Yusei: 1800
Kallin: 4000
"It looks like your precious duel runner is about to give up on you, Yusei!" Kallin noticed with manic glee.
Yusei's front wheel wobbled dangerously. It wasn't going to hold out for much longer. "It's fine Kallin! It's just a little wobbly is all."
"Then I guess it's a perfect fit for your game!"
"It's my turn!" Yusei declared, drawing his card. 'I've only got one way to throw him off his strategy. It's a long shot but I gotta try something!'
"All right, Kallen, since you've got monsters on your field, and my field is empty, I'm able to special summon this next card as a level four monster! I summon Level Warrior!"
(Level Warrior: Atk: 300 Def: 600)
"Next I'll bring out Hyper Synchron to the field in attack mode!"
"I'm shaking!" Kallen mocked.
"And now I'll use the power of my Hyper Synchron to tune with my Level Warrior so I can summon out your destruction! Stardust Dragon, let's rev it up!"
"Busting out your decks top performer! I was worried you weren't taking me seriously. I guess in a way, I should be faltered!"
"Well, this next move will really make you feel special," Yusei half-joked as he continued his move. "See, when Hyper Synchron is used to summon a synchro monster, the summoned monster then gets a power boost."
"Alright!" Asben cheered.
"I don't like this." Clarice decided darkly.
Niro looked at her like she was crazy. "Why? Your Skunk-crab boyfriend's winning."
"He's NOT my boyfriend, and it just seems too easy to play that to soon."
Kyouwa nodded, folding his arms. "Clarice is right."
Both Asben and Niro gave him a strange look.
"About this seems too easy part."
"Stardust Dragon, attack with Cosmic Flare!"
A ray of stardust erupted out of the dragon's mouth, heading straight for Kallin's beast.
"Attack all you want, because now my One Hundred Eyed Dragon gains the special ability of Infernity Guardian! And thanks to this power it can't be destroyed in battle!"
"That may be, but your lifepoints are still gonna take some damage!" Yusei told him, finally able to make a worthwhile move.
Yusei: 1800
Kallin: 3700
"It's good to see you finally hitting back! I know that's not all you've got Yusei! What's next huh?" Kallin brushed off Yusei's attack like it had been just a strong breeze.
"Since Stardust Dragon managed to successfully deal battle damage, the Shard of Hope trap card automatically activates! Which means I can now draw one card from my deck, and if that card is a trap card, then I can activate it by destroying Shard of Hope!"
Yusei put his hand on his deck. "It all comes down to this..."
A quick peek at the card... and...
"Nice! Here goes everything! I'm destroying the card Shard of Hope so that I can activate the power of my Miracle Locus trap! This trap forces you to draw one card, and gives Stardust Dragon a thousand more attack points and the ability to attack for a second time this turn! So add a card to your hand, Kallen!"
"With pleasure." Kallen broke into a smirk, drawing a card with a flourish.
'Okay... I disrupted his strategy. Why is he smiling?' "Stardust Dragon, time to inflict another dose of damage; attack!" Again, Yusei's dragon fired at Hundred Eyed Dragon, sending it packing along with a chunk of Kallen's lifepoints.
Yusei: 1800
Kallin: 2400
"Thanks for the help, Yusei. Because now that your monster destroyed my mighty beast, I can select one card in my deck and then add it to my hand!"
"It won't matter, cuz now I activate my trap Synchro Destructor! Now when my dragon destroys your monster in battle, you take damage equal to half that monster's attack points!
"And then, if the monster I destroyed was a synchro monster, you get hit again for the same amount of damage!"
"Kallin's basically getting served his own dragon's attack points; three thousand points of damage." Asben drummed his fingers on his arm. "If this move is successful-"
"-Yusei wins this thing!" Aki said cheerfully.
Niro clicked his tongue. "That's a big if though."
Clarice said nothing. 'If that was true, if Yusei was about to win... wouldn't the darkness feel less heavy? Kallin got something else planned, I can sense it.
"This can't be! I'm done for!" Kallin whined, pretending to clutch at imaginary pearls.
He shook his head, snickering, returning his hands to his controls. "But seriously folks, I activate the Damage Translation trap! This halves the harm I take from a card effect!"
Yusei: 1800
Kallin: 900
Kallin bowed his head and came back up laughing. He was enjoying every second of this. "Impressive string of attacks, Yusei, but look who's still standing!"
/
"Ya know what, I never liked him," Niro said.
"He may have managed to survive that attack but he's finished," Asben said confidently. "He's got no monsters on his field and Yusei's got Stardust Dragon!"
Aki's little fists clenched. "Yeah, he can still win!"
Asben, Kyouwa and Niro's eyes met from behind the group huddled around the monitor. They all had the same question on their minds: can he still win?
"I hope Aki's right, for your sake, Clar." Niro finally broke the tension.
"Why?" she asked.
"I'm terrible at mending broken hearts."
"Seriously?"
"Yusei's biggest mistake will be thinking he's got this one wrapped up," Jack's violet eyes were tense, hands white-knuckled on the copter door's edges. "That card Kallen added to his hand earlier, it's gotta be something powerful."
/
'If I can hold Kallin off till next turn, my speed counters will be at eight, and I can activate the Final Attack speed spell, which will double Stardust's attack points. That'll finish him off!'
"I end my tu-"
"Slow down! I'm not done!" Kallin interrupted. "See, my Damage Translation's other effect activates during the end phase! And since I took damage from card effects twice, I can summon two Ghost Tokens to my field!"
"This can't be good," Yusei mused.
Two little black ghosts popped up near Kallin.
Kallin started sniggering, shoulders shaking. He couldn't hold it in. His sniggers turned to giggles to full blown laughter.
"What's so funny?" Yusei demanded.
"The irony is delicious!" Kallin replied. "You did all that work to force me to add a card to my hand. Did you ever stop to think that the card I'd end up adding to my hand would be my most powerful?"
"What is it?"
"Time The big finale! Come on out everybody!"
At Kallin's words, black hooded people appeared, flickering, in the purple flames of the Giant's lines.
"What is this?" Yusei asked, eyes wide.
There were so many people. Too many to count.
"Kallin, who are they?"
"Ya see that?" Rally looked down into the flames instead of Crow's runner. "It looks like there's people in the purple mist!"
"Where did they come from?" Tank questioned.
"Your guess is as good as mine Tank," Nervin admitted anxiously.
"Maybe they're the same people that were taken in by that weird group and went underground."
All heads turned to Crow.
Pressure built in Clarice's head. Something big, powerful and frightening was coming. Her markings glowed even brighter.
"I had a feeling it was you Dark Signers who'd been taking people," Yusei said in between deep breaths. He had to stay calm. His life was depending on it more and more. "What're you gonna do to them?"
Kallin ignored the question. "It's my turn now, but because of Power Baton, I can't draw another card."
"Answer me, Kallin!" Yusei pulled up alongside the Dark Signer. "What're you doing with these people?!"
Kallin giggled "What do you think Yusei?I am going to channel their spirits to this card! "
"You're... You're gonna do what?!"
"Their combine energy is going to give this card unbelievable Power! By releasing the two Ghost Tokens from my field, I banish and take them as an offering to the Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu!"
The captured souls standing in the flames screamed in agony. Each one was transformed into a purple glowing orb and sucked into what looked like a giant, glowing, brown heart. The more souls it absorbed, the more it beat and pulsed with dark, purple energy.
"What's happening?!"
"Their energy has been assimilated..." Kallin grinned wickedly. "And now Ccapac Apu will descend upon this world!"
A huge ray of light engulfed the dark heart. It vanished, and from the Earth climbed a monster that was large enough to touch the blades on Jack's helicopter!
The monster had fists knobbed with wart-like tags on the knuckles. Similar protrusions dotted the monster's head. A round head that descended into a black body lined with blue, glowing markings.
(Ccapac Apu: Atk: 3000 Def: 2500)
Clarice collapsed to her knees, a scream escaping from her mouth. The pain threatening to split her skull in two. Her birthmark was so bright, she was engulfed in purple light. Like the light itself was hoping to ward off the creature's overpowering darkness.
"Holy shit," Niro whispered breathlessly.
Their little group wasn't even close to the monster's fingertips, hands hanging loosely by its side as it waited for a command. No one made a sound, mouths open wide, and eyes even wider. The magnitude of the monster's energy alone was enough to freeze everyone where they stood.
And the beast hadn't even attacked yet.
Kallin hadn't even stopped laughing the entire time Ccapac Apu had emerged. But he stopped; he had a job to do. One final move and it would all be over...
"Okay...how come Goodwin never warned me about this guy?!" Yusei ask himself. He never plan this through.
"Get ready to join the rest of the taken in the shadows of the Netherworld! HA! Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu, pound this pathetic Signer into the darkness!"
The Immortal raised its hand slowly. Kallin's other monster's attack had been frightening enough, but a literal hand of god was descending upon Yusei to snuff out his life.
"Stardust Dragon, attack," Yusei punched into his controls. Something had to save him.
But his trusted dragon friend flew right through the monster's hand! "It didn't do anything! Well, at least I Scrap Iron Scarecrow!"
"Come on, Yusei," Kallin ridiculed, scoffing with a shake of his head. His smirk growing ever wider. "Do you seriously think a little trap like that can stand up against the power of an immortal?"
At Kallin's words the scrappy scarecrow was pulled back into its trap and left Yusei wide open!
The hand was still coming at him. He'd used everything he had. Tried everything he could think of.
' ... I'm going to die...' Yusei realized with cold certainty.
"NOOOOOO!" Clarice screamed, forcing the pain back. Once she'd gotten used to it? She'd felt worse.
There was zero chance she was just going to let her Yusei die. Even if he'd been a ass to her, she couldn't yell at him if he was dead.
"Clarice! NO! Wait, you can't face something that big!" Kyouwa shouted after her.
Clarice already dash so quick, her wings soaring though the dark night.
'There's nothing I can do!'
Yusei's stomach sank. A cold feeling had washed over him. Vision tunneling until all he could see was his own puny fist clenched before him. Like an ant trying to beat off a boot.
Ccapac Apu's fingers were almost upon him. The monster's unchecked power already tearing up the ground.
'I can't stop this attack!'
"It's lights out!" Kallin snickered.
A burst of purple flaming light warded off the darkness from the Immortal's hand. Light in the darkness...
Yusei found the strength to look up just as Clarice appeared out of nowhere. Yusei widen in shock
Throwing herself in front of him and use her demon arm to fire the amount of cosmic fire. The attack hit her, instead of him.
Ccapac Apu's fingers grazed past Clarice's power. Splitting open wounds in multiple places despite the glancing touch, so great was the Immortal's power. The real force of the blow came a second later, throwing Clarice backwards like the force of a gunshot.
She fell hard, tearing into the Earth with the force of a thousand-year-old river carving itself into the land. Clarice stopped moving only a short distance away, but she made zero attempts to get back up.
"Clarice!" Yusei called after her.
Next second his runner blew up in his face. The torn-up terrain ground him to an unnatural halt. The force from the attack that had hit Clarice swept over him too, even to a lesser degree it was enough to violently throw Yusei backwards.
Separated from his runner, both him and the machine rolled painfully for quite some time...
//
The glow from Luna's mark faded. She and her brother had insisted on staying up until they knew what had happened.
"Why'd it stop glowing?" Leo wondered. He was far too young to have brows knit with such palpable worry. "What's that mean? Did something bad just happen to Yusei and Clarice?"
"I'm not sure, but I think they're hurt." Luna answered quietly. "My mark...it was like it surged with their pain and then..."
"It stopped..."
Akiza watched the glow from her mark ebb out. She looked back out at the city, towards the Satellite.
"Yusei and Clarice are in danger. I wish there was something I could do!"
/
Finally, Yusei stopped rolling. His whole body curled in on its side, aching and bruising all over. An intense, sharp pain in his gut, burning with insistence he pay attention to it.
But he'd still been lucky. If not for his helmet, if not for Clarice...
Disoriented, Yusei ignored the fogginess in his brain to put his arm out. Raise his head. He had to know, he had to see... Clarice...
Even through his cracked visor he could see her in the light of the purple flames. She still hadn't moved. Still smoking in a rut her body had carved. Blood dripping onto the cold, hard ground.
Kallin pulled up next to Yusei.
"And at the moment all hope is lost, the Flame-Wing Dragon-Phoenix jumps in to save the day, and Yusei's crummy duel runner breaks! Officially ending the duel before the duel can officially end him!"
The Dark Signer laughed at Yusei's pain, his struggling to stay conscious, and blood eking from an unseen wound. "Just look at you! You're so pathetic! You may have managed to survived this little encounter, but I'm afraid and you can't fight your fate! You can't stop the Satellite from being obliterated!"
Kallin's voice got quieter, leaned down a little closer, but that only made his next words more frightening. "And you can't even save your precious girlfriend much less than yourself..."
He held up the Immortal's card. "Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu, come back to me now!"
The monster disappeared and the Giant's lines started to vanish as well.
"What was it that tournament MC started calling you? Satellite's shooting star? More like Satellite's falling star! See you around, Yusei."
"KALLIN KESLER!" Clarice stood up even though she's badly bleeding out her blood, she charged right in with a climax jump with her saber-blade and to slash him down.
But Kallin was quick to stop her blade with his bare hands before it cut's off his neck. Kallin kept on cackling evilly and snarled down at her. "My, my Clarice NG! You're still standing even though you're losing a lot of blood in your state! I like your bold move... but you gotta do better than this!"
Kallin kicked her in the stomach making her tumble in the dirt again.
Without another word, Kallin drove off. His laughter echoing throughout the night...
The Saber team was the first to arrive on the scene while driving the van. Kyouwa hopped off and ran to his sister with Niro tailing his back.
Clarice wasn't hard to find even in the darkness and without the glow. The crater kinda gave it away.
"Clarice! YUsei!" Kyouwa cradled her body.
"You stupid girl. I knew this would happen! I knew this was a bad idea," Niro spat when he noticed the blood from Clarice's literal scrape with Ccapac Apu .
Niro knelt by Kyouwa and shook her shoulders. "Wake up, dead girl, wake up!"
Slowly, Clarice's eyes fluttered open. She pushed stand up of the dirt with Kyouwa's support. "Boys?" she croaked.
"Remind me to kill Yusei later." Asben swallowed, relieved, and helped her sit up. "SHit, you're bleeding."
Clarice scoffed. "This is nothing."
"You know damn well not to lie to your own brother Clar!" Asben tear a cloth and hassle wrapping around her body to stop the bleeding.
"Check Yusei, is he okay?" Clarice asked quietly.
"Um... well."
"Yusei! Clarice!" Rally shouted, running up with everyone else in tow.
"Yusei!"
"You okay?"
"Hey man, you still with us?" Blitz asked and gently turned Yusei over onto his back.
A jagged piece of metal jutted out from Yusei's abdomen. If it was removed, there would be no doubt he would bleed to death.
A strangled grunt of pain escaped Yusei's mouth, and he resisted the attempt to move him. His adrenaline had kept him from feeling the full force of the pain, like it knew he had to ensure Clarice was alive too, but then left much too quickly. Every breath felt like needles jamming deeper into his abdomen.
"Oh man," Rally stared at it wide-eyed. "Hey Yusei, can ya hear me?"
"That's not good...." Asben whispered.
"Clarice, are you okay?" Nervin asked, running up to her, Asben and Kyouwa.
"I'm fine." Clarice grimaced, leaning heavily on Kyouwa. She tried to shake of the pain until her gaze seeing the state Yusei was in.
"What do we do about Yusei?" Rally panicked.
"Don't touch him!" Crow instructed. He rode down the garbage pile and pulled over beside Yusei.
"Crow!"
"We need to get him to Martha's place, and Doctor Schmidt," Crow told the others.
"Good idea. Is she still in the Notting District?" Nervin questioned.
Rally piped up, eyes brimming with tears. "But we can't move Yusei. It hurts him too much!"
"Niro could move him." Kyouwa spoke up. Carrying Clarice in his arms. "And start using his power."
"Oh no, that dipshit needs surgery, and I'm no surgeon. Plus, Clarith is hurt too."
Clarice shook her head. "I said I'm fine! Yusei's the priority and he needs medical attention! Get him to Martha's place NOW!"
Niro let out a long, irritated breath. Crossing his arms. He didn't particularly like the idea of being Yusei's taxi driver. "I don't know how to get to Martha's."
"This shit again!" everyone shouted at him.
"Guys, guys! Knock it off! Just take Rally with you," Crow spoke up. "Or any one of the guys. They'll get you there, and I'll get Kyouwa and Clarice there too."
"We'll be right behind you," Kyouwa nodded.
Everyone stared at the Sky-burst duelist expectantly. He groaned, leaning back with the weight of the situation at hand. "FINE, I'm taking Asben and Aki with me!" he said through his teeth.
"You!" he pointed at Nervin. "You're gonna be stick with us encase street fighters take what doesn't belong, got it?"
"Oh um, uh, okay." Nervin tripped over his words just as he tripped slightly over to Niro.
Niro pull Yusei's shoulder and drag him in Crow's runner.
"I hope he'll be okay," Rally wished.
"He'll make it." Kyouwa reassured the kid while hold onto Clarice.
"Well, we need to get you outta here then," Crow held out his hand for Clarice.
"I got this." Kyouwa pulls out a ball in his pocket and thow it until it transform into his own red duel runner. He put Clarice in the back as he makes sure she hold onto his tight.
Whose heart nearly shattered remembering all the times Yusei had done the same for her. Now the best she could do was take the brunt of an attack.
"We'll meet you at Martha's and I'll let you know the details, okay, Rally?" Kyouwa said, sounding like he was trying to comfort the young boy.
"Okay, we'll be right behind you, take care of Clar too." Rally sniffled.
The two of them both trying to smile before Crow gunned his engine and took off.
/
"What're you waiting for?!" Jack cried, roughly grabbing the pilot's shoulder. "I've gotta catch that creep! Put this bird on the ground!"
"No, don't," Mina instructed. "We have to get back to the city right away."
Jack glared at her. "What're you talking about?! We can't just let Kallin just escape!"
"I know you're upset, Jack but right now, without your duel runner with you, there isn't anything that you can do," Mina explained to him patiently.
Jack made a growl sound in the back of his throat. He knew she was right. Hating himself for his uselessness. But he did sit back in his seat.
The pilot directed the helicopter back to the city in silence.
/
Crow and Kyouwa drove t in front of Martha' house.
The place might have looked old, but it was a well-taken care of home for orphans. Clean and almost cozy.
"Hey Martha!" Crow shouted, pounding on the door. "It's me CRow! I need your help hurry! Come on Martha, wake up!"
"It's the middle of the night, Crow," a woman's voice snapped from inside.
The door opened to reveal a dark-skinned woman with dark brown hair in dreadlocks and dark eyes. She wore a plain dress and carried a candle. Her scowl and wrinkled clothes indicated she didn't appreciate being awoken so late.
"This had better be good."
"NO it's bad!" Crow pointed to Yusei. "It's real bad!"
She gasped when she saw Yusei, nearly dropping her candle. Blood was dripping in Crow's runner and despite wearing warm enough clothes, Yusei had started shivering.
"Is that Yusei?! What's going on? What happened? He's shivering!"
"I need hands out here people!" she called someone. "Come help me get Yusei inside!"
Martha closed the front door and opened the door to Schmidt's office/examination room. Tonight it would also be used for surgery.
Clarice watched in worry.
//
Martha was even less happy to have Crow and Kyouwa and a bleeding Flame-Wing Duelist outside on her doorstep. "Honestly, you kids don't write or visit for weeks and suddenly you're all here in need of medical attention?" she was only half joking. Brown eyes damp.
"I'm sorry, Martha, but-"
"No buts," she held up her gloved hand to silence Crow. "You and K stay out here to take care of any more midnight callers. You," Martha snatched Clarice by the wrist and pushed her into the surgery room. "Come with me."
"I'm fine-"
"No nonsense about head wounds young lady. You're bleeding and that's final."
"I got her." Kyouwa comes to the rescue and grab out of MArtha's grasp. Clarice let her brother take her outside and sit her down on the porch and tend to her scrapes.
She practically choked when she glance as she saw Yusei in the midst of surgery. Hand flying to her mouth. Tears dripping in between her fingers, into her mouth. She watched Doctor Schmidt and Martha remove a shard of metal from Yusei's body.
"How's it look, doctor?" Martha asked solemnly.
"He's got some internal bruising and bleeding. He's losing blood, but I don't want to sew him back up until I know for sure all the pieces are out."
"Is he going to be all right?"
"It's a long shot. We used the last of the pain meds last Wednesday."
Clarice heard from all the way to the inside of the halls. She's trying so hard not to cry even though she's shaking her hands.
Kyouwa noticed his sister's struggles and was done tending her wounds. He kiss her temple as he make his way to the room where Yusei is.
Kyouwa was next to Yusei and put both his arms between his shoulders. Kyouwa heard Schmidt's words from far away, registering his sister's suicidal boyfriend was going through this painful procedure without any reprieve.
That explained why every muscle in his body was clenched. His fists in the sheets, his jaw and teeth. Sweat coated every inch of bare skin Kyouwa could see.
He gently and slowly coaxed Yusei's helmet off. Making sure not to further crack the visor. His dark hair spilling out over his sweaty brow and the pillow.
"Hey...you listen up lover boy." he whispered. "Clarice is waiting outside for you to stay alive. You hear me?"
His deep blue eyes cracked a fraction, just loosen enough to see and he suddenly hear music playing outside.
Clarice was playing her ocarina enough for Yusei to know that she's here.
"If you die. I'll kick your ass for making her cry." Kyouwa continued. "Unless you told her an actual lie that you don't love her at all."
Let him practically crush Kyouwa's red jacket at every surge of pain.
Yusei closed his eyes as he could feel Clarice's comforting melody playing her instrument while crying quietly in tears.
"Yusei.....please...hold on." her voice he could hear from afar like she was really touching him.
"Please be strong..."
His name on her lips like a mystic dream. Somehow different from the way anyone else said it.
Yusei soon relax.