Chapter 4: Stone Cold
Luke fell to the ground face-first. The sparks flying out the back of hit neck began to lessen. Leo ran over to try and help Luke. Luke was still alive, Leo could hear his breath against the tiled floor. He looked at the back of Luke's neck and saw what caused the sparks. There was a metallic object sticking out of the back of Luke's neck. The object was small and cylindrical, maybe half an inch in diameter. There was what looked like an LED light on the top. The light was cracked and smoking. From time to time the device sparked a little bit. Leo noticed a little bit of blood seeping out of the area where the device was implanted. Whatever it was, it was probably in deep. Leo wondered why he didn't notice the device in the back of Luke's neck before. He thought that perhaps he just wasn't paying attention.
Leo tried to wake up Luke. He shook him several times and called Luke's name. There was no response. Leo wondered if the thing sticking out of Luke's neck had fried his brain when he lost the duel. Leo tried to figure out what to do next. He was afraid to move Luke, and he couldn't trust the school nurse. Reluctantly, Leo decided to leave Luke where he was and go find help. Besides, he needed to find Luna. He was afraid that what happened to Luke might happen to Luna as well. Leo ran to the classroom where Luna was supposed to be. There was no one there. Leo ran back into the hallway. He tried to think of some other place Luna might be, somewhere she'd try to hide. Everywhere Leo went the school was deserted. At one point, Leo called out Luna's name, no one answered.
Leo felt helpless as he stood in the middle of hallway. He wished that Yusei and Jack were there to help him as they did in the past. This time Leo was alone. He tried to figure out who he could turn to for help. Than Leo remembered how Mrs. Kretch was the only one at the school besides Luna and himself who wasn't effected by what was going on. Leo shuddered at the thought of asking Mrs. Kretch for help, but it seemed like his only option. Leo went to his class's homeroom in the hopes of finding Mrs. Kretch. She wasn't there, but Roxanne was.
"Hello Leo." Roxanne greeted in her monotone voice.
Roxanne was the last person that Leo wanted to run into.
"Uh, hi Roxanne." Leo greeted nervously. "I'm looking for Mrs. Kretch. Have you her?"
"Mrs. Kretch?" Roxanne asked as she tilted her head to the right. "No, I haven't seen her."
"Oh, okay. Well, I guess I'll look somewhere else." Leo replied with a false smile as he turned to leave. "See ya!"
"Aren't actually looking for your sister?" Roxanne asked.
Leo stopped and turned to look at Roxanne.
"You know where Luna is?!" Leo asked eagerly.
"Of course." Roxanne replied.
"Than take me to her!" Leo demanded.
"Very well." Roxanne replied. "Follow me."
Leo followed Roxanne out of the school and on to a bus that usually stopped out front to pick up and drop of students and other passengers. As Leo got on the bus, he noticed that everyone onboard, including the driver, had the same blank expression as Roxanne and everyone at the school. Roxanne lead Leo to a seat on the lower level of the bus on the right-hand side of the bus. The bus pulled away as they sat down. Leo looked out the window. It seemed that it wasn't just the people at the school and on the bus who were acting strange. Every person Leo saw outside walked around with blank expressions, like they were in some kind of trance.
Leo wondered if the whole city had been "converted." As the bus turned, Leo noticed two guys dueling in a vacant lot. One of them seemed to show actual emotion, and from the look Leo saw on the guy's face, it looked like he was loosing. The other duelist, who had the same expression as everybody else, declared a direct attack with a knight in blueish-white armor. Leo recognized the monster as Blade Knight. Just after the knight slashed the loser across the chest, Leo saw the winning duelists eye literally light up and shoot green beams of energy at the loser. Then, two other guys, who Leo assumed were spectators, grabbed the unconscious loser and put him in a car, which drove away.
"Do not be alarmed." Roxanne said, not even looking out the window. "The one who lost was only stunned. He is being taken to what you have referred to as the meteor, where he will be converted to serve our master."
Leo had figured out what being converted meant. It meant that everyone had those devices implanted in their necks. Leo feared the worst. He feared that Luna had already had one of those things put in the back of her neck. Leo and Roxanne rode the bus for what seemed like hours until finally it stopped just outside the city. Roxanne got of the bus at that point and Leo followed. Roxanne lead Leo deep into a nearby forest. After what seemed like half an hour of walking, Roxanne stopped and turned to face Leo.
"Beyond this point is where you will find your sister." Roxanne announced her left arm towards a hill just up ahead. "However, this is as far as I can take you."
Roxanne put down her book bag and pulled out a duel disk.
"If you wish to go further, you will have to beat me in a duel." Roxanne told Leo as she put the duel disk on her left arm.
Leo didn't like the turn the situation had taken. He remembered what happened to Luke when he was defeated, and Leo didn't want that to happen to Roxanne. However, there didn't seem to be any other options. It was beginning to get dark out, and Leo didn't want to risk getting lost in the forest trying to cut around Roxanne. Reluctantly, Leo put on his duel disk and prepared to duel. Once Leo and Roxanne drew five cards from their decks, there life points were set to 4000 and the duel began.
"I shall go first!" Roxanne announced as she drew her first card.
Leo had seen Roxanne duel before at the academy, but he could never remember what kind of deck she used. All Leo could remember about Roxanne's duels were her gorgeous blue eyes, her perfect blond hair, and her beautiful smile that seemed to light up the world. Leo shook his head. He needed to focus on the duel at hand. Otherwise he'd find out what it was like to be "converted."
"I summon Giant Rat in Defense Mode and end my turn!" Roxanne coldly announced as she placed a card in her duel disk.
A large fat rodent appeared on the field in front of Roxanne. Leo looked at his hand. It wasn't a bad one. Three Morphtronic monsters, Morphtronic Cord, and Morphtansition.
"My turn!" Leo announced as he drew his first card.
"I summon Morptronic Videon in Attack Mode!" Leo announced as he placed a card in his duel disk.
A large digital camera appeared on the field in front of Leo and unfolded into a robot.
"Next I equip Videon with Morphtronic Cord!" Leo announced. "Morphtronic Videon gains 800 ATK for every card equipped to it!"
A black electrical cord appeared and attached itself to Videon's back. Video's ATK rose to 1800, which was far more powerful than Giant Rat's 1550 DEF.
"Videon, attack Giant Rat!" Leo commanded. "Lens Laser!"
Videon leaped into the air and fired a red beam from the camera lens on top of its head. The beam hit Giant Rat, shattering it into triangles of golden light.
"When Giant Rat is destroyed, I can Special Summon an Earth Attribute monster with 1500 ATK or less!" Roxanne announced.
Roxanne removed her deck from her duel disk, picked out a card, and placed the deck back in her duel disk.
"I summon Enraged Muka Muka in Attack Mode!" Roxanne announced as she placed the card she selected in her duel disk.
A large green crab-like creature with red eyes and purple legs appeared on the field. The crab swelled to enormous size and its gut began to glow a bright orange-red. Despite the creatures size, Leo wasn't worried. He had heard of Enraged Muka Muka before and remembered that it only had 1200 ATK. Nothing that Videon couldn't take out. The only thing Leo couldn't remember was Enraged Muka Muka's effect.
"Enraged Muka Muka gains 400 ATK for each card in my hand!" Roxanne explained.
Leo suddenly freaked out. Roxanne had five cards in her hand, which meant that Enraged Muka Muka gained 2000 ATK. Leo took a deep breath and looked at his hand.
"I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn!" Leo announced.
Things had suddenly gone from good to bad. Videon was no match for Muka Muka now. Leo's only hope was the Trap he just laid.
"My turn!" Roxanne announced.
"I activate the Spell, Infinite Cards!" Roxanne announced as she placed a card in her duel disk. "This card allows me to have more than six cards in my hand!"
A large card depicting several cards floating above a pair of hands appeared on the field behind Enraged Muka Muka. Leo knew that Infinite cards meant that there was no limit to how strong Muka Muka could become.
"Enraged Muka Muka, attack Morphtronic Videon!" Roxanne commanded. "Lava Cannon!"
Enraged Muka Muka swelled up even larger and spat out a huge ball of molten lava.
"I activate my Trap, Morphtransition!" Leo announced. "Morphtronic Videon is changed to Defense Mode and your attack is negated!"
Videon folded back into a camera as an invisible barrier appeared and blocked the ball of lava.
"That's not all!" Leo announced. "When the battle position of a monster equipped with Morphtronic Cord is changed, I can destroy one Spell or Trap card on my opponent's field! So I choose to destroy Infinite Cards!"
The black cord that was attached to Videon whipped across the field and hit Roxanne's Spell card, shattering it into gold triangles.
"I end my turn!" Roxanne announced.
Things weren't looking too good. Leo needed another miracle to beat Enraged Muka Muka.
"My turn!" Leo announced.
Leo smiled at the card he just drew.
"I summon Morphtronic Remoten in Attack Mode!" Leo announced.
A large white remote appeared next to Videon. Short pairs of arms and legs Two green circles appeared on on the remote's black screen.
"Next I Tune my level four Morphtronic Videon into my level three Morphtronic Remoten to Synchro Summon Power Tool Dragon!" Remoten transformed into three rings of green light. As the rings surrounded Videon and transformed it into four balls of white light, Leo chanted: "Docking strength with courage to protect world peace! Synchro Summon! Envoy of love and justice, Power Tool Dragon!"
Leo's faithful mechanical dragon appeared in a burst of white light.
"Now I activate Power Tool Dragon's effect, which lets me add a random Equip Spell from my deck to my hand!" Leo announced.
Leo looked at the card that popped out of his deck and smiled. It was just the card he needed.
"Next I equip Power Tool Dragon with Axe of Despair!" Leo announced. "Now Power Tool Dragon gains 1000 extra ATK!"
An axe with an sinisterly carved handle appeared in front of Power Tool Dragon. The dragon grabbed the axe with its left claw, and its ATK rose to 3300. That made Power Tool Dragon just strong enough to destroy Enraged Muka Muka.
"Power Tool Dragon, attack Enraged Muka Muka!" Leo commanded. "Crafty Break!"
Power Tool Dragon bashed Muka Muka with its back-hoe scoop claw, shattering it into several rock fragments. Roxanne's life points dropped from 4000 to 3900.
"I end my turn!" Leo announced.
"My turn!" Roxanne coldly announced as she drew another card.
Leo didn't like dueling with Roxanne the way she was. Leo remembered how Roxanne always smiled when she dueled, how she always seemed to have fun. Now Roxanne was only a zombie, dueling as if she were asleep.
"I summon Stone Statue of the Aztecs in Defense Mode!" Roxanne announced as she placed another card in her duel disk.
A large green statue appeared on the field in front of Roxanne.
"Next I set two cards face-down and end my turn!" Roxanne announced as she placed two more cards in her duel disk.
"My turn!" Leo announced as he drew his next card.
Leo looked at the card he drew. It was another Morphtransition Trap. Leo didn't think that he needed it though, but it was a good card to have just in case.
"First I summon Morphtronic Boomboxen in Attack Mode!" Leo announced.
A large red boom box appeared on the field and unfolded into a robot.
"I activate a Trap card!" Roxanne announced. "Rock Bombardment! By sending one Rock-Type monster from my deck to the Graveyard, I can inflict 500 points of damage to my opponent!"
Roxanne pull out her deck, selected a card, and placed the deck back in her duel disk.
"I send Giant Soldier of Stone to the Graveyard!" Roxanne announced as she placed the card she selected into the Graveyard slot of her duel disk.
A giant boulder flew at Leo, causing him to flinch. The boulder reduced Leo's life points to 3500.
"I activate the effect of Power Tool Dragon to add one random Equip Spell to my hand!" Leo announced.
Leo looked at the card that popped out of his deck. It looked as if luck was on Leo's side.
"Next I equip Power Tool Dragon with Break! Draw!" Leo announced.
A large card depicting a warrior standing over a slain dragon appeared behind Power Tool Dragon.
"Now, Power Tool Dragon, attack Stone Statue of the Aztecs!" Leo commanded. "Crafty Break!"
The robotic dragon's back-hoe scope claw shattered the stone idle into large fragments of rock.
"Now the effect of Break! Draw! kicks in!" Leo announced. "When Power Tool Dragon destroys a monster, I get to draw another card!"
Leo looked at the card that he just drew. It was the Spell card, Rocket Pilder. Nothing that could really help him. It didn't matter though as he was winning.
"Morphtronic Boomboxen, attack Roxanne directly!" Leo commanded "Sound Wave Burst!"
Boomboxen send out a sonic wave that hit Roxanne, who stood like a statue when hit. Roxanne's reaction to the assault reminded Leo about the consequences of winning the duel. Leo remembered how Luke collapsed and fell into a coma. Leo didn't want that to happen to Roxanne.
"Roxanne, we don't half to keep doing this!" Leo pleaded. "Just surrender and we can forget this whole thing!"
"Make your next move!" Roxanne responded in her cold monotone.
Leo gritted his teeth. I didn't seem like he had much choice but to duel Roxanne in order to get to Luna. Leo wondered why out of all the people to stand in the way of saving his sister, why did it have to be Roxanne? The direct attack of Boomboxen had reduced Roxanne's life points from 3900 to 2700.
"Boomboxen, attack Roxanne again!" Leo hesitantly commanded. "Sound Wave Burst!"
Boomboxen hit Roxanne with another sonic wave.
"I activate my Trap card!" Roxanne announced. "Rock Bombardment! I send a Rock-Type monster from my deck to the Graveyard to inflict 500 points of damage!"
Roxanne pulled out her deck to select another card to dump into her Graveyard.
"I send another Giant Soldier of Stone to the Graveyard!" Roxanne announced as she place another monster into her duel disk's Graveyard slot.
Another large boulder flew at Leo, reducing his life points to 3000.
"I set one card face-down and end my turn!" Leo announced.
"My turn!" Roxanne announced.
"I activate the Spell card, Card Destruction!" Roxanne announced. "Both of us must send our hands to the Graveyard and draw an equal number of cards from our decks!"
Both duelists dumped their hands into the Graveyard slots in their duel disks and drew new hands.
"Now I remove Enraged Muka Muka, Giant Soldier of Stone, Stone Statue of the Aztecs, Giant Solder of Stone, Mine Golem, Muka Muka, and Magic Hole Golem from my Graveyard to Special Summon Megarock Dragon!" Roxanne announced as she removed the seven monsters from her Graveyard and placed a new card in her duel disk.
A gigantic dragon made of grayish-tan stone appeared on the field behind Roxanne. The dragon stood on all fours. A mass of stone spikes ran from the back of its neck all the way down to its tail. Megarock Dragon roared as it appeared on the field. Leo suddenly began to think that perhaps his luck had run out.
