Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Reverse of Arcadia ❯ Chapter 4: The Journey � An old encounter, the escape and a New Menace ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Reverse of Arcadia
Game novelization by Sakura (aka L-sama no Miko)

Chapter 4: The Journey – An old encounter, the escape and a New Menace

I open my eyes to find that I am lying on a bed in some kind of cell. The fact that I was still wearing the Arcadia Movement’s uniform cinched it. I was back in the real word and apparently still their prisoner. But at least now, I was free of Divine’s brainwashing completely now.
I glance at my reflection in the mirror over the desk that was off to the side of my bed and let out a quiet gasp. I’m a bit taller than I remember being, and my hair is slightly longer as well. I also look older too. Just how long had I been under that bastard’s control?!!
My mind was still messed up though; my memory of my time with the boys still hazy, but it was getting clearer by the minute. Though I have no idea how long it’s been since that bastard kidnapped me. It feels like only days, but was it really? Judging by my reflection, it seems highly unlikely. As I shake the grogginess from my body, I hear banging from the cell next to mine.
Looking through the window that divided the two rooms, I see the pushy journalist I ran into at the… Fortune Cup was it? My memories were still jumbled, no thanks to these scumbags. “Come you stupid door! Open up!” she shouts while banging her fists on it. “I can’t believe I got locked up in a place like this! This is the pits! I gotta get outta here before I miss my deadline! The editor-in-chief’s gonna blow his top if I do! Jack! Help!!! Oh Jack…”
Jack?! She can’t possibly mean my Jack, can she? Not the Jack who went and betrayed us. Nah… Jack’s a common name right? Yeah, that’s it. She must be calling for someone else.
As I make my way to my own door, I trip over something. Leaning against a couch is… Torunka’s staff! Whaddya know?! The brat was right! Well might as give it a try. I hold the staff up and it emits a faint glow just at had back in the Spirit World. Since this wasn’t an old fashioned type door, there was no click. Praying to whatever gods I could think of, I approached the metal slab carefully.
Yes!!! The door slid open with a swoosh and within seconds, I was free! Now to go find Luna and get the hell out of here! The girl in the next cell bangs on the door again as I start to pass by. She must have heard my door opening. “Hey! How’d you get out?!” she calls, “How’d you get that door open?! Could you get me out?! Pretty Please?”
Well, what harm could it do right? It’s not like this is an actual prison anyway. I once again use Torunka’s staff and the door slid opening freeing the journalist. “Thanks! I really owe you one. Wait do I know you? I’ve got this feeling I’ve seen you from somewhere… that’s it! You were at the Fortune Cup weren’t you? But why would they put their on members into a cell? Oh boy! I smell a scoop! Time for me to go fact hunting… is what I’d like to say. But if I stayed here any longer, I’d just get caught again. Anyway, thanks a heap! Later!”
The pushy girl runs off down the hall, a slip of paper falls from her back pocket as she does. I pick it up with the intention of giving it back to her however I couldn’t help but take a tiny peek. And I wish I hadn’t, for written on it was the following sentence:

‘Jack Atlas, the former king and Sector Security Director Goodwin are both originally from Satellite!’

A sharp pain filled my heart at reading that traitor’s name. That girl did know our Jack!! So that’s what he’d been up to all this time. Using Yusei’s card and D-Wheel to not only become Duel King but also shagging up with some flighty, pushy girl journalist. Oooh wait til I got a hold of him! I was really going to let my ‘big brother’ have it and real good too!
No use worrying about that jerk right now. I had another rescue to finish! I managed to sneak past the other Arcadia members and make my way to the west wing of the building. As I start down the hall, someone calls out to me from one of the cells.
“Is that you, Iolanthe?”
“Luna?” I whisper back, stopping at the door the voice came from.
“Yes, it’s me! I’m glad you’re here! Thanks so much for coming to get me!”
“Get back! I’m going to get you outta there!” I say raising the staff yet again. Just like with the other times, the door was unlocked and slid open to reveal the mint haired girl I met in the Spirit World.
“I can’t thank you enough for getting me out of here, Iolanthe!” she says giving me a hug, “Oops sorry about that. I forgot this was the first time meeting each other in the real world. Though, I kinda feel like I’ve got my own personal bodyguard,” she says letting out a giggle.
“It’s ok,” I say. “I’d do the same thing for anyone these creeps kidnapped.”
“I hate to bother you again, but you see my twin brother Leo is here too…”
“Let me guess, you want me to go rescue him too, right?” I say dryly. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, it’s just that the longer we hung around the harder it would be to escape in the long run.
“Would you? Please?”
Again, I couldn’t say no. It had been ingrained in me by Crow ever since he let me live with him that no kid in trouble anywhere should be denied help. “Yeah, but we’ve got to do it super quick and then get right out.”
“Yay! Thank you so much Iolanthe!” The kid gives me another hug, and I smile remembering how Crow’s kids would always give me hugs whenever I ran into them.
“So which way?” I ask “Do you know where he is?”
“Um… I think he should be down the hall, we were brought in here together.”
I nod and we start making or way further down the west wing. “Yusei!” Luna says, spotting a familiar head of black and gold.
“Luna?!” my former teammate says approaching us, “Are you ok?” He then spots me, his indigo eyes widening, “Iolanthe?!”
“Yusei…” I start, but my friend interrupts.
“There’s too many guards around here, let’s go back to that room so we can talk.” I nod and follow Yusei and Luna back into her cell.
“I’m glad you’re alright, Iolanthe,” Yusei starts, “Crow and I were so worried when you vanished like that. But what I want to know is why did you join the Arcadia Movement?” He eyes my uniform suspiciously and I can’t say I blame him one bit. If it had been him wearing this thing, I’d be thinking the same thing – that I’ve betrayed my friends, my family. Just like Jack.
I sigh. “Long story short, Yus, this guy Divine kidnaps me then brainwashes me into joining his oh so happy little cult.”
“You were brainwashed?!” he says totally shocked.
“Really?” Luna asks, “But then, how come… oh I get it now! They were after you ‘cause you’re connected to the Spirit World like me! You don’t think they would have done that to me too do you?”
“Probably,” I say worriedly.
Luna goes pale and shudders. “It’s a good thing you’re here to save me right Iolanthe?”
“Yep,” I say, giving her a reassuring smile. There was noooo way in hell I was going to let that bastard brainwash anymore innocent kids!
“So, how do you know Iolanthe, Yusei?”
“We’re old friends from Satellite. We were in the same gang a few years back. How is it you know her, Luna?”
“Well…” she starts and goes on to tell how we both met in the Spirit World and how I helped her while there.
“I never knew you had that kind of power, Iolanthe.”
“Hold on a sec here, Yusei,” I interrupt, “Did you say ‘years’?! Just how long have I been gone?! The last thing I can remember clear enough is Divine using a Brain Control spell card on me, then waking up here after leaving the Spirit World.”
“I know we’ve got a lot to talk about,” he replies, concern and worry filling his face and voice, “but I think we’d better get out of here first.” Same old Yusei, ever the voice of reason.
“Yeah! We’ve got to rescue Leo right away!”
“And I’ve got to find Aki so I can help her.” So that’s why he was snooping around here. I couldn’t help but feel a tad jealous, but there was no way he could have possibly known I was here. It wasn’t like I just up and said ‘Hey guy’s I’m joining the Arcadia Movement so don’t bother coming after me,’ the last time I saw them.
“It’ll be more effective if we split up,” Yusei says, “I’ll keep looking for Aki. You go find Leo and get them out of here Iolanthe.”
“Got it,” I say.
“One more thing,” my spiky haired friend says, “here. You’ll probably be needing this.” I look at the deck he hands me and tears start welling in my eyes.
“M-my deck!” I stammer, sniffling. “Y-You’ve kept it?! All this time?!”
“That day you vanished,” explains Yusei, “Itsuki found it lying in the streets somewhere.”
“Yusei…” I say, overwhelmed with emotion, tears falling freely down my cheeks. “T-Thank you.” I wrap my arms around him and hold on tight. It had been so long since I’ve last seen him. It felt like a lifetime ago. Please don’t let this be another dream kept going through my head.
I feel him hug me back. “When all this calms down,” he says, “We’ll both go and tell Itsuki and Crow you’re ok.” I can only nod, still reeling from the fact that Yusei had kept my deck for me. “Oh yeah, here. A friend of mine, Blister, made this. It’ll help get you and the kids out.” He hands me a key card.
“But what about you? Won’t you need it?”
“I have another, you take that one.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m off to save Aki, you two be careful.”
“Right!” Luna calls as my former teammate leaves. “Let’s go get my brother!”

*************************************************

“So Iolanthe…” Luna whispers as we sneak by the guards and make our way down the halls of the west wing. “Yusei’s your boyfriend, huh?”
“L-Luna!” I hiss back, “How can you be thinking of stuff like that at a time like this? Yusei’s not my boyfriend!” I wipe hurriedly at my eyes to keep the tears from falling as I start thinking of Kiryu.
“But back there…”
“He’s like a brother to me ok? That’s it. There’s nothing else between us. I do have a boyfriend though.” But I doubt I’ll ever be seeing him again. If those scum refused to let me see him before all this mess started, I doubt Sector Security ever would.
“Oh? Where is he? Back at Satellite?”
I bite my lip, to hold back the sob. “He’s at the facility,” I say bitterly, “they won’t even let me see him.”
“Oh no! That’s terrible! What’d he do to wind up there?”
“Not now Luna,” I hiss, “I’ll tell you when we get you and your brother out of here.”
“Sure, Iolanthe. I’m really sorry about your boyfriend. I really am.”
“Thanks.”
We finally reach the end of the hall and there was only one door left to check. “This has got to be it,” Luna says desperately. We’ve checked all the other rooms and still no sign of the boy.
“What do we have here?”
Oh no! I knew that voice! “Divine!” I snarl, spying the Arcadia leader coming down the hall.
“I came over here to catch a rat, and what do I find, but our latest test subjects trying to escape instead. I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. You see, you two are my ticket to the Spirit World!” He snapped his fingers and the two boys I had met when I first woke up here walked over to us. They were different from the last time I remember seeing them. They looked more like zombies than boys. “I leave them to you two,” he says.
“As you wish, Divine-sama,” says the blond, his voice void of any emotion.
“Objective confirmed,” says his brunet roommate, “We shall do our best to restrain them.”
“I should warn you, these two were just treated to some very intense brainwashing,” Divine says, “It seems that my guinea pigs turned out rather well don’t you think? Take a good look ladies, because you’ll be receiving the same treatment!” The bastard then lets out a maniacal laugh before stalking back from where he came.
“There’s no way you’re gonna brainwash us!” Luna shouts after Divine.
“Those who oppose Divine-sama must be destroyed,” Liquid says, taking out his deck.
“This isn’t good. Hey Iolanthe… do you think they’ll snap out of it if we win?”
“It’s worth a try,” I say taking out my own deck.

*************************************************

We stood there, panting, the two boys knocked out from the backlash of the holosystems. I was glad to have Luna with me. She was a pretty decent duelist in her own right and a well balanced deck.
I watch cautiously as the boys come too and struggle to get up. “I-Iolanthe?!” Liquid says, shaking his head. “What’s going on? Why were we dueling way out here?”
“That jerk Divine brainwashed you!” Luna says. Well there went breaking it gently.
“Brainwashed? Now that you mention it, we were hooked up to some really weird machine back in the lab.”
“So that was what it was for,” Okita says, stumbling to his feet, “To think that this is really some kind of evil cult. In light of those facts, I don't wish to remain here any longer.”
“Yeah me too,” agreed his blond roommate.
“Phew, it’s a good thing it wore off,” Luna says, sighing in great relief.
“I don’t know about, you but I’m getting the heck out of here ASAP!” says Liquid, “Wait a sec, wasn’t Divine after you two or something?”
“Yes,” I reply.
“We can’t just go with you guys though,” Luna pipes up, “my brother’s still being held prisoner somewhere around here.”
“We’ll help. I’ll probably go faster if we all look and the sooner we can get outta here,” my former blond roommate suggests.
“I agree wholeheartedly,” Okita adds, “I have a plan. Liquid and I will report to Divine and say that we’ve captured you. That will make him drop his guard. Then we’ll head down to the first floor and meet you there. Sound good, Iolanthe?”
“Yeah. Good thinking Okita-kun,” I reply.
“Thanks guys,” the mint haired girl says.
“Oh yeah, you’ll need a key card for the elevator.”
“Already got it,” I say showing Liquid the card I got from Yusei.
“Splendid!” starts Okita, “We two will head over to Divine’s office immediately. It was really a pleasure to have met you, Iolanthe. I do hope we meet again some time soon.”
“You too, Okita-kun.”
“You guys be careful!” Luna calls as they head toward the elevator. “Right! Let’s go get my brother!”
I nod and unlock the only remaining door in the west wing that we hadn’t checked yet. Sure enough, there was a boy with mint green hair done into a top knot. “Leo!” his twin cries running up to him and giving him a huge hug.
“Luna?!” he shouts in surprise, “How the heck did you get in here?! Who’s she?” he asks, noticing me, “Hey isn’t that the same uniform these creeps wear around here?!”
“She’s a friend,” his sister explains, “Iolanthe here saved me while I was in the Spirit World.” Luna then goes on to tell how we met in the Spirit World and what was going on there.
“Wow! You can go to the Spirit World too, nee-chan? That’s awesome! Thanks for saving my sister Iolanthe-nee. So… how about a duel? I bet you’re plenty strong too!”
He wants to duel?! At a time like this?!
“Why am I not surprised you’d say something like that,” Luna chides. She then promptly bops him on the head. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re kinda still IN DANGER here!! We need to get out RIGHT NOW!!!”
“Geez Luna! Calm down will ya? You don’t have to be so touchy! Don’t forget Iolanthe-nee, you ‘n’ me are gonna duel when we get outta here!”
“The world could be blowing up all around us and dueling would still be ALL he thought about,” Luna mutters, “Let’s go Iolanthe!”
I smile, being reminded of Itsuki and Annie as I follow the twins to the elevator.

*********************************************

“Come on, Luna!” I say grabbing the girl’s hand as we exit the elevator.
“We’ll be fine on our own, Iolanthe,” she says pulling away. “You have to go help Yusei, I don’t know what’s going on, but I can feel danger heading toward him and Aki.”
“Luna…”
“It’s ok, we’ll be with those two guys from earlier you get going!”
“I’m going with!” her rambunctious brother pipes up.
“Leo! This is serious stuff I’m sensing here. I don’t think either of us would be any help to Iolanthe. We’re getting out of here and that’s that!”
“Ok, ok. I get it! Don’t you forget you owe me a duel Iolanthe-nee!”
“You be careful, I don’t want you to get hurt either,” the mint haired girl says giving me a quick hug.
“You too, Luna. Leo,” I say swiping the key card to call the elevator back down.

**************************************

Ab out a minute or so later, as I step out of the elevator, who should I run into but none other than that sleazeball Divine.
“You?!” he shouts in surprise and exasperation, “I thought I had you under wraps! I don’t even care to know how you keep escaping, but I can assure you, this is the last time!” He then shoves his deck into his duel disk.
This was going to be one tough duel. I could tell it was going to take all I had to defeat this bastard. “Bring it!” I say activating my own disk and going into a battle ready stance. I didn’t want to give him any advantages so I immediately started the duel, making the first move.
Glancing at my hand, I can tell my deck was as angry as I was. In it were the cards I needed to finish him off quickly! “Let’s start off with some magic. I call upon the power of chaos itself and open a Dimensional Fissure in the fabric of space and time!” I say slamming down the spell I knew that would be crucial to my victory. “That means now whenever a monster is sent to the graveyard, it’s sent to another dimension instead, never to return! Next I place two cards face down and a monster in defense mode. That’s it for my turn.” Please let this work I silently pray.
“What’s wrong? Surely you can’t be scared already,” Divine jeers as he draws a card. “Let me show you how it’s really done, my dear. Since you like magic so much, how would like to see some of my own? I activate the spell Solidarity! This allows my monsters of the same type to increase their attack by 800 as long as I have one of that type in the graveyard.”
I laugh. “Hello! Didn’t you hear what I just said?! My spell won’t let your monsters go to the graveyard!”
“We shall see, my dear,” he sneers. “I summon Krebons in attack mode and activate a little field spell called Brain Research Lab. Not only does it allow me to summon an extra psychic monster each turn, I can also use as many counters placed on this card as payment for activation of their powers. Next I’ll activate another spell, Emergency Teleport. This is going to allow me to special summon one level 3 or lower psychic monster from my hand or deck, and I choose mind protector! Since my monsters’ psychic frequencies are in tune with each other, they synchronize together to form… Magical Android! I believe it’s all over. Magical Android, attack her face down monster!” I hardly flinch when my poor Samsara Kaiser is destroyed. I had a back up plan. “Now I place two cards face down and end my turn. Oh before I forget, at the end of each of my turns, my Android’s special ability kicks in and I gain 600 life points for each psychic monster on my side of the field.”
“You like brainwashing people? Well see how it feels! Brain Control!”
“W-What?!”
“Not so fun now that the shoe’s on the other foot, eh Divine?! I may have lost 800 life points, but I gain control of your Android! Next I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!” An ominous looking black whirlpool with lightning crackling in and around it appears on the field. “Say goodbye to your lab!”
“Grrr!!”
“And now, I offer up your Android as a sacrifice for an old friend of mine. Come forth, Mobius, the Frost Monarch!” A giant clad in silvery white armor and surrounded by snow and ice takes the place of Divine’s monster. “Moby, do your thing!” I command. The giant hurls two icicle like spears at two of the cards in the spell/trap zone, his Solidarity spell being one of the targeted cards. “Now Moby attack him directly!”
“Gaaaaaaaaaah!!” he cries as the monster’s attack chops off 2400 of his life points.
Who’s the big man now? “Well that’s all I can do for now, so go ahead and hit me with your best shot.”
“I hope you don’t hold any real ill will against me,” he says drawing a card, “I’m only doing this for the sake of research to help better the world. I place one card face down and end my turn.”
I growl in disgust at this man. How dare he try to pass this freaky cult crap as ‘research’! “You’re going down! It’s all over Divine!” I yell, “Moby! Victory is ours! Attack!!!!” The Arcadia leader screams in pain and frustration as the last 1600 of his life points are annihilated.
“Unbelievable!” he says, staggering, “To think you had this much power! Once again you leave me no other choice my dear.” He pulls out a spell card. Oh no, not Brain Control again! “Take this, Hinotama!!”
A giant fireball appears over his head and comes hurtling toward me. I raise my arms to my face half wanting to protect myself and half not wanting to see the nasty end I was sure to meet. There was a blinding glow and before what I knew was going on, the fireball had been sent back to its master.
“H-How d-did you…?!” he stammers before losing consciousness.
I glance at my miraculously uninjured arms and see that I was still holding Torunka’s staff. That was it! That bratty mage’s staff must have saved me! I really had to make a note to thank him, if I ever did see the kid again.
I stepped over Divine’s body, not even bothering to give him another glance. He was ancient history now anyway. I sped past the elevator and down the east wing. As I made my way along the floor’s railing I hear voices from below. Glancing over the edge, I see Aki standing before a long haired woman in the oddest get up I’d seen yet.
She was wearing a black short sleeved top that was tucked into a long white skirt that reached all the way down to her ankles. A white sash was tightly wrapped around her waist and a swatch of black cloth with a green design hung from it. A black cape with a matching green pattern in the front hung from her shoulders. However, it was her eyes that were what was really freaking me out. They were the most piercing gray blue I’ve ever seen. They seemed to draw you in and the fact that they were completely surrounded by black instead of white, only seemed to increase that feeling. It was as if I were looking at the abyss itself!! I shuddered at that thought, grateful that it wasn’t me who was facing her at the moment.
“W-Who are you,” Aki demanded, obviously shaken by this woman for some reason. “You’re… Misty Lola?!!”
“I am honored that someone like you would know me,” replied the creepy woman, “Even so, I know all about you, Aki Izayoi, the Black Rose Witch,” she said icily, venom dripping with each word.
Aki said nothing, just stared at her, a look of shame and guilt on her face. Even though I remember meeting her through Divine, I really didn’t know Aki at all. Why did this woman call her the Black Rose Witch and what did she do to cause the woman to hate her so? Aki seemed like a nice girl the last time we spoke.
“There is no escape,” the woman – Misty I think Aki called her – said, again her words dripping with poison, “I will have my revenge.”
“What do you mean? What revenge?” Aki asked, stunned.
“Of course, I wouldn’t expect you to remember one insignificant person. But no matter, nothing will ever bring him back to me. I’ll just have to be satisfied with sending you to meet him so you can apologize for what you’ve done.”
“Just what are you talking about Misty?!”
“You shall atone for your sins,” Misty said, an eerie serene look on her face, “with your life.” She brings out an evil looking black duel disk and inserts her deck.
This doesn’t feel right; I have to get to Aki and fast!
I race back down the hall and hurriedly use the key card once more, stepping over the still unconscious Divine as the doors slide open.