Chapter 12
(following anime episodes 60 and 61)
Part II
After winning his duel against Carly, Jack ran straight to her and took her body into his embrace. She fell from her runner and was badly hurt. While looking at her, Jack new what's coming up next, so he felt his heart cry out in pain, "Carly! Just hold on! Don't die on me!"
"Jack, where are you?" Her body was weak and without her glasses, she couldn't see a thing. The only thing she could feel was warm hands, holding her tight, so only her legs were touching the ground.
"Here! I'm right here!" Jack said desperately.
"How strange", Carly murmured, "I can't see anything!"
"You have to hang on!" Jack said reaching to under his coat, to the pocket of his shirt, taking Carly's broken glasses out and gently placing them on her face, "Look at me!"
A small smile showed on Carly's face as soon as she looked through her glasses because she saw Jack in front of her, "I loved cheering on people who tired their hardest like you, Jack! Despite that..." She was fighting the weakness of her body, "Because I tried to wish for such selfish happiness, I must've been wrong for doing so, huh?"
"That's nonsense! Everyone has the right to wish for happiness!" Jack answered like he was slightly irritated by her words, but then decided to be honest with her, "If you're saying that's a crime, then I'm just as guilty!"
Carly looked up to meet his eyes, " Jack... I know you'll save the world, right? I'll be cheering on you, after all!" She raised her hands to wrap them around Jack's neck, so after realising her intentions, Jack pulled her closer, placing her head onto his shoulder.
"Carly..." He whispered trying to stop himself from crying. He hugged her tight, not wanting to let go, but her body started disappearing, turning into the dust.
"I love you, Jack..." She finally whispered before she was all gone and only thinking about it made Jack suffer. He clenched his fists after he tried to search for Carly through the wind, like he was hoping she's still there. The way he was, he knew there's nothing more he can do, but to seal the tower and try to find everyone else. He got up to see the sky with purple sparkles falling down to earth like snowflakes.
"She was the one, who made you change, huh?" Jack heard calm and familiar voice giggling behind his back but decided not to turn because he didn't want anyone to see his face.
"Yeah..." Jack murmured. He never thought he'll open his heart to anyone or even admit how he fell in love but he knew very well how he couldn't lie to Hanako, as she was standing behind his back, looking at him struggle.
"Love is a magical thing, isn't it?" She raised her head to see purple sparkles that were actually people's souls coming back to life after Jack defeated one of the Dark Signers.
"What do you know about love?" He answered irritably.
"Because..." Hanako took a deep breath, gathering the strength to say it out loud, "Just like you, I lost the only person I ever truly loved..."
"What are you talking about, Baby?" Her words made him turn to her.
"Robert Pearson..." She murmured before she looked at Jack's eyes, "That was his name..."
"Pearson?"
"You heard it right", she managed to put a small smile on her face, "He was one of the best there was! He was a great duellist, just like you Jack!"
"Me?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"I was making duel runners with him", Hanako continued, "In fact, Crow's Blackbird was Rob's creation. He inherited it from Pearson around 3 years ago..."
"And you changed because of him?"
"When you love someone, Jack, it's hard to stay the same, don't you think?"
"True!" Jack said proudly, but then got curious about this Pearson, "What happened to him, Baby?"
"Just like Carly now..." She said whispering to herself, "He died..."
"I'm sorry, Baby..."
"And unlike Carly", Hanako looked at Jack's eyes, "He won't come back if we defeat the Dark Signers..."
Jack saw how her eyes started sparkling but he didn't want to see her cry, so he tried to do something to move away from the subject, "I really wish I can ease your pain..."
"It's OK!" Hanako smiled again, "At least now you know how I feel!"
"Hey, you know I wasn't-"
"I know, Jack!" She giggled.
"Hey, Baby!" Seeing her smile like that, he decided to ask her more about her feelings for Pearson, "Were you ever able to..."
"To what, Jack?" She crossed her hands assuming she knows what Jack will ask her next.
"Never mind!" He shook his head.
"If you're wondering whether I still love him or not, the answer is simple!" Hanako approached Jack, so he looked at her trying to realise her intentions, "It's the same as duelling, Jack!" Hanako showed Jack a card she found on the ground before they started this conversation, "I'm sure you'll never forget that time you won your first duel!
"Sure!" Jack smiled when he saw his Red Dragon Archfiend in Hanako's hand, "I remember it like it was yesterday!"
"See?" She smiled when Jack took his card from her hand, "It's the same with people you love... You may forget how it feels but you will never lose a memory of being with them!"
"Anyway..." Jack looked around, "Where are the others?"
"Yusei is with Rua, Ruka, Crow and Ushio... They went to the Old Momentum, so that Yusei can fight Rudger", Hanako explained.
"Rudger, again?" Jack was confused, "Man, that guy never gives up!"
"I guess..." Hanako shrugged, "Just like I came to look for you and for Miss Aki!"
"Then go find her! I'll be fine!"
"Don't you want to go with me?"
"You go first; I'll catch up later!"
"You sure?"
"I just want to be alone for a while", Jack said calmly, "Besides, I need to seal that tower!"
"Sure, Jack", Hanako nodded, "I understand!" She turned around, jumped on her runner and drove away while Jack was making sure she leaves in time.
"Of course you do", he whispered to himself after he lost her from the sight, so he could think in peace about everything that happened...
* * *
Hanako was driving around, trying to track any signals of Aki duelling when she found a car parked near the abandoned amusement park.
"This car is similar to grandpa Ushio's..." Hanako whispered to herself when she stopped her runner, "Maybe Miss Mikage and Aki are here somewhere... They were in a police car like this, too!" She left her runner next to the car she found, laving everything there and entering the amusement park. When she realised it was bigger than she thought, she started running to reach her point in time.
Looking around to see if she'll find anything at all, she was hoping how it's not too late... But then, she saw a man running in the same direction as her, only he was far ahead, "Maybe he'll take me to Miss Aki!" Hanako smiled and started following the stranger, keeping her distance to make sure he won't see her but as she was approaching him, she got a strange feeling from him. His aura was wicked and Hanako felt like his energy is trying to eat her soul and drain every single positive atom she had, "What's wrong with this guy? He is..." She was looking at him carefully, as she hid herself behind a building, sneaking out occasionally, to check where he's going.
"Could it be?" Hanako's body started shivering with fear, "Divine?" She saw his crimson red hair falling from the hat that was hiding his face, "It's that guy from the article Saiga showed me at Martha's House!" She remembered the article about fall of the Arcadia Movement, when Saiga broke into Security's files by hacking their system. "He may be Aki's boss... I better follow him!"
She continued playing hide and seek with him, doing her best not to be seen by anyone and especially not by him. When Divine entered a strange room full of mirrors that were reflecting Aki's face and body, Hanako was there right behind him, wondering where he led her and what is his next move.
"Where am I?" Hanako looked around to see where she was, but all she could see were just plain mirrors reflecting Aki's body. She was standing still with her duel disk activated, while talking to herself with her voice shaking, like she was afraid of something or someone.
"I can't fight... Misty has good reason to blame me!"
"Aki, no! Where are you?!?" Hanako started pushing every mirror and running between them to find the real Aki but it was useless... Mirrors were making her even more confused when she heard Aki's voice again.
"It's my fault that Toby and Misty..."
"Aki, no!" Hanako was running between the mirrors, following the direction that Aki's voice was coming from, so she somehow managed to find her way to Aki and there she saw her, struggling and backing away from the duel... As she was stepping back, step by step, she tripped over the rock and started falling down to the ground, where a piece of broken mirror was stuck... "She's going to get hurt if she falls down on that piece of glass..." Hanako's voice was whispering and shivering before she could call out for Aki's name, "AKI!!!" Hanako tired to run to her but someone pushed her away, so she fell onto the ground, stepping over her foot, what made her groan in pain.
It was that guy she followed... He jumped in and caught Aki into his arms, saving her from the fall, "Pull yourself together, Aki!"
"Who are you?" Aki was confused because the man was hiding behind his hat.
"I am on your side!"
"My side?" Aki whispered in confusion.
"It's me, Aki!" He took his hat and removed it from his head, revealing his face to her.
"I knew it!" Hanako shouted kicking the ground with her fist.
"Divine! You're alive?!" Aki's eyes started to sparkle when she saw him and she couldn't help herself but smile.
"Now, Aki, fight! " Divine said proudly, trying to encourage Aki to continue with her duel.
"I can't!" She shook her head.
"Yes, you can! Your original latent abilities were far too strong, so I sealed those powers without your knowledge!" Divine said holding Aki in his arms, "And now it's time to unseal them and release your true powers!"
"Oh, no..." Hanako whispered feeling how she has to act before this gets even nastier, "Don't listen to him, Aki! He's evil!" But Aki seemed not to react to Hanako's words...
"And the words that will awaken those powers are..." Divine moved closer to Aki and whispered to her ear, "The entrance to the underworld is on the witch's island!" And as he said those words to Aki, the ground started shaking and a tornado started whirling around Aki, so Divine left her there and moved back to stay away from her powers. He was watching the scene with wicked and satisfied smile on his face, as Aki stood on her feet while the look in her eyes completely changed.
"Oh, Aki..." Hanako murmured sitting on the ground, watching the terrifying scene.
"Yes! That's good! Now, defeat her!" Divine was shouting proudly, "Your true powers are far superior to those of the Dark Signers!" He started running away to save himself from being hurt by Aki's powers.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Hanako said angrily, reaching for Divine from the ground and grabbing his ankle.
"I'm saving my life and you should do the same, little girl!" Divine hissed, moving his foot away and kicking Hanako's hand, stepping on her fingers.
"Ouch!" Hanako shouted whispering; she couldn't let her voice out because of the pain, "That's going to leave a bruise..." She looked at her hand before she heard other voice speaking that wasn't Aki's.
"You have finally revealed your true identity, have you?" Hanako looked at the duel to see a reflection of another woman in the mirror, so she assumed it was Misty.
"I am the Black Rose Witch! The only one vanishing from this world..." Aki started speaking in lowered, more serious and threatening voice.
"Aki, don't!" Hanako shouted, as she was trying to get up but her ankle started to hurt, "I won't be able to move a lot like this..." She sighed, as she decided to just sit back and watch the duel.
"Will be you!" Aki finished with her sentence, looking at Misty' reflection.
"Aki, wake up! Don't do this! This is not you!" Hanako started shouting, refusing to give up on Aki, "You are not here to destroy people but to save them, remember?!?" But no matter how loud her voice was, it doesn't seem to be working. Aki was still ignorant to Hanako's words, "Screw this! How's Yusei even making this work?" She shook her head when she remembered how Yusei managed to open Aki's heart and from what he has told her, he reached to her only with his words, so Hanako thought she could do the same but it looks like she was wrong. Her thoughts got distracted from her mind, as Misty activated the effect of Bad End: Chain of Sorrow.
"If the three Sad Story cards, Sorrowful Memories, Unwavering Truth and Wretched Day, are on my field, I am allowed to Special Summon Bad End Queen Dragon (ATK 1 900 / DEF 2 600)!"
As Misty was doing her thing, Aki was just looking at her with her evil witch look, not making a move or even reacting to Misty's actions.
"I loathe that look!" Misty hissed with a smile, "I'm going to make your face twist in pain!" She declared direct attack on Aki and her dragon lowered Aki's Life Points down to 1 900, but that wasn't the end of Misty's turn, "Also, if the opposing player receives Battle Damage from this monster's attack, the opposing player must select one card that's in their hand and send it to their Cemetery!"
"I send Guard Hedge to the Cemetery!" Aki said, faithful to Misty's command like she was already prepared for what Misty had in store for her.
"And I draw one card from the Bad End Queen Dragon's Effect!" Misty added, "And since this isn't the Draw Phase, it will not be targeted by Sad Story!"
Hanako was looking at their duel in confusion, trying to figure out what's going on, "I just bumped in the middle of the duel and I have no idea what they're doing..." She sighed when she remembered those helmet protection glasses that stored every information she needed, "And I left my lucky glasses with my runner! What was I thinking?!"
"I end my turn!" Misty said confidentaly.
"Well... I guess I'll just have to watch it to catch up with the outcome!" Hanako said to herself, changing her attention to Aki, because it was now her turn.
"My turn! Draw!" She looked at her card, "Sorrowful Memories' Effect returns my Monster card to the deck!" As she said that, her deck shuffled, "Next, I summon Black Rose Witch (ATK 1 700 / DEF 1 200) from my hand! When this card is successfully summoned, it lets me draw one card. And if the card I draw is a non-monster card, this card will be destroyed!"
"Looks like Misty managed to corner Aki's turns with her spell cards..." Hanako was still calculating the outcome.
Aki was just showing her wicked smile during her turn, "And since it's a draw outside of the Draw Phase, it has nothing to do with Sad Story's Effect. You said so yourself, didn't you?" She was looking at Misty's reflection, showing her the card she drew, "When Rose Spirit (ATK 600 / DEF 1 200) is added to my hand from my deck by a card's Effect, I can Special Summon it!"
"Nice one!" Hanako shouted with her hands up in the sky but then she suddenly turned down, "I don't know if I should cheer for you while you're in that state or not..." She murmured to herself thinking about Aki, "How's Yusei always able to reach you with his voice? What's so special about him? Maybe he means something to you more than just a... Wait a second!" She smiled while watching Aki tune her monsters.
"Chilling flames engulf the entire world! Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon (ATK 2 400 / ATK 1 800)!"
Appearance of the Black Rose Dragon made a huge tornado, that was dusting everything away, breaking every single mirror and revealing the true stage of the duel with Misty now completely exposed to Aki's powers and as they got unleashed, Divine was looking at the duel from the above, resting inside the building that was placed behind Hanako's back, so she could hear him.
"That's it, Aki! Eliminate all in our way! You and I are going to rebuild the Arcadia Movement!"
And while Divine was enjoying the sight of Aki's terrifying powers, Rua and Ruka saw a hurricane that started destroying its surroundings, so they ran over there to see what's going on just to meet Aki's evil presence with Misty standing across.
"Black Rose Dragon!" Ruka shouted when they got a chance to see the duel area clearly.
"Something looks odd with Big Sis Aki..." Rua said worriedly when he saw Aki's face.
"Burn it to ashes with Black Rose Flare!" Aki shouted, as her dragon attacked Misty and destroyed her Bad End Queen Dragon, reducing Misty's Life Points to 3 500. The attack of Aki's dragon was real, so Hanako tried to survive the damage of the attack, as the petals from Aki's dragon started cruising through the wind like flies, with a great tornado swirling around Misty. One petal ran next to Hanako's face leaving a paper cut-like wound on her cheek.
"Ouch! These really hurt!" She placed a hand on her cheek just to see a trace of blood on her fingers, but just after that, her eyes widened, as she saw a line engraved into the ground. Aki's dragon not only cut her cheek but the whole ground was left damaged after the attack, as Aki's dragon struck the ground, leaving a trench in it.
Hanako wasn't the only one surprised by Aki's true powers. Rua and Ruka started shivering in fear when they saw the scene.
"Big Sis Aki's Psychic Power...!" Rua shouted while his body was trembling.
"Those powers are incredible!" Ruka added.
"I finish my turn!" Aki smiled to Misty, enjoying every second of the duel and thinking only about making Misty feel the terrible pain.
"I see... This is the power that stole Toby's life!" Misty said.
"Toby? Who's that?" Hanako raised an eyebrow, "What's going on here?" She looked around when she saw Rua and Ruka on the other side of the duel area, "Rua! Ruka! Over here!" She was waving at them, hoping they'll be able to see her.
"Hanako!" Rua and Ruka shouted with one voice, but then Rua decided to act.
"What are you doing here?!?"
"Aren't you supposed to be with Jack?" Ruka added after her brother.
"I was, but I decided to help Aki!" Hanako shouted from the other side like she was all alone.
"You can't help her! It's too dangerous!" Ruka said worriedly, looking at Misty and then moving her eyes to Aki, when Misty decided to break in with her move.
"I will make you pay!" She shouted, raising her hand up into the sky, "Come forth! Ancient seal!"
"Rua, watch out!" Ruka shouted, grabbing her brother's hand and dragging him away, so that the seal won't take them inside the duelling lane.
Hanako was looking at the twins with hope that they'll stay safe for now, but then the ground started shaking and a huge purple seal painted itself through the ruins, just like when Crow duelled Bommer, "Oh, my ratchets! Yusei's going to kill me if he finds out I crossed the line of a shadow duel!" Hanako shouted to herself, as the purple fog passed by her, taking her straight into the Shadow Duel, "And if I don't figure something out very soon, my soul will be sucked by Misty's giant Lizard when she summons it to the field!" She tried to stand up, but when she stepped onto her foot, she felt a striking pain in her ankle and groaned in pain, "Not you, too..." She was looking at her foot, "Like my arm wasn't enough!" She moved her eyes to her hands, seeing few bruises on her right hand, from when Divine stepped onto her fingers, "What should I do?" She couldn't help but feel powerless now that there was no escape from this situation.
"Baby, you have to go outside the ancient seal!" Rua shouted seeing Hanako struggle.
"I can't go back now!" Hanako shook her head, while Rua and Ruka decided to ran to her but couldn't get through, "There!" Hanako pointed to the building across the one Divine was in, "Go there and stay away from this duel, cutesies!"
"And what about you?!?" Rua said not wanting to leave Hanako behind.
"I'll be fine! Just go!" She smiled to them, trying to convince them she's telling the truth, so they climbed over the top of ruined stairs from the building that even had a fence still tucked into the ground; they wanted to stay away from the duel and it looked like Hanako has found a prefect safety zone for them to be in.
On the other side of the building they were in, Divine was enjoying the sight of destruction caused by Aki's powers, "Come now, Aki! Show her your true, unleashed powers! Crush her up for good!"
Hanako heard his evil laugh, as she was still sitting on the ground, underneath the building Divine was in; she was irritated by his evil soul, "You, rotten idiot! You'll pay for this!" She murmured to herself, watching Aki's will to destroy getting even stronger now, "Aki, wake up!" Hanako tried to move Aki away from her hypnosis again, "You have to come to your senses!"
Ignorant to her words, Aki gave her full concentration to the duel, as Misty summoned her destroyed dragon again by sending one of her spell cards to the graveyard: Sad Story -Sorrowful Memories. She then equipped her dragon with an Equip Card, so its attack rose to 2 800.
"Trap card activate! Rose Blizzard!" Aki shouted like she was ready for this.
"Aki!!! Can't you hear what I'm saying?!?" Hanako refused to give up on Aki but her words still had no effect on Aki's state.
"When a monster on my side of the field is targeted with an attack, it will negate that monster's attack and switch it to defence mode!" Aki explained her trap, ignoring Hanako's words, what made Misty speak up.
"Just leave her, child!" Misty smiled to Hanako, "She won't be able to handle what lies in store! I end my turn!"
"Aki! Don't listen to her! Think of your friends! Think about Rua and Ruka! About all the Signers!" Hanko was still trying to reach Aki's heart but she remained silent, "Screws, Aki! Then think about Yusei!"
Aki stopped for a while and started blinking, confused by her own mind.
"It worked!" A huge smile appeared on Hanako's face, "Think about how Yusei helped you! Remember his voice, Aki! Yusei's the one who saved you! Don't let his actions and his friendship be in vain!"
"Yusei..." Aki finally murmured, as her eyes widened.
"That's right, Aki!" Hanako started to shiver after Yusei's name slipped over her lips so many times, "Yusei!" She realised she shouted his name way too much, so she blushed with embarrassment.
"Yusei!" Rua and Ruka shouted in unison when their attention was drawn by Yusei running over the stairs, climbing up to meet the twins.
"Rua! Ruka!" He shouted back.
"Yusei, Aki is duelling!" Ruka said with her right hand placed on her chest.
"Yeah, but something's not right!" Rua added, so Yusei looked at the duelling field.
"Aki..." He murmured.
"It's almost like she's back to her old self!" Rua said again, assuming how Yusei hasn't noticed this.
"Aki, what happened?" He said to himself, looking around the duelling field, trying to find any clues of why Aki turned the way she is now, "Oh, no..."
"What's wrong?" Rua and Ruka shouted worriedly.
"Is that Hanako down there?" Yusei pointed to the duelling field with his finger.
"Yeah..." Ruka saddened her face.
"She told us to run away, so we came here but she stayed there", Rua explained.
"Is she crazy?!" Yusei placed his hands on the fence and leaned slightly towards the direction the duel was going on, "She'll die down there!" He looked at her, calling for her name as loud as he could, "HANAKO!!!"
When she heard him calling for her, she raised her look, "Yusei?" She saw him standing next to Rua and Ruka, across the field. When she realised it was really him, she smiled.
"Hanako, I'm coming for you! You can't stay there or else..." Yusei shouted.
"Don't worry about me, Yusei... Look!" Hanako reached up to the sky with her hand, pointing Yusei to the building behind her back.
"What..." He was confused at first, "Hey, that's..." He saw something blinking in the background, deep inside another building right in the window.
"Yusei! You have to save her!" Hanako shouted to him, "No one can reach her... No one but you!"
"I see..." Yusei's eyes widened, as he recognised the person hiding in the building, "So he was in disguise!" He remembered how Divine was with Aki in the Fortune Cup, keeping her side and how he disguised himself to trick Yusei and how he led him into a trap. If it wasn't for Ushio, he could've been dead, "You guys stay here!" Yusei decided hoe it's time to act.
"Aah, Yusei!" Rua shouted but it was already too late, "I wonder where he's going!"
"Maybe he's trying to help..." Ruka said worriedly, "If Aki doesn't wrap this match up quick, the sun is gonna go down before she gets the chance!"
While the twins were keeping their eyes onto the duel, Yusei ran away to meet Divine and to stop him, hoping that it will save Aki's heart.
Hanako was looking at him, running down the stairs and circling around the duel stage just to face Divine in another building, "Yusei..." Hanako murmured, as she watched him, "I leave the rest to you..." She smiled closing her eyes, feeling like she is going to lose her consciousness, but she was still able to listen what's going on around her.
"My turn!" Aki's voice could be heard echoing through the duelling area, "I remove Rose Spirit in my Cemetery from the game to activate Black Rose Dragon's effect: Rose restriction! It forcibly switches Bad End Queen Dragon to attack mode and reduces its attack power to 0!"
"What did you say?!" Misty was shocked by Aki's turn, while Hanako was still listening to their voices, with her eyes closed, but Yusei's voice made her open them quickly.
"Baby, come here!" He shouted, while Hanako turned her head to see what's going on.
"Yusei?" She was surprised to see Yusei standing across the purple flames, looking at her with his hand reached through the flames.
"C'mon, Baby! I'm getting you outta here!"
"I told you to don't mind me!" Hanako shouted desperately, "I can't move, Yusei!" She shook her head, strongly holding her ankle with the palm of her left hand, since her right hand was badly hurt and full of bruises.
Yusei looked at her ankle, but wasn't happy with what he saw. Her bruises made him shiver in fear for her safety, "Baby, what happened to you?"
"Don't mind me, Yusei! It's just a bruise!" Hanako was persistent, "Go there and help Aki! She needs you more than I do!"
"But Baby..." He was looking at her desperate to help.
"Just go already!"
He saw the strong spirit inside her eyes, so he decided to trust her words, "Got it!" He ran over the stairs of the building behind Hanako's back and as soon as he faced the entrance, he busts the door down with his right shoulder, bumping into the room, what made Divine turn in an instance. The force of the rush made Yusei's body fall down to the floor, so he managed to roll himself over his shoulder, safely landing down on his legs, so he managed to stand without a problem.
"You!" Divine hissed, "You're still alive, huh!" He activated his duel disk and reached for his deck, trying to hurt Yusei with his psychic powers.
"What are you after?! Why did you show up here?!"
"It's all because of the Dark Signers raiding the Arcadia Movement that this happened to me!" Divine moved part of his hair that was covering his face, to reveal the scar that was left after the incident he was in. Yusei saw traces of ripped skin on Divine's right side of the face, "But the mind control on Aki is perfect!" Divine finally said, looking down to Aki.
"Mind control?" Yusei was caught up by his words.
"Right now, Aki will only listen to my orders. I'll use Aki's powers and seek my revenge against all those who did this to me!"
"Free Aki! She is a new person!"
"A new person, you say?" Divine laughed, "Aki is my faithful servant. I decide everything Aki does!"
"What?!?" Yusei was shocked but then Divine activated his spell card Hinotama and shots a fireball right at Yusei, destroying the table that was placed between them, while Yusie managed to dodge the attack, coming out completely unharmed, "I won't let you control others' hearts!"
"Once you're in my hands, you'll be at my mercy, regardless of who the person is!" Divine answered, "As soon as I stimulate one's weaknesses, they'll move to my will as much as I like. Just like Aki! Her heart which dealt with loneliness just because she possessed powerful Psychic Powers..." He kept talking about his perfect human-weapon that he turned Aki into, "All I had to do was give it a little titillation!"
"Damn, you!"
"Misty is pathetic herself, isn't she?!" Divine couldn't stop himself from laughing, "Becoming a Dark Signer with the grudge of having her brother Toby being killed and challenging a Psychic Duellist to battle! That sure is some tear-jerking fraternal love!" Divine smiled menacingly, "Still... She's destined to be taken care of by Aki, so it seems..."
As soon as Divine spelled Toby's name, Yusei remembered Mikage's words before he came here. Mikage explained to him how Aki doesn't remember killing Toby even though Misty keeps accusing her for her brother's death. Mikage also pointed out to him how Arcadia Movement may have manipulated the information on Toby's death, so Yusei decided to dig the truth out of the ground, "Then you're the one who manipulated Misty into becoming a Dark Signer!?"
"Not even I planned ahead that far!" Divine raised his hands, "However, this did become the prefect stage for someone such as myself, who wishes to prove the power of Psychic Duellists!"
A satisfied smile showed on Yusei's face, "Huh... That far ahead..." He raised his head to face Divine, as he pointed to him with his hand, "You've inadvertently revealed it, Divine! You're connected to Toby's death, aren't you?!"
"So what if I am?" Divine shrugged, "You have to choose any way, Yusei! It's either Aki now or her!" Divine pointed to Hanako, who was still sitting on the ground feeling powerless, watching the duel and not being able to move. She kept her eyes onto Aki and Misty, as they were fighting for what was right for them. Misty to avenge her brother's death and Aki to prove Misty's wrong.
"It's my turn!" Misty said calmly, "I draw!" She smiled after she saw a card she drew, "This is the end! I activate the Permanent Magic, Advance Force, from my hand! This card's Effect will allow Bad End Queen Dragon to serve as a monster that will count for two releases!" Misty showed the card she drew, "O God which resuscitated my life! Now, I offer you my soul! Descend forth, Earthbound God Ccarayhua (ATK 2 800 / DEF 1 800)!"
"That's..." Rua started murmuring.
"No way!" Ruka shouted after him, while Ushio and Mikage ran over to meet the twins, keeping their eyes locked on the duel.
"Baby is in danger!" Officer Ushio shouted, looking at Hanako, who was just sitting on the ground, watching the duel and now showing any signs of fear.
"It's all over..." She murmured to herself.
"I'm sorry, child, but you're not going to survive this!" Misty said after she saw Hanako's saddened face.
"I was aware of that but thanks for pointing it out for me!" Hanako answered a bit irritade by Misty's words.
"Why did you even do this when you could just stay away from this duel?" Misty was confused.
"Because..." Hanako started her sentence with a whisper, thinking about the best excuse she can find.
"Baby, no!" Yusei shouted, as he was watching the duel from above. He reached the broken window, leaning over the window frame, just to see Hanako's body slowly disappear.
"Because..." Hanako whispered louder than before a moment ago, while looking at Aki, "Aki is a friend, too!" As she shouted Aki's name, the tears started rolling down her face, realising how her soul is going to be offered to the Wicked God. Aki was silent to Hanako's words, standing still like nothing happened but then her Birthmark started to glow, as the ground started shaking when a giant dark lizard with green light lanes rose from the ground. Seeing the scene, Aki just kept her wicked smile, while her eyes were piercing Misty's soul.
"Baby, no!" Yusei shouted, as Hanako's body started disappearing but he was moved away from the duel by Divine's second fireball. He fell onto the ground and kept lying there, wincing and struggling to keep his eyes fully opened. He looked at his duel disk with only one eye opened completely, as he pushed a button on his duel disk.
"So, you were behind it all along, Divine!" Yusei shouted standing up from the ground and placing his duel disk in front of him, like he was ready to duel, but Divine just looked at him remaining silent, so Yusei decided to speak up, "You killed Misty's brother, didn't you?! Then you pinned the crime on Aki, right?!"
"If you found out, I might as well say it!" Divine opened his hands like he was waiting for someone to enter his embrace, "Yes... I was the one who killed Misty's brother! I did it! One year ago, to be exact!" His evil laugh started breaking through his words, "I increased the power of shock waves to see how far Toby's body will endure but he didn't survive. He was no use to me because Toby's talent abilities were at their extent. He just couldn't handle the experimentation!"
"You monster! He was just a child!"
"Even so, he was worthless..." Divine answered to Yusei, "Seeing how he succumbed to such simple experiments, in contrast, Aki is excellent fodder! She always tries to measure up to my expectations!"
"Damn you and your experiments!" Yusei hissed, "You'll pay!" Yusei leaps for Divine, but he manages to dodge the attack by moving away, while Yusei fell onto the ground again, looking at Divine from behind his back.
"Die!" Divine showed his next Hinotama Spell Card before he activated it, causing an explosion that blasted Yusei out along with the wall, but Yusei managed to grip the edge of the stair with his fingertips, leaving his body and his left hand hanging in the air. He used his strength to reach the ground with his other hand, to keep it easier to hang on for a while. Divine approached Yusei, looking at him from above, "You should learn a little humility! This time, I'll make sure you disappear forever!" But just before he could activate another Spell Card of his, he heard Yusei's satisfied laugh from down below, as his body was still hanging in the air, "What are you laughing about?"
"My duel disk is home-made!" Yusei pulled himself up to take a better look at Divine, "I had the Multi-Duel Voice Network switched on!"
"What?"
Yusei lifts his duel disk onto the ground before Divine's feet, showing the green blinking light on it, as he leaned to his hand, making it easier to secure his body from falling down, "Misty heard our whole conversation!"
Divine looked at the green light on Yusei's Duel Disk blinking before turning his look at Misty, realising from the look on her face how she clearly heard the entire conversation.
"Divine..." Misty whispered with anger growing stronger inside of her.
Misty's words made Hanako open her eyes, just to see her and Aki still duelling with Misty's god standing behind her, like it was watching her back, "What just happened?" Hanako blinked few times in confusion, "Am I still alive...?" She moved her look to Aki's Birthmark that was glowing stronger than before, making a shield around Hanako, protecting her soul from the Wicked God, "Aki!" A huge smile appeared on Hanako's face after she realised Aki protected her soul from being stolen and given as a sacrifice to Misty's Earthbound Immortal.
"Divine, you... You killed Toby, then?!" Misty continued to angrily shouted at Divine, who was looking it all from the top of the stairs.
"So what?" He was laughing, still satisfied with the outcome, "Your brother was inept! People who are no use to me are worthless!"
"You won't get away with this!" Purple marks on Misty's face started glowing, as her lizard grew angrier, taking a deep breath before it started walking towards Yusei and Divine. Lizard spread its tongue and reached for Divine's body, wrapping the tongue around Divine, squeezing him before eating him alive. Divine started groaning in pain, as the lizard squeezed his body like a toy.
Yusei's eyes widened, while everyone was watching the awful scene. Ruka had to cover her eyes,not being able to bear the sight, while Rua's body started to shiver, "I-I-It globbed him up!"
Misty was still calm to the sight of Divine's death, "Toby... I have avenged you!"
"Gross!" Hanako stick out her tongue like she was going to throw up.
"Aki..." Misty turned to face her opponent, "I'm sorry... Forgive me! Toby didn't die because of you!" As Divine disappeared from this world, Aki's eyes widened and it looked like she's coming to her senses. She seemed to be touched by Misty's words but not reacting to them. Even so, Misty got the need to speak up her mind, "I no longer have any purpose to fight. I surrender..." She bowed her head, trying to place her hand over the deck on her duel disk, but just before she could finish with her actions, she started murmuring something and groaning like she was in pain, Inside of me!" She fell down on her knees, "The God inside of me!"
"Misty!" Yusei shouted as he got down checking on Aki and Misty, "Your vengeance is settled!
"Yusei?!" Hanako whispered seeing him standing next to her.
"Baby, you're alive?!" He smiled seeing her still sitting on the ground where he left her and she just nodded looking up at his eyes, "Thank god..." He whispered; as he kneeled down to see her wounds.
"Looks like Aki saved me!" Hanako said, while Yusei took her right arm into his hand, gently checking on them, "Look at her Birthmark!" Hanako moved her head to point Aki's mark to Yusei.
"That's right!" Yusei smiled, seeing Aki's Birthmark guarding Hanako, leaving her soul unharmed.
Hanako looked at Yusei, while his eyes were still focused on Aki's body, so she decided to tell him what was on her mind, "She won't listen to anyone except you..." She whispered, "You have to wake her up from that state, Yusei!"
Her words made Yusei turn his attention back to her, but then, he looked at Aki again, calling for her name, "Aki! Open your eyes! Aki!"
"Yusei's voice..." Aki whispered.
"Looks like it's working!" Hanako smiled, seeing Aki react to Yusei's voice, thinking to herself, "She's not reacting to words but to the sound of Yusei's voice... Could it be she's in love with him? But they just met!"
"That's Yusei calling me..." Aki whispered while trying to fight the hypnosis she was in. As she came back to reality, her eyes focused on Misty, who was on her knees, fighting the Wicked God inside of her soul.
"I can... No longer stop this duel on my own!"
"Misty!" Aki shouted worriedly.
"Misty! Don't give in to the Wicked God!" Yusei shouted looking at Misty struggling to resist.
"Aki, please... You must defeat me!" Misty groaned, but soon after that, her voice changed and her eyes started glowing and she entered the state of possession, just like Ushio did when Rudger took over his body to lure Yusei into his trap. Misty's voice was lowered and scarier than before, "Defeating the Signers! That is a Dark Signer's mission!"
"The Wicked God took over Misty's body?" Yusei shouted.
"No... It can't be..." Hanako murmured in disbelief.
"Aki! You're the only one who can stop Misty!" Yusei shouted again, turning his eyes to Aki.
"Yes!" Aki nodded, as she continued with the duel, but it was still Misty's turn.
"Direct attack!" Misty's Lizard started moving its hand to Aki, trying to dash her to the ground.
"Trap, activate! Ground Capture!" Aki exclaimed, "It halves the Battle Damage I receive from an opponent's monster!"
Hand-shaped earth figure came outside of the ground and grabbed Misty's Lizard's hand, like it was trying to overpower it. As the lizard pushed it harder, hand-shaped earth figure started falling apart, falling down at all of them like rain. The attack reduced Aki's Life Points to 200.
"Argh!" Hanako placed her hand before her face, to guard herself from the chunks of earth that were falling from above.
"Baby!" Yusei stepped in front of her, wrapping his arms around her to protect her from big chunks of earth that strolled down onto their bodies.
"Yusei..." Hanako whispered, raising her head to meet Yusei's eyes. He left enough space for her to move between his hands, so she just snuggled into his embrace with her forehead leaned onto Yusei's cheek.
After he made sure it was safe to move away, he placed his hands onto Hanako's cheeks, "Let's go outta here! It's too dangerous for you to stay near the duelling field!"
"I already told you, I can't move..." Hanako shook her head, "And you're not carrying me in your arms! I refuse!"
Yusei was still on his knees, moving a part of Hanako's hair from her face and turning his back to her, while she was blinking in confusion, not knowing what he's going to do next, "Who said anything about carrying you?"
"What?" Hanako raised an eyebrow.
"Here", he tilted his head to point to his back, "Hop on!"
"Yusei, I am certainly not-"
"What?" He broke her sentence, showing her a smile.
"We're not kids anymore!"
"And who said only kids do this?!"
"Yusei..." Hanako whispered.
"C'mon, Baby! We don't have time to waste!"
"Fine!" Hanako sighed, trying to climb up Yusei's back, "You'll pay me for this!" She reached for his neck, wrapping her arms around it, while his arms slide down from her back to her legs, just under her butt cheeks, keeping her strongly attached to his back.
"Let's go, Baby!" He stood on his feet slowly, making sure she won't fall.
"Lead the way, Wonderboy!" She giggled leaning her head on Yusei's shoulder, feeling relieved it's all over now. As he was carrying her farther from the duelling area, she turned her head behind, to see the end of the duel. Misty activated her trap Death Gazer that deals 300 points of damage for each destroyed card by the effect that was sent to the Cemetery and with total of 9 cards that would be destroyed, Aki was supposed to receive 2 100 points of damage.
"Aki...!" Hanako shouted, so Yusei turned his head to see what's going on, but before he could even react, Aki activated her last face-down card on the field.
"Trap card, open! Reflect Nature!" Aki shouted with tears in her eyes, "It reflects all damage from an opponent's card effect!"
"Impossible!" Misty shouted, as her Life Points dropped down to 0 and the battle was over, what made Hanako sigh in relief.
After the damage calculation, Misty's body started falling down to the ground, making her necklace part from her neck, hitting the ground after Misty's body disappeared along with her Lizard god, letting go of every single soul that was taken away as a sacrifice.
"Aki, are you OK?" Mikage shouted running to her with Ushio and the twins following.
Yusei was still carrying Hanako on his back, so he was the last one to reach the group, "Aki!"
"What's wrong, Aki?" Hanako was confused when she saw Aki's saddened face, like she lost the will to live.
Aki remained silent, moving away from the group and picking Misty's necklace from the ground, as the tears started falling down her face, leaving a trace on the necklace that had a photo of Misty and Toby placed into its frame, "Misty... Toby..." She murmured.
"Poor Aki..." Hanako whispered to Yusei's ear, as he was still holding her on his back.
"Oh, yeah... The sun!" Rua shouted all of a sudden.
"Dammit!" Ushio said, "We didn't make it by sunset, huh?"
"But even so, people that were absorbed by the god's power got back into the city!" Mikage said, trying to cheer the group up.
"Yeah, but what will happen now?" Hanako was worried, when all of a sudden the ground started shaking like an earthquake is coming.
"I think here's your answer!" Ushio shouted before he saw a trace of light hitting the sky, "What's that?!" He pointed to a geoglyph sign that was engraved into the sky.
"What is that figure?" Yusei said looking at the scene, while a huge light started engraving a bird-like geoglyph into the sky.
"It looks like a Phoenix!" Hanako said in awe, thinking how beautiful the light was.
"What could that be?" Aki asked looking at Yusei.
"I have no idea, but it looks like we are going to find out very soon..." he murmured, looking at the sky and thinking about the condor geoglyph that was lightening up the darkness of the city...