//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - Rock-Solid Determination // Story: Ranking Up to Infinity // by Mona_Chromatic //------------------------------// "So that's it?" Marble asked shyly, when Mona finished his story. "It was your sister who did this?" "Jeez," scoffed Pinkie, who blew a tuft of pink hair from her face. "And they say I'm crazy...." "I'm sorry," Mona said sorrowfully, shaking his head. "I wish I could have done something sooner...." "....What the quartz is that supposed to mean?" came the sharp reply of Limestone. Before Mona could respond, Limestone had grabbed him by the collar, and lifted him off the ground, pinning him against the window. Marble let out a small scream, which woke Trixie from her slumber. "Huzzzit-wah?" she mumbled, still groggy. Mona was shocked at the amount of strength Limestone had, especially since she was still holding onto his shirt with a death grip even when Pinkie was trying to pry her away. "Of COURSE you could've done something!" Limestone scolded him, slamming him against the window again. The window shuddered at the impact, and Mona felt a shiver go up his spine. "YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE that your very own SISTER was out of YOUR CONTROL?" The rage in her voice began rising even further. "WHY I OUTTA -" "OF COURSE SHE WAS OUT OF MY CONTROL! SHE WAS ALL I HAD!" Mona retorted at the top of his lungs. Limestone was taken aback but kept her grip. She narrowed her eyes. "....what?" she growled. "All our lives we were alone. Feeding off of scraps, living in the trash, being treated like trash," said Mona furiously. "All we ever had was each other. And even then, she did everything: cooking, cleaning, and taking care of me after we ditched the orphanage, where she protected me, cared for me, when NO ONE ELSE WOULD!" All eyes were now on Mona, including Trixie, who up until now, hadn't noticed that the room had been more crowded than before. "I owe her my life, and have devoted it to making her happy," said Mona, who looked dead at Limestone's eyes. "Who am I to take that from her?" Limestone began to retort, but Mona continued. "Look, what she did to Maud was unforgivable. After seeing that, I knew once and for all that I the sister I knew and loved was gone...." He gripped his fist. "I'm done hiding under her shadow. And I promise you, I'm gonna make her pay." Limestone was quiet for moment when Marble's shaky voice piped up. "Lime... just put him down." Pinkie's efforts to pry Limestone's hands away from Mona were finally successful, only because Limestone released her grip. The sudden release of force caused Pinkie to stumble back into a nearby potted plant, tipping it over. She sprung back up, with a leaf stuck in her poofy mass of hair, and sighed contently. "Great! Sooooo..... are we all friends now?" she said, bringing the two together. Mona and Limestone stared at each other intensely. "You wanna make her pay?" Limestone asked. "Then prove it. Meet me at the Southern parking lot in 15 minutes. Get your duel disk and deck ready, cause I'm gonna see if you can live up to your words." "....With pleasure," growled Mona. Trixie stood up from her seat, looked at Maud, and then looked at the clock. The current time read 11:04 PM. A nurse walked in at that moment, holding a clipboard under her arm. "Apologies everyone, but visiting hours are ending soon," she said. "I'm afraid you'll have to come back tomorrow." "Thank you," said Marble, as she took Pinkie's hand. "C'mon, we head down to watch the duel..." "Alright! See you all in 15 minutes," said Pinkie, perky as ever. Limestone joined the two as they walked out the door. Trixie finally let go of Maud's hand, and, when Mona had his back to her, kissed her friend on the cheek. "I'll be back tomorrow. I promise, alright?" Mona looked about the room, not noticing the kiss. He and Trixie prepared to make their way down when he realized something. "Hey, where's Hitch?" It didn't take long to find him. Back in the room Mona had saw him staring at earlier, they found him seated next to another hospital bed. This one held a boy about Hitch's age. His skin was as red as a fire truck, and his blond hair had been combed to the left so well, it seemed to have remained unchanged for however long he had been there. He was dressed in a hospital nightgown, and Hitch was holding his hand. "Hey," said Hitch as the two approached him. He broke off his grip. "I never got to ask, how's Maud?" Trixie inhaled sharply, and forced the words out. "The doctor said she'll live, but she's stuck in a comatose state. They have no idea when she'll wake up." Hitch sighed, then turned to Mona. "I heard a commotion back there. What happened?" "Maud's sister wants me to prove my worth, so I'm heading down there to duel her." Mona looked at the boy, then back at Hitch. "Do you want to introduce me?" "Right," Hitch said, looking at the boy. "I should explain." "Explain on the way out," said Mona, as he strapped on his duel disk. He had taken off his hoodie, revealing the black t-shirt underneath, and rolled his shoulder in preparation. "The nurses said we have to leave." The three of them hopped into one of the elevators right as the doors were about to close, and began descending to the main floor. Hitch began to fill the other two in. "His name is Sprout Cloverleaf. He's one of my best friends and one of the best duelists I know," he explained. "We often would get in trouble together for sticking our noses in places we shouldn't have been." He laughed. Trixie jumped right to the point: "What is he doing here, then?" Mona shot Trixie an accusatory glare, but Hitch didn't seem to mind. "Long, long, loooooong story short," he said, scratching the back of his head. "About a year back, he and I had a falling out. I think it was over something stupid, like, who had to pay the rent that month." "You two lived together?" interrupted Trixie, who received another accusatory glare from Mona. "Ummm...yeah," answered Hitch, slightly embarrassed. "He was pretty steamed about the whole ordeal, so he stormed out the door. I thought he would come back by nightfall, but no such luck. Then about a day later...." he slowed to a stop. "You found him like that?" Trixie finished the sentence. Mona was ready to ask Trixie what was wrong with her when the elevator light went off, and the doors opened. The three stepped off and walked towards the parking lot. "Hitch, I need to know," said Mona, walking in front of them as he tied the sleeves of his hoodie around his waist. "Sprout - did he or did he not have a Number card?" "Yeah, actually, he did," Hitch nodded. Then his eyes began to widen as he put the pieces together. "Wait a moment....you don't think-" "There you are!" called an irritated voice. Mona glanced in the direction of the voice, then back at Hitch. "We'll talk more later, alright?" Hitch was lost in though as Mona jogged over to where Limestone, Pinkie, and Marble were. Limestone's outfit had changed as well. Underneath her grey flannel jacket was a bright blue nylon shirt that matched her eye in color, and had the words "Nothing personal, I just hate you". She was wearing long black pants under her jacket, and the duel disk on her arm had the same design as Maud's. "I was starting to think you weren't gonna show," she called out as Mona took is position across the parking lot. Pinkie and Marble took a step back, as Limestone's duel disk ejected two small devices. Both of them shot in opposite directions, landing about three meters away from her. The propped up and hummed to life, and one half of the duel field materialized in front of her. "It was only 10 minutes," Mona retorted, as he pressed a few buttons on his duel disk. The same devices shot out, and completed the duel field. He set his deck into the deck slot, and took a ready stance. "If any of this actually mattered to you," said Limestone, who had set her deck in place and took the same stance. "you would have been here in 5." Mona narrowed his eyes. Limestone smirked as Pinkie pulled out a coin. "Alright!" said Pinkie, as she bounced to the middle of the field. "Call it in the air!" She flipped the coin upwards. "Heads!" said Mona. Limestone was silent. The coin landed in Pinkie's hand. "Tails!" she called. "Limestone?" "I'll let him go first," said Limestone smugly, drawing 5 cards from her deck. "I wanna see how good he really is." "Fine, then," said Mona, as he drew 5 cards from his deck. "I'll show you!" "DUEL!" Mona's LP -----> 8000 Limestone's LP -----> 8000 "I'll start with this! I'll summon D/D Savant Copernicus!" (Level 4, 0/0) A great orange ball of humming energy arose from the ground. It was surrounded with rusted bronze rings, looping around the orb like the rings of a planet. Several smaller shining stones of similar size and shape, but varied in color, were set around these rings. "When he's summoned," said Mona, as the stones began to blink, "I can send one D/D or Dark contract card from my deck to the grave. The card I'll send is D/D Vice Typhon!" (Level 7, 2100/2300) "Next, since I control a D/D monster, I can special summon D/D Griffon from my hand!" (Level 4, 1200/1200) An echoing cry of a bird rang through the night as a tall, human-like figure rose from the field. Its head was like that of a hawk, covered in feathers and had a large beak, and its limbs were skinny with talons at the end instead of fingers and toes. "Two level four pendulums? Is he going for an XYZs summon?" asked Marble, turning to Trixie and Hitch. Trixie shook her head. "Trixie has fought Mona earlier!" she rubbed her hands in anticipation. "His best play would be to go into that other monster he has..." "I'll link off Copernicus and Griffon to construct the link circuit! Link Summon!" said Mona, as the sky above opened to reveal a bright blue square, with a red arrow pointing in each direction. The two monsters on his field shot into the sky as red beams of light, crashing into and illuminating the bottom two corners. "Haunted ruler of the deepest depths, I call upon your might! Appear, D/D/D Abyss King Gilgamesh!" (Link 2, 1800) Descending from the sky was a giant knight clad in blue-and-black armor rose from the circuit. It held a great spear and a sword in its hands, and stood defiantly in front of Limestone. "OOOOOH, Link summoning!" Pinkie clapped her hands cheerfully. "That's a summoning technique our family hasn't seen much of!" Limestone was unimpressed. In fact, she stood stoically at the arrival of Mona's monster, and smirked. "That's 3 summons...." she muttered under her breath. "I activate Gilgamesh's effect! When he's link summoned, I can place two D/D pendulum monsters from my deck in my pendulum zones; however, I have to take 1000 points of damage to do this." A pair of red and blue lights shone on both sides of Mona as pillars of energy, as he selected the cards from his duel disk. "I'll take the scale 0 D/D/D Divine Zero King Rage and the scale 10 D/D Savant Newton!" Just like before, the 4 onlookers watched as two figures appeared under the lights. Standing in the blue light was a man with skin toned grey and hair gleaming white, while in the red light floated a metal crescent moon with a metal head protruding from the shape. Hitch pumped his fist in excitement. "Perfect! Now he can summon both of those monsters back by pendulum summoning them to zones that Gilgamesh point to!" Marble bit her finger in anxiety. "But.... that'll be enough summons for Limestone to...." Mona's LP: 8000 --> 7000 "Lets do this! I'll pendulum summon using the set scales 0 and 10!" A giant crystal hung by a string descended and began to swing around the two figures. "From my extra deck, I'll summon back both Copernicus and Griffon, in defense mode!" The two monsters from before descended from the light, now a blended purple, and hovered gently a few inches above the ground. Limestone smiled. "Five....." she counted, as she picked one of the cards from her hand. "Now, I'll activate-" began Mona, when suddenly, his duel disk began to flash red. He looked down at the screen, as a bright red warning alerting him blinked across his eyes. "Warning - Impact Imminent." it read. Mona furrowed his brow. "Impact? What does that even mean?" His question would be answered when a bright red light began to shine through the sky. In that moment, everyone had to shield their eyes and ears, when from the sky, a red mass of solid rock began shooting down from the sky, right towards Mona's field. It crashed with a deafening impact, and the dust that was kicked up created a cloud thick enough to be cut through. "What the...." Mona's eyes widened as the dust cleared. His monsters were gone. In their place, a giant boulder riddled with holes was firmly planted in the ground, almost blocking his view of Limestone. He raised himself on his toe tips, and saw that, behind the smiling Limestone, was another rock similar to his. This one, however, was floating, and a red glow pulsated from the inside. Trixie looked at the two sisters in confusion. "Umm.... Now Trixie is confused, cause I'm pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen." "Oh, it's simple, really," said Limestone smugly. "When you summoned for the fifth time with that last pendulum summon, you activated the effect of Nibiru, the Primal Being, from my hand!" (Level 10, 3000/600) "When my opponent normal or special summons a monster 5 or more times during their turn, I can special summon this card from my hand to my side of the field, by tributing all monsters currently on the field!" "WHAT!" Trixie yelled. Hitch pointed to the rock on Mona's field. "Wait, what about that one?" "That's the other effect of Nibiru," Limestone explained. "When he's summoned through that effect, it places a token on your side of the field, with attack and defense points equal to the sum of the attack and defense of all the monsters that were tributed!" Mona looked at the token that had replaced his monsters(Level 11, 3000/1200). "Tch..." he bit his lip in frustration. "She gave him a monster?" Hitch asked, tilting his head. "But it was still Mona's turn, so not only can he not attack with it, but he's also all out of other plays!" Pinkie piped up. Mona looked down at his hand and field. It's true, he thought to himself. I already used up my normal and pendulum summon, and I can't use this stupid rock for anything.... His duel disk beeped twice, notifying him of his unresolved play. I guess I'll have to make do with this...he thought. "You only tributed my monsters, meaning Griffon's effect still resolves," declared Mona. "By discarding one D/D or Dark Contract card from my hand, I can draw one from my deck!" He slipped one of his cards into the graveyard and slid off the top one from his deck. His disappointed expression was all the information Limestone needed. "Well? I'm waiting!" she called, tapping her foot impatiently. "Alright, alright! Lemme think!" retorted Mona, looking at the cards in his hands. He picked two of the cards in his and slipped them into the duel disk's spell and trap zone. "I'll set two cards facedown and end my turn!" Limestone scoffed. "That's it, then? You were talking all that good talk about making your sister pay, but maybe you don't have what it takes after all!" she taunted as she drew a card from her deck. "Draw!" "I'll play Adamancipator Seeker, in attack position!" (Level 2, 1200/1000) A blue-haired man appeared onto the field, carrying a large backpack on his back. He was dressed in the sort of clothes one would expect one to wear on a safari, yet the helmet on his head with the headlamp suggested a more cave-based form of exploration. A golden rod was sticking outside his back. "I now activate his effect! I can look at the top 5 cards in my deck, select a level 4 or lower non-tuner Rock-type monster among them, and special summon it in defense position! Then, I can arrange the other cards go to the bottom of the deck in any order I choose!" declared Limestone. The man raised the rod over his head and hit it against the ground. The ringing sound was so loud, the ground began to crack beneath it. He did this five times, and Mona realized that the rod was acting akin to a pickaxe. Five cards from Limestone's deck arose in front of her. She scanned her eyes over each of them, before selecting a button on her duel disk. "I'll pick..... this one! Adamancipator Crystal - Raptite!"(Level 4, 0/2200) Emerging from the ground was a green crystal that shone brilliantly, almost illuminating the field. It was large and mostly opaque, but with enough effort, Mona could make out the shadow of something hidden inside it. Limestone set the other cards back into her deck. "Now, since I have a Rock monster on the field, I can special summon Adamancipator Seeker from my hand!" declared Limestone. (Level 2, 100/2100) This time, a young orange-haired woman appeared on the field. Her shoulders were covered by a red shawl, and her clothes were very similar to that of the blue-haired man, though without as many pockets or gear. In her hand, was a rod similar to that of the man's, but narrower, and had a green point at the end. "Her effect is the same of that as Seeker: Once per turn, I can excavate the top five cards in my deck after shuffling it, special summon one of the level 4 or lower non-tuner Rock type monsters among them, and place the rest at the bottom of my deck in any order!" The woman raised the pointed edge into the sky illuminating it. Again, the five cards floated before Limestone, and she quickly selected the next one. "I'm gonna summon Adamancipator Crystal - Leonite!"(Level 4, 0/2200) A large, orange crystal rose from the ground. This one was more oval-shaped than its green counterpart, and the shadow within was different. Before Mona could get a closer look, it shot into the sky, along with Seeker. "I'll tune my level 2 Seeker with my Level 4 Leonite! I synchro summon!" Limestone declared. Trixie was taken aback. "That guy is a tuner?" she exclaimed. The two monsters disappeared from view. In their place were a set of shining starts, six in total, and lining up against a single pillar of light. "Let your roar shatter stone and may gems be crushed beneath your paw! I synchro summon Level 6 Adamancipator Risen - Leonite!" chanted Limestone. (Level 6, 2400/2200) A giant roar came from beneath the depths of the earth, and out burst forth a giant orange lion. Its body was orange, and its mane was hard and pointy in all directions, resembling giant crystal pillars. Riding on its back was Seeker, who seemed to have control over the monster. The monster stared at Mona with its yellow, glimmering eyes. "Next, I'll tune my level 2 Adamancipator Researcher and Adamancipator Crystal - Raptite, to synchro summon again!" The other crystal and the man were converted into stars that aligned themselves with the same pillar of light behind Limestone . "Let your wingbeats grind the mountains to rubble, and the forests be uprooted from your power! Take flight, Level 6 Adamancipator Risen - Raptite!"(Level 6, 2200/2800) A loud screech came from the sky as a green gemstone shattered. A giant falcon descended from the sky, shimmering with the thin, sharp, green crystals one might call "feathers". Researcher was riding on the back of this one. I see, Mona thought to himself. So those crystals housed those creatures, and the two people have awoken them.... "I'll set one card face down," declared Limestone. "And active the effects of both Leonite and Raptite!" The two creatures roared once more, and the ground began to shake. "First, Leonite looks at the top five cards in my deck, and adds one of the excavated Adamancipator cards to my hand! The rest will go back into the deck at the bottom in any order I please!" "Then Raptite will look a the new top 5 cards in my deck, and special summons any excavated Rock monster I hit in defense mode!" Trixie scratched her head furiously. "Argh, the amount of searching and summoning is ridiculous! Does it ever stop?" Hitch narrowed his eyes. This is bad. That token only has 1200 defense points, and Mona has already taken damage from Gilgamesh.... Limestone's eyes narrowed. "I was hoping for something slightly better, but this will have to do. I summon Revival Golem!" (Level 4, 100/2100) A huge pile of slime and mud splattered all over the ground, before it rose to take the form of something slightly more human. Two lights shone within the mushy head, and the creature groaned as it stepped forward. "I'm now activating a spell card! Adamancipator Signs!" declared Limestone, slamming the card down on her deck. "With this, I can special summon one Rock monster from my graveyard in defense position, and if its and Adamancipator, I can take one Level 4 or lower Rock monster from my deck and place it at the very top of my deck!" "The card I'll revive is gonna be Adamancipator Crystal - Leonite!" The orange crystal rose from the ground once more, gleaming brilliantly. "The card that I'm gonna put at the top of my deck is Adamancipator Crystal - Dragite!" "Crystal - Leonite's ability allows me to return one Adamancipator from my graveyard to the top of my deck. I'll choose to put Seeker back into the deck!" "And finally," said Limestone, cracking her knuckles,"I'll overlay my level 4 revival Golem and level 4 Leonite to XYZ's summon!" "What?" Mona took a step back as the black swirl of stars appeared overhead. The two monsters condensed into balls of energy, as the black hole exploded with a bright light. The number "55" appeared on the back of Limestone's hand, and she raised it high over her head. "Strike the earth and crush the hills! Split the earth and sea with each footstep, and hold steadfast in the face of any threat! NUMBER 55: GOGOGO GOLIATH!" (Rank 4, 2400/1200) Arising from the ground was a massive fortress. A single tower, 50 feet wide, stood before Mona, until the top half exhausted steam from the cracks in the brickwork. It swiveled around, revealing a red metal body under the stone, and two similarly shaped armed extended from the metal. The base opened up, revealing legs that brought the whole goliath up onto its feet, clad with stone armor. A pair of giant canisters were on it's back, exhaling steam from the tops. "There it is!" said Pinkie excitedly. "The family heirloom in full display!" Hitch and Trixie looked at each other knowingly. Mona gazed at the titanic figure. "A Number card.... its huge..." "As long as Gogogo Goliath is on the field, all my monsters gain 800 defense points! Not only that," added Limestone, "but by detaching one overlay unit, I can add an Earth-attribute Rock monster from my grave back into my hand. I think I'll pick Adamancipator Researcher!" A card jutted out of the graveyard slot, and Limestone slipped it back into her hand. "I'm bringing the house down! Nibiru, attack the token!" declared Limestone. The floating rock roared towards Mona with blistering speed. "MONA!" cried Trixie and Hitch.