Yu-Gi-Oh! Equus

by moviemaster8510

Chapter 32: Ally

Alex and his family were about fifty minutes into their mass when Alex felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Alex would have known better than to answer during mass, but he always looked to see who was calling him, just in case the call was important enough to answer it right away. Sure enough, Claude’s number appeared on the caller ID. Alex went outside of the church, trying to avoid interrupting the service. Alex hit the green button that connected him to Claude.

“Alex!” practically yelled Claude.

“What? Oh my God,” responded Alex, caught off guard by Claude’s loud voice.

“Something bad happened. Shining Armor and Cadance got beat up real bad and the kitchen window was broken. If I didn’t know better, I’d say one of Rae’s goons came and broke in. They’re being sent to the hospital now for further analysis.”

“…”

“Alex?”

Alex couldn’t believe what he heard. Two of his friends (one of them being the brother of one of his best friends, no less) were injured and he wasn’t around to help. His friends needed them now.

“I’ll call you back.”

*click*

Alex ran back into the church and towards the pew where his family was.

“Alex,” scolded Carolyn, “what on Earth has gotten into you.”

“Shining Armor and Cadance are in the hospital. They–”

“What?” blurted Twilight. She wordlessly exited her pew and galloped towards the exit.

“Twilight!” called Applejack, giving chase. This prompted the rest of Twilight’s friends (including Spike), to follow.

“Come on,” relented Carolyn, “into the car.”
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Alex, the Emmitt’s, and the ponies were at Edwards Hospital within minutes of Alex receiving the call. After being directed through the maze-like hallways, Alex and Twilight burst into the room where their two incapacitated guardians were, both lying in bed.

“Twily,” groaned Shining Armor. “Why aren’t you at mass?”

“Don’t you even think that I wouldn’t tend to my B.B.B.F.F. if he was in trouble. Are you okay? Well, minus the pain?”

“From what I could gather, I’ve got two broken ribs, a fractured right forearm, and a mild concussion. Cadance has a broken wing and a broken leg.”

By now, everyone else was in the hospital room, seeing the damage that had been done. Twilight was almost in tears seeing her two family members in this state.

“What happened?” asked Alex. He sounded more concerned of the identity of the perpetrator than the well-being of his friends right now.

“There…” began Cadance. “There was this man…”

“Kyle?”

“No. He… his name was Grant. He came looking for you, and when we told him where you were, he insisted that we pass the time by dueling. He… he was so powerful.” Cadance began to well with tears at the memory of her husband being brought down the way he was.

“What did he look like? What deck did he use? What kind of Stone of Equus card did he have?” Alex launched question after question at a mile a minute.

“He…” resumed Shining Armor, trying to fight the pain, “he had a spikey brown mane, steel glasses, a black shirt. He used a Dark World deck with his Stone of Equus card, the Onyx Cerberus. His duel disk…”

“Wait. Did you say Dark World?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Alex took a second to process this information.

Grant, thought Alex. What happened?
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It was only seven months ago on Halloween when Grant Wensell dueled Alex. Grant wore a simple black polo with black pants with a standard black D-Pad, while Alex wore an Alex DeLarge costume.

Cont. from Grant vs. Alex

Cont. from Grant’s Turn: Grant attacks Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1200) with Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World (ATK: 2700 DEF: 1800).

Alex’s Life Points: 500 -> 0

Grant wins.
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Alex, having been blasted onto his stomach, crouched up to see Grant’s helping hand reached out to him. Alex took the hand as his opponent helped him up.

“Better luck next time, right?” questioned Grant sympathetically.

“Don’t you worry,” promised Alex. “I’m going to duel you again someday, and then, I’m going to win!”

“Let’s hope so.”
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“I don’t understand,” said Twilight. “Who is this Grant person?”

“He was known around the country as a ‘dueling bard,’” explained Sarah.

“A what?”

“He spent his days literally roaming the country, stopping in various towns to duel as many people as he could. Many people were inspired by his love of dueling, so they would sometimes donate money to him, offer him a meal and a bed for a night. Either way, not only was he kind and passionate, he was also a force to be reckoned with.

“Last Halloween, Grant stopped by our town, and Alex was lucky enough to have his duel disk on his person when Grant rolled by.”

“Did he win?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“If by ‘he,’ you mean Alex, no.” Rainbow Dash grimaced. “Grant was a very gracious duelist though. I can’t even imagine what would cause him to become so vicious, yet alone join someone like Rae Sulfa Tun.”

“Don’t worry,” said Rainbow Dash. “I’m sure I could take him.”

“No,” said Alex. “This guy was a great duelist, even before his allegiance to Rae Sulfa Tun. This guy must now be all kinds of powerful. I won’t let anymore of you get hurt because of me. If it’s me he wants…” Alex slipped his helmet on his head, “then it’s me he’s going to get.”

Alex ran out of the room and to the parking deck where he put his duel runner.

“Alex, wait!” called Twilight, but he was beyond reasoning.

Alex finally got to his duel runner and sat down to ride off and look for Grant.

“Alex!” called Tom, who had followed him with his helmet on his head.

“Tom,” observed Alex aloud. “What are you doing here? Didn’t you hear what I sa–”

“Yeah, yeah, I heard what you said. But if this guy really is as powerful as you say he is, I don’t want to take any chances that you’ll be able to take him alone. So if he wants to duel you, he’s going to have to duel me too.”

Alex was about to object, but Tom adamantly sat in his own duel runner and started it up.

“Alright, fine,” relented Alex. “Let’s go.”

Alex and Tom rode from the parking deck and out onto the street and towards the city of Naperville. Unbeknownst to him, a shadowed, winged figure was watching them high in the sky.

“They’re heading out,” said the griffon into a small headset, her voice raspy. “Do you want me to follow them?”

“Very much so. Remember, that’s one who can control the Elements of Harmony, so be careful with him.”

“Puh-lease. He’s just like any lame-o out there. And just as weak when I have him in the clutch of my talons.”

“Excellent. I hope to hear from you soon.”

*click*

The winged creature glided over her targets, sure to keep a watchful eye without being seen.
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It was already mid-afternoon, and the Alex and Tom still couldn’t find anything. They were sure to be neck and neck with each other the whole time as they searched for Grant. This proved to be problematic for Gilda. Gilda was sure she could take one of them, but wasn’t confident about going against both of them. She would need a way to separate them if she wanted to strike.

Following the river, she used her swift speed to swoop down and under a bridge. There, she saw a rather large fish swimming in the water. Using her natural hunting instincts, she reached into the water with her talons and plucked the fish out of the water, ascending back towards the sky.

Many people were looking around where she flew, but being unable to make out the shape of the creature due to Gilda’s speed, they all assumed it was another pegasus flying around. Gilda’s fish continued to squirm in her hands, and in one swift motion, broke it’s neck, leaving it limp and lifeless.

“And you’re next,” muttered Gilda, watching over Alex.

Alex and Tom were still riding through the town when they came to the stop sign at Main and Jackson. Alex was first to go, and Tom would come afterwards. However, Gilda had other plans. As Alex turned left, Tom stopped at the sign.

“I hope you like it!” said Gilda. “It’s fresh!” She chucked the fish at Tom.

Tom was about to accelerate when the fish hit him square in the head, causing him to fall off of his bike and tumble to the ground. Alex heard the crash and stopped, turning around to see what happened. Upon doing so, Gilda sped just over his head, flying west on Jackson. Alex turned back to Tom.

“Just go!” yelled Tom. “GO!”

Alex didn’t hesitate, as he sped through Naperville to catch Gilda, while Tom had to get his senses straight and catch up.
Alex found Gilda flying at the entrance to the Riverwalk Park near the westernmost point of Jackson. As he continued to ride closer and closer, Gilda was prepared.

“Speed World 2, set on!” yelled Gilda.

A white halo formed around Gilda’s elbow, much like it did for Grant. As the halo scanned her arm, her duel disk appeared, revealing a similar gauntlet-style D-Pad. However, Gilda’s was a much lighter shade of gold and was tailored perfectly to suit her talons. Also the blade on Gilda’s gauntlet was different.

It was a very narrow, gold and black diamond-shaped blade, the obtuse angles being replaced by inward curves. There were two slots on the right side of the diamond, most likely a graveyard and spell/trap card zone. On the left side of the front face of the blade, which was the longest side, there were three light blue spaces with red downward triangles in the center. On the right side, there were 2 similar zones on them. The face of the blade on which the zones were was a deep blue, with a black and gold outer border. The back face had ornate markings on them, the most recognizable one being an infinity sign.

“Come and get me,” Gilda giggled as she flew south past the VFW building and towards the park.

“I shall,” Alex grunted, quickly setting up his wrist dealer and following her down the road.

The bottom screen on Alex’s duel runner showed the Speed World 2 card and a dueling field. An aura shot out of both Alex and Gilda’s machines as they went. Alex and Gilda turned left again flying towards the main parking lot and the entrance to the Naperville riding duel track.

Along with the lift that brought people to the track, there was also a ramp in the parking lot that linked right into the track, which is what Alex and Gilda were taking. As they got on the ramp, the glass wall path of the track that blocked the ramp’s slid sideways, allowing Alex to enter, while Gilda merely flew over it.

“Now,” said Gilda. “I’m going to prove my worth to Rae and defeat you and your little lame-o friends.”

“Just try it,” taunted Alex.

Alex and Gilda drew five cards from their hand. Gilda held onto her hand while Alex inserted them in the holster.

*whoosh*

“What the?” thought Alex aloud at the shadow that had passed over him and Gilda.

“You,” grunted Gilda with a grimace.

Now flying behind the two duelists was a large, winged machine with a woman standing on it. The machine looked like a miniature Harrier jet, minus the nose, the cockpit, the artillery of weapons, and the entire fuselage and back.

The woman standing on it looked to be in her very late teens. The only protection she was wearing was a pair of black aviator goggles, allowing anyone to see her long, reddish-brown hair that was held with a ponytail, which was kept together by being wrapped in a white sock-like cloth. She was also wearing a white Henley long-sleeved shirt, decorated with green feathers drawn all over it. She also had a pair of thick blue jeans and a forest green-colored vest. On her feet were, a pair of black motorcycle boots.

The other peculiar thing about her was the D-Pad on her left arm. It was a gauntlet, similar to Gilda’s, except it was silver. Extending from the gauntlet’s wrist was an arced silver arm with a slot on it. The arm held a oval-shaped silver pod with an orange center, another slot on the top in between the silver and the orange. Lastly, the zones that flared out to the left resembled white feathers with seafoam-green tips and orange dots in the center on the white/green borders. The mysterious woman held five of her own cards in her left hand.

“Gilda,” said the woman, smiling slightly, “long time, no see.”

“Who the hell are you?” asked Alex, utterly confused as to what was going on.

“My name is Zelda Buchanan. I’m here to help put an end to Rae’s madness once and for all.”

“Get lost, lame-o,” yelled Gilda. “He’s mine!”

“Get bent, bitch! You’re going to have to fight both of us to get to him.”

Gilda grunted and sped ahead of the two.

“Fine” she shouted, “but you’re going to be sorry you that you went AWOL.”

“We’ll just see about that,” she then turned to Alex. “Ready?”

Alex wasn’t sure what to think here. Right now, he was next to a girl whom, from what he could gather, was, or even is, one of Rae’s minions, her D-Pad definitely vouching that hypothesis. However, he had no choice if he was going to ensure his safety, he’d have to ally himself with her.

“Ready,” he said reluctantly.

“DUEL!” the three of them yelled.

Zelda and Alex vs. Gilda

Zelda’s Turn: Z:1 A:0 G:0 – Zelda activates the speed spell Overboost, gaining four speed counters (SpC.: 1 -> 5). Zelda then activates the speed spell Angel Baton, drawing two cards and discarding one when she has two or more speed counters. Zelda activates the effect of Gusto Griffin. When it was sent from the hand to the graveyard, she can special summon a Gusto monster from her deck, choosing Windaar, Sage of Gusto (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1000). Zelda sets one monster.

During the end phase, due to Overboost’s effect, Zelda’s speed counters return to one (SpC.: 5 -> 1).

Zelda places one card face down and ends her turn.

Status: Hand-2 Life-4000 Monsters-2 Face Down Cards-1
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“You think you can do something with that?” asked Zelda sternly.

“Uh, yeah,” confirmed Alex. He was still suspicious of this woman, but as long as she was helping him out, he would have to just go with it for now.

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Alex’s Turn: Z:1 A:1 G:0 – Alex summons Dragunity Partisan (ATK: 1200 DEF: 800). When Dragunity Partisan is normal summoned, Alex can special summon a Winged Beast-type Dragunity monster and special summon it, and then equip Dragunity Partisan onto it, choosing Dragunity Militum (ATK: 1700 DEF: 1200).

Alex activates Dragunity Militum’s effect, special summoning a Dragunity monster from his spell/trap card zone, choosing Dragunity Partisan. Alex tunes Dragunity Militum with Dragunity Partisan to synchro summon Dragunity Knight – Gae Bulg (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1200). Alex overlays Windaar, Sage of Gusto and Dragunity Knight – Gae Bulg to xyz summon Jade Wyvern (ATK: 2500 DEF: 2100).

Alex places two cards face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-2 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-2
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“So,” observed Gilda aloud, “this is your ace monster. Let’s just see how easily I can take it down.”

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Gilda’s Turn: Z:1 A:1 G:1 – Gilda activates her own Overboost, gaining four speed counters (SpC.: 1 -> 5). Next, she activates her speed spell Dxyz, returning one xyz monster to the extra deck and special summoning the xyz materials to the field if she has four or more speed counters, returning Jade Wyvern to the extra deck and special summoning Dragunity Knight – Gae Bulg and Windaar, Sage of Gusto.

Gilda summons Ally Salvo (ATK: 400 DEF: 300). Next, Gilda activates the speed spell High Speed Crash, destroying one card she controls to destroy one card on the field when she has two or more speed counters, destroying Ally Salvo and one of Alex’s face down cards. When a monster Gilda controls is destroyed by a card effect, she can special summon Meklord Emperor Wisel from her hand (ATK: 2500 DEF: 2500).

Gilda activates Meklord Emperor Wisel’s effect, equipping a Synchro monster that the opponent controls to it and gaining ATK equal to the equip card’s ATK, choosing Dragunity Knight – Gae Bulg (ATK: 2500 -> 4500).

Gilda attacks Windaar, Sage of Gusto with Meklord Emperor Wisel.

Alex’s Life Points: 4000 -> 1500

Gilda places one card face down and ends her turn.

Status: Hand-0 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1
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Damn, thought Alex. And I thought this two-on-one would be a cakewalk. Then again, so did Cadance and Shining Armor.

Soon, Alex spotted something in his side mirrors. A duel runner coming from behind him. Alex immediately noticed it as Tom’s, who quickly rode up to the three duelists.

“Didn’t I tell you to wait up for me?” asked Tom with a smirk on his face.

“Now’s not the time to be a smartass!” yelled Alex. “I’m already in a load of trouble as it is.”

“Who the hell is that?” asked Tom, cocking his head to Zelda and her flying machine.

“I’m not entirely sure myself. All I know is that she’s helping me, and that’s all that matters.”

Gilda began to get irate.

“Are you still talking?” asked Gilda. “Hurry up and make your move!”

“Alright,” said Zelda, back in full concentration. “Here goes.”

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Zelda’s Turn: Z:2 A:2 G:2 – Zelda flip summons Gusto Squirro (ATK: 0 DEF: 1800). Zelda normal summons Musto, Oracle of Gusto (ATK: 1800 DEF: 900). Zelda activates Musto, Oracle of Gusto’s effect. By shuffling a Gusto monster in her graveyard to the deck, she can target one monster on the field and negate that monster’s effect until the end phase choosing Meklord Emperor Wisel (ATK: 4500 -> 2500).

Zelda tunes Musto, Oracle of Gusto with Gusto Squirro to synchro summon Daigusto Sphreez (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1300). Zelda then activates her speed spell Silver Contrails, removing two speed counters (SpC.: 2 -> 0) to have one monster that she controls gain 1000 ATK until the end phase, choosing Daigusto Sphreez (ATK: 2000 -> 3000).

Zelda attacks Meklord Emperor Wisel with Daigusto Sphreez.

Gilda’s Life Points: 4000 -> 3500

Gilda activates Card of Last Will, drawing five cards when a monster she controls was destroyed by battle.

During the end phase, the ATK of Daigusto Sphreez is reduced (ATK: 3000 -> 2000).

Zelda ends her turn.

Status: Hand-1 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1
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“Mind if I borrow your monster again?” asked Alex to Zelda.

“By all means!” she answered happily.

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Alex’s Turn: Z:1 A:3 G:3 – Alex activates his own Angel Baton, drawing two cards and discarding one when he has two or more speed counters. Next, he activates his face down Immortal Dragon, special summoning Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King from his graveyard (ATK: 0 DEF: 0). Alex overlays Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King and Daigusto Sphreez to xyz summon Jade Wyvern.

Alex activates the speed spell Speed Energy, having one monster he controls gain 200 ATK equal to the number of speed counters he has when he has two or more speed counters (3 x 200 = 600, ATK: 2500 -> 3100).

Alex attacks Gilda directly with Jade Wyvern

Gilda’s Life Points: 3500 -> 400

During the end phase, the ATK of Jade Wyvern is brought back to normal (ATK: 3100 -> 2500).

Alex places one card face down and ends his turn.

Status: Hand-2 Life-1500 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-1
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“Awesome!” yelled Tom. “You two kick ass together!”

Alex and Zelda took a look at each other and gave their other a respectful nod.

Gilda responded to Tom with, “The only asses getting kicked here are yours! Time to show you what my deck is really made of.”

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Gilda’s Turn: Z:2 A:4 G:4 – Gilda activates the speed spell Summon Speeder, special summoning a level 4 or lower monster when she has four or more speed counters, special summoning Ally of Justice Cycle Reader (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000). Gilda then normal summons Ally of Justice Unlimiter (ATK: 600 DEF: 200). Gilda tunes Ally of Justice Unlimiter with Ally of Justice Cycle Reader to synchro summon Ally of Justice Catastor (ATK: 2200 DEF: 1200).

Gilda attacks Jade Wyvern with Ally of Justice Catastor. Gilda activates Ally of Justice Catastor’s effect. When Ally of Justice Catastor battles with a non-DARK monster, that monster is destroyed immediately at the start of the damage step (without damage calculation).

Gilda activates Speed World 2’s effect. By removing four speed counters (SpC.: 4 -> 0), she can inflict 800 points of damage for each speed spell in her hand. She has one.

Alex’s Life Points: 1500 -> 700

Gilda places one card face down and ends her turn.

Status: Hand-1 Life-400 Monsters-1 Face Down Card-1
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“Holy damn!” commented Tom. “That’s one hell of a monster!”

“Is your friend usually that vulgar?” asked Zelda to Alex.

“Only when his or his friends’ lives are on the line,” he answered.

“Hey!” yelled Gilda. “Are you still chewing the fat? I’m about to beat you here?”

“You really think so?” asked Alex.

“I know so,” said Gilda.

For what they don’t know, she thought, is that if they even think about trying to destroy Catastor, I’ll just rebound with my face down Safe Zone. Then once my turn comes back up, I’ll be at three speed counters again, and I’ll just activate my speed spell Speed Storm, which will wipe out all of Alex’s life points for good, and his Stone of Equus card will be all mine! There’s no way I can lose this.

“Ready?” asked Zelda to her teammate.

“As I’ll ever be.”

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Zelda’s Turn: Z:3 A:5 G:1 – Zelda activates her face down Blessings for Gusto, targeting two Gusto monsters in her graveyard (Gusto Squirro and Gusto Griffin), shuffling those monsters into the deck, and choosing a third Gusto monster in her graveyard and special summoning it, choosing Daigusto Sphreez. Zelda normal summons Gusto Egul (ATK: 200 DEF: 400). Zelda tunes Daigusto Sphreez with Gusto Egul to synchro summon Daigusto Eguls (ATK: 2600 DEF: 1800).

Zelda activates Daigusto Eguls' effect. During the end phase, Zelda can banish one WIND monster from her graveyard (Gusto Egul) to destroy one face down card that her opponent controls, choosing Gilda’s face down card.

Zelda ends her turn.

Status: Hand-1 Life-4000 Monsters-1 Face Down Cards-0
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“Whatever,” scoffed Gilda. “You destroyed my trap, but you still have Catastor to deal with.”

I have to draw the right card here, thought Alex. I know there’s no way she’s going to let me survive another turn.

“My turn!” he yelled. “Draw!”

Alex’s smile grew when he looked at the card he drew.

“Your monster won’t be a problem anymore,” said Alex.

Gilda was shocked.

"What?" she asked.

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Alex’s Turn: Z:4 A:6 G:2 – Alex activates the speed spell Count Up, allowing him to discard any number of cards from his hand and raise his speed counters by two for each card (2) (2 x 2 = 4, SpC.: 6 -> 10). Alex activates Speed World 2’s effect. By removing 10 speed counters (SpC.: 10 -> 0), Alex can destroy one card on the field, choosing Ally of Justice Catastor. Alex then activates his face down Xyz Reborn, special summoning Jade Wyvern from his graveyard and attaching Xyz Reborn as xyz material.

Alex attacks Gilda directly with Jade Wyvern.

Gilda’s Life Points: 400 -> 0

Alex and Zelda win.
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Alex’s attack sent Gilda tumbling onto the floor of the track. Alex and Tom parked their duel runners near Gilda’s body while Zelda’s glider floated down gently, hopping off of it. Alex, Tom, and Zelda walked up to their enemy, expecting to corner her.

“Hehe,” giggled Gilda hoarsely, “better luck next time I suppose.”

Her body grew a bright white, where she disintegrated into golden sparkles that flew away with the wind.

With Gilda now gone, Alex could now focus on the next problem. Both he and Tom turned to Zelda and stared daggers into her.

“What?” asked Zelda defensively. “I help you out, and this is the thanks I get?”

“How does Gilda know you? Why do you two have similar duel disks? Are you a grifter?”

Zelda was surprisingly calm at Alex’s barrage of questions. She answered them with a simple statement.

“This is something we need to discuss with your fellow friends. Please get them over as soon as possible. I shall arrive at your house in one hour.”

Zelda ran back to her machine and hopped aboard.

“Wait!” yelled Alex, reaching outwards.

“Make haste, Alexander Yuwell,” she called, ascending on the glider. “My time is just as precious as yours.” With that she flew high in the sky.

Tom ran to his bike, as if giving chase would solve anything. However, Alex just stood in the same spot, staring at the sky where Zelda flew off.

“Dude!” yelled Tom. “Aren’t we going to try and catch her?”

“No,” was all Alex could answer.

“What? Why not?”

“I don’t know,” said Alex. “There’s just this… nagging feeling telling me… I can trust her.”

Comments

[Pepitox]

OK, cool chapter. Interesting character and awesome duel. But may I ask what is a " grifter"?

[moviemaster8510]

1305928 A grifter is a person who's good at getting along with other people, usually to get close enough to them to find out confidential secrets about them; essentially a con-artist.

[shuffleking113]

Reading this for the second time I've realized something; Zelda's D-pad is like III's, Grant's is like IV's, and Gilda's is like V's. But shouldn't Grant get the V d-pad because he's all stoic and depressed, and Gilda get IV's because she's a brutal stone-cold bitch?