out, causing Crowler to flinch, but upon seeing Fonda carry on like nothing had ever happened, he raised his eyebrow in a wordless demand for an answer.
“The same enemy.” Fonda explained. “They’ve been bombarding us with some sort of artillery for a while now. Lyman’s barrier is keeping us safe. That’s the other reason why this temporary infirmary is in a classroom, it’s right next door to Lyman’s.”
Truly, Lyman Banner was proving to Crowler each day that it was a good decision to let the alchemist live after his betrayal.
“No! Vellian! I said no!” Fonda hastily put her palm over Crowler’s chest, but this time it was different.
This time he’d regained part of his formidable strength. Vellian Crowler pushed himself to a sitting position and then stood. His legs were a bit wobbly, and his heart was feeling terribly strained in his chest, but it was nothing that he couldn’t walk off.
“Vellian! I am ordering you as your doctor. Sit. Down.”
Crowler flashed a sad smile toward Fonda, who was looking legitimately distressed. The more he looked at her, the more he noticed how utterly worn down the nurse looked. He glanced around the makeshift infirmary. He wasn't the only occupant – several students were lying on ragged beds made from donated school uniforms and doubtlessly stuffed with whatever could be found. Some were unconscious, others were softly groaning in pain.
“Sorry. I can’t do that, Fonda. No barrier can last forever, not even one made by Lyman. I have to do something.” Crowler walked over and leaned down to grab his duel disk. Surprisingly enough, someone had grabbed the contraption from the infirmary. Or perhaps he’d unconsciously clutched at it, Crowler considered. There were several deep imprints gouged into the side of the machine, imprints that were precisely the same size as his own fingers. Those hadn’t been there before.
Right next to it was his headmaster’s uniform, which he shrugged on in practiced movements before clicking his duel disk into its usual place at his chest. Then, to the sound of Fonda’s protests, each one of which stabbed deep into his heart from all the earnestness the nurse put into her pleas, Crowler walked out of the makeshift infirmary and to the veritable warzone beyond. As soon as he stepped out from behind the door, his eyes scoured the night sky, following the arc of each shot that slammed into the barrier.
“The jungle? Very well then. Fonda, I’m sorry. If anyone asks I’m going for a walk.”
And then Vellian Crowler stepped out from behind the barrier, ignoring the terrible coldness of his body, the strained beating of his heart, his head that was so foggy he could barely think a full thought, all so he could sprint as fast as his weakened legs could take him toward the jungle.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Phil doubled over with his hands resting on his knees as he gasped for breath. A small trail of blood slipped out of the corner of his mouth, but for the most part he was unharmed, albeit a bit dirty. Before him lay another powerfully built man, unmoving on the ground. The man’s clothing was torn to shreds, and his body was so utterly ruined that it could barely even be called human anymore.
“Fucking hell.” Phil spat out. “You lost. Why couldn’t you do what the other worthless sacks of shit like you did and run the hell away? I don’t have any beef with you once the brainwashing is gone. You didn’t give me a damned choice.”
His breath steadied and Phil stood back up. The duel had been as vicious as all the others had been, but the key difference happened after he won. This time the conflict lasted past the duel. Every other time, as soon as the brainwashing was removed by Phil winning, his opponent would scream and run away.
Phil turned away from the man. He was getting used to it, but…
He could still hear it now, and see the memory in his mind’s eye. The man screaming, but not running away. Instead, he pulled a knife and lunged for Phil with a cold light in his eyes. The man had clearly been confused. Maybe he’d even mistaken Phil for the person who’d brainwashed him.
Either way, it didn’t matter. Before the man made it two feet, a croaking roar had exploded from Phil’s deck. The next few seconds were a blur of horrible screams and green, warty flesh. The aftermath was simple. D.3.S. Frog tossed the body away with an air of disinterest, and several much smaller frog duel spirits floated out of Phil's deck to engorge themselves on their new meal. Even with his head turned he could hear them. The movement of flesh, the dull croaking, the gleeful squelching noises.
Phil shook his head in disgust. Even though he tried to finish the duels as cleanly and quickly as possible, situations like that still occasionally happened. There was nothing he could do. They brought it on themselves.
He looked in the air. The foliage of the jungle obscured most of the sky, but what little he could see was occasionally filled with the fiery arcs of the mortar firing. The sounds were getting louder, too. That was good.
Lumina shared a glance with Phil.
“I think you’re right,” Lumina answered Phil’s unasked question. “We’re almost there.”
“Yea-“
“A fine night, is it not?”
Phil whipped around to face the owner of the silky-smooth voice. It was a man with long black hair, though a white stripe of hair covered part of his forehead. The man was covered with a long white coat, and madness flitted like handfuls of fireflies in his eyes.
“Yes, fine indeed.” The man continued without waiting for Phil to respond. Phil narrowed his eyes. The man had a duel disk strapped to his wrist and a thin trail of blood on the side of his mouth.
Then, the man bowed at the waist, keeping those maddening eyes locked on Phil throughout the entire process. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sartorius Kumar. And you, I already know who you are. You are the Magician. The reason behind the ruining of my carefully laid plans. The reason why the Fool can no longer be broken. The reason why the Hanged Man can no longer be turned to my whims. Why the Strength is no longer a factor in the equation. Even the Sun has been affected by the inspiration given by the Magician.”
"The Magician?" Phil asked in confusion.
“You.” Sartorius pointed right back at him. “The originator of so many problems. The reason why the defenders of this island are far more powerful than they should be. You, Phillip Jenson, are an anomaly. You should not be here. A true Magician should never have been in contact with the Fool. At most, the Strength would have provided abilities equal to half of what a true Magician could bring forth. Yet here you are before my eyes. I have not been able to see you before now. Powerful forces obscured my vision up until I stepped foot on this island. Quite interesting, do you agree?”
Phil’s brows crinkled in confusion. “Right… whatever. I have problems of my own to deal with.”
“Even greater than the problem of the seer?” Sartorius sent an eerie grin back to Phil.
“Why, do you know him?”
“Of course I do." Sartorius chuckled. "He's me. Defeat me, and all those whom I have shared the glory of the Light with shall be released. Naturally, in that case, the invasion of the island would cease, and the mortar would rest in silence. However, if I win… well, I have found myself in dire need of a new champion recently. My old one was a little bit lacking for my tastes. Now. Follow me, young Magician, if you wish to end it all.”
Then, Sartorius turned, walking away from the sounds of the mortar firing. Phil sent a half-glance back at the noise. That weapon was important… but Sartorius probably wasn’t lying. The trope of the remaining henchmen giving up when the boss lost, well, that was a staple in terms of anime. That staple went doubly so when the boss's forces were under mind control. If it truly would be removed after Sartorius’s defeat…
“Alright. Have it your way. I’m fine with cutting off the head of the snake sooner rather than later.” Phil made up his mind and followed the strange man, with Lumina right behind him. The mortar was extremely important, but he couldn’t give up this chance. As both duelists disappeared into the trees, the frogs looked up from their grisly meal and hopped along to trail after their master.