Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Morphs: A Digimorphs Tale ❯ Red and White ( Chapter 32 )

Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game and all related trademarks belong to Konami.

Digimon / Digital Monsters and all related trademarks belong to Bandai. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission.

 

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Red and White

By nightdragon0

 

 

 

“You hope?! Great....” Sekata muttered.

“Just let me handle it.” Janet said to him. “Because I used the `Paladin of the White Dragon's' special ability, you can't attack this turn. So I'll place down a reverse card and end here.”

“Very well, my time then.” Arkane drew. “I'll set a monster card face down along with a reverse card. I'm done.”

“He didn't even change the battle position of his `Dragon Seeker' to defense mode?” Sekata whispered. “He must be pretty confident with his reverse card.”

“Well, I'll take care of that.” Janet drew a card. “Magic card `Mystical Space Typhoon', which destroys one reverse card on the field!”

With a shower of sparks, Arkane's reverse card vanished. The clown had a rather annoyed look on his face too.

“Now, the way's clear!” Janet pointed. “Go Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Ultimate Burst Stream!”

Sekata opened his jaws and a huge white flare shot out, blowing the `Dragon Seeker' apart. Arkane clutched his side in pain as his LP went down to 3000. The damage came from the difference of the ATK of the two cards (With Blue-Eyes White Dragon's ATK at 3000 against `Dragon Seeker's' 2000, resulting in a 1000 point damage to Life Points).

“Hey, I do have a name you know.” Sekata growled, rubbing his mouth.

“Sorry man, just that I've always wanted to do that.” Janet grinned.

“Now I'm really worried...”

“Hey, what are you implying?!”

“Oh forget it and just carry on.”

 

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It seemed like ages, but the van finally pulled to a halt. Aero opened his eyes with a start, realizing that he must've fallen asleep. Mihiramon was gone though, leaving the still bound Aero inside the vehicle.

After a while, a pair of Karatenmon guards brought Zelia's capsule out. They resembled humanoid birdmen wearing white and purple armor, along with a pair of golden swords.

Aero watched them in frustration, struggling with his ropes.

Two more Karatenmon guards entered the van, but all of a sudden, one was knocked to the side. As the other one turned, he was sent flying out through the windscreen of the van.

Triumphantly, Junon the Rhodo Knightmon stepped in, dusting her hands. She brought up one of her yellow ribbon `tails' and cut Dynamo loose.

“Sure took you long enough.” Dynamo commented. “Even with that tracking device I used to signal you.”

“Ungrateful brat. You think following them on foot without being detected was easy?” Junon snapped, raising the visor of her helmet to show her eyes beneath.

“Hey lighten up girl.” Dynamo waved. “But at least I found the runaway, right?”

“Well, the Devas had better not have had time to analyze her data.”

“That part I can't guarantee.”

“Then we'll have to take some measures to rectify that. This van is parked beside a small base.” Junon told him. “Let's sneak in and take it out quietly.”

“Hey, this isn't like you Junon.”

“Even I can't fight an army by myself.”

“And how about me?! I....ow! Hey!!”

Junon simply grabbed Dynamo by his Guilmon `ears' and dragged him out of the van. Although both had completely ignored Aero throughout the conversation, it still left the blue dragon in the same position as before.

I still don't have any good options. Aero sighed. Wait, perhaps I do...

One of the downed guards had dropped his sword, which happened to be stuck between a couple of crates. With some effort, Aero was able to flip himself onto his stomach. By slowly pushing his head and shoulders against the ground, he was able to get his feet onto the sword.

Placing the strap binding his feet onto the sword's blade, Aero grunted as he wiggled back and forth. It wasn't long before his muscles were aching from the strain, but the strap was slowly coming lose.

Almost....almost....

CLANG! The metal buckles of the straps clattered as his bindings finally came off.

With a sign of relief, Aero was finally able to stretch his legs and tail. Sweat was already pouring down his face, but now he had to get to work on freeing his upper body.

He begun the painful task of leaning a shoulder against the blade and moving back and forth to cut the strap lose. However, an explosion sounding from nearby caused him to pause momentarily.

“Zelia....” He growled. “I've got to hurry!”

 

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BOOM! Another of Arkane's facedown monster cards exploded in a shower of sparks.

“I'm starting to like doing that.” Sekata licked his jaws. “But we're not getting anywhere fast. The LP score is still the same.”

Janet now had 5 cards in her hand, 1 reverse card on her field and Blue-Eyes as her lone monster card. Arkane had been defending with facedown cards for a couple of turns now, leaving him with 3 cards in his hand and 1 more facedown monster card.

“We've got the advantage.” Janet reminded him. “Let's keep up the pressure.”

“Don't get too hasty, that doesn't mean he isn't planning anything.”

“My draw now.” Arkane pulled out a card and grinned. “I've been waiting for this one. I'll set down 3 reverse cards and end my turn here.”

“Then I'll go! Draw card!” Janet whipped out the top card.

“Ah, you now have 6 cards in your hand.” Arkane pointed. “Then I can activate this trap card, `Gamble'! If I call a coin toss right, I will be able to draw 6 cards from my deck.”

The clown produced a silver coin and showed it to Janet. He then flipped it into the air, watching intently.

“Heads!” Arkane caught the coin in his palm. “And looks like I'm right, hehehe....”

“Grrr....” Janet hissed. “But it's still my turn. I'll play the magic card `Harpies' Feather Duster' to destroy all your reverse cards on the field!”

“And the next of my trap cards, `Magic Jammer'.” Arkane countered. “By discarding a card from my hand, I can neglect the activation of your magic card.”

“Gargghh! Rarrgghh!!” Sekata suddenly roared in pain. Coils of black smoke had emerged from the ground beneath him and wrapped themselves around his arms, legs and wings.

“Sekata! Hey, what's going on?!” Janet demanded.

“The card I discarded to my graveyard was a monster card, the `Beast of Glifer'.” Arkane explained. “When this card is sent to the graveyard, it has the effect of decreasing the ATK of a monster on the field by 500 points. So now, Blue-Eyes has only 2500 ATK.”

“That still won't stop me from attacking!” Janet pointed.

“Jan, wait!” Sekata protested.

“Oh, but this will.” Arkane laughed. “Trap card `Spellbinding Circle'!”

A circle of runes formed around Sekata's body and more magical reins lashed out. The white dragon was immediately tied up and dragged to the ground, struggling in vain.

“A monster affected by this trap cannot attack or change its battle position.” Arkane declared.

“Sekata!!” Janet tried to run towards him, but an invisible barrier prevented her from moving onto the playing field.

“Ugh....I'm....all right.....” Sekata panted.

Crap, I let him goad me into launching a reckless attack. Janet stared. And Sekata's in pain because of it! How am I supposed to do this?!

“Why so stunned girl?” Arkane taunted. “It's still your turn.”

“Damn you....” Janet cursed under her breath.

“Jan, keep fighting. Nevermind what happens to me!” Sekata turned his head.

“But....I....what if I mess up again, like with....”

“Would Steve want to see you just give up like this?!”

“Huh...I....”

“Would he?!” Sekata snapped.

He's right.... Janet told herself.

“I'll set a monster card facedown, along with a second reverse card. And this ends my turn.” Janet placed the cards on her Dueling Disc.

“Not as confident now, aren't we?” Arkane grinned, drawing a card. “I'll sacrifice my facedown monster card to summon the `Earl of Demise'. In addition, I'll equip it with a magic card, the `Sword of Dark Destruction'.”

This creature was a humanoid zombie with pale blue skin and tattered clothes (ATK 2000). In one of its hands, it held a sword with a skull handle and a blood-red blade.

“Dark elemental monster cards like mine gain 400 ATK when equipped with the sword.”

“Its ATK now is 2400. Just 100 below Sekata's.” Janet muttered.

“Further more, I'll also play the field card, `Yami'.” Arkane slid a card into a side section of the Dueling Disc.

Janet and Sekata glanced around nervously as the area darkened. Like black paint spilling over the floor, the darkness crept all over the place until everything had been completely shrouded by it. It looked like they were standing in a black void, with only the playing field appearing before them.

“Wha...what is this?!” Janet stared. That feeling sent shivers down her spine.

“On this Yami field, the ATK of dark elemental monsters is further increased by 200 points.” Arkane explained.

“Now the ATK of Arkane's monster card is....2600!” Janet gasped.

“And I will attack your weakened Blue-Eyes with the `Earl of Demise'!”

Sekata could only stare, eyes wide in panic. His instinct was to run, but his body refused to move from its spot on the playing field.

“NO!!” Janet's mad rush was blocked once again by the invisible barrier.

The sword-wielding zombie silently hovered across the field and ran his weapon through Sekata's chest. The white dragon let off a gurgled roar of agony as his foe withdrew the sword and brought it upwards, slicing his throat open.

Sekata's Blue-Eyes White Dragon form collapsed and disintegrated.

“NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!”

 

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Throwing his straps off at last, Aero hurriedly kicked the van's door open. Fortunately, no guards were in the immediate vicinity to witness his escape.

The vehicle had been parked beside a 3-story building, now with smoke pouring out of a window at its upper level. Aero was more careful this time and pushed open the nearest door to take a peek.

He was initially startled to find a security camera staring him in the face, until he realized that it, along with all the lights in the corridor were off.

“Get the fire extinguishers!” A voice from nearby ordered.

“The power's out! Check for security breaches!” Another echoed.

Aero ducked behind a locker just as a squad of Karatenmon guards passed by.

“I have a feeling Dynamo and Junon are behind this little mess.” He whispered. “Now, I've got to take advantage of it.”

The plain silver walls and unmarked doors offered little help, but there was a floor plan on a nearby wall and Aero saw a laboratory location at the rear end of the first floor. It was much darker in the corridors that followed, and Aero managed to slip past in the general confusion of the guards.

At one corner, he paused when the unconscious body of a Karatenmon was hurled past. That had been Dynamo's handiwork and Junon was right beside him, running a second guard through with her yellow `ribbon blades'.

“The lab's just ahead.” Dynamo was saying. “As long as the power's off, we'll be able to get through their electronic doors without any problems.”

“They'll eventually figure out how you messed up their switchboards.” Junon replied.

“Hey, it's lasted this long right?”

The pair moved further down the path and Aero stepped out to follow them. Unfortunately, he ran right into plain sight of a squad of Karatenmon guards.

“Intru....Kwak!!!” The lead bird opened his beak to shout and Aero hastily barged into him.

The guard falling against his comrades gave Aero enough time to run back and snatch up a dropped sword.

“Hargh!” Aero brought up the sword and swung it above his head, making a fluid series of sword motions by twirling it around his body and finally striking a battle pose.

“He's got a sword!” One guard gasped.

“You idiots! We've all got swords!” The squad leader slapped the soldier's head before drawing his own pair of blades.

Aero quickly slapped the leader's attack away with an outwards stroke, then spun to his opponent's side and attacked. The leader was quick enough to duck, but he was also forced to move away as a second guard dashed in to engage with an overhead slash.

The blue dragon held his blade horizontally to block and the impact left him stumbling back. Another strike was ill-placed and easily avoided, but forced him back some more.

Several more attacks came and Aero was forced into defensive. The only good thing was that there wasn't enough space for the guards to flank him in the narrow corridor as long as he still had ground to retreat to.

Further more, his muscles were still aching badly from his ordeal with the straps earlier and Aero realized he wouldn't be able to fight all of them off. It looked like he'd backed into a wall until he noticed a movable panel behind him, marked `Waste Disposal'.

A sword stroke caught him off guard and cut into his left shoulder. A few more inches to the right and it would've gotten his neck. But his stroke of good fortune didn't come cheap as the blow had him screaming with a broken collar bone and a bleeding wound.

Even though Aero knocked the sword away, the bold guard then took his chance and pushed, shoving him against the wall.

Pressing his back hard against the cold metal surface, Aero kicked with both feet, knocking the Karatenmon back into his squad.

Now's my chance! He realized.

With his precious seconds, Aero turned and pushed his way through the panel. Much to his dismay, only his upper body went through before his waist got stuck in the opening. The garbage chute itself was wide enough for him to go down, leaving him with just the problem of getting in.

“Shit! Arghh!!!” He yelled, wiggling his limbs.

“Kwak! He's mine!”

“No! Mine!”

“Out of the way fools!” Angry shouts came as the guards regained their senses.

One soldier tripped and jabbed Aero in the buttocks. With a furious roar, Aero flew through and tumbled down in darkness until he landed in a small room full of various kinds of junk.

Most were things like machine parts, drink cans and leftover food, giving off a four odor. Aero decided he didn't want to know what else was in there as he slogged through the knee deep water.

The hatch leading out was unlocked and Aero climbed up into an empty corridor.

Several voices caused him to duck for cover, but those had come from upstairs instead. Aero recognized Mihiramon's voice....and he was fighting with someone.

 

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“Relax there girl, its all part of the game.” Arkane grinned.

“Part of the game?!” Janet clenched her fists. “Sekata...he....”

Keep fighting.... Sekata's voice echoed in her mind.

Janet was down to 1900 LP, but she wasn't out of the battle yet.

“But I have 1 more card to play before I end my turn. `Card Destruction', which forces both players to discard their entire hand and draw a new one.” Arkane waved the card about.

“Damn....” Janet reluctantly slid her cards into the discard slot.

What if my friend's cards had been in my hand? There are just too many possibilities. She thought. And....oh no....

One of the cards she'd just drawn was Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Zoe's soul card.

It's too dangerous to keep Zoe's card in my hand, but at the same time, she doesn't stand a chance against Arkane's monster card. Janet grimaced as she begun her turn by drawing a card. Still, there has to be a way....

“I'll summon the `Lord of Dragons' in defense mode.” Janet placed a card face-up, though this time horizontally.

A tall man dressed in robes with a dragon-shaped helmet appeared. This card's defensive points (DEF) were 1100, much lower than her opponent's ATK. However, with the card in defense mode, Janet wouldn't receive any LP damage even if her card was destroyed in battle.

“The special ability of the `Lord of Dragons' is that all dragon-type cards cannot be targeted by any magic, trap or special effects.” Janet announced. “In addition, I'll play a magic card, `The Flute of Summoning Dragon', which allows me to specially summon any dragon-type monster from my hand.”

The cloaked spellcaster brought a `dragon-head' horn to his lips and blew a long and low note. This effect caused the large form of Red-Eyes Black Dragon to appear (with ATK 2400).

“Ugh...huh?!” Zoe moaned, glancing over her new form. “Jan.....what's going on here?!”

“You and Sekata are stuck inside this game I'm unfortunately forced to play.” Janet replied.

“Sekata? He's here too?”

“I....I lost him....to that.....” Janet pointed to Arkane's monster with her snout. “But the duel's not over yet. We can still get him back.”

“Ha, the ATK score of Red-Eyes is not even enough.” Arkane observed.

“Argh, why can't I move?!” Zoe struggled.

“You just have to play your part in this. Sekata just went down because of my carelessness.” Janet looked down. “But even then, I heard his voice telling me to keep fighting.”

“Jan...”

“I just keep letting everyone down.”

“No that's not true.” Zoe protested. “We all make mistakes, but we're always pulled through. And that's because we're stuck together, remember?”

Janet clenched a fist.

“I promise that I'm going to do everything in my power to get you out of this.” She declared. “Magic card, `Swords of Revealing Light'!”

A single ray of light pierced the darkness. From there, it branched off into multiple swords of white energy, which landed all around Arkane and his monster, causing the clown to cover his face.

“None of your monsters will be able to attack for 3 turns.”

“You're only delaying the inevitable.” Arkane said angrily.

“No, it's more that just that. It's the light...our light that will pierce your darkness!” Janet stared him in the eye. “You just don't realize what we can do together! End of my turn.”

“Stubborn girl.” Arkane drew a card. “I'll place a monster card facedown, and use the magic card `Offerings to the Doomed' to destroy the `Lord of Dragons'.”

“Gugh...” Janet covered her face as the aforementioned card vanished with a small explosion.

“Without its protection, your dragon-type monsters are once again vulnerable to my magic cards.” Arkane folded his arms. “But all in good time. That's the end of my turn.”

“It kept you away from Zoe for this turn, and that's what I needed.” Janet looked up. “Card draw!”

 

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Zelia opened her eyes to a blurry world. Her senses simply wanted to shut down again, but something forced her to keep awake.

This is....familiar somehow.....Zelia told herself as a short vision flashed before her eyes.

She had been in a similar capsule, also filled with the same green fluid she floated in now.

“Her revival has been successful, but there are problems.” A voice from elsewhere sounded. “She'll have no memories, and be nothing more than a mindless slave.”

“Even so....” Evza replied. “I must do this. There must be some chance to get her back.”

“Those are very slim. Please Miss Evza, I ask you to reconsider. She's dead, and you should let her go...”

“No, it's too late to turn back now.” Evza shook her head. “Look, she's beginning to move!”

The sudden sounds of fighting made her look up slightly. The armored knights, Junon and Dynamo had entered the room, and engaged Mihiramon and Kunbiramon.

Is it me they're fighting over? Zelia stared. No, it must be something else....

The four figures were still darting about when Aero emerged through an air vent. The blue dragon glanced straight towards her and started running.

“Another one! Stop him!” Kunbiramon yelled.

Mihiramon knocked Junon off and swung his Nunchucku tail. Aero raised his arms to block, with the force of the blow sending him rolling over.

“Judecca Prison!” Dynamo was preparing to fire a dark energy blast from his shield.

Kunbiramon bounced up and ploughed into him, sending his blast towards Zelia's capsule instead.

“NNOO!!!” Aero broke off from his own battle and jumped in front of energy beam, taking it straight in the chest.

Howling in pain, then blue dragon went flying, shattering the lower half of Zelia's capsule. The raptor dropped back onto solid ground amongst the spill of strange green liquid. Electricity sparkled as the machinery malfunctioned, sending shocks through both Aero and herself.

Zelia shook the sparks off and limped over to the fallen Aero's form.

“Why?” She muttered. “What did you see in me? Was I worth saving?”

“Damn, what did he think he was doing?!” Kunbiramon gasped.

“Grrrrr.....” Zelia snarled. “I'll make you all pay for that!!!”

And as the dino raced towards her enemies, Zelia's body glowed and started to change.

In her new form, Zelia stood upright as a humanoid knight in golden armor with red patterns. Her helmet still remained reptilian-shaped, along with her claws and 3-toed feet. Behind her, flapped a blue cape, along with two sleek fencing swords by her side.

This was an Ultimate Digimon, Grademon (Gureidomon).

“Huh?! Urghh!!” Junon was able to block Zelia's attack with her ribbon whips as she sprang away.

Zelia drew the twin blades as she continued her change. Dynamo blocked with his shield and Mihiramon ducked out of the way.

“Kurimisha!” Kunbiramon used his special ability, which created multiple illusionary copies of himself.

Zelia hesitated as the circle of Rat Devas surrounded her. One by one, they lunged.

Though many didn't have any effect, the real Deva occasionally hit her from behind.

The dino-knight steadied herself and started spinning on the spot. As her rate of rotation increased, a miniature whirlwind brewed up. While the clones remained in constant motion, the real Kunbiramon stood out for a second as he blinked with dust in his eyes.

A random swing in his general direction rewarded Zelia with a solid thud, sending the rat spinning into the air.

“Cross Blade!!” Zelia made an `X' motion with her swords, slicing Kunbiramon in two.

She landed and continued to smash machinery apart, creating dozens of small fires around.

“Great, she's not going to be coming with us willingly now.” Junon coughed. “Let's just destroy this place and get out.”

“I like the sound of that!” Dynamo holstered his lance and brought up a handful of small bombs. “Fire in the hole!”

Mihiramon snarled in frustration as the lab went up in smoke. That was until he noticed some of the spilt green liquid and proceeded to scoop a sample up with a small test tube.

Stashing the sample away, the tiger made his own hasty departure.

Zelia stood amidst the burning ruins on the lookout for another opponent. Then, she remembered Aero lying unconscious in a puddle of the green rejuvenation fluid.

And that snapped the dino out of her blind rage.

 

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“I'll sacrifice my facedown card to summon `Curse of Dragon', with ATK display of 2000.” Janet called forth a yellow wyvern with red patterns on its wings and body. “With it the magic card `Riryoku'. This has the effect of transferring half of one card's attacking score to another's for one turn.”

In accordance with the spell's effect, the ATK of `Curse of Dragon' dropped to 1000 while that of Red-Eyes rose to 3400.

“And I'll use this magic card I just drew, `Premature Burial'. By using 800 LP, I can equip this card to a monster in my graveyard and return him to the field!”

There was a sudden roar as Sekata in his Blue-Eyes White Dragon form reappeared on the field. He let off another startled screech as Zoe put a claw on his shoulder.

“Welcome back tough guy.” Zoe whispered.

“Ugh, that was a horrible experience.” Sekata moaned, feeling the area around his throat. “But hey, it's good to be back too.”

“Now you've got the highest ATK power Zoe.” Janet called. “Hit him with your attack! Dark Flare!”

Zoe felt a sudden surge of power and fired a dark energy ball from her jaws. Arkane's `Earl of Demise' was blown to smithereens, taking his LP down to 2200.

“And I'll have the `Curse of Dragon' attack next!”

The allied wyvern launched a fiery breath that shattered the facedown monster card.

“Sekata, now you can hit Arkane directly!” Janet yelled excitedly. “And he's got no reverse cards to protect him! Go for it!”

“Hey ugly! Remember me?!” Sekata opened his mouth, a white flare charging up within. “Allow me to return the favor!”

His white flare created a blinding explosion, but when it died down, Arkane remained standing calmly with 2200 LP.

“How...?!” Janet stared. “That should've taken him down to zero!”

Her own LP score was already down to 1100.

“I may not have had any reverse cards on my field, but by discarding this monster, `Kuriboh', I am able to neglect the damage done to my LP by one of my opponent's monsters.” Arkane slid a card into his discard slot. “Also, the facedown card you destroyed was the `Magician of Faith', whose special flip effect allows me to retrieve one magic card from my graveyard.”

“Even though it's your turn now, there's nothing much you can do.” Janet remarked. “You only have 2 cards in your hand and you can't draw this turn because you played `Offerings to the Doomed' previously. We'll definitely finish you off on the next attack!”

“Ah, but this one is all I need, `Treasure of Slashing Life' (Inochiketsuri No Nousatsu). This allows me to draw 5 cards now as long as I discard my entire hand 5 turns later.”

Arkane gleefully took 5 cards into his hand, making a total of 6.

“Now, I'll invoke the magic card `Heavy Storm' and destroy all magic and trap cards on the field!”

As he placed the card down, a huge tornado started brewing up. Janet had to crouch and dig her claws into the ground, while Sekata and Zoe covered their heads.

Everything including the `Swords of Revealing Light' and the `Yami' field would be destroyed. But that also meant that...

“Sekata!” Janet cried, horrified.

When the `Premature Burial' card was destroyed, the monster it had been equipped to would be sent back to the graveyard.

“Rargghh!! Damn!!!” Sekata screeched, still held in position by the unseen forces. “I don't want to go back in there....argghh!!!”

However, his scream was cut off the moment the `Premature Burial' card was knocked off the field. His body slowly began to disintegrate and faded away before the startled eyes of his companions, with the dragon struggling the whole time.

“Let me at him!! Garrghh!!!” Zoe struggled furiously at her own bonds.

“Don't worry, he won't be gone for too long.” Arkane smiled. “Allow me to show you the magic card I retrieved from my graveyard earlier, the `Monster Reborn'!”

“Oh no....” Janet gasped. She'd just remembered that the `Monster Reborn' could be used to resurrect a monster from either player's graveyard.

The towering form of Blue-Eyes White Dragon once again appeared on the field, this time on Arkane's side.

“Sekata?!” Zoe shouted. “What are you doing?! We're your friends, not him!!”

“Too bad. He hears and obeys only my voice now.” Arkane waved a finger. “Blue-Eyes White Dragon....attack!!”

 

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Zoe closed her eyes as the white flare flew towards their field. However, it hit the `Curse of Dragon' instead, destroying the virtual monster.

Janet fell back in pain as the excessive 1000 damage (Blue-Eyes White Dragon's 3000 - Curse of Dragon's 2000) took its toll against her body. Her LP score dropped to 100 as well.

“But my turn isn't done yet, and I'll show you the instrument of your destruction!” Arkane raised 3 more cards. “Here, I will use the magic card `Polymerization' to fuse 2 more Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards in my hand with this one on the field!”

“Sekata! No!!” Janet gasped, struggling to her feet.

The white dragon howled as the images of two more of his kin flew towards him. For a while, he bent over, clutching his sides in pain.

Then, two more heads burst of out his shoulders. Sekata's size increased twice fold, spreading his new massive wings as he became a 3-headed version of Blue-Eyes, know as Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (ATK 4500).

“I can't attack any more on this turn, so I'll hand it over to you.” Arkane finished.

“Sekata! Come on! Snap out of it!” Zoe yelled. “You can't let him control you like this!!”

“I don't think he could respond even if he wanted to.” Janet told her.

“No, he does have some control.” Zoe whispered. “Earlier on, when Arkane ordered the attack, he was definitely aiming for me. But Sekata redirected his attack to the `Curse of Dragon' instead.”

“It may have saved you, but it doesn't help us very much now.” Janet looked down at her hand.

The only card she still had was a trap card, `Metalmorph'. It had two effects: increasing the affected monster's ATK and DEF by 300, and was able to further increase the ATK by half of the target's ATK score.

Making a quick mental calculation, she realized that trap card's full effect would actually bring Zoe's ATK score of 2400 up to 4950 against Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's 4500. However, it being a trap card, she couldn't activate it immediately.

“Draw!” Janet pulled out another trap card, `Neglect Attack', from her deck. It would allow her to block a single attack from an opponent. “I'll set down both these reverse cards and end my turn.”

Body tense, Janet placed both cards down. There was still a chance they could get out of this.

“My turn.” Arkane drew a card.

“Now, I activate my trap card, `Metalmorph'!” Janet announced.

Zoe suddenly found herself equipped with a set of silver armor on her head and upper body.

“Interesting card, but I have this!” Arkane raised a card. “The `Axe of Despair'. By equipping this magic card, a monster raises its ATK by 1000 points.”

“Gugh....”

The ATK of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is becoming utterly difficult to handle! Not only that, taking into account that half of his 5500 ATK is now 2750, added to Zoe's 2400 and 300 from `Metalmorph'.....it's only 5450!

“Attack!” Arkane suddenly ordered.

“Jan!!” Zoe cried as the three heads of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon begun to light up.

“Activate trap card, `Neglect Attack'!” Janet started, snapping out of her thoughts.

The air around Zoe shimmered as the triple flare bounced off and exploded in the air.

“Like I said, you're merely delaying the inevitable.” Her opponent folded his arms. “Besides, even if you had the higher ATK, would you really have ordered one of your comrades to destroy the other?”

“Shut up! Garghhh!!” Janet clenched her fists. It angered her even more because she hadn't been thinking about it until he mentioned.

“Well, my turn's done.” Arkane huffed.

I've got nothing else in my hand, so everything depends on this draw... Janet thought. Come on....

“My turn! Draw!” Janet brought up the card and flipped it over to have a look.

`Creature Swap'....this magic card allows me to exchange one of my monster cards on the field with one of my opponent's. But the only 2 monster cards on the field are....

“Jan....?” Zoe turned her head.

“I....I can't do this....” Janet said softly. “I can't choose to sacrifice one of you for the other.”

If I play this card, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon will be on my side and destroy Red-Eyes. But if I don't, he'll attack Red-Eyes anyway and I'll take more damage.

“Sekata! Come on! I know you're in there!” Zoe's voice had no effect on the massive 3-headed beast.

“It's no use.” Janet gritted her fangs. “I can't shield both of you from....”

Shield...wait! That's it!

“I feel a strange presence calling out to me.” Zoe whispered. “Is there something in the deck that I can use?”

“There is.” Janet snapped her fingers. “Listen Zoe, no matter what it looks like, you have trust that I'll keep my word to get you guys out of this.”

“I have the feeling you're going to try something really crazy.”

“Insane is more like it.” Janet growled. “Hang on!”

 

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Sekata felt like his mind was simply going to explode.

Being dragged in and out of the graveyard section had been traumatizing enough, with each one feeling like an extremely painful hit. However, having his body completely under his enemy's control and being transformed into a 3-headed beast was entirely out of his scope.

Trying to move, talk or even control his own breathing was all out of his control.

He hadn't felt this sense of helplessness since the time long ago when he'd first formed his pact with the Beast Spirit of Fire. It was a bad memory and Sekata shuddered at the thought of it.

Sekata was trying hard to focus, but having three heads, his vision was constantly shifting about. From what he could tell, Janet and Zoe seemed to have come up with a plan.

“I will now activate a special effect of `Metalmorph'!” Janet declared. “When this card is equipped to Red-Eyes Black Dragon, it enables me to draw and summon this card from my deck!”

Zoe's body shone as a silvery metal slowly crept over it. Soon, her Red-Eyes Black Dragon form had become completely covered by the metallic armor, changing the dragon into a new, mechanical form of its former self.

“Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon, ATK score 2800!” Janet looked up, nodding to Zoe.

“A mere 2800?” Arkane wondered.

“And with it, this magic card `Creature Swap'!”

WHAT??!!! Sekata thought.

In the blink of an eye, he was back on Janet's field, but this time facing Zoe on the other side. Sekata could feel his ability to move restored to at least some of his parts and he glared back and Janet....with all three of his heads.

“What the hell are you doing?!” He roared. The voice was still his own, but in triple. “How could you send Zoe over there?!”

He couldn't see Janet's eyes beneath her helmet, but from the way she stared back, she was determined to defend her decision.

“Sekata, this is the only chance we have to get out of this.” Janet growled. “I need you to attack.”

“Attack Zoe?! Have you lost your mind?! I'll never do that, not after what I almost did the last time I was out of control!!”

“You're gonna hate me for this. I order you to attack dammit!!!”

“NNNOOO!!! RRARRGGHHH!!!!” Sekata struggled like mad, but against his will, his body was being forced to move.

The white flares within the jaws of his three heads flashed.

“No! Wait!” Arkane panicked. “AArrgghhhh!!!”

The blinding light tore through Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon, with the extra force going to Arkane (dealing 2700 damage) and taking his LP score down to zero. The Piedmon disintegrated with his scream echoing around the area.

The white energy bursts had stirred up a huge cloud of dust, and when that cleared, Zoe was still standing. She was back in the form of the regular Red-Eyes, shaking bits and pieces of shattered metal armor off her body.

“Wow I have to say that stung a little.” Zoe grinned.

“Zoe! You're alive!!” Sekata stared.

“Didn't trust me, did you?” Janet walked up to him. “I said I'd protect her.....with the armor of course!”

“I understand. You used the metal body of her second form to shield Zoe from the blast.” Sekata laughed. “Sincerely, I did doubt you back there. I apologize for that.”

“Oh think nothing of it.”

The area around them suddenly flickered like a damaged TV screen. The surroundings were changing again.

 

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When Janet managed to open her eyes again, she realized she was back in the old cavern. There were a number of noticeable differences this time.

The cave was much smaller than she'd first thought, and ended with a slight slope and some machinery at the rear wall. She was within one of three horizontal glass cylinders standing in front of a large computer and screen.

Sekata and Zoe, back to their `normal' Digimon forms, had awakened in the other two cylinders. The trio broke their way out and stepped off the metal sections.

“Just where were we anyway?” Sekata wondered. “I don't remember this cavern looking like this before.”

“This thing is like some sort of virtual reality system.” Zoe spoke up. “It used holograms to lure us into those cylinders, then they could further change and manipulate our environment.”

“They?” Janet asked. “And how did you know all that anyway?”

“Whoever designed this system and left it here.” Zoe shrugged. “And I don't know. I just felt some contact from the intelligence programmed in here.”

“The Arkane fellow?” Sekata turned towards her. “Perhaps he was the designer?”

“A ghost in the machine.” Janet whistled.

“Well, something like that.” Zoe held Sekata's claw. “As long as we're out of it.”

“Uh-huh, I really didn't like taking up the steed of Blue-Eyes White Dragon.” Sekata commented. “They way you all were dragging me in and out of the graveyards like that.”

“Hey!” Janet whacked his side. “Be happy that you were so popular.”

“And having three heads was the weirdest part.” Sekata patted his shoulders. “I don't want to have to go through that again.”

“So, we'd better unplug this thing for good!” Janet raised a familiar glowing blue flash in her hands. “Erase Claw!”

“X-laser!”

“Corona Blaster!”

As their energy bursts tore the cavern down, the group retreated out into the open.

“That's that.” Zoe nodded.

“Hmm, I'm starving too.” Sekata grumbled. “I feel like I haven't eaten in days.”

“Erm....” Zoe looked down at her D-Dragon's screen. “That's because 2 days have passed.....”