Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Reverse of Arcadia ❯ Chapter 5: Fate – Signers vs. Dark Signers Part 2 ( Chapter 10 )

Reverse of Arcadia Game novelization by Sakura (aka L-sama no Miko)   Chapter 5: Fate – Signers vs. Dark Signers Part 2               “Close your eyes,” Luna says, taking my hand. I close them and slowly begin to feel as if I was falling or was it sinking? Mere seconds later, I open them to find that we were standing in the ally where I had first met the bratty mage, Torunka. Well, speak of the devil, I think as I spy the chibi sorcerer not too far away from us.             “Torunka!” I call, getting his attention.           &nbs p; “Luna! Iolanthe!” he greets, happily, “I’ve been waiting for two.”           &nb sp; “Hello Torunka!” Luna says, smiling warmly. “Hey, where’s Regulus?”            ;  “Well…” the kid stammers, “That is… you see… he’s been captured.”          &nbs p;  “No way?!” Luna cries in surprise, “What happened?!”          &nb sp;  “Well…” Torunka starts, “They were about to catch me, and Regulus… he sacrificed himself so I could get away.             “Let me guess you were…” Luna chides.             “I am truly sorry Luna… I am so ashamed.”            ;  “No use crying over spilled milk,” I say, shaking my head. I didn’t know what exactly had happened, but I’d bet all my Monarchs that it involved the brat’s lousy sense of direction.           &nbs p; “So Regulus is in Zeman’s palace now, right?” the mint haired girl asks.             “Yes, I’m afraid so.”           &nbs p; “We’ll have to split up,” Luna says, “There isn’t much time. I’ll go with Torunka and rescue Regulus. You go look for Zeman, Iolanthe-nee.”              “Don’t just look for that insidious simian!” the mini mage interjects, “Kick his butt! Use kung fu if you have to, but just beat him! Uh… you do know kung fu, right, Iolanthe-chan?” He lets out a ‘haaaiiii-ya!’ and attempts to kick the air. “Ah! My back!” he shouts, bending over, leaning heavily on his staff – apparently, he’s gotten a new one.             “Will you be serious?!” Luna scolds, “We’ve got to work together on this! Iolanthe-nee, please don’t do anything too risky until we get Regulus back. I know I can count on YOU Iolanthe-nee.”              “W-What’s that supposed to mean, Luna?!” Torunka huffs.             “Nothing really, Torunka,” the girl says, grabbing hold of the boy’s arm, “Let’s get going!” With that, the two children run off into the abandoned town, leaving me behind.             I had no idea as to even where to look for this Zeman guy, so I decided to follow the kids. Anyway, knowing Torunka, they’d be needing my help real soon.   ********************************      &nbs p;        After making sure Luna would be ok, I headed to the enormous double doors at the far end of the palace’s great hall and come upon a large circular room with several ledges hovering above a bottomless pit – well at least it looked bottomless. There was no way in hell I was going to test to see if it was. Connecting three of the ledges to the largest center ledge were narrow bridges. As I continue to survey the room, I saw that the ‘bridges’ looked a heck of a lot like clock hands. Hmm… odd. Then it hit me! The ledges were placed in such a way that they corresponded to every other hour of a clock! Thinking nothing of it, I cross over to the 12:00 ledge and attempt to push open the doors located there. No dice. It was shut tight. However, it was rather convenient of those monkeys to leave instructions as to how to open the doors.   **********************************      & nbsp;        It was quite a while later when I finally walk through the doors of the ‘clock’ room as I called it – that was one tricky puzzle, even no thanks to the rather vague instructions. Oh well. I find myself in a large room with a glowing circular pit in the center surrounded by tall stone columns. Sitting high up on a dais was a – my eyes bug out – an evil imitation of an old, old, cartoon the boys and I used to watch sometimes. The Spirit World was one hell of a wacko place. First mini mages and talking horned lions, now an evil version of Grape Ape, what next… teeny weeny talking dogs in medieval clothing?!           &nbs p; “How did you get in here?!” King Grape Ape demands. “My minions have better not be sleeping on the job again!” He gets off his throne and climbs down the stairs toward me. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll be just as useful to Demak, just like all the other spirits.”            ;  Demak? Who the heck was that?! Wait! It had to be a dark Signer! If Leo said there were five Signers, why not five Dark Signers? Makes sense, right? So these goons were behind all the fuss around here. Time to kick some monkey butt then.             “Not gonna happen monkey boy!” I yell defiantly from my side of the pit.             “Hmph. You should be honored. I’m going to crush you with my own two hands!” he shouts back. He lifts an evil looking staff and it begins to glow. I shut my eyes as the light quickly became unbearable. When I can finally open them again, I blink confusedly. Nothing… happened? “M-My minus staff!” the purple gorilla gasps in shock! “Y-You have that mage’s staff! It’s repelling my minus power!” Sure enough, Torunka’s staff is in my hand once more. And like with Divine, it was shielding me against any attack. I really must thank that rugrat of a mage. “No!” King Grape Ape screams, “The powers are going out of control! Ack!! Now I must resort to other methods to get rid of you!” He produces a banana yellow duel disk and readies himself. Seeing as I had no choice either – the powerful magics trapping us within them – I readied my own disk. “This shouldn’t take long,” he says, sneering, “thanks to the magics going out of control, our life points will decrease each turn.” Not good. Not good at all. I had to make this twice as quick as possible. Time was running out!   ***************************************     &nbs p;         I breathe a sigh of relief as Zeman’s life points drop down to zero. Thank goodness I managed to beat him before I lost anymore of my own.             “Hmph. Impressive,” he grunts, “but it’ll take more than that to defeat me!”           &nbs p; Just as the massive simian was about to attack, I hear a familiar roar and Regulus comes bounding in. “Iolanthe!” he roars. “Lend me that staff!”           & nbsp; I nod and toss Torunka’s staff toward the great cat. Regulus caught it in his mouth, his jaws clamped tight against the wood. The horned lion let out an enormous muffled roar and pounced on King Grape Ape, knocking both to the stone floor. There was another blinding flash and I shut my eyes, praying it was over soon.             “Regulus, Iolanthe-nee!” I hear Luna shout.             “W-What’s going on?!” That was Torunka.             There is a scream from the gorilla and roar from Regulus. It sounds like the two are fighting for their lives, which they were.             “Get him, Regulus!” Luna yells.             “You old fool!” Zeman bellows, “You’re nothing compared to our king Demak! Aggghhh!!!”          &nb sp;  When the light finally clears, the simian monarch is gone, vanished. Good. I was getting tired of looking at that ugly mug of his.             “So this should have freed the Ancient Fairy Dragon, right Regulus?” Luna asks.             “I believe so…”          &nb sp;  There was yet another blinding flash. Yeesh what is it with this place? Was all magic here designed to make everyone go blind?!! Well anyway, when we can all see, before us was a majestic sky blue dragon with kind and noble golden eyes and a rather feminine appearance.           &nb sp; “Due to all your efforts,” it says. I knew that voice! I... I think I remember hearing it in one of my dreams of this world. “I have finally been able to return.             “Ancient Fairy Dragon!” my mint haired friend cries, overjoyed.           &nbs p; “All you all right, my lady?” Regulus asks, greatly concerned for the dragon’s well being.             “Yes. I am quite alright, Regulus. I can not thank you all enough for your help.”           &n bsp; “There is no need, my lady,” the horned lion replies, humbly, “I was merely performing my duty.”           &n bsp; “I am in your debt, Luna,” the dragon says in a motherly tone, “It is because of your strength that the Spirit World is once again at peace. Please allow me to bestow my gratitude on behalf of all our people.”              “You’re welcome, Ancient Fairy Dragon,” Luna replies, “I’m sorry it took so long though. And besides, I couldn’t have done anything by myself.”              “Hmm… perhaps.” the dragon says turning to me and the mini mage. “Iolanthe. Torunka. If it hadn’t been for your added help, Zeman would have ruled this world forever.”            ;  “Oh it was nothing,” the bratty mage replies cockily, “We were happy to help.”           &n bsp; “Yes. I had to do something for the other Signers,” I say.             “Thank you so much for helping me, everyone,” says Luna, “It means a lot to me that you did.”           &nb sp; “I must regret that this peace is only a temporary one,” the Ancient Fairy Dragon says, putting a damper on our victorious mood. “The human world is very near a terrible crisis. It must be stopped at any cost.”           &n bsp; “We know,” Luna replies, “We have to seal the control units or else the King of the Underworld will be reborn!”              “Oh my…” Torunka says, “that doesn’t sound too good.”           &n bsp; “Indeed it does not,” the motherly dragon spirit starts, “You do not have much time before that happens. As we speak your brother Leo is battling a Dark Signer named Demak.”           & nbsp; Did I hear right? Leo was… oh no!! The kid wasn’t a Signer! What in the name of the Abyss was that idiot thinking?! Going up against one of those guys?! If just being near one of them made me shiver, imagine what dueling against one would be like!             “What?!” the mint haired girl gasped.             “He is fighting bravely… however I fear that he may be outmatched.” Well, duh! This is a Dark Signer we’re talking about here. “There is no time! You must hurry to him immediately! Be warned. All of the Dark Signers have special cards.”           & nbsp; “What kind of special cards?” Luna asks.             “They are called Earthbound Immortals and are very similar to the dragons each of you Signers use,” explained the noble dragon. “And like your dragons, they each have their own unique and powerful abilities. You must be extremely cautious when approaching a Dark Signer.”              “Right!” Luna replies. “But… it’s really far to the Old Ener-D System control units from the B.A.D area. Even if we were to leave now, it may be too late!”           &n bsp; “Come on, Luna!” Torunka exclaims, “Don’t you go wimping out on us now!”           &nb sp; “I’m not!” the girl cries indignantly, “It’s just that I don’t think we’ll be able to reach Leo in time.”           &n bsp; “Hey! Do you even know who you’re talking to here?” the boy huffs, “Since I’ve got all my magic back, it’ll be a snap to send you right on over there in the real world!”           & nbsp; “Really? Then prove it half-pint!” I say.             “Hmph! I may be the cutest little spellcaster you’ve ever seen, but I’m no slouch when it comes to sheer magical strength!”          &nbs p;  “Thank you so much, Torunka!” Luna says, giving him a quick hug.             “Good luck to you, Torunka,” the Ancient Fairy Dragon prays.             “Alright you two, get ready!” the bratty mage pipes up.             “Luna, Iolanthe, you must never give up,” the dragon says nuzzling our heads in farewell, “Believe and trust in your friends.”            ;  “Though, limited they may be,” Regulus adds, “I will do as best as I can to assist.”              “I’ll be rooting for you kids,” Torunka says, “Just don’t forget to come back and hang out sometime when both our worlds are at peace again, ok?”           &nbs p; “Will do, chibi,” I say giving the mage a hug of my own. In spite of all his cockiness and boasting, the kid had grown on me.             “You can count on it!” Luna adds. “We’ll be back real soon!”           &n bsp; “May the spirits protect you both…” I hear the Ancient Fairy Dragon say as the Spirit World fades from around us.   *********************************************                  &n bsp;       “Wow!” Luna exclaims. “We actually made it pretty close to the Ener-D System! I’d thought that Torunka would have teleported us way off course or something…”         &n bsp;   “Yeah, me too,” I say, chuckling. Who would have thought; that the mini magician had that kind of power. I’ll be a monkey’s uncle… well a monkey’s aunt actually. Anyway, I take in our surroundings and see we’re in a ruined landscape, one even worse than the B.A.D area or slums. We were standing very close to an odd tower like structure – the only thing to be intact amongst the piles of rubble and boulders. A wall of purple fire blocks our way from going any further from the tower.             “When we go back to the Spirit World,” Luna continues, “Let’s go and thank him.”           &nb sp; Ai-ya! I had forgotten to thank him for giving me his staff!!! Oh well, like the girl said, I can thank him next time I see him. If  there’s a next time.             “We’d better get going, Luna.”           &n bsp; “Right! Leo and that Demak guy should be somewhere near here.”           &n bsp; We cautiously round the corner of the tower and sure enough there was the mint haired boy standing a few feet away from a giant of a man, in what I’ve come to call the Dark Signer uniform. Except the trimming was a golden yellow. A gigantic stylized monkey monster hovered behind him.             “Leo!” Luna shouts, running up to her twin. I quickly grab hold of her before she got too close, remembering the Ancient Fairy Dragon’s warning.             “Let me go Iolanthe-nee!” she protests, struggling. I shake my head, tightening my hold on the squirming girl.             “Ugh…!” the boy grunted, as the monkey swiped at the boy with one huge paw. Leo was knocked back and onto his back.             “Hang in there, Leo!” Luna yells.             “So you’ve finally decided to show up, Signer girl,” the big guy says, annoyed, “You’ve kept me waiting long enough.”              “What did you do to my brother, Demak?!”              “Nothing,” he jeers, “We were just filling up the time with a little duel. I was just about to end this when you showed up.”           &nbs p; “Not going to happen! You’ll have to duel me before I let you hurt Leo!”           &nb sp; “Luna!” I shout as she bursts from my arms and runs over to her twin.             “I’ve gotta do this Iolanthe-nee. Only a Signer’s strong enough to beat a Dark Signer.”              “What a brave sister you are, little miss,” Demak says reshuffling his deck, “As you wish.”           &n bsp; “You’ll pay for hurting my brother!”            ;  “He challenged me,” excused the Dark Signer, “and I accepted. He knew what he was getting into.”           &n bsp; “L-Luna…” groaned Leo, struggling to get back to his feet.             “I bet you feel real good right now!” I yell, stepping behind the twins and Demak, “Get your jollies by picking on little kids don’t you, big man?!”              “Iolanthe-nee?!” Luna cries in amazement.           &nbs p; I can’t believe I was going to do this. I must have been totally insane for even considering challenging a Dark Signer.             “So do you wish to duel as well, young lady?” Demak asks jokingly. “Suit yourself. Come at me if you wish, I’ll take on both of you.”   *************************************      ;          I sink to my knees, huffing and panting as our duel ends. Cold sweat was dripping down my face and back. Somehow we had done it. We beat the hardest opponent I’ve, up to this point, had ever faced in my life. It was through sheer dumb luck actually that Demak hadn’t been able to summon that giant monkey of his. I fear that if he had… well it’s best that I don’t think about that. Not. At. All.             “I-Impossible!” screams Demak, falling to the ground. I watch in horror as his body starts to turn to stone and crumble, “How could you, a non Signer defeat me?! Forgive me Rudger… I was useless… Glory to the Dark Signers!” he shouts just before the rest of him breaks apart and turns into nothing but a pile of dust.             “W-We won!” Luna says, panting as well.             “Way to go sis, you beat him!”           &nb sp; “Leo!” the mint haired girl rushes over to her brother and gives him a hug, squeezing tightly.             “It’s not fair!” grumbles the boy, “I was supposed to be protecting you, but you protected me instead.”            ;  “Nuh-uh. I was only able to do it because I knew you would have been cheering me on!”           &nbs p; “Really?”           ;   “Yep. Really. There was no way I could have done it by myself. I had you and Iolanthe-nee to help.”           &n bsp; “Well I’m glad we did. Thanks Iolanthe. Now let’s get goin’ and seal that control unit!”           &n bsp; “Sure thing, kiddo,” I say smiling.             “Yeah,” Luna adds, “once we do the Spirit World should be ok as well.”           &n bsp; Luna takes out her Ancient Fairy Dragon card and holds it up to the entrance of the tower like structure. A brilliant flash of light surrounds us and the tower. A few moments later, the flash vanished. Nothing appeared to have changed, but the uneasy feeling I’ve had all this time was gone. The very air seemed to be calm and peaceful; there wasn’t a single trace of the intense malice that had been surrounding the area.             “Hey!” the Security guy who’d insisted on coming with us shouts rushing up to us. “What was that flash of light just now?!” he demands.             “Mr. Ushio!” Luna says in greeting.             ; “What was going on?! First those weird purple flames and now… that flash of light.”           & nbsp; “Hey don’t worry big guy!” Leo explains, “it was just Luna sealing the control unit. It’s all ok now.”           &nb sp; “Really?! That’s great! Hey Leo what happened to you?! You look like you’ve been put through the wringer!” Ushio demands upon noticing the boy’s haggard and bruised state.             “Oh yeah! I was fighting a Dark Signer, but Luna and Iolanthe were the ones to beat him though.”              “That’s because you wore him out for us,” Luna says, proud of her twin’s bravery.             “You sure you ok, kid?” Ushio asks again, in a fatherly way.             “Yep. I’m a-ok!” Leo boasts, but suddenly staggers a bit, “Well… maybe I am a little tired from that duel.”           &n bsp; “You dummy!” Luna scolds, bopping her twin on the head, “Why didn’t you say so?! Let’s get back right away so you can rest!”           &n bsp; “Good idea, Luna,” pipes up Ushio, “I’ll take you guys back.”           &n bsp; “What about you, Iolanthe-nee?”              Good question. What was I going to do? I wasn’t a Signer. I didn’t have any mystical mark on my arm to give me powers or any all powerful card to put an end to all this. But I just couldn’t sit behind and do nothing. I didn’t do it then when I had gotten strong enough to duel on my own while I was with Kiryu and the boys, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to do it now. Besides, there was still the matter of Kiryu… I had to see my boyfriend one more time. I had to try and talk him out of this. I can only pray that whatever good was left in him would listen to me.             “I’m going to try and find Yusei,” I say, “I knew his Dark Signer personally, I…” I blink away the tears threatening to fall at any moment now.             “I understand,” Luna says, giving me a sympathetic smile. “You do what you have to do.”           &nbs p; “You just watch yourself,” Ushio says, “Whatever happens from now on I want you and the others to do your best, but just be careful. Ok?”           &nbs p; I nod, watching him help Leo walk away from the control unit.             “Don’t you worry, Iolanthe-nee,” Luna says as she turns to go, “The spirits will always watch over you.” I smile at that, remembering all the times Torunka had protected me with that staff of his.             “Take care, Luna,” I say before heading off on my own way.   *****************************       &n bsp;       As I near the path toward the west, a man on a three-wheeled D-Wheel drives up, startling me and causing me to almost lose my balance. “Who are you?” he asks. I cringe inwardly upon spying his pitch-black eyes and black clothing. Oh no! Another Dark Signer and I was by myself! “I would have noticed if there was a Signer nearby.” That clinches it; I’m in serious doo-doo here. “My name is Bommer,” the black and purple clad man says, introducing himself. Oh joy. A polite harbinger of destruction. “I have been reborn as a Dark Signer with the purpose to get revenge on Goodwin for taking my home and family from me.” Uh-huh. Whatever. Take a number bub. After all this Singer/Dark Signer stuff was over, I was going to give that snake of a man a piece of my mind. Maybe even cause a bit of trouble for that sleaze while I was at it. It was time someone put Goodwin in his place anyway. “Can’t fault you for that,” I say as bravely as I can. “I must defeat the Signers,” Bommer goes on, “Since you are here, then that must mean you are friends with them, am I correct?” “And if I am?” “Then you and I duel each other. You will be the bait to lure the Signers here. If you truly think you can defeat me, then I challenge you to do so. But only after I summon my Earthbound Immortal.” O geez. I was really in it now. There was no way out of this, I could see that. This Bommer guy struck me as the type who wouldn’t let me go if I refused. He was set on using me as bait no matter what. It probably wouldn’t matter if it was while we dueled or as a hostage. Fine. If I was gonna be bait, then I was going to go down fighting! Kiryu would have been proud. Time to pay him and the boys back for all kindness and care they’d shown me. I always paid my debts. “Fine!” I say, trying to make myself look as tall as possible. “If it’s a duel you want, then that’s what you’re gonna get!” “As you wish, friend of the Signers,” the Native American looking man replies, “However this will be a turbo duel. I shall allow you to fetch a suitable vehicle, however, if you do not show up within the next five minutes, I shall feed the souls of the people of this B.A.D. area to my immortal one by one until you do.” “Oh I’ll be back, pal,” I growl, “You can count on that.” I run off to fetch my Valkyrie before he could answer.   ******************************************   I bring my beloved D-Wheel to a screeching halt as the purple flames of the ‘track’ that was Bommer’s geoglyph started to fade. I looked to my opponent and I could not help but feel pity for him. I had somehow luckily managed to take control of his immortal, Chacu Challhua. Being in control of the great orca, gave me a sense of immense power and I could hear its malicious voice whispering in my mind, wrapping around it like the tentacles of a sea anemone or a clump of seaweed. I shivered as I fought off the remnants of that vile thing’s whisperings. Some of what it said was true. I did have darkness in my heart, in fact what person doesn’t? We all learn to fear and hate. I did hate Goodwin and Jack. I even hated the snobbish citizens of Neo Domino, but that didn’t mean I truly wished for the destruction of the world. The Immortals would have to find another plaything. Bommer was an excellent rider as well as a duelist and I to some extent enjoyed this battle despite of the obvious danger I was in. As I dueled him, I could sense he had a sense of honor in spite of the corruption of the dark energy coming from. I found myself wanting to duel him again sometime, but I highly doubt that would happen. Not if what happened to Demak happened to him as well. “Ugh..” Bommer moans, barely managing to stop his D-Wheel, “I would have never imagined you’d be so strong. But this may have been a good thing.” “What do you mean, Bommer?” I ask concerned as he stumbles from his motor bike. “I could hear my brothers calling to me during our duel… they told me even if I did get my revenge… all I have lost would still never be returned. They are right.” “Bommer!” I shout and rush over to him, grabbing hold of him as he started to fall. The momentum caused me to fall with him and I would up on my rear with the taller man in my arms. “You are brave for one who is not a Signer and a woman. You have a true warrior spirit, Little Flower. It is as if you might have been born as a member of my tribe. If circumstances had been different, I would have enjoyed the challenge of making you my wife.” Just like with Demak, his body turned to stone and started to crumble.             “Bommer…” I say blushing profusely at receiving my first marriage proposal ever. “Thank you for making me see the light once more… Little… Flower…” I feel the tears streaming down my cheeks as the Dark Signer finally disintegrated and turned to dust. “I’ll make sure you’ll rest in peace, Bommer,” I say, vowing to stop this madness at any cost. I was about to get back on my Valkyrie when the earth shook once more and the glowing figure of what appeared to be a child’s drawing of a man appeared in the sky. That could mean only one thing. One of the others was dueling a Dark Signer! Oh please don’t let it be Kiryu! I begged. Even though I had promised Bommer I’d stop the Dark Signers, I was reluctant to fight against my former love. In spite of the fact that it had to be done, I still clung to the hope that Kiryu could be saved, that he could be convinced to betray the other Dark Signers and once again return to our family. After all this time, I still did and forever will love Kyosuke Kiryu. I run back over to my D-Wheel and rev the Valkyrie’s engine. I had the most horrible feeling and I had to get over to that battle ASAP!!! Putting the metal to middle, I speed off toward what was to be the second most horrible moment of my life.   ~Tsuzuku~