Yu-Gi-Oh! DA, Book One; The Phantom Seal. TEMPORARY HIATUS

[Stigma_Horrizone]

sweetness, sorry if i hadn't got active mush lately, i got a bad case of cold(lucky me not the bird or swine kind)

[legendhiro]

so, i'm aware that i've been away for awhile. finals have been coming up, and i've had no free time. so i want to apologize and promise a special treat next week after the quarter ends; three new chapters, maybe more, including the first major plot development, which ties into the later events of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX!

---

as an additional treat, here is my latest card, which will appear in my fourth and likely final series, the futuristic Yu-Gi-Oh! DFR:

 

 

obviously in honor of the Machina Mayhem Structure deck recently released, which isn't half bad.

 

 

 

also, a bit about my next set, which will contain monsters that are literally produced from field spells, and a whole new type of synchro monster that uses the color spectrum instead of sound waves!

[Stigma_Horrizone]

so' date=' i'm aware that i've been away for awhile. finals have been coming up, and i've had no free time. so i want to apologize and promise a special treat next week after the quarter ends; three new chapters, maybe more, including the first major plot development, which ties into the later events of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX![hr']

as an additional treat, here is my latest card, which will appear in my fourth and likely final series, the futuristic Yu-Gi-Oh! DFR:

 

 

obviously in honor of the Machina Mayhem Structure deck recently released, which isn't half bad.

 

 

 

also, a bit about my next set, which will contain monsters that are literally produced from field spells, and a whole new type of synchro monster that uses the color spectrum instead of sound waves!

 

I cant Wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[legendhiro]

after some unforeseen delays, here is the first of the six chapters (three here and three in my other fic) that i promised.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Nine]

 

Ria, the Eccentric Girl

 

 

I did some checking after a few days. I knew my opponent’s faces now. It was easy to discover their names. The Lightsworn Duelist was Shin, a Duelist with a reputation as a hard-hitting tournament competitor from the Southeastern United States. The other Duelist was Sky, a former US champion. Both Duelists had disappeared for several years following tragedies in their lives.

 

Typical of Order members.

 

I felt sorry for them. I really did. But that didn’t change the fact that they were jerks.

 

Luckily, it was easy enough to avoid them. They were staying in Mid Dorm, and we didn’t have any shared classes. If all went well, I would never see the Card Takers again. But either way, they were out of my hair, at least for awhile. I could get back to my life.

 

I started to pay more attention in my classes. I still didn’t learn much, but at least I was finally giving Duel Academy a fair shake. Now that I wasn’t sleeping through my classes, I really started to notice the time I was spending away from Karen. I really missed her. I still had Thomas to keep me company, but a good a kid as he was, he was a little chatty.

 

Weeks passed. It came time for end of the quarter exams. Like with the entry exams, there was an extensively easy written portion, followed by a dueling portion. I was really looking forward to the dueling portion. So was Thomas. Karen wasn’t. She doesn’t like dueling much anymore. I’d known for awhile that she was tired of the destruction that dueling represented. She’d caused so much as a member of the Order, and then later as a member of the Duel Force, and she wanted to create something for once. That’s why she’d gone into card design, and I really respected her for it, even if I didn’t quite understand it. But even card design students had to duel in their exams, even if it would count as less of their overall grade. I guess the professors thought that game deign students needed to know the game they were designing.

 

Every student would participate, and no student would have any control over who they faced. Neither would the teachers. Pairings would be completely random. Card design students would be mixed in with the rest. Karen didn’t think it was very fair. Neither did I. But there was nothing either of us could do. The Academy staff members had made up their minds.

 

I offered to whip up a little Shadow Magic and fix the pairings so that she would face me, but she figured that fixing results wasn’t really fair either. She decided to just let fate run its course.

 

There are two rooms inside Duel Academy that are set up specifically for dueling. One is like a large indoor stadium. It has one raised central arena surrounded by enough seats for the entire student body and all of the professors, and then some. The other is less extravagant. It is a large, open room with several Duel Disk arenas drawn on the floor. It’s the closest thing that Duel Academy has to an indoor school gym. This second room would be used for the dueling exams. Students who were finished with their duels, or who were waiting to duel, were welcome to hang around and watch their classmates compete.

 

My duel was early, against a kid named Mitchell. He used a Roid deck that relied on combinations for power. I knew this about the Roid archetype, but I still made the mistake of allowing one of his combos to sneak up on me. Now I was facing down a monster with incredible power. It was a massive tank-like drill with eyes and a face. A living weapon in the truest sense.

 

“My ‘Super Vehicroid Jumbo Drill’ (ATK: 3000),” my opponent declared, “attacks and destroys your monster.”

 

The huge drill-nosed monster bore down on my ‘Summoned Skull’, ripping him apart. My Life Points dropped (2700+2500-3000=2200).

 

“The star of High Dorm blue,” my opponent said, tugging on the tail of his yellow jacket, “is at the mercy of my ultimate combination machine monster. And because ‘Jumbo Drill’ was Fusion Summoned using ‘Vehicroid Connection Zone’, he can’t be destroyed by any card effects.”

 

I smiled, “But what you didn’t realize was that I know a thing or two about machine combo decks. My cousin uses one of the strongest machine Fusion decks in the world, and I have my fair share of machines myself. In fact, when I saw the direction that your strategy was going, I saved up the cards needed to create my own machine Fusion monster. One that’s more powerful than yours.

 

“I play ‘Painful Choice’, choosing five cards from my deck and showing them to you. You add one to my hand, and I discard the rest.”

 

I fanned out my deck, and picked out the mechanical blue torso ‘X-Head Cannon’, the mechanical red dragon, ‘Y-Dragon Head’, the tiger-headed green and yellow jet, ‘V-Tiger Jet’, the flying blue missile pod, ‘W-Winged Catapult’, and the yellow tank with the stalk eye, ‘Z-Metal Tank’. My opponent, as a player who specialized in machine combinations, knew full well what was coming. With a look of frustration on his face he said, “Add ‘W-Winged Catapult’ to your hand.

 

I did, discarding the others.

 

“In that case, I summon ‘W-Winged Catapult’,” I said, and my monster appeared. “Next I activate ‘Soul Release’ to remove my other four magnet monsters from play, and I pay two thousand Life Points (2200-2000=200), activating 'Dimension Fusion', to summon the four of them to the field.”

 

The sky split open and the other four machines descended from it.

 

“Like your monsters,” I said, “my monsters combine. But unlike yours, mine don’t need a Spell card.”

 

As I spoke, my five machines transformed and combined into a tall, humanoid mecha with broad wings and various cannons placed across its body.

 

“Introducing,” I said, “my ‘VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon’ (ATK: 3000). My monster can remove one card from play per turn. So this turn, I’ll remove from play your ‘Vehicroid’.”

 

The giant mecha fired its cannons on a special frequency that gave the beams an appearance like lightning. The cannon fire zapped the ‘Vehicroid’ and it disappeared.

 

“Now I attack,” I commanded, “with Cannon Firestorm!”

 

My monster fired its cannons one after another, hitting my opponent with each shot. His Life Points faded (2900-3000=0).

 

Mitchell scowled, “Oh man. I knew I’d lose. I knew it.” He turned and started walking away. I started to say something, but I was interrupted.

 

“Oh! My! God!”

 

I jumped, startled, and turned toward the source of this unexpected voice. What I saw surprised me. I’d never seen someone more excited before. She was jumping up and down, clapping her hands repeatedly.

 

“I can’t believe this! It’s you! It’s really you!”

 

I blinked thoughtfully, “Do I know you?”

 

“No,” the girl said, “but I definitely know you. Oh my God! I heard you were going to school here. Of course I heard you were going to school here, since it’s why I decided to come. I heard it, but I’d never seen you! I’m your biggest fan in the world!”

 

I blinked again, out of confusion this time, and said, “I think you have me confused with someone else.”

 

“No! No I don’t. I know exactly who you are! You’re John. You were the leader of the Duel Force, and you won the Grand Championship last year! I was there. I was watching. You were amazing! I absolutely love you! I know everything about you!”

 

I frowned, “Well that’s just slightly creepy.”

 

But she didn’t hear me. She was jumping up and down squealing. Yes, that’s right; squealing.

 

“I’m Gloria,” the girl said, “but you can call me Ria. Everyone calls me Ria because, come on, who wants to be called Gloria? Anyway, oh my God! That was amazing. Your duel. It was amazing! I never thought I’d get to see you duel up close like that! I always wished, but I never thought it would happen!”

 

Then she looked calmly right into my eyes and asked, “wanna pick up some coffee at the cafeteria and then go back to my room?”

 

“I, uh-.”

 

“John!”

 

Oh man…

 

I turned around, toward the sound of this new voice, and there was Karen, jogging over to me, smiling.

 

Oh man. There are so many ways that this could be unpleasant.

 

Karen reached me, “Hey. My duel’s coming up. I just got the name of my opponent. Someone named Gloria Hernandez.”

 

That’s when Karen noticed Ria. She looked her over from her dark hair and her olive skin down to her red uniform.

 

Then she looked over at me, “Who’s she?”

 

I frowned, Here it comes.

 

“I’m Gloria,” Ria answered for me. “How do you know my man?”

 

“What? Your what?” Karen demanded, almost stammering.

 

“My man,” Ria answered. “Johnny and I are dating.”

 

“Hold on,” I said, backing away from Ria, “you, uh, asked me out, and I didn’t even get a chance to answer. And I was gonna say no.”

 

“I understand that you’re just saying that, sweety,” said Ria, putting her arms around me, “but you don’t have to hide our love anymore.”

 

I pushed her away, “Come on! We just now met.” I looked at Karen pleadingly. She looked pissed. More so than I’d ever seen her. It was scary.

 

“You’re lucky I believe you, John,” Karen said. Then she said, “Wait, Gloria? You’re my opponent?”

 

“I am if you’re Karen.”

 

“Yeah,” Karen said aggressively, “I am.”

 

“Well then,” Ria said, “that explains why you seem so worked up. You’re afraid to face me.”

 

“No way.”

 

“Oh yeah,” Ria pressed. “You’re scared little girl. So why don’t you leave and let a big girl take care of Johnny.”

 

Karen’s hands balled into fists and she seemed about ready to swing them. Ria wasn’t far behind.

 

“Okay ladies,” I said, stepping in between them, “let’s calm down. How about this. You two are supposed to duel, right? So how about if Karen wins, Ria, you have to stop, uh, propositioning me. But if Ria wins, she can ask me out all she wants.”

 

I shot Karen a look that said, Not that I’d ever say yes.

 

Karen smiled in the distinctive way she does when she’s serious, “Fine.”

 

Ria smiled as well, “You’re on.”

 

“I’ll just hang out over here,” I said, “and make sure nobody kills anyone.”

 

“You’re going down,” said Ria. “Johnny’s mine.”

 

“We’ll see,” Karen replied.

 

And the duel began.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter Karen vs. Ria

[Des ＨＥＲＯ]

Chapter 9 was good, can't wait to find out what Ria's deck is.

[legendhiro]

Chapter 9 was good' date=' can't wait to find out what Ria's deck is.

[/quote']

 

its probably not what you're expecting. actually, it's definitely not what you're expecting.

[Nexev]

If Ria is the Eccentric Girl for being a bizarre fangirl who thinks she has a relationship to a person she just met then I can only imagine what Dorothy would be.

[Cthonian]

This is not going to turn out well.... even though Ria and John are the ones that are dueling, there is no winner or loser between them... John is the only loser in this situation XD..... I love this book as I did the last one. Keep it up!

[Stigma_Horrizone]

lol.....

[legendhiro]

hey all. i'm updating from a friends computer, since my dinosaur of a PC has finally died with no chance of being revived. i'm going late next week to purchase a new computer. i'll post the rest of my updates then.

[Stigma_Horrizone]

okay

[legendhiro]

after a delay, here's the next chapt.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Ten]

 

Karen vs. Ria

 

 

Karen went first. She isn’t usually very pushy, but she wasn’t herself at the moment.

 

“I’m gonna show you what I do with trash, Ria,” said Karen malevolently.

 

Ria seemed ready to respond, anger in her eyes, but I cut her off, “Be civil, ladies.” They seemed to calm down, if only for awhile.

 

“I summon my ‘Queen’s Bodyguard’,” said Karen. A swordsman in a red suite appeared (ATK: 1700). “Too bad his sword’s only a hologram. I set a card and end my turn.”

 

“Swords are nothing to me,” said Ria. “I’m a black belt. I can snap swords with my bare hands, and so can my monsters.” She placed a card on her Duel Disk, and a young man appeared at her side, wearing simple garbs.

 

“Meet my ‘Monk Fighter’ (ATK: 1300). My monster’s weaker than yours, but in my hand is a Spell card that’ll change all that. My ‘Kaminote Blow’ might not raise my monster’s Attack, but it will allow my monster to automatically destroy any monster it battles this turn, just as easily as I’m going to destroy you!”

 

That’s when Karen responded with a word that I can’t repeat in good conscience.

 

And Ria responded with a series of words that I wouldn’t repeat in bad conscience.

 

“Hey!” I snapped. “I said be civil, or I’ll make you be civil.”

 

“Fine,” said Ria, “but only because I still have to attack.” She gestured to her monster to change and commanded, “Go, smash it!”

 

‘Monk Fighter’ ran at ‘Queen’s Bodyguard’ and punched, just as the ‘Bodyguard’ stabbed with his sword. Both monsters were destroyed.

 

“Thanks to my monster’s effect,” Ria explained, “my Life Points are safe. And thanks to my Spell card ‘Return of the Doomed’, I can discard my ‘Combo Master’ to return ‘Monk Fighter’ to my hand. I set two cards and pass.”

 

“It doesn’t matter how many cards you set,” said Karen. “I reveal the Spell card ‘Monster Reborn’ and revive my ‘Queen’s Bodyguard’.”

 

As Karen’s monster emerged from a supernatural red light, Ria said, “In response, I reveal my Spell card, ‘Quick Summon’, to summon back my ‘Monk Fighter’. I also reveal the Trap card ‘Swift Dodge’,

which prevents my ‘Fighter’ from being destroyed in battle or by card effects this turn!”

 

“I don’t plan on destroying your monster,” said Karen, her voice dripping with pride, “I plan on taking your monster. I summon ‘Allure Queen’ in her Level Three form, and I use her effect to entice your ‘Monk Fighter’ to her side.”

 

‘Allure Queen’, an attractive young woman in a dark reddish dress appeared (ATK: 500). She summoned up a dancing flame. It circled the ‘Fighter’’s head and then floated back to the ‘Queen’’s side. ‘Monk Fighter’ followed, becoming a living shield devoted to protecting his new master.

 

“I attack,” said Karen, and both her ‘Queen’ and her ‘Bodyguard’ struck (4000-1700-500=1800). “Go.”

 

“I’m behind,” said Ria, “but I’m far from losing this duel.”

 

“You only have one card,” Karen spat.

 

“Not for long,” said Ria, a bit tauntingly. “I play ‘Pot of Greed’ to draw two cards from the top of my deck. And I’ll follow up with ‘Bottom Draw’,

drawing the bottom two cards of my deck as well.”

 

Two cards slid from the bottom of Ria’s deck, and she added them to her hand.

 

“Now,” said Ria, “I summon ‘Combo Fighter’, and I equip him with ‘Gust Fan’, raising his Attack by four hundred.”

 

A young, shirtless man appeared, wearing baggy pants with zigzagged stripes down the legs and a sash for a belt. He wore a headband bearing the same zigzag as his pants, and he carried the magical ‘Gust Fan’ tucked into his belt (ATK: 1600+400=2000).

 

“’Combo Fighter’,” Ria commanded, “attack ‘Allure Queen’.”

 

‘Combo Fighter’ flung himself through the air, kicking fiercely. But the ‘Allure Queen’ was calm. Moments before ‘Allure Queen’ would have been hit, ‘Queen’s Bodyguard’ threw himself between her and her assailant. He was soundly defeated by the attacker (4000+1700-2000=3700).

 

“Face-down,” said Ria. “Come and get me, estupido.”

 

“Don’t think I won’t,” said Karen. “As I draw, I sacrifice your ‘Monk Fighter’ to level up my monster.”

 

‘Monk Fighter’ disappeared, and the ‘Allure Queen’ grew a few years older, more mature, and more enticing (ATK: 1000).

 

“Your deck’s kinda slutty, poonta,” said Ria.

 

“Come on,” I said, “I told you to be civil.”

 

“I play ‘Graceful Charity’,” Karen continued, ignoring me and Ria, “to draw three cards, and then discard ‘Toon Alligator’ and ‘Comic Hand’.”

 

Ria smiled the way that a Duelist does when they’ve caught their opponent in a Trap. “Reveal,” she said, “the Trap card ‘Mirror Draw’

paying five hundred Life Points (1800-500=1300) to draw as many cards as you just did!”

 

Ria drew three cards as well.

 

“Anyway,” Karen said, “now that my monster has leveled up, she can charm another monster.” ‘Allure Queen’ summoned up more fireballs, charming ‘Combo Fighter’ and drawing him over to Karen’s side of the field. Ria looked unhappy. Of course she’d been unhappy.

 

“Now,” said Karen, “my ‘Allure Queen’ attacks.”

 

‘Allure Queen’ released a barrage of fireballs that pelted Ria (1300-1000=300). Karen was close to victory. She knew she was close. But she wasn’t stupid. She knew as well as I did that this duel could easily reverse at any moment. So Karen came prepared.

 

“One face-down card,” Karen declared.

 

“Good,” said Ria sardonically, “I wouldn’t want you to seem easy. I draw, and I play my own ‘Graceful Charity’. I draw, and I discard ‘Legendary Black Belt’ and ‘Master Monk’. Next I play ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive the ‘Combo Master’ that I discarded turns ago.”

 

An older, more muscular incarnation of ‘Combo Fighter’ appeared (ATK: 2200).

 

“But I’m not finished,” said Ria. “I play ‘Cost Down’, discarding ‘Invigoration’ to lower the Levels of monsters in my hand by two during this turn. I tribute ‘Combo Master’ to summon my ultimate card, ‘The Ultimate Fighter’!”

 

‘Combo Master’ was replaced by a young man wearing an oversized hood and a championship belt, standing in a strong fighting stance. He reminded me of a character that you might see in a fighting game

(ATK: 3000).

 

“Once per turn I can remove a Level Six or lower Rock or Wind monster in my Graveyard from play to give ‘Ultimate Fighter’ the removed monster’s effect.”

 

Ria took a card from her Graveyard and placed it in her pocket.

 

“Now my monster attacks!”

 

“’Combo Fighter’ protects his ‘Queen’,” Karen explained as the enticed warrior jumped in and absorbed ‘The Ultimate Fighter’’s powerful kick.

 

“You still take the hit,” said Ria, mockingly (3700+1000-3000=1700), “and because the monster I removed was ‘Master Monk’, ‘Ultimate Fighter’ can attack again. You lose little girl!”

 

‘Ultimate Fighter’ spun and punched right through the ‘Queen’’s torso, but Karen was unconcerned. She stood calmly with her arms crossed casually.

 

“Reveal,” said Karen, “the Trap card ‘Spirit Barrier’, reducing damage to my Life Points to zero.

 

“Now, I think it’s about time we ended this,” Karen continued. “My ‘Allure Queen’ may be gone, but she’s not forgotten. I play ‘Level Modulation’. You draw two cards, and in exchange I get to summon my ‘Allure Queen LV5’ back from the Grave. And I follow up with ‘Level Up!’, evolving my monster to her Level Seven Form.”

 

‘Allure Queen’ reappeared, changing again along the same lines as her last transformation.

 

“But I’m still not finished,” said Karen. “I tribute ‘Allure Queen LV7’ to summon my most powerful monster,” ‘Allure Queen’’s dress changed slightly in some places and more obviously in others. Her hair fell free, flowing in an artificial breeze. Living flames danced around her, “Allure Queen LV10’

(ATK: 1700)!”

 

Ria took a deep breath. She knew it was over, but she wasn’t in any position to admit it.

 

“My monster can charm a monster of any level,” said Karen. “She charms yours.” Living flames appeared, dancing over to Ria’s field and lightly embracing the ‘Fighter’ in their warmth. When the flames started to head back to their summoner, the ‘Fighter’ gladly followed.

 

“’Allure Queen LV10’ is a little different than her previous forms,” Karen explained. “Where in her lower level forms could only command the enticed monsters to defend her, ‘LV10’ can command them to attack alongside her as well, effectively increasing her Attack by three hundred plus the level of the enticed monster times one hundred (1700+(100x8 )=2800).

 

“Now that your field is clear,” Karen said, “I attack for the win.”

 

‘Allure Queen’ released a wave of living fire, and ‘Ultimate Fighter’ moved in close to deliver a powerful kick (300-2800=0).

 

Karen was proud. Ria looked more embarrassed than anything. I, however, was impressed. Ria had lost, and she wasn’t strangling anyone. She was just standing there with her head down.

 

Oh man, I thought, I hope she doesn’t start crying or something. I’m not even good with people I know start crying.

 

I walked over to her, leaving Karen to revel in her victory. “Ria, you okay?” I asked, ready to bolt if things got too weird.

 

“Damn,” said Ria. She looked up at me, and I could see that she had something heavy on her mind. “I really did think that I was the only girl good enough for you. But now it looks like I could be wrong.”

 

“Yeah,” I said, “Karen’s something special.” By now Karen had moved and was standing just behind me, though I didn’t know it. “She’s smart and strong. I’m not gonna lie, I’m glad she won. But I’d also be glad if you’d agree to spend some time with Karen and I and our friend Thomas. Try being my friend instead of my fan.”

 

“I guess I could live with that,” said Karen, though her response was less than enthusiastic.

 

“See,” I said, “everyone likes the idea. What do you say?”

 

Ria smiled, a silent yes. Then her face hardened abruptly and her cockiness returned, “Don’t be loco! Why would I wanna hang with her. Johnny, when you’re ready to be with a real woman, come find me.”

 

She turned and walked away, “This ain’t over!”

 

“Weird girl,” said Karen.

 

“Yeah,” I agreed, “weird.”

 

“Hey,” I heard Thomas call from behind me, his voice muffled. He stepped up beside us and over to the bleachers to my right, carrying three bags of potato chips in his teeth and balancing five various cafeteria deserts awkwardly in his arms. “My duel already happened. I won. Heard you guys just went. Did I miss anything?”

 

He set all that he was carrying down on the bleacher bench, picked up one of the bags of chips, and pulled it open. I snatched it from him, grabbing a chip and popping it into my mouth.

 

“Man,” I said, “you have no idea.”

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

This awesome card epitomizes the new focus of Karen's deck as a control deck, giving her strategy a new layer of depth and potential. Summoning this card is tricky, but no one can argue its benefits once it makes it to the field. Additionally, "Allure Queen LV10" is the true final form of Karen's Soul monster, making it even more important.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter Advancing Darkness

 

things actually start to happen!

[Nexev]

Hooray for plot.

 

PSycho fangirl+Kung fu=?

[legendhiro]

PSycho fangirl+Kung fu=?

 

yeah, but surprisingly it turns out to be a rather helpful combination in the end. sometimes.

[Quiksilver]

Yes, if the end is the psycho fangirl forces her idol to go out with her. Kung fu could be useful then. Yeah, I just started reading your fanfic, and it is the longest, yet not quickly and sloppily made, fanfic I have ever seen. I like your characters and your writing, and some of your characters are pure boss. One thing- where'd you get the card pics?

[legendhiro]

...One thing- where'd you get the card pics?

 

i get them by patiently searching sites like image shack and other free image sites, and google images. i sometimes get them from deviantart, but not usually, though i have heard that some of my images were originally from deviantart even if i found them someplace else.

 

but i'm rambling...

 

glad you like the fic. i have a second fic running right now as well, yugioh DE. you should check it out too. and both are spin-offs of my first fic, yugioh DF. if you think this is long, you should see DF ^_^

 

no, but the image for allure queen 10 was a lucky find. i thought i was going to actually have to paint my own pic for awhile.

[Stigma_Horrizone]

it sure worked out tho

[Quiksilver]

it sure worked out tho

 

Hm? You talking to me or legend?

 

Well anyways, yeah, you probably have more patience than me, if you can find a picture for every card you create in a fanfic. (I have a fanfic, too, so I know.) And it's weird, but for a couple of those cards, I actually did think you drew them.

[legendhiro]

nah, i'm not that good.

 

or am i? o_0

 

see, now you're, like, super confused.

 

xD

[Stigma_Horrizone]

nah' date=' i'm not that good.

 

or am i? o_0

 

see, now you're, like, super confused.

 

xD

[/quote']

 

dont say that ure not good, you rock!!

[legendhiro]

thanks man

[Stigma_Horrizone]

no prob, care to pm me about the next chapter?

[legendhiro]

"hey look everybody! legendhiro promised in his other fic thread that he would update this fic and he actually did! this must be the END OF THE WORLD!!"

 

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Eleven]

 

Advancing Darkness

 

 

5:44 AM

 

 

Two men stood near a dock, looking out over the ocean. The Duel Academy building was visible behind them in the distance through the mist of early morning. The men stood to either side of a metal dolly, waiting. They wore white caps and denim jumpsuits that had Duel Academy logos on the chests.

 

“Bad enough we had to come all the way out here so early to pick up this shipment,” said one of the men, “but now they’re late, so we gotta wait too.”

 

“Stop complaining,” said the second man. He was older, in his late forties, with a graying mustache. “Cleanup and maintenance work, and yes, picking up shipments, isn’t glamorous work, but we work on an exotic island, and these Duel Academy card game nuts pay great.”

 

“Still, this is boring. Waiting for some weird old books for the school library? And from what I heard, some of ‘em ain’t got nothin’ to do with Duel Monsters.”

 

“It’s not really any of our business. Now shut up. Here it comes.” The older man pointed, and his companion followed his gaze in time to see a small ship approach the dock, emerging from the darkness of early dawn almost ominously. It only took a few minutes for the two men to stack the boxes of books on the dolly and begin to make their way toward the school.

 

 

6:00 AM

 

 

The two men dropped the boxes off inside the doors of the Duel Academy library, just as the librarian, Miss Warren, was setting up for the day. When they saw that she was elderly and a bit frail, they were sure to offer to help her move the contents of the boxes to the shelves, and she was sure to turn them down as politely as possible. There was nothing that Miss Warren liked more than walking the shelves of books in her library, and putting these books away would give her an excuse to do just that. As far as Miss Warren was concerned, nothing could compare to being among so many books. It was her greatest joy.

 

But unloading three large boxes of books was slow going, and Miss Warren didn’t have the same spring in her step as she used to. She started out carrying seven or so books at a time, but it wasn’t long before she could carry only two or three at a time. It was an hour and ten minutes before she finished. Still, walking the aisles made Miss Warren happy, so she didn’t mind.

 

 

9:30 AM

 

 

“Man, this is dumb,” said Todd. He and his friend Pete were lagging behind their Card Design Basics class as the entire class made its way to the library. “When I signed up for school here, I was hopin’ to learn about Shadow Magic and cool stuff like that. But it’s already the final semester and the teachers haven’t even brought it up.”

 

“I keep tellin’ ya Todd, there’s no such thing as Shadow Magic.”

 

“No way, Pete,” Todd snapped, “you can’t say that. You saw the same crazy sheet I was back in the Battle City tournament, and you heard those guys at the bridge earlier this year talkin’ about a whole group of guys use Shadow Magic and the Shadow Games and all kinds of cool stuff. It’s real!”

 

Pete ran his fingers through his amber-colored hair, a slightly nervous look finding his face, “That stuff at the tournament was all hologram effects or something, and the Card Takers were, like, crazy or something.”

 

“No way,” said Todd as he and Pete finally crossed the threshold into the library and stopped along with their fellow students, “I know what we saw, and one day, I’m going to show Shadow Magic to the world. It’ll bring a whole new era. It’ll change everything!”

 

“Whatever man,” said Pete. He was about to say more when he was interrupted by the instructor, a young woman with short blonde hair.

 

“Okay class, spread out and pick a book. Remember that this book will be the basis of your final design project somehow, so don’t pick a book just because you like it. Actually think about it, as hard as this will be for some of you. Miss Warren will be at her desk if you need any help.”

 

The class scattered. Todd wandered off absentmindedly, his outlandish desire still resounding in his head. Pete caught up with him quickly. “Hey,” Pete asked, “you get an idea for your project yet?”

 

But Todd ignored him. He suddenly felt himself drawn toward the section of the library for new and unclassified books. Something had caught his eye. It was a large, hard-bound black book with silver hieroglyphic symbols etched into the binding. Todd took it down from the shelf and examined it. The book was written in Latin, or something a lot like it, with Egyptian and other ancient symbols scattered throughout. He didn’t know how he knew it, but Todd could tell that the book was magic.

 

“What’s that?” Pete asked.

 

“Pete,” Todd replied, “this is the answer to my prayers.”

 

 

5:15 PM

 

 

Todd ran from the school building, Pete on his heels, and ran toward his room in High Dorm.

 

“What’s the hurry, Todd?” Pete called after him, his yellow jacket flittering in the wind. “What can you do with that book? You can’t even read it!”

 

“Wrong, Pete,” Todd called back to him, “I can read it! Ever since I discovered that Duel Monsters is connected with magic, I’ve been looking for a way to tap that magical power. Now I find this book, and it’s in Latin, but I can read it, and it describes a way to gain magical powers for myself. Imagine what good I could do with magical powers!” Todd arrived at High Dorm and stopped running, pulled open the door and stepped inside. “It’s a dream come true!”

 

Pete followed him inside, “Or maybe it’s one of those things that are too good to be true. Did you think about that?”

 

“Listen, Pete,” Todd said plainly, “I’m giving it a try. Are you with me or not?”

 

Pete averted his eyes from his friend’s momentarily and a thoughtful expression played across his face. For a few moments he said nothing. Then, finally, he answered, “Yeah, man, I’ll help. I got nothin’ to do tonight anyway.”

 

 

6:30 PM

 

 

The stage had been set. It had taken an entire hour, but finally the conditions described in the book had almost been met. Todd and Pete were in a storage room in High Dorm, situated off of the uncharacteristically empty main lobby. Because it was nearing the end of the school year, most of the students who were out of class already (which was most of them) were hard at work either in their rooms or in open classrooms working on final projects and studying hard for finals. The two friends had made a table of boxes and a piece of plywood. Sitting upon the makeshift table were nine old candles of various sizes, liberated from various locations throughout High Dorm. Two of the candles had been made of two longer candles broken in half, but they were candles nonetheless. The candles were situated in a semi-circle around a circular seal drawn using some red paint found in the storage room, “sealed”, as the book described it, by three drops of human blood. Not for the first time Pete looked uneasily at the bandage around Todd’s index finger where he had made the cut.

 

“I’m gonna say it again,” said Pete, “and then not another word from me; a spell from a creepy book that calls for blood is never a good thing. Even if it’s a hoax, which I’m still betting it is, knowing after the fact that you were willing to try it will mess you up.”

 

Todd looked a bit important as he spoke his response, “We doing this?”

 

Pete sighed heavily, “Yeah. Let’s just get this over with.”

 

Todd nodded and took a deep breath. Then he started reading the Latin phrases that were supposed to make the power-summoning spell take effect. The two young men waited for several minutes, but nothing happened.

 

“See,” said Pete, “I told you it was a hoax.”

 

But almost as soon as the words had left his mouth, Pete felt suddenly afraid, as if there was something evil in the room with them. Before Pete could speak, Todd gasped, a silent scream, and his body faded into wisps of smoke.

 

“Todd!” Pete cried. He stepped back the makeshift table and raised his Duel Disk almost instinctually as the wisps of shadows swirled together, becoming something resembling a solid form but with no more cohesion than a bank of fog.

 

So, came a voice from within the bank of fog, resonating in Pete’s head, you intend to fight me. Perhaps you will provide me with some amusement.

 

But Pete was no Duelist. He panicked and tore from the room into the still-vacant lobby.

 

Or the shadow creature said, perhaps not.

 

The mist lashed, grabbing Pete and pulling him back inside the storage room. His body disappeared at 6:47, just as he crossed the threshold, and the shadow grew a bit more solid.

 

 

6:47 PM

 

 

I was sitting on the bed in my room, the small cable TV on, the volume muted. Karen was with me, sitting at my desk, preparing her final project, which was due the following day.

 

My Soul buzzed faintly for a moment, and I had an odd feeling like a lump forming in my throat. But only a moment later, the feeling passed, so I didn’t think anything of it.

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

there is no card called "Idiot Named Todd", so...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter The Poltergeist

 

something is amiss in High Dorm!

[Stigma_Horrizone]

interesting, can't wait for more

[legendhiro]

bump. i'm gonna try to get a new chapter up tonight or tomorrow.