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

[senron]

It's all good, I prefer waiting a long time for something really good (like the stuff you normally put out) over getting garbage once a week. Life's more important than this anyways. And, that's good for you. I haven't moved in a few years so it's hard to remember what it feels like but I hope you like your new place.

[legendhiro]

at long last, this happened!

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Sixteen]

 

What Happened Next

 

 

 

Bad news got worse that night when I arrived at my new room in Mid Dorm, prepared to meet my new roommate. I was surprised to find that I already knew her.

 

“You,” I said, hatred creeping into my voice. I ran right up to a very startled Ria and punched her in the face. I stepped back and readied myself for her counterattack, but she seemed calm. Calmer than I’d ever seen her.

 

“Yeah,” she said, rubbing her bruised cheek, “I deserved that.”

 

I was taken aback, “You did?”

 

“Yeah,” Ria answered. “I was a little loco. It’s an issue of mine. I come on way too strong, and I have trouble letting things go. I grew up in a rough, overcrowded neighborhood. I had to be loud and overly outgoing, or I woulda gotten swept away with the crowd. I’ve always been a good fighter, and an even better Duelist, but I never woulda made it here if not for my attitude. It’s what got me noticed by a sponsor. They paid my tuition.”

 

“Okay,” I said, “I can get that. Life is hard. But that’s no reason for you to try and break me and John up.” I said I understood her, and I meant that, but it didn’t change the fact that I was angry with her. I didn’t think anything would.

 

“I know,” said Ria, solemnly, “and I’m sorry for that. Really. But you gotta understand why I acted the way I did.”

 

“There is no excuse for your actions,” I stated.

 

“Please,” she asked, “just let me say this. Please.” When I didn’t protest, she began.

 

“See,” Ria said, “When I started hearin’ rumors about the second Grand Championship, I just knew I had to go. I worked odd jobs after school for almost a whole year and even then my momma still had to lend me some money. I went, and there was Yugi, and Kaiba, and Evo, all the Duelists I’d watched on TV. But none of them compared to John. I’d never seen him or heard of him before, and yet there he was, doing things with the cards that I never woulda thought of in a hundred years! He became my hero, then, on the best day of my life. I heard he was gonna be going here, and when I finally saw him, I thought I’d faint!”

 

She looked me in the eyes. Her eyes were sad, “I knew I’d never have a chance with him. He was older than me. He was famous. And he was with someone as incredible as you. So I did what I do. I overcompensated. I figured that pretending that Johnny was into me for half an hour would be worth pushing him away forever. And then something amazing happened. He didn’t push me away! He was nice to me. Even after you beat me in our duel, he wanted me around. He wanted to be my friend! I didn’t know how to deal with that, so I kept overcompensating. I never wanted to break you guys up. Not really.”

 

“But you kissed him,” I snapped, still angry.

 

“Yeah,” she said, kinda dreamily, “but to be fair I thought I’d died and gone to Heaven.”

 

And before I even knew what was happening, Ria and I were laughing.

 

 

The school year ended, and I went home for the summer. I never found out if John did or not. He wanted space, and I wanted to give it to him. After all, even though I was no longer mad at Ria, the points I’d brought up with John that day in the woods were all still valid, and he wasn’t my favorite person at the time. Summer was quiet. Kimi and her family, my adoptive family, had no problem with me staying at the house while they were oversees. They sent me money enough for groceries and bills each month, and I worked a little on the side. I had more than I needed, really.

 

I kept in touch with Kimi, Thomas, and, believe it or not, even Ria. She was turning out to be a pretty good friend, someone who truly wanted to do good by me, even if she did sometimes have trouble keeping her more annoying habits in check. She was rude and abrasive, and even over the phone and through email, she was way too competitive. She’s one of those people who takes everything as a challenge.

 

Annoying.

 

Aside from Kimi, I avoided my friends from the Duel Force, Even Monty and Lawrence. I didn’t want to risk crossing paths with John. I didn’t even want to know where he was or what he was doing.

 

And then, finally, summer ended, and it was time to go back to school. Kimi’s parents sent me money enough to get back to the nearest pickup point, from which I once again hopped aboard a flying vehicle which would take me to Academy Island, except that this time it was a helicopter. I didn’t have any idea why the school had switched from using a plane to a chopper, at least not until I saw the island from the air. The school itself was no different, but where the small runway had once been along the beach, there stood instead the new High Dorm. It was ornate, classy, and twice the size of the original. In fact it wasn’t even a single building anymore. Instead it was made up of two separate buildings spaced a good distance apart, with a man-made lake between them. I was impressed, and I care very little for architecture.

 

Wow, I thought, I wonder what it’s going to be like living there.

 

The helicopter landed a few minutes later, and I got off, lugging my bags alongside several other students as I made my way to the new all girls half of the new superdorm. I checked the room listing, and made my way up to my room on the third floor. When I finally got the door open, once I’d tossed my bags on the floor, I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I gasped. My room was as big as a small apartment!

 

Who needs this much space in a dorm room? I wondered, but of course I didn’t really complain. After all, I kinda liked all the space. And hey, I thought, New year means no more roommate Ria!

 

I unpacked my things, hanging two of my uniforms and my weekend clothing in the closet, made up my bed, and changed into my third uniform (I can’t remember when the previous year I’d actually requested the third one), taking my time and getting used to my new home. Overall just settling in. Then, once it was time, I headed toward the main building for this year’s orientation.

 

As I neared the school, I gave it a closer inspection. As I’d suspected, it was no different, yet my surroundings seemed different. It took me a second to realize that it was the tree line of the forest as seen out of the corner of my eye. Adult trees had been flown in and planted along the old edge of the forest, extending the tree line. You couldn’t see the old High Dorm at all anymore. It was a smart move on the part of the school. With the site of the original High Dorm open to the darkness, tearing the building down would only serve to open the door even wider, but at the same time something had to be done to keep students from wandering into the now-abandoned building. Clever.

 

I was lost in thought, so I didn’t hear anyone approaching until it was too late.

 

“Hey, Karen!”

 

Oh no.

 

I’d been dreading this moment. I turned around, and there was Thomas. I don’t dislike Thomas. I just prefer not to communicate with him vocally. It’s hard to be chatty in email, you know?

 

But in person, of course, it’s a whole different story. Before I even realized what was happening, Thomas had launched into a rather impressive monologue detailing his summer break. I tried to listen. Really I did. But there’s only so much information that the human brain can process at a time.

 

Luckily I was saved before things got too out of hand.

 

“Hey Tommy, Karen!”

 

Of course occasionally your savior is worse than what they save you from. Ria is sometimes like that. And by sometimes, I mean usually.

 

“Whatcha guys up to?” Ria asked.

 

“Oh,” said Thomas, “nothin’.” He was swooning. Literally swooning over Ria. God knows why. Actually I was surprised he was able to string together (almost) two complete words this time. Usually when I saw them together Thomas could hardly talk.

 

And that’s saying something.

 

“Okay,” said Ria, “well come on. They’re doing orientation in the arena room this year. Apparently they wanna be ready in case a duel breaks out, like it did last year. We can’t be late. Every student is required to attend.”

 

“Oh,” I said, “right. Every student.”

 

That means John will be there too.

 

I still cared about John. Nothing would ever change that. But spending the last few months apart from him, I’d realized that I didn’t need him or the drama he brought to my life. Even so, I reached down and touched the deck box in my pocket. Separated from my deck by a divider was the card that I’d made for him. The card that, despite everything, I hoped to give back to him one day.

 

“Karen, come on,” said Ria. She and Thomas were already on their way inside. I ran to catch up.

 

 

Even though I knew John didn’t want to see me, and I knew I didn’t want to see him, I couldn’t help scanning the crowd for his face. I didn’t see him, but I did notice that the number of students had more than doubled since last year. Huh, I thought, the dorms might almost fill up this time around. I took another look at the crowd. New students were easy to pick out from the rest. Most weren’t wearing their uniform jackets, and all of them were looking around, completely amazed by their surroundings. It brought back good memories of my first day here.

 

I sighed and followed my friends as we made our way to three empty seats a couple rows up. It was almost as soon as we were seated that Sheppard stepped out onto the Duel Arena floor below and started speaking.

 

“Well,” said Sheppard, “I’m glad to see so many young faces in the stands today. It’s impressive, isn’t it. A school dedicated to Duel Monsters, and it managed to stay open for longer than a year!”

 

He chuckled, and the crowd joined in happily.

 

“For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Professor Sheppard, the senior head professor here at Duel Academy. I’ve seen many Duelists in my time, all with potential, and I have to say I’ve never seen more potential than I see in this room today. But potential isn’t strength or skill. Potential is something that must be shaped and nurtured. That is what we do here at Duel Academy. We teach you things you may not know, and we help you hone what you do, helping your potential grow into something great. Our courses may seem tedious, or even simple, but I guarantee that you’ll learn something. And even when you’re not learning something you don’t already know, well, at least your tests will be easy.”

 

More laughter filled the room.

 

“Of course,” said Sheppard, more seriously now, “any Duelist who completes Duel Academy is guaranteed to know more than a Duelist who hasn’t, and any design student who graduates will be in the top of their field. If you can tough it out, the opportunities will be many. And that is the true focus of Duel Academy. One day I hope to see all of you living their dream. Duelists, I hope to see you dueling professionally, and designers, I hope to see you creating amazing cards. And I will do everything I can to make those hopes come true.

 

“Sadly,” Sheppard continued, “our headmaster Chancellor Kagemaru could not be here today, due to personal matters, which is why I’m speaking to you in his stead. Hopefully he will be able to make an appearance soon. But until then any questions or problems should be directed at me.”

 

He paused. I could tell that Sheppard was genuinely worried about his friend. I tried not to worry myself.

 

“Moving along,” said Sheppard, working hard to hide his worry (though it was still obvious to me), “there are some announcements to make. First of all, students are asked to refrain from entering the forest. Several students went missing last year and have yet to be found. It is unknown what happened to them, but some reports suggest that at least one of them was exploring the forest the last time they were seen. Our worries are only precautionary, but should be heeded nonetheless.

 

“Also, and this goes hand in hand with my previous request, but I must ask all students to stay away from the old High Dorm. A natural disaster occurred in the dorm last year that has made the building unfit for human habitation. In fact, the structure is too dangerous even to enter safely. But our rather stubborn sponsors, Maxamillion Pegasus and Seto Kaiba, refuse to tear the structure down.”

 

He smiled and chuckled again. It was a clever story, and Sheppard was selling it well. I only hoped that it would hold up.

 

“And finally,” said Sheppard, “on a much happier note, the three dorms, previously known as High Dorm, Mid Dorm, and Low Dorm, will be renamed, starting the first official day of the new school year, for the greatest monsters in the history of Duel Monsters. The dorms will be forever known as Obelisk Blue, Ra Yellow, and Osiris Red.”

 

The crowd cheered. Even I joined in. I couldn’t think of better names for the dorms that would be the home for the duelists of future generations.

 

Everything seemed to be pretty good, all things considered, until I felt a presence that I hadn’t expected to feel. A magical presence. I looked around frantically, searching for the source of the feeling, but just then the assembly was let out, and the students in the stand began moving toward the exits. John was lost in the crowd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter The Darkness Returns

 

well, the darkness returns, and...other stuff...

[senron]

First off, great chapter. Second, you time your hiatuses horribly, I mean really. Just when John turns evil/ his darkside comes back you go on hiatus. Third, you haven't said you finished the special in the title of DF. So, you should probably fix that. Now. Or else.

[legendhiro]

the problem is, since the format of the site changed, i can't change the title of my older threads anymore. only a mod can, and they have yet to do so. it sucks.

[Brinolovania]

Good chapter...as usual. Have I told you that you are amazing?

[legendhiro]

i'm not sure, but even if you have, i definitely don't mind hearing it multiple times ;)

[Stigma_Horrizone]

nice one, i'm starting to miss ur writing already

[legendhiro]

new chapter today, probably.

[legendhiro]

only seventeen hours later that i expected!

 

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Seventeen]

 

The Darkness Returns

 

 

School was pretty uneventful in the days following orientation. In fact, the most exciting thing to happen for months was the official announcement of the dorm name changes which came on the first day of classes. With more relatable names now assigned to the dorms, several rivalries began to pop up among the dueling students. Thankfully few design students became involved, so I didn’t feel pressured to waste my time. Ria, of course, got really into it before she finally burned out a couple months in. I guess there’s only so many times that you can tag the Ra Yellow dorm with Obelisk-themed graffiti and break into the Ra Yellow dorms to exchange students’ yellow jackets with torn up red ones before you get bored.

 

Anyway, as I said, design students didn’t really get caught up in the rivalries, or at least no one I knew did. I just did my best at school and focused on getting better. By the end of first semester, I was able to test out of most of my courses and move up to the next level. As much as I missed John, one good thing could be said about him being gone; I had a lot more time on my hands. Time to focus on my studies without any drama. I was happy.

 

Really, I was.

 

But still, every time I even suspected that John might be around, I couldn’t help looking for him, almost obsessively. I mean, what if he never came back?

 

So maybe I wasn’t quite as happy as I thought at the time.

 

The next part of the story began one day nearly three quarters of the way through that second year. I was in my advanced card art and mechanics course, working on a painting of a landscape for a study on Field Spell cards. I was putting on the final details when my instructor walked by.

 

“Very good work on the tree line,” he said, “but you really should have more coherency. What kind of monster would benefit from a clearing in the woods?”

 

“Well,” I answered, “I was thinking of a dual effect, where warriors would get a benefit in the clearing in the center of the field, while forest-dwellers would gain a benefit from the forest along the edges.”

 

“Hmm,” the professor replied, “interesting. It reminds me of the earliest holographic duels, when the old Expert Rules were still common and the environment was an important part of game-play. I look forward to seeing your finished project.”

 

I smiled, full of pride, “Thanks.”

 

The instructor turned to walk away, but he stopped when I jumped up out of my seat, suddenly startled by a strange shock from my Soul of Imagination.

 

“Are you alright?” the instructor asked.

 

“Oh,” I answered, “yeah. I, uh, suddenly don’t feel well. Can I go see the nurse?”

 

The instructor’s kind eyes wrinkled with concern. “Of course you can,” he replied, but I barely heard him. I was already out the door running.

 

The Shadow was back.

 

 

I ran full speed through the halls until I found Ria’s and Thomas’ classroom. They had Advanced Duel Tactics together this period. I knew I’d need their help, so I stood outside and got their attention through the door. It only took them a few minutes to both get themselves excused from class.

 

“What’s goin’ on?” Ria asked. “I was actually takin’ notes today.”

 

“I’ve been watching out using my Soul of Imagination,” I explained as I led my friends quickly down the hall, “just in case something else happened, and it’s back!”

 

“What’s back,” Ria demanded.

 

“The Shadow,” I answered, and I saw her eyes go wide.

 

“The Shadow?” Thomas asked, his voice heavy with uneasy nerves. “You mean the killer Shadow from last year that tried to eat me?”

 

“Tried to eat us,” Ria corrected, regaining her composure. “And what’s the big deal? Johnny beat that thing last time. He’ll beat it this time too.”

 

“John was only able to beat that thing because his Soul of Darkness protected him. I’ve seen it happen before. He’s invulnerable to all but the very most powerful shadow-based attacks. The Shadow in its incomplete for couldn’t touch him. But we have no idea what form the Shadow will have taken this time. John might not be protected from its attacks anymore. Besides, we don’t even know for sure that John knows about the Shadow’s return.”

 

We reached the lobby of the building, “We can’t take the risk. We have to try and overpower this thing and make sure it doesn’t get free. If it did, it could be catastrophic.”

 

“Where is it?” Ria asked.

 

“Same place as before,” I answered, walking toward the doors, “the old High Dorm. We have to get there now!”

 

“Wait,” said Thomas, backing away. Ria and I stopped and faced him. “I can’t do this. That thing freaks me out.”

 

“But Thomas-,” I began.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said, and he turned and ran.

 

I looked at Ria. She seemed pained, but she looked at me and asked, “What are we waiting for?”

 

We turned toward the doors once again, and we ran.

 

 

We dashed through the woods, branches smacking and cutting us. One hit my cheek, slicing deep enough that it stung, but I didn’t care.

 

This forest is even thicker than it looks from the courtyard, I noticed. I’ve been to the old dorm, and even I’m having trouble finding it in here.

 

After running for several minutes and wondering if the dorm was even still standing, we arrived. The building was already overgrown with brush and vines. But more surprising than that, everything seemed normal. Nothing looked remotely out of place. No sign of the Shadow anywhere.

 

“It couldn’t have escaped from the building yet,” I said.

 

“How do you know that?” Ria asked, looking around nervously.

 

“I just know,” I replied. “My Soul can feel it. The portal that connects the darkness to our dimension is bound to the place where it was opened, and so is the thing summoned through it. The Shadow would have to be in its complete form to escape. At least that’s what I feel.”

 

“Is there a chance that you magic fashion accessory could be wrong?” Ria wondered.

 

“I don’t know,” I answered, wondering the same thing myself. “It’s never been wrong before.”

 

“Well I don’t see anything here,” Ria announced, sounding annoyed.

 

That’s when the ground began to shake, and smoke began to pour from the cracks around the windows and doors. The dark smoke, shadows made tangible, took on the form of tentacle-like arms that lashed out angrily.

 

“I told you,” I said grimly. I activated my Duel Disk and placed a card, “I summon the ‘Dark Magician Girl’!”

 

There was a flash, and the beautiful young sorceress appeared at my side, springing into action, blasting lashing shadowy arms apart one after the other. The arms reacted to her presence and lashed at her. She avoided them, destroying one arm after another, but for each arm she destroyed, another formed from the darkness.

 

“There’s magic all around here,” I told Ria. “You should be able to summon a monster.”

 

No answer.

 

I looked over at Ria, turning away from the battle. Ria was frozen in fear, a look of shock on her face. A stray arm moved to strike her, snapping it out of her daze, but there was no way for her to stop it herself. Responding to my desire to save my friend, my sorceress moved to block the arm, and was hit. She dissolved into shadows and joined with the tentacle. I felt the Shadow grow stronger. I looked down at the card on my Duel Disk. It was blank, the monster spirit gone from it.

 

No!

 

The many arms undulated, moving to strike a final blow, but by now, Ria was prepared. “Summon,” she declared, “’The Ultimate Fighter’!”

 

The powerful martial artist appeared, launching itself into battle against the shadowy arms, punching and kicking them apart in a flurry of motion. “Look out,” I told her. “It completely absorbed my monster. It might want yours too.”

 

I pulled two card from my deck, “I open the door to ‘Toon World’ and call out the ‘Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon’!”

 

Nothing happened.

 

What?! Somehow, when it absorbed my monster, it blocked me from using any more magic!

 

Just then Ria exclaimed, “No!” Her monster was hit and absorbed into the Shadow as well, and I sensed its power rise even further. I felt a rumbling in the air, and I heard a voice in my mind, I have almost enough energy. My emergence is at hand! If there are no more monsters to absorb, humans, I will absorb you!

 

The arms reached for me and Ria, but a moment before they would have hit, they burst into flames and burned up. The flames lingered, slowing the arms’ regeneration, but not by much.

 

“Sorry I’m late.”

 

I turned toward the source of this newest voice.

 

“Thomas?”

 

“Tommy!” Ria cried, practically jumping up and down with relief.

 

“Thomas,” I said, “It absorbed our monsters, and we can’t summon any more.”

 

“Then it’s a good thing I got here when I did,” said Thomas, as the arms finished healing. “’Ignis’,” he called, and the lingering flames came together and formed the spectral fire beast, its many eyes glowing. “Light it up, ‘Ignis’,” Thomas commanded. ‘Ignis’’ flame tail spread out, burning up most of the arms, but one manages to avoid the blaze long enough to snake its way toward ‘Ignis’’ main body, scoring a hit. ‘Ignis’ and hit flames became a part of the arm.

 

“What are we gonna do now?” Thomas wondered. I didn’t answer. I expected the arms to attack us, but instead, they retracted back into the building. I heard a deep, wicked, deliberate laugh echoing from within the structure before us, and I knew what had happened. With the absorption of ‘Ignis’, the Shadow had finally absorbed enough energy to become whole.

 

“It’s here,” I said. “It’s finally managed to complete its emergence into our realm.”

 

“Is that bad?” Thomas asked.

 

“Let me put it this way,” I answered, “we couldn’t beat it when it was attacking us from another dimension.”

 

“So that’s a yes then.”

 

The air grew cold around us, and the color seemed to drain from our surroundings. The three of us backed away, stepping closer together. Black smoke started gushing from the building.

 

“New plan,” I said. “Run!”

 

We turned to run away, but we were cut off by the shadows, which curved around us. They swirled together, becoming solid, forming a slender creature, blacker that night, with red eyes, and a wide, tooth-filled mouth, curled into a wicked smile. Its hands ended in four fingers, tipped with long, sharp claws. It stood ten feet tall.

 

“Going somewhere?” the Shadow asked in a raspy growl of a voice.

 

“Back off!” I said, stepping in front of the others, doing my best to shield them. The creature only laughed a hissy, raspy laugh.

 

I’ll give you something to laugh at. I gestured toward the creature, my Soul flashing, and unleashed a wave of nearly invisible magical force that slashed the creature across the chest, opening a deep wound that would have killed a human. The Shadow screeched in pain.

 

“I said back off.”

 

But as I watched, the Shadow’s wound closed, as if it had never been there in the first place.

 

“This is not good,” I said.

 

“Oh,” the creature announced, “you have no idea. I’m going to peel the skin from your body, girl, and them I’m going to keep you alive long enough for you to watch me eat your friends before I finally kill you.”

 

I was sure that this time it was over. I had no options left. There was nothing I could do. I was going to die. That’s when a miracle happened. I heard a voice from within the woods that made my heart skip.

 

“I can’t let you do that.”

 

In spite of everything, I smiled, John.

 

The Shadow turned in the direction of the voice, as did Thomas, Ria, and I. We found ourselves looking into dark, empty woods.

 

No, I thought, not empty

 

The darkness itself seemed to come alive, forming a human shape. John stepped out of the shadows, his hands in the pockets of his red uniform jacket. He’d let his hair grow out. It was down almost to his shoulders, his bangs hanging long, over his eyes.

 

“Good thing I got here when I did,” said John. “I don’t want anything to eat you guys.”

 

He looked over at me, ignoring the Shadow completely, “You okay?”

 

I nodded.

 

“Don’t interfere!” the Shadow roared, slashing its claws at John. He jumped out of the path of the Shadow’s strike and summoned him Dark Disk from the shadows at his feet, separating it into its sword and shield form. He parried a second strike. When his blade touched the creature’s claws, its arm up to the elbow dissolved into darkness, reforming instantly.

 

“It looks like you’re still made of Shadows. You’re just a little more solid now, and a little quicker to heal. But either way, I can still take you apart.”

 

“But can you take me apart before I can take you apart?” the Shadow snarled, but I got the sense that it was at least partially bluffing.

 

I looked into John’s eyes. He seemed confident, but the tiniest bit of sweat on his brow told me otherwise. He was just as worried. Neither combatant was sure they could win a direct conflict. There was only one option.

 

“Since we both seem to agree that it would be best not to obliterate each other,” John offered, “I propose that we settle this the way we did last time; with a duel!”

 

“Sounds good,” the Shadow replied. I watched its mouth twist into a wicked smile. I knew then that it had been planning for this. After all, at its current level of power, who knew how powerful a deck it could manifest.

 

“John,” I began, “the duel-.”

 

“Don’t worry,” John said, interrupting me, “I know. I’ve got this. You guys get away from here.”

 

John knew the risks involved in the coming duel. He was taking those risks to give me a chance to escape.

 

I nodded, offering him my support.

 

“Alright my fine shadowy fiend,” said John with a confident smirk, “if I win this little shadow duel I get to decide what to do with you. There are no limits, but if you win, you walk free, unhindered by me or my friends. Agreed?”

 

The Shadow nodded, still grinning.

 

The terms for the Shadow Game set, John’s Soul flashed, sealing the deal. Darkness rose up, completely surrounding the combatants.

 

“Oh no!” I exclaimed.

 

“What?” Thomas asked.

 

I reached into my pocket and felt my deck box there, holding one particular card, “I forgot to give him something.”

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

Only three cards were actually seen this chapter, and of them only this one has not yet been a card of the day, so...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter An Unexpected Deck, Part One

 

The new form of the Shadow's powerful deck is revealed in part, already at a level far beyond the first. Can John defeat it without 'The Fiend Omegacyber'?

[legendhiro]

bump?

[legendhiro]

the next chapter is up. weird. it hasn't been three months since the last one yet...

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Eighteen]

 

An Unexpected Deck, Part One

 

 

John

 

“You’re going to be quite surprised when you see how my power has grown,” the Shadow growled, darkness enclosing us. The darkness at his feet took form, pouring like smoke to his arm and forming an oversized Duel Disk with greater detail than the one it’d used previously. It was gunmetal grey and looked scraped and dented. A deck full of cards appeared from the shadows into the creature’s deck loader. I felt an unusual power radiating from that deck, but I ignored the feeling.

 

I’ve learned a lot this year, I thought. My deck is mostly the same, and my style isn’t any different, but I’ve learned how to be myself again. I’ve remembered how to take things seriously, on and off the duel field. My whole attitude is changed. No matter how strong the Shadow has become, I will win.

 

I don’t know why I said it. Maybe I just wanted to brag. Maybe I was more afraid that I thought. Afraid that, as soon as I’d reached a place where I felt that I could return to Karen, the Shadow was going to take that all away from me again. Either way, I wanted the Shadow to know just what it was up against.

 

“Maybe you’ve had awhile to prepare for this duel, monster,” I declared, “but so have I. Maybe you’ve gotten stronger, but I have too. A couple years ago, I was a completely different person. A person who really cared about fighting the good fight. Who truly valued the time he spent with the people closest to him. When you’re not a wicked shadow demon, it’s those values that make you strong. I’ve spent every moment of every day since our last battle learning how to be that person again.”

 

“Let me tell you something, human,” The Shadow responded, speaking the last word as if it tasted fowl in his mouth, a deep rage gleaming in his shallow eyes. “My realm is full of horrors and beings and powers beyond your wildest imagination. Things that your limited mind cannot comprehend with its pitiful three dimensional understanding. As powerful as I am, I am nothing compared to the sheer magical forces and the greater beings that exist there. The only refuge a being like me can hope for is to hide and stay hidden. But that was not enough for me. I wanted freedom. I deserved it! So I waited, and I watched your world, using the magical words inscribed in an ancient human book as a bridge. I waited for the day when a mind malleable for me to influence might find my book.

 

“For centuries I waited in the darkness, every year in your world feeling like a hundred years to me, until I was almost ready to give up. But then, finally, success! An ignorant, stupid human found my book. I whispered to him how to open the door to my realm, convincing him that he would be granted great power. He opened the door for me, and I consumed him, mind, body and soul, using his energy to grow closer to your world, my destined world. But it wasn’t enough. So I consumed his friend as well. Still my goal eluded me. Their Ba, what you humans now call Duel Energy, was not enough to bring me here in my complete form. Again, I nearly gave up.”

 

“Are you about finished?” I asked, feigning boredom. The more of the Shadow’s story I heard, the worse off I felt. I didn’t intend to hear more.

 

The Shadow had other ideas.

 

“YOU WILL HEAR ME!!!” the Shadow roared, nearly knocking me off of my feet with the force of its rage.

 

“As I was saying,” the Shadow continued, so tense now that it was shaking, “I almost lost hope. Then, what luck! I’d been summoned onto an island full of Ba-filled humans upon which I could feed. And better yet, none of them even knew I existed! I could take my time and grow stronger at my own pace. It was clear that ruling this world was my destiny.”

 

The Shadow focused its intense eyes right on me as its story reached its climax, “And then you came. You, the human I wanted most but could not have. You, the one human with the power to grant me my goal, and the power to send me back to the horrible world from which I came! I clawed my way through my Hell of a dimension, back though the barrier between our worlds, against the grain of my realm, no longer because I desired to rule. No! I put myself through the most painful, the most difficult struggle of my very horrible little life with only one though in my head. I returned here wanting only to kill you!

 

“And now, now that I’ve siphoned off enough energy from the humans here to emerge in my completed form,” the Shadow explained, drawing his opening hand, “that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

 

The Shadow drew a sixth card, not waiting for a single word from me.

 

“I begin,” he declared, “with the Spell card ‘Fiend’s Sanctuary’, summoning a Token Monster.”

 

A glowing ring appeared on the ground near the Shadow’s feet, remaining just long enough to spawn a small creature that resembled a few small silver orbs stacked on top of each other (ATK: 0).

 

“I tribute the Token,” the Shadow continued, “to summon the ‘Legendary Fiend’.”

 

A tall, muscular demon appeared, it had black wings and four upper limbs, two like normal arms and two like long necks, each one ending in a monstrous head (ATK: 1500).

 

“I set a card,” the Shadow declared. “Make your first futile move.”

 

“I’d be glad to,” I said in a mock cheerful tone. “I’ll start off with one of my favorite opening moves, the powerful ‘Giant Orc’.”

 

A huge, gray-skinned goblin appeared at my side, standing nearly as tall as the Shadow itself, carrying a giant bone club in his right hand (ATK: 2200).

 

“I attack your ‘Legendary Fiend’,” I commanded, “before it has a chance to use its effect and grow stronger.”

 

My goblin charged, his club raised.

 

“You’re too slow,” the Shadow countered. “My face-down card in turn jump, which moved time forward a total of six turns, allowing my monster to mature as if three of my turns had passed.”

 

As he spoke, the air around us seemed to ripple, as if time and space were changing before our eyes. The ‘Legendary Fiend’ grew, and grew stronger (ATK: 1500+(700x3)=3600) until it towered over my monster. It brought its clawed hand down on my monster, crushing him with ease (8000+2200-3600=6600).

 

Well this isn’t good, I thought. Why do I always take the first hit?

 

“I set two cards,” I said.

 

I really should have gotten my card back from Karen. I’m sure she has it with her. At first it was only a passing thought, but soon that thought turned to near panic. I’d only been able to defeat the Shadow the first time around because I had that card; ‘The Fiend Omegacyber’. What if it came down to a similar situation again? Right then, without that card in my deck, I felt alone.

 

But I couldn’t let my revelation dishearten or distract me. If I do, I thought, I might as well surrender now.

 

“I end my turn.”

 

“Then you have come one step closer to your destruction,” The Shadow declared with pride, “and I have come one step closer to my ultimate freedom. I draw, and my monster grows seven hundred points stronger once again.”

 

‘The Legendary Fiend’ grew larger yet again (ATK: 3600+700=4300).

 

“I equip ‘The Legendary Fiend’ with the ‘Sword of Dark Rites’,” A wicked, twisted, evil-looking blade appeared in the demon’s outstretched hand, “raising his power even further (ATK: 4300+400=4700).

 

“I attack directly,” the Shadow declared, and the demonic monster raised its sword and prepared to strike.

 

I smiled…

 

…and the attacking demon exploded!

 

“Reveal,” I said, “the Trap card ‘Blast Held by a Tribute’, destroying your monster and dealing you damage.”

 

Smoke and flames from the explosion of the Shadow’s monster assaulted the Shadow. Its chest began to dissolve, but it regenerated quickly (8000-1000=7000).

 

The Shadow snarled, “You can’t defeat me so easily.” He placed two cards in his Duel Disk, “I summon a monster, face-down in defense mode, and set a card face-down.”

 

I could see a figure moving in the darkness near the Shadow’s feet. His hidden monster.

 

“As your turn comes to an end,” I declared, pressing forward, “I reveal the Trap card ‘Call of the Haunted’, reviving my fallen ‘Orc’.”

 

The fully revived goblin appeared at my side. He hadn’t enjoyed being killed, and he was ready for some payback.

 

“Now I draw,” I continued, “and I summon the ‘Djinn Presider of Rituals’.”

 

The squat demon in his characteristic, less-than-adequate armor appeared as well, his sword raised (ATK: 1800).

 

I need to be careful and think things through, I thought. I can’t afford to underestimate an opponent this strong. But at the same time, past experience has shown me that it would be a serious mistake to hesitate as well. This guy can summon massively powerful monsters in an instant. If I pause for even a second, he might crush me.

 

I have to attack.

 

“My ‘Orc’ attacks your hidden monster,” I commanded. The ‘Orc’ charged forward, his club raised, and squashed the defending monster; a giant tomato with a demonic face. The ‘Mystic Tomato’.

 

Ah crap!

 

“When my ‘Mystic Tomato’ is destroyed,” the Shadow explained, a wicked glint in its red eyes, and a cheerful tone to its chilling voice, “I can summon any monster from my deck.”

 

A card in the Shadow’s deck melted into darkness and reformed on the beast’s Duel Disk. On the Shadow’s field appeared a monster that’s difficult to describe. A monster I’d never seen before. It was a humanoid demon, its body made of black, gray, and red patches. It had black devil wings and a large, green eye, turned vertical, embedded in its forehead. It was difficult to tell if the figure was meant to be male or female, or even something else.

 

“Behold,” the Shadow declared, triumphant, “the greatest demon to exist in this modern form of dueling, the great beast ‘Yubel’ (ATK: 0)!”

 

I shuddered. This monster has a dark power. So dark that even my Soul of Darkness doesn’t like it. And to make things worse, I have no idea what the Shadow wants to do with it, or what it can do. I have to destroy it, fast!

 

I was about to attack, and thinking back to that duel, I’m glad I wasn’t able to, because if I had, I might have died. Instead, the Shadow activated a Trap.

 

“Reveal,” the Shadow announced, “the Trap card ‘Torrential Tribute’, destroying every monster on the field!”

 

Water bubbled up from nowhere and washed over the field, drowning all of our monsters and washing them away.

 

What?

 

“And,” the Shadow continued, “when ‘Yubel’ dies outside of battle, it is reborn in its second, more monstrous form, ‘Yubel – Terror Incarnate’!”

 

‘Yubel’ reappeared and grew into a massive beast, just taller than the Shadow itself. It was a mighty-looking, two-headed dragon in ‘Yubel’’s black and red, but without the gray. It had a larger, yellow version of ‘Yubel’’s third eye on its chest, broad wings, and long, curved, razor-sharp claws (ATK: 0).

 

“I’m having trouble seeing what’s so threatening about some monsters with zero Attack,” I declared.

 

“You’ll understand my monster’s power soon enough,” the Shadow replied, laughing gruffly. “I draw, and I play ‘Card of Sanctity’!”

 

The Shadow and I proceeded to refill our hands.

 

“I set a card,” the Shadow said, “and play ‘Spell Economics’. This lets me play Spell cards without the need to pay Life Points.”

 

I bit my lip in frustration, This can’t be good.

 

“Activate ‘Delinquent Duo’,” the Shadow declared, “calling in the twin demons. One steals a random card from your hand, while you must give the other a card from your hand willingly. Both are then discarded.”

 

Two small, fluttering demons appeared. One snatched my ‘Dark Core’ from me, and I handed the other my ‘X-Head Cannon’. The demons fed my cards into my Graveyard and then disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

 

“But I am not finished,” the demon said. “Oh, I am far from finished! I set another card and play ‘Thunder Crash’!” This card destroys all of my monsters and deals three hundred damage to you for each monster destroyed.”

 

‘Yubel’ exploded into a burst of lightning that hit me, causing me to cry out, singing my clothes, and leaving my body throbbing (6600-300=6300).

 

“And when ‘Yubel – Terror Incarnate’ is destroyed, it is reborn one final time as a creature with no peer!”

 

Darkness swirled all around us, collecting into a massive form that dwarfed even the Shadow. It stood over twenty-five feet tall. It had two draconic heads, larger than previous, each with a human face atop it, between the eyes. It had eyes on its knees, and a massive humanoid face on its chest, with a yellowish third eye on the forehead of said face. Again, this incarnation of ‘Yubel’ possessed no Attack, but even I had no illusions that such a creature could be weak.

 

“This,” the Shadow declared, “is the greatest demon of all, ‘Yubel – The Ultimate Nightmare’!”

 

I swallowed hard, This duel might be even trickier that I thought.

 

The Shadow smiled cheerily, its wicked, animalistic teeth bared, “It’s your turn. But be careful. We wouldn’t want it to be your last!”

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

Though we have not seen this card in action yet against John, this massive homage to both Jaden and his frennemy Yubel is no doubt a formidable card. But its true power is in how it is used by its wielder. How will it be wielded by the Shadow in the coming chapter?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter The Unexpected Deck, Part Two; The Battle Concluded

 

The Shadow's latest card already contains immense powers, so what will John do when the Shadow summons an even more powerful card?

[Stigma_Horrizone]

Yubel....brr it still gimme the chills....., the rest is good tho', who cares if it hasn't been 3 months yet

[legendhiro]

yubel is d*mn creepy. but i already did a homage to chazz, and a character in my next book is a walking homage to zane, so i figured i should give a character some of jaden's cards too. the shadow will use a couple more of jaden's cards next chapter, without his deck ever becoming a duplicate of jaden's.

[legendhiro]

hurray!!!

 

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Nineteen]

 

The Unexpected Deck, Part Two; The Battle Concluded

 

 

Karen

 

John really was going all out to protect us. The shadows he’d summoned to encompass his Shadow Duel were so thick that I was having trouble reading what was going on inside. But despite what John had done and said, I couldn’t bring myself to escape and leave him there, all alone.

 

“Thomas, Ria,” I said, turning to my friends, “you guys go. I’m staying here to wait for John.”

 

I turned the card in my hand over in my fingers a few times before I noticed that my friends were still there, with no apparent intention of moving.

 

“Go!” I said.

 

“No way,” said Thomas, looking down at the blank card resting on his Duel Disk. “I got scared and showed up late. If I’d just come with you guys in the first place, maybe we woulda been able to defeat the Shadow, and maybe I wouldn’t have lost ‘Ignis’. No, I’m seeing this thing through.”

 

It was clear that ‘Ignis’ was more than just a card to Thomas. I remembered him saying that he could see monster spirits, and I understood that ‘Ignis’ was his friend.

 

“Same goes for me,” said Ria. “That thing took my ‘Ultimate Fighter’. I’m not leaving until I get my monster back, even if I have to rip him from the monster with my bare hands!”

 

I nodded, “Alright. Then we’re all in this together.” Come on John, you can do this. We’re counting on you.

 

John

 

Come on, I told myself, you can do this! Everyone’s counting on you!

 

“I draw,” I declared, and I smiled when I saw my latest acquisition.

 

This might be easier that I thought!

 

“Don’t get used to having the card you just drew,” the Shadow warned, “because I reveal ‘Drastic Drop Off’, forcing you to discard the card you just drew.”

 

“No!” I exclaimed. An invisible force knocked the ‘Mirror Force’ card out of my hand. It curled around me and slid into my Graveyard.

 

“Damn. Looks like I’m gonna have to do this the hard way,” I said, looking up at the grotesque beast that towered over me. “I don’t know what your monster does, but I’m pretty sure that my next monster can take it out, and take a chunk out of your Life Points to boot. I summon ‘D.D. Warrior Lady’ and attack your monster. When my monster battles, I have the option of removing her and he opponent from play!”

 

The silver-suited female warrior appeared, her glowing sword in hand, and she lunged at the immense creature.

 

“You should know by now that such simple moves don’t work on me,” the Shadow countered. “Reveal ‘Nullification Warp’,

 

 

negating the effect of your monster during this turn.”

 

‘D.D. Warrior Lady’’s sword lost its glow. She slashed across the chest of her massive adversary, but the attack was unsuccessful. It did nothing at all, to the player or the monster.

 

No way. It’s indestructible?

 

“Now, ‘Yubel’,” the Shadow commanded, “activate your effect!”

 

My warrior was still hanging in the air when the mouth of the giant face on ‘Yubel’’s chest opened, and shadowy black vines extended out. Several of the vines crushed my monster, and the rest reached toward me, slashing me across my chest, nearly knocking me down. I lost Life Points equal to the Attack of my monster (6300-1500=4800).

 

“Then I pass,” I said. I need to feel this thing out. Figure out just how powerful this monster is.

 

“Draw!” the Shadow declared, excited by the prospect of my possible defeat. “I play my ‘Level Aura’ Spell card, increasing the power of my monster by twelve hundred.”

 

Twelve level stars swarmed around ‘Yubel’. It opened its huge mouth and sucked the stars in. An aura flared around ‘Yubel’’s massive body (ATK: 1200).

 

“’Yubel’ attacks,” the Shadow declared. ‘Yubel’ produced its vines again, slashing me, tearing at the thick material of my uniform jacket (4800-1200=3600).

 

“I set a card,” said the Shadow, placing a card on his Duel Disk, “and, sadly, that’s all for now. Go! Mount your pitiful counterattack.”

 

“Alright then,” I replied, drawing a card. “I play ‘Graceful Charity’, drawing three cards,” I drew, looked at my cards, and I got an idea.

 

This guy is always prepared, so what I really need to do is throw him off his game.

 

“I discard ‘Y-Dragon Head’ and ‘Z-Metal Tank’, and then I summon my ‘Snipe Hunter’, a monster that can destroy other monsters at the cost of a card from my hand!”

 

My monster, a pure-black-colored devil carrying a blaster appeared, only to disappear a moment later in a wave of light.

 

“Reveal,” said the Shadow, “the Trap card ‘Solemn Judgment’! I surrender half of my remaining Life Points to pass judgment on your monster, destroying him (7000/2=3500).

 

I smiled, This is better than I hoped!

 

“In that case, it’s finally time to turn this duel around! I play my real trump card; ‘Contract with the Dark Master’. I tribute the ‘Chaosrider Gustaph’ in my hand, and remove ‘Djinn Presider of Rituals’ in the Graveyard from play as a sacrifice to initiate the Ritual Summon.”

 

A black fire flared up behind me, stretching far into the shadows above my head. From that fire emerged the demon lord ‘Dark Master – Zorc’ (ATK: 2700).

 

“My new monster, ‘Zorc’,” I explained, “has the power to destroy a certain number of cards based on the number I roll on a dice.”

 

I held out my hand, smiling with confidence, and a black dice materialized in my palm.

 

“If I roll a one through five,” I said, “my monster scores a critical hit and your ‘Yubel’ dies. But there’s a silver lining for you. If I happen to roll a six, my monster’s power will feed back on itself and my monster will be destroyed instead.”

 

I tossed the dice, darkness forming around my monster, building up. The dice skidded around and finally landed on a three.

 

“Alright,” I exclaimed, clenching my fist, “a critical hit!”

 

‘Zorc’ raised his hands, drawing the darkness into them.

 

“Survive this, nightmare demon!” I said as my monster unleashed his special attack, creating an eruption of energy. “Dark Catastrophe!”

 

‘Yubel’ cried out as it was swallowed up by the dark energy and completely destroyed.

 

“Now my monster attacks directly!”

 

‘Zorc’ fired off a blast of darkness yet again, hitting the Shadow, nearly blasting it apart. But again, the Shadow was able to reform (3500-2700=800).

 

“This duel is as good as over,” I said, but the Shadow had other ideas.

 

“I don’t think so,” the Shadow asserted, its lips curling into a crooked smile. “I have one more monster left to play. A monster even more powerful than the one you just destroyed! First I play ‘Card of Demise’ to draw five new cards!”

 

I felt a familiar power wash over me, and I realized that I’d underestimated the strength of my opponent even more than I thought.

 

“I’ve absorbed enough energy from the girl out there,” the Shadow explained, “in the form of her monster to use one of her powers!”

 

Light flashed from the Shadow’s deck and it called out, “Destiny Draw!”

 

My opponent drew his cards, and I knew that he’d drawn just what he needed. I don’t frighten easily, but I’ll admit that I was scared.

 

The Shadow’s smiled widened further, “Perfect! I play ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive the original form of ‘Yubel’!”

 

A supernatural red light flared and the first form of the demon ‘Yubel’ appeared at the Shadow’s side.

 

“And I summon,” the Shadow continued, a humanoid figure made of crystals appearing by his side as well, “the ‘Elemental Hero Prisma’!”

 

An Elemental Hero? I wondered. This can’t be his big play, so what kind of monster is he planning to summon?

 

“I show you a Fusion monster, ‘Elemental Hero Dark Neos’,” the Shadow declared, holding out its massive hand, a Fusion monster that I’d never seen manifesting there, “and discard the material monster ‘Elemental Hero Neos’ from my deck,” a card from the Shadow’s deck dissolved into smoke and reconstituted in his Graveyard, “to give ‘Prisma’ the name ‘Elemental Hero Neos’!”

 

‘Prisma’ lit up, projecting around itself an image of a tall warrior in a single piece white jumpsuit with a crystal in its chest.

 

“I merge my monsters,” the Shadow declared, “to create the ultimate, perfect monster!”

 

‘Yubel’ became energy that merged with ‘Prisma’/’Neos’, and ‘Prisma’/’Neos’ became the projected monster, wearing black armor over his chest, arms and head. His eyes were covered by his armor, ‘Yubel’’s third eye, mounted on the forehead of his armor, his only means of sight. A black wing sprouted from each side of the armor wrapping the monster’s head.

 

“Behold,” the Shadow declared, “the ‘Neos Wiseman’ (ATK: 3000). This monster deals damage to my opponent equal to the Attack of any monster it battles, and restores my Life equal to the defense of any monster it battles. I attack ‘Zorc’!”

 

‘Neos Wiseman’ rose up, the crystal in the armor of his chest glowing, and raised his armored hands above his head, summoning a massive ball of light,

 

“’Neos’,” the Shadow commanded, “Ultimate Nova’!”

 

‘Neos’ threw the energy ball at ‘Zorc’. My monster was instantly and completely overwhelmed and destroyed (3600-3000=600). The sheer force of the blast threw me through the air. I stood up in time to see life-giving energy flare around the Shadow. His Life Points rose, and he started laughing (800+1500=2300).

 

“Do you see now?” the Shadow asked. “Do you see? You can’t win against me! You are nothing in my presence. My monster has three thousand Attack, it can’t be destroyed by an effect, and if you do attack it, you’ll take lethal damage. There’s nothing you can do!”

 

I fell heavily to my knees, He’s right. There’s only one card in this deck that can defeat that monster; my ‘Black Luster Soldier’. But just like before my power of Destiny Draw is being blocked. I’m just not strong enough. There really isn’t anything I can do, but I might still be able to win with Karen’s help. But does she even care about me anymore? Either way, I have to try!

 

My Soul flared, and I reached out to the girl that I’d abandoned.

 

 

Karen

 

 

I felt John take a hit. A big one. Whatever he was facing, it was far beyond what he’d seen the Shadow summon before.

 

There has to be something I can do! I thought, tears forming in my eyes. This can’t be the end. I can’t bear the thought of never seeing him again!

 

I a moment of great epiphany of inspiration, my Soul is stronger than any other. In that moment I realized that, despite everything that John had done, I still loved him. In the moment that I admitted that to myself, my Soul flashed with light so bright that I had to shield my eyes, and I felt it connect with his. In that moment, I could feel that John needed me.

 

My Soul’s power is the power to grant wished, I thought. When we were under threat from Blackheart and I wished for the power to oppose him, my Soul granted that wish and stole the power from the Dark Duel Force’s Shadow Items. If my Soul could grant my wish then, then it can grant my wish now. I have only one wish; save John!

 

My Soul shown with light in an array of color, and I felt the card in my hand grow hot, before it finally disappeared in a flash. The wall of Shadows before me parted as the magic of my Soul sent an object through it.

 

I hope that helps, because it’s all I’ve got.

 

 

John

 

 

There was a flash, and my Soul transformed. For the first time since my duel with Hiro, since my attitude first began to change, my Soul ceased to be the Soul of Darkness and instead became the Soul of Chaos, the Soul with power over the immense forces born of equal parts darkness and light. I felt my Soul connect with Karen’s. There was another flash, and I knew that she had come through for me. Our combined power was overwhelming! I stood up and looked the Shadow in the eyes, “It’s over. You’ve lost.”

 

“Impossible,” said the Shadow.

 

“No,” I said, “it’s not. I will not let you hurt anyone ever again! I play ‘Card of Sanctity’ to draw six cards.”

 

I prepared to draw, Let’s see how you like this!

 

My Soul flashed with the power of mine and karen’s Souls, and I called out, “Destiny Draw!” I pulled my cards, knowing that I‘d drawn everything I needed.

 

“I play ‘Soul Absorption’, and I combine it with ‘Soul Release’, removing ‘Giant Orc’, ‘X-Head Cannon’, ‘Y-Dragon Head’, ‘Z-Metal Tank’, and ‘Dark Master – Zorc’ from play, and recovering twenty-five hundred Life Points (600+2500=3100).

 

“I summon ‘Guide to the Different Dimension’,” I continued, “a monster that’s summoned to your side of the field.”

 

A monster in a black cloak appeared beside ‘Neos’.

 

“Now, because you control two monsters and I control none, I can summon ‘The Fiend Megacyber’!”

 

“No!” the Shadow protested as the yellow warrior appeared, energy dancing along his body.

 

“I play ‘Cyber Spear’,” I declared, a high tech spear appearing in my monster’s hand “giving my monster the power to destroy the ‘Guide’.”

 

 

‘Megacyber’ threw his spear, piercing the ‘Guide’ through, destroying him.

 

“Now,” I continued, “I play ‘Special Draw’ to draw two cards, and I discard both to transform my monster!”

 

‘Megacyber’’s armor changed, turning white, yellow, black and white lightning rolling off of him.

 

“My fine Shadowy fiend,” I said, gesturing to my warrior, “you remember ‘The Fiend Omegacyber’ (ATK: 3000).”

 

 

“No!” the Shadow exclaimed fearfully. Then he seemed to catch himself. “It doesn’t matter. My monster is stronger!”

 

“We’ll see,” I replied. “Attack, Omegacyber Impact!”

 

“Destroy it,” the Shadow commanded, “Ultimate Nova!”

 

‘Fiend Omegacyber’ summoned energy into his hands and flew right at ‘Neos’. ‘Neos Wiseman’ summoned a ball of light and threw it at the oncoming monster. The two attacks met, energy erupting outward, pouring over both combatants. Both were destroyed. I was surrounded by a burning light that stripped my Life away from me (3100-3000=100). A second aura surrounded the Shadow, restoring his Life (2300+700=3000). The Shadow Laughed yet again.

 

“How does it feel, human?” the Shadow asked. “Your monster, your last great hope is gone, and you are worse off than ever!”

 

“You’re wrong,” I said. “I might be fighting you alone, but I have the strength of many. As long as I have friends worth protecting, I’ll never be defeated by someone who fights for himself alone.

 

“I play my last card, the Spell card ‘Namesake Summon’.

 

 

I remove from play ‘The Fiend Megacyber’ in my Graveyard,” I smiled, “to revive ‘The Fiend Omegacyber!”

 

Energy crackled all around me, making the Shadow cringe away. That energy formed a crackling portal from which emerged my monster, hanging in the air.

 

“Finish it,” I ordered, “with Omegacyber Impact!”

 

Lightning and sheer power poured into my monster’s hand, glowing with all of my anger.

 

“No!” the Shadow cried. He lashed out with tentacles of darkness, but they dissolved harmlessly when they touched my monster’s light.

 

“No!!”

 

My monster held up his hand and shot forward, striking and sending energy pouring through the Shadow’s body.

 

“NOOOO!!!”

 

The Shadow’s body dissolved (3000-3000=0). My monster disappeared, and I walked over to the slowly reforming creature.

 

This isn’t over, the weakened Shadow said, speaking in my head. I’ll return again, and I’ll kill you and everyone you love!

 

“No,” I said, “you won’t.” I raised my palm and my Soul of Chaos flowed. “Your penalty for your crimes will be to float forever in your formless state, able to watch this world that you desired to rule, but never to touch it again. Penalty Game, Eternal Formlessness!”

 

My Soul flashed, and the Shadow dissolved once and for all. The shadows surrounding me fell away, and there she was, standing with Thomas and Ria, tears in her eyes. Before I knew what was happening, we were running to each other. She kissed me, and I knew that everything would be fine.

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

This one speaks for itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter No Rest for the Weary

 

At the start of Duel Academy's third year, a mysterious power makes a move against the school. Only Sheppard knows the secret of this supernatural power, and he needs the help of John and his friends to fight it!

[senron]

Man, I was WAY off on my guesses. I thought that John had gone and turned evil. Again. And, when you said the Shadow's deck was unexpected, I thought it was a Fairy deck. Still, great chapters. Gratz on making so many chapters in such a short time. How many chapters are left in this and DE? Just out of curiousity.

[legendhiro]

Man, I was WAY off on my guesses. I thought that John had gone and turned evil. Again. And, when you said the Shadow's deck was unexpected, I thought it was a Fairy deck. Still, great chapters. Gratz on making so many chapters in such a short time. How many chapters are left in this and DE? Just out of curiousity.

 

wow! i suppose there really is a first time for everything. but no, john didn't go evil, he just got his sh*t together and turned all bad-ass.

 

DE is still a little unsure, but maybe nine. this has ten or eleven i think, but that's off the top of my head.

[legendhiro]

notice to my readers: i had planned to take a break from this fic and work on DE a little, since its at kinda a climactic point, but in my recent move i seem to have (hopefully only temporarily) lost the notebook containing all of the roughs for the rest of DE. until i find it, or re-write the whole d*mn thing, it will have to remain on the back burner. sorry. at least i'll keep posting here in the interim ;)

[Stigma_Horrizone]

dont rush yourself pal

[legendhiro]

at long last, the next chapter is ready! it is a purely narrative chapter, but it is a good, informative one.

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Twenty]

 

No Rest for the Weary

 

 

The end of the year came, and things couldn’t have been going better. Karen and I were back together. We never even talked about it, it just happened. We both knew that we’d made mistakes, and we silently accepted that and moved on. Plus, Karen and Ria could be around each other now without trying to kill each other, which put far less strain on mine and Karen’s relationship.

 

When time came for final exams, I took them all without sleeping through anything, and I passed with flying colors, as usual. When the inevitable request to move up to blue dorm came, the same request that had come after every exam since my transfer to Osiris Red, I accepted. Karen and I were in each others’ lives again. She filled me in on some of her ideas, and I have to say, they were good. She was in the process of trying to make card placement into an important mechanic for the first time since the Duelist Kingdom tournament, and she was toying with a completely new type of monster based on sound waves, that could be summoned by synchronizing the levels of lower level monsters with the level of the higher level monster being summoned. I was impressed, and I told her that, but she seemed convinced that neither idea would ever go anywhere.

 

During that time of getting reacquainted, Karen, of course, wanted to hear what I had been up to, but I wouldn’t tell her. I had my reasons for refusing, and Karen seemed to understand that, because she didn’t pry.

 

Naturally, after school came break. Thomas and Ria each went home, but Karen and I stayed on the island. We had a lot of catching up to do, and we wasted no time. By the time school was about to start up again, it was like we hadn’t spent the majority of the year apart.

 

 

“Hurry up,” Karen urged me as we made our way toward the school building. “Thomas and Ria both said that they’d wait for us by the Kuriboh bench. If you hold us up anymore we’ll all four be late to orientation.”

 

I up-played my lazy walk, “But I don’t wanna go to school.”

 

“Oh suck it up,” Karen responded in jest.

 

We approached the school, and we found ourselves lost in a crowd of students, both new and old. I only recognized a few of them, but as usual they were easy to tell apart, as only returning students were wearing uniforms.

 

“Look at all of these people,” I remarked.

 

“Yeah,” Karen agreed. “There’s definitely more people here than went to the school last year, not to mention the ones already inside. Duel Academy is becoming popular.”

 

“If only people knew what kinds of things went on here,” I said, “they’d feel differently.”

 

“Probably,” Karen replied, “but there really isn’t anything we can do about that. From what you told me, Chancellor Kagemaru and Professor Sheppard were right. This place is needed. We can only hope that all of the danger has passed. In fact, I bet nothing sinister will happen all year.”

 

We reached the courtyard, nearly swept away by the crowd of people pouring through the doors. I could see Thomas and Ria up ahead. They didn’t seem any different, except that Thomas was talking, and Ria was actually listening. It was weird.

 

“There they are,” I said, pointing. “Hey Thomas! Ria!”

 

“Oh hey!” Tomas responded, sprinting over to meet us, Ria close behind. “You wouldn’t believe my summer!” he began.

 

“Yeah, I bet,” I interrupted, but Thomas didn’t get the hint.

 

“Yeah,” he continued. “I entered in the regional tournament in my area and I won! It was tough. I had to face this one guy with a warrior deck, then this one girl with a machine deck, and then…”

 

Needless to say I started tuning him out right about there.

 

“Wow,” said Ria, “chico can talk.”

 

“You’re just noticing this?” I asked as the four of us made way toward and then through the open doors.

 

“I never paid him enough attention,” she answered.

 

“…And finally I ended up having to face this other girl in the finals who used a different kind of machine deck. She used stuff like ‘Super Roboyarou’ and ‘Emes the Infinity’, and she kept on making her monsters stronger and stronger, but she didn’t have any way to protect against burn damage, so I won! It was mostly pretty easy, and it rocked! That means I’m a regional champion until next year!”

 

“So where is orientation this year,” I asked, still ignoring the motor-mouthed Thomas, “the arena room, or the auditorium?”

 

“Everyone’s heading toward the auditorium,” said Karen mockingly, “so I think option number two is our safest bet.”

 

We followed the crowd into the auditorium and were lucky enough to find four seats together about half way up.

 

“Has anyone seen Kagemaru yet?” Ria asked.

 

“No,” said Karen. “His speech today is going to be his first public appearance in months.”

 

“It’s weird,” I added. “Kagemaru is supposed to be a really strong Duelist. I get that he’s super old, but you’d think he’d be more involved in the goings on at his school.”

 

We sat in (relative) silence for several minutes. Ria pulled some earphones and an MP3 player out of her pocket and started ignoring the world, while Karen and I talked amongst ourselves and Thomas talked to no one. He paused momentarily from his monologue to announce, “Hey, there’s Kagemaru!” before he continued.

 

Karen, Ria, Thomas (subconsciously, maybe), and I watched as the elderly man made his way to the podium, Sheppard at his side. The entire room quieted so much that even Thomas followed suite, and everyone waited.

 

Kagemaru cleared his throat, and he began to speak, though he didn’t get very far. “Welcome,” he said, “to the third year of Duel Academy, and what a great year it will-.”

 

Suddenly he stopped, and his expression grew pained. He turned and stumbled away from the podium. A staff member that I didn’t recognize, a young, attractive and fit woman, ran to his side and helped him out of the auditorium while Sheppard stepped up to finish the Chancellor’s speech himself. I didn’t hear any of it.

 

Something was clearly wrong with the school’s headmaster, and it gave me a bad feeling.

 

 

Sheppard

 

 

I fumbled my way through the speech that Kagemaru would have given, doing only a mostly presentable job, and then I made my way as quickly as I could from the auditorium. The school’s newly-hired nurse-slash-gym instructor Miss Fonda Fontaine stepped into stride alongside me.

 

“Thank you for walking the Chancellor to his room, Miss Fontaine,” I said.

 

“I’m worried about the Chancellor,” Miss Fontaine replied. “He seems like a sweet man, but he seems very sick. He said some very unusual things as we were walking. I didn’t understand most of them, but they were definitely strange.”

 

“Chancellor Kagemaru is just not feeling like himself right now,” I replied. “I assure you that everything is fine. The Chancellor just needs a bit of rest. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to speak with him.”

 

I walked briskly away from the young woman before she could see the worry in my eyes, and made my way toward the Chancellor’s room.

 

 

I didn’t find Kagemaru in his room, so I went to his office where I found him standing by his window, calmly looking out over the courtyard where several students were already making their way toward the dorms. Several, but not all.

 

“Are you alright sir?” I asked, fearing the answer.

 

“No, I am not,” Kagemaru answered. “They have nearly eroded my control, David. When I split my concentration between suppressing them and giving my speech, they made a bid for control, and they will have it momentarily.”

 

“You can put up another mental wall,” I said. “You’ll beat them.”

 

“No,” my friend replied. “Nothing I do is enough. I thought if I spent the majority of my time in meditation that my strength would return and I would be able to return them to their mental prison, but I was wrong. They are coming, the three that are one.”

 

He turned to me, and I saw real fear in my friend’s eyes for the first time since I had known him. “You must prepare for the coming battle,” he said. “Go to the young man, John, and his friends. Ask for their help. They might be our only hope, for you cannot defeat them alone.”

 

He turned his back to me again, “No one can. Now go! They are here.”

 

The shadows in the room began to darken, and they almost seemed to reach toward the place where Kagemaru stood. Without a moment of hesitation, I turned and made my way out of the partially vacated school building, only stopping to pull the fire alarm.

 

 

???

 

 

“We emerged too late,” we realized. “Our host managed to warn the other human of our arrival. He has gone to seek help from the ones with powerful magic.”

 

“We must be careful,” we replied.

 

“Yes,” we agreed. “The elder human and the other two are inconsequential, but the two with the magical items could be a serious threat to us. We must seek one with power enough to keep them away until our true form can be realized, and with enough darkness in his heart to be subject to our control.”

 

“Why not use the one we fear, the one the humans call John?” we asked. “No human on this landmass has so much darkness in their heart.”

 

“His item protects him from our influence,” we answered, “but we have found another, a Duelist who has fought the one we fear and who knows his power. It is ironic that the one whose darkness will save us is one who so believes in justice.”

 

We laughed in unison as we reached into the mind of the human named Shin, unlocking the dark potential within him.

 

 

John

 

 

Karen, Thomas, Ria and I were on our way back to Obelisk Blue. We were taking our time, walking close to the forest edge, talking and catching up. It seemed as if Karen’s prediction was on its way to coming true, at least for the first day, when we heard the fire alarm go if in the school not far behind us.

 

We stopped and turned, and we watched for a couple of minutes as people poured through the doors. None of them seemed worried, but they were clearly inspired to return to their respective dorms by the alarm blaring around them.

 

“Well,” I said, “this probably isn’t a good thing.”

 

“I think it’s okay,” said Thomas. “I don’t see any smoke or flames. Probably just a false alarm.”

 

“There is no fire,” said a voice from off to our side, “but the alarm is not a false one.”

 

I recognized the voice immediately and turned to see Sheppard walking briskly toward us, trying desperately to retain his calm appearance.

 

“It’s a good thing that you four were not too far from the building. I have come to ask for your help.”

 

“What did you guys get yourselves into now?” I asked, not even trying to hide my distaste.

 

“You may find it hard to believe,” Sheppard replied, “but we in no way caused the current predicament. It is a situation that I see now could not have been avoided. But either way, your question is one that does require an answer. However, to answer it, I must first tell you a story. A story that you will find hard to believe, but that I assure you is true.”

 

Sheppard folded his hands behind his back and began a slow careful walk along the tree line, back toward the school, “Walk with me, please.”

 

We followed, keeping in stride with the older man. I don’t know about the others, but I followed primarily out of curiosity rather than concern. After all, Sheppard still wasn’t one of my favorite people.

 

“I assume that you all know of the three Egyptian God cards,” Sheppard began.

 

“Every Duelist knows about them,” Thomas replied. “They were used in the Battle City Tournament, and most Duelists consider them to be the strongest cards in the game. But-.”

 

“You’re correct,” Sheppard continued, cutting off Thomas’ question. “Every serious Duelist knows of the Egyptian Gods, but few know that the Egyptian Gods have real power, both in a duel and out of one. They are true magical beings, based on creatures that lived in the times of ancient Egypt and were revered as real gods by the Egyptians of that era. Some still think that these beings are gods.”

 

“That’s loco,” said Ria. “Do you really expect us to believe that the Egyptian Gods are real?”

 

“No young lady,” Sheppard answered, “I expect you to believe that all Duel Monsters are real. Most are based on creatures that existed millennia ago, and some were made real when their creators’ minds gave birth to inspiration, but they are real nonetheless.”

 

“Loco,” Ria replied.

 

“Any more so than the things you have witnessed recently?”

 

“Well no,” Ria decided, “I guess not.”

 

“Does this have anything to do with the dark presence I’m sensing in the school?” I asked, and all eyes were on me, and then on Sheppard, awaiting his answer.

 

“Yes,” Sheppard replied, “but I will get to that in a moment.

 

“You see,” he continued, “when Maxamillion Pegasus discovered the existence of the three Egyptian God monsters and made the choice to transform them into cards, he and his staff were met with great misfortune. The power of the God cards mixes poorly with those who do not possess the magical blood of the pharaohs. Pegasus thought that this happenstance was the evil nature of these noble beast, which Pegasus thought to be demons. Unable to destroy the cards, which now housed the power of god-like creatures, Pegasus sought a power great enough to balance the powers of the God monsters. Going on the educated observation that most religious figures have a mirror counterpart, Pegasus went to work creating what he called the Sacred Beasts; monsters based on the inverse of the God cards. He thought that these Beasts would be good and noble creatures of light, but he was wrong. He saw the true nature of the Gods as forces for good when he looked into the eyes of the perverse, wicked creatures that he had born unto this world as the Gods' opposites.

 

“The sacred beasts began to draw the duel energy from the Duelists and monsters around them. Their power grew so quickly that they threatened the entire world. No one could control them, and those who tried and actually survived swore that they were more than simple beasts. That there was a single intelligence controlling them. By chance alone, it was discovered that a member of Pegasus’ creative staff, and a trusted friend to Pegasus, possessed the uncanny ability to suppress the power of the Beasts as long as he held them in his deck. That man was Kagemaru, the very same man who would later become the first headmaster of Duel Academy.

 

“Kagemaru intended to grow old and die with the Sacred Beasts still bound to his soul. He intended to take the Beasts with him to the next world where they could do no harm. But recently the intelligence that unites the Beasts has been breaking through Kagemaru’s mental barriers. He has found himself unable to keep the Beasts under thumb. And now the Beasts are free. They will drain the Duel Energy from every Duelist and Duel Monster on the island until they have recovered the energy lost during all of their time imprisoned by the Chancellor, and once they have, they will set their sights on the rest of our world. I need you to help me stop them before they can.”

 

“Us?” Thomas asked nervously. “You mean all of us? Not just John and Karen?”

 

“I would prefer that all four of you were at my side,” Sheppard answered. “You are four of the strongest Duelists I’ve ever seen. But in the end, it is up to you. I cannot force you to fight, and I cannot blame you if you choose not to.”

 

“I’m in,” I said. “I still don’t like you too much, Sheppard, but this is more serious than my personal feelings.”

 

“I’m in too,” said Karen, stepping in close to my side.

 

“Me too,” Ria declared fiercely. “I’ve been itchin’ for some evil ass to kick ever since I lost out to that Shadow thingy.”

 

Sheppard nodded, “I thank you all.”

 

And just like that, all eyes were on Thomas, who for once didn’t seem to have much to say.

 

“Sheppard called it,” I said. “No one will blame you if you sit this one out.”

 

Thomas’ face hardened, “No, I’m with you guys until the end.”

 

I nodded, a smile on my face, and the five of us started walking toward the school. Sheppard, Thomas and Ria were further ahead with Karen and I behind them, but we were together.

 

Until the shadows around us sprung up, cutting Karen and I off from the others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter The Beasts Attack, Part One

 

John and Karen face the Beasts' agent while Sheppard, Thomas and Ria face off against the Beasts themselves.

[legendhiro]

we finally see some action, and the plot gets some more development, which is always a good thing.

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Twenty-One]

 

The Beasts Attack, Part One

 

 

“What’s going on?” Karen asked as we found ourselves trapped in darkness, separated from the others. “Is this them? Did the Sacred Beasts do this?”

 

“I can’t be sure. My Soul can’t penetrate these Shadows, but before the Shadows appeared, I felt that the Beasts were still in the school, building up their strength.”

 

“Then what’s going on?” Karen asked, looking around, searching for the source of our predicament. “Who’s doing this?”

 

“I am,” answered a voice out of the darkness. We both turned in time to see a figure emerge. He wore a Ra Yellow jacket loosely over a t-shirt and jeans. His hair was darker than I remembered, his eyes were harder, and they had dark bags underneath them, but I still recognized him almost immediately.

 

“Shin?”

 

“What?” Karen asked, looking him over, “You mean that Shin, the first of the two Card Takers?”

 

“That’s right,” Shin answered, “well, more or less. My new masters showed me the truth. They brought out my full power, and all I have to do in return is use that power to defeat the two of you.”

 

“After I kicked you and your friend’s asses,” I asked, “didn’t you give me some crap about believing in justice through dueling? If you don’t let us get to the Sacred Beasts before they reach their full power, there won’t be any more justice!”

 

“Who cares about justice,” said Shin dismissively, “as long as I have the power of darkness! I know that you two have fought plenty of powerful opponent’s but thanks to the Sacred Beasts and the power they stirred within me, I’m stronger than any of them! I’m stronger than both of you.”

 

“What happened to you?” Karen asked. “You were always kind of a jerk, but you were never evil.”

 

“Nothing happened to me,” Shin answered. “The Sacred Beasts just showed me what’s important.”

 

I shook my head disbelievingly, “You know what, I don’t have time for this. I’m sorry, but regardless of the Beasts’ influence on you, if you won’t let us pass, I’m going to have to make you let us.” I readied my Duel Disk, and Karen did the same.

 

“You want to duel me?” Shin asked.

 

“Yes,” Karen and I answered in unison.

 

Shin smiled and raised his arm, summoning a Duel Disk shaped like a black-feathered wing from the darkness, “I was hoping you’d say that.”

 

 

Sheppard

 

 

“John,” Thomas cried, “Karen!”

 

I spun around just in time to see John and Karen, the strongest of the five of us, cut off from us by a half-sphere of darkness. I felt my already bad nerves turn toward desperation.

 

“This is bad, isn’t it?” Ria asked grimly.

 

“It’s a potential setback,” I admitted, “and our chances of success have diminished. But the Beasts must be confronted now while they are still becoming accustomed to controlling the mind that they inhabit.”

 

I paused, making a quick decision.

 

“I’ll fight them alone,” I said, “and try to buy some time. Whatever’s happened, I’m sure that your friends will overcome it momentarily. Wait for them and catch up with me as soon as you can.”

 

I started walking away, but I stopped abruptly when I heard Ria declare in her usual less than subtle fashion, “What are you, an idiot? No we’re lettin’ you take these monsters on alone, right Tommy?”

 

“Yeah,” Thomas agreed. “We’re in this together.”

 

I looked toward the school building. A sinister-looking dark cloud was forming above the structure, lightning flashing within it, We’re running out of time!

 

“If you fight with me,” I warned, “you may not survive.”

 

“Maybe not,” Ria agreed, “but we still have to try.” Thomas nodded agreement. I smiled a half smile as I took a moment to admire their courage.

 

“Then come on,” I said, and the three of us made our way quickly toward the school, and the fiercest enemy we would ever fight.

 

 

John

 

 

“If you really want to fight us,” I told Shin, “then I’m not gonna hold back (LP: 8000). I summon my ‘Strike Ninja’ in attack mode and place one card face-down.”

 

A black-clad ninja appeared at my side, shuriken in hand, his red sash blowing in the faint wind (ATK 1700).

 

“I’m up next,” Karen declared (LP: 8000). “To get ahead of you, Shin, I don’t have to do anything more than set a monster and place one card face-down. Do your worst.”

 

“I intend to,” Shin responded, smiling excitedly (LP: 8000). “I summon ‘Dark Valkyria’.”

 

’Dark Valkyria’? I wondered. What happened to his ‘Lightsworn’ cards? A glance at Karen told me that she was wondering the same thing.

 

“I activate the effect of my Gemini Monster, ‘Dark Valkyria’, with the Spell card ‘Double Summon’,” an orb of darkness appeared and sunk into the chest of Shin’s black-armored dark angel, and her power grew (1800+300=2100).

 

“I won’t fall for your bluff, Johnny,” Shin announced. “My ‘Dark Valkyria’ destroys the ‘Strike Ninja’ with Darklight.”

 

The wicked angel launched a barrage of dark energy bolts at the ninja. With his superior agility his was able to avoid a few, but soon he was overcome (8000+1700-2100=7600).

 

At least he took the bait, I thought, and destroyed my monster instead of Karen’s.

 

“My turn still isn’t over, either,” Shin continued, crushing my vague optimism. “I return the Attack of my monster to its original value,” the orb that had given the dark fairy her additional power emerged from her chest and settled into her hand, “to destroy one monster on the field.”

 

‘Dark Valkyria’ threw the orb of light at Karen’s hidden monster, revealing it as the diminutive sorceress ‘Card Ejector’, and then vaporizing it completely.

 

“I place two cards face-down,” Shin concluded. “Would you look at that. It’s the end of my first turn, and I already have complete control of the field!”

 

“Not for long,” I announced. “My face-down card wasn’t a bluff. Reveal ‘Call of the Haunted’ to revive ‘Strike Ninja’,” the shuriken-wielding ninja returned to my side, “and I tribute him for the lightning demon, ‘Summoned Skull’!”

 

Lightning fell from the sky, hitting the ninja and flaring outward, forming the skeletal demon, towering over the field (ATK: 2500).

 

“Attack,” I commanded, “with Lightning Strike!”

 

‘Summoned Skull’ brandished his claws, summoning up more lightning and unleashing it. But just before the lightning could hit the fairy, it was swallowed by a vortex in the air.

 

“Reveal,” said Shin arrogantly, “the Trap card ‘Negate Attack’.”

 

“Then I end my turn, and since I’ve weeded out your defensive card-.”

 

“I draw,” Karen cut in, catching the baton as it passed, “and I remove the top five cards in my deck from play to activate ‘Toon Kingdom’,” the green book, ‘Toon World’, appeared and opened to a page depicting a castle surrounded by a moat and trees, “I play ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive my ‘Card Ejector’, and I summon the Toon monster ‘Toon Masked Sorcerer’.”

 

The chibi magician reappeared at Karen’s side as pink smoke poured from the magical book. From the smoke emerged a caricature of the masked torso that was the ‘Masked Sorcerer’.

 

“Activate,” Karen continued, “the Spell card ‘Magician’s Unite’, allowing my spellcasters to combine power for an Attack of three thousand.”

 

The two magicians combined their magic in a flash of light (ATK: 3000).

 

“Because my spellcasters declared an attack,” Karen continued, “I can activate ‘Magician’s Circle’ to summon another spellcaster from my deck. Joined with the magic of ‘Toon Kingdom’ I can summon a Toon spellcaster,” a magic circle appeared above Karen’s pop-up castle, and from it emerged the ‘Toon Dark Magician Girl’, her want held high (ATK: 2000).

 

“My monsters attack,” Karen declared. ‘Card Trader’ and ‘Masked Sorcerer’ unleashed a wave of light in the direction of ‘Dark Valkyria’, and ‘Toon Dark Magician Girl’ released a pulse of dark light from her wand in the direction of Shin himself. But Shin was unconcerned, and for a good reason.

 

“Reveal,” Shin declared, “the Trap card ‘Mirror Force’ to reflect your attacks back at every monster standing in opposition against me.”

 

A reflective barrier formed around Shin and his monster, catching Karen’s attacks and reflecting them back in four waves, striking all four of our monsters, and they were gone.

 

Karen looked shocked, but she held herself together, “Then I end my turn.”

 

“Good,” Shin replied. “This duel is mine! Summon ‘Harpie Lady 1’.”

 

A slender woman in a jumpsuit, with talons and feathered arms appeared alongside Shin’s first monster.

 

“The effect of ‘Harpie Lady 1’ increases the Attack of all Wind monsters by three hundred (ATK: 1300+300=1600). “I’ll also play ‘Elegant Egotist’,” three more ‘Harpie Ladies’ seemed to split off of the first like an image in a kaleidoscope and grouped together, “to summon ‘Harpie Lady Sisters’ (ATK: 1950+300=2250)! On my ‘Harpie Lady Sisters’ I play ‘Triangle Ecstasy Spark’.”

 

The ‘Sisters’ formed a triangle in the air, energy crossing between them (ATK: 2250->2700).

 

“’Harpies’,” Shin commanded, “attack the girl!”

 

The ‘Harpie Lady Sisters’ unleashed a triangular beam that struck Karen square in the chest. She braced herself against it, but the impact was still enough to almost throw her off her footing (8000-2700=5300). Just as she was recovering from the first attack, the ‘Harpie Lady 1’ flew past her and slashed Karen with her talons (5300-1600=3700). If that wasn’t bad enough I watched in horror as a chunk of Karen’s torso and a portions of her right arm and both legs began to dissolve away.

 

“What the hell is going on here?!” I demanded.

 

“Didn’t I mention,” Shin replied, “that those who take damage in this Shadow Game will lose a proportionate part of themselves?”

 

“What do you mean?” I asked. “I’ve taken damage and I’m just fine.”

 

Shin smiled a wicked smile and pointed at my leg. I looked down and I was shocked.

 

My right ankle, up nearly to the knee, was just gone.

 

“Karen,” I asked, “are you okay?”

 

She nodded, “Yeah. Well, as much as can be expected.”

 

“Yes boys and girls,” said Shin proudly, “it’s that kind of Shadow Game!”

 

 

Sheppard

 

 

Thomas, Ria and I turned the corner into Kagemaru’s office. The lights were off, and the sun had since begun to set. Without the partial light of evening, the room felt as if someone had blanketed it with menace. Kagemaru was still standing by the window, overlooking the island.

 

No I told myself, not Kagemaru. This figure before me is not my friend. It is the minds of the Sacred Beasts controlling my friend’s body.

 

“I was wondering when you would get here,” the Beasts said, speaking through Kagemaru’s mouth, using Kagemaru’s voice, echoing with something more sinister.

 

“Wait a minute,” Thomas asked, “if there’s three of these things in there, then why does it sound like there’s only one? You know that doesn’t make much sense.”

 

“You’re more clever than you look, boy,” the Beasts replied as they turned their stolen form to face us. “I am the mind that controls the beasts within. Three demons in one. Three minds in one! I speak the consensus that is reached. I am the true mind of the Sacred Beasts.”

 

I saw a fierce fire in the friend’s usually compassionate eyes, “I am Armityle.”

 

“Whoever you are,” I told him, them, or whatever they were, “we will not let you have my friend’s body.”

 

“That’s right,” Ria agreed. “We’re gonna stop ya!”

 

“Well,” said Armityle, walking over to Kagemaru’s desk and taking from it Kagemaru’s Duel Disk, which he strapped to his wrist, “if you want to take my new body, then maybe I should return the favor.”

 

He took Kagemaru’s deck from the pocket of his host’s jacket and prepared from the battle to come, “By the time this Shadow Game is over, you’ll have been sent to the shadows, body and soul.”

 

His mouth twisted into a wicked smile, “You will cease to exist.”

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

So far this monster is the strongest monster we have seen come out of Dark Shin's deck, in terms of base attack, and in terms of potential versatility. How will Shin make use of it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter The Beasts Attack, Part Two

 

John and Karen must face Shin and his unexpected powers, while Sheppard, Thomas and Ria must face a duelist stronger than any of them could have imagined.

[senron]

I liked the new chapters. Can't wait to see the power of this really strong bad guy, Armityle. I remember him. Hopefully John, Karren, Ria, Thomas, and Sheppard will be able to defeat him/it before they have casualties. And, the Beasts were talking about a second person besides Shin, is that person the other card taker or somebody else?

[legendhiro]

if you look closely the other person that they're talking about is meant to be john, but they cannot control him because of his Soul. they just don't call either john or the Soul by their names. i guess i could make things more clear, though. i'll change some stuff around.

[legendhiro]

i know it's been awhile, but hey, at least i update at all, right?

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Twenty-Two]

 

The Beasts Attack, Part Two

 

 

John

 

 

“Now, Johnny,” said Shin mockingly, “I’ll finish my turn by having the dark fairy attack you, Darklight!”

 

The wicked ‘Dark Valkyria’ unleashed her dark energy. I was hit before I could even react, and as I watched, my right arm from just below my elbow down to my wrist melted away, into the darkness. It hurt, but not any more than the typical Shadow Game. It was really the shock factor that made it as bad as it was. I mean, my ankle and arm were gone, and yet my fingers and toes still worked! It was creepy.

 

But I couldn’t show weakness. Karen was worse off than me. I had to stay strong, if only for her.

 

“Nice trick, Shin,” I said, “but I’ve seen worse. Still this is getting pretty out of hand. Let’s get things moving, shall we? Because you control at least two more monsters than me, I can Special Summon my favorite card, ‘The Fiend Megacyber’.”

 

My warrior appeared in a burst of light and static (ATK: 2200).

 

“And I normal summon my ‘Stygian Street Patrol’,” the demonic road cop appeared, revving his motorcycle (ATK: 1600).

 

“My ‘Street Patrol’ attacks your ‘Harpie Lady 1’,” I declared, “scoring a double knockout.”

 

The two monsters charged each other, one on feathered wings, and one aback a roaring piece of streamlined steel. ‘Stygian Street Patrol’ took aim and fired his blasters, just as the ‘Harpie’ swiped with her claws, releasing a wave of deadly razor-sharp wind. Both monsters were instantly destroyed.

 

“With ‘Harpie Lady 1” gone from the field,” I continued, “the Attack of your ‘Sisters’ returns to normal (ATK: 1950), leaving them vulnerable to ‘Fiend Megacyber’’s Megacyber Impact!”

 

My armored warrior charged his fist with static energy and lunged into the midst of the three-in-one monster, punching the ground and unleashing an explosion of static that vaporized him foes (8000+1950-2200=7750).

 

“Now it’s my turn,” said Karen, taking the baton as I passed it. “I can tell that you’ve got something big coming, Shin, so I’ll prepare for it by summoning the biggest monster in my deck. ‘Polymerization’ fuses ‘Big Koala’ and ‘Toon Des Kangaroo’ in my hand,” a cartoon of a Kangaroo wearing boxing gloves

 

[spoiler=Effect]

This card cannot attack during the turn that it is Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned. When "Toon World" on the field is destroyed, this card is also destroyed. If "Toon World" is on your side of the field and your opponent does not control a Toon Monster, this card can attack your opponent's Life Points directly. This cards name is also treated as "Des Kangaroo". If the ATK of a monster that attacks this monster is lower than the DEF of this card, destroy the attacking monster. (Damage calculation is applied normally.)

 

and a massive, powder blue koala appeared and merged into an even larger koala-like creature with a kangaroo’s tail and legs, wearing boxing gloves, a vest, and carrying a championship belt slung over its shoulder, “forming ‘Master of Oz’ (ATK: 4200)!

 

“And I attack,” Karen declared, “with my monster’s immense fist!” ‘Master of Oz’ swung a mighty fist, striking Shin’s final monster, the ‘Dark Valkyria’, obliterating her completely under the force of his punch. I hadn’t noticed any part of Shin disappear after my weaker attack, now I did. As his Life Points decreased by over two thousand (7750+1800-4200=5350), an entire section of his torso faded into the darkness all around us.

 

“I’m impressed,” said Shin, “but in a way that you regular human’s might be impressed when you see an ant carrying an object much larger than itself. So far you have done nothing that frightens me. And soon you will do nothing ever again! I remove the Wind monster ‘Harpie Lady Sisters’ and the Dark monster ‘Dark Valkyria’ in my Graveyard from play to Special Summon my ultimate monster,”

 

Swirls of wind charged with green and black light spiraled violently in the space behind Shin. From the vortex there emerged a massive form, standing nearly as tall as the ‘Master of Oz’. It was a mighty, black bird with long, elegant feathers, its wings glistening with decoration fit for a queen. Its entire body shone like the purest obsidian. It spread its wings impressively (ATK: 2700).

 

“Feast your eyes,” said Shin, full of pride, “on the almighty ‘Dark Simorgh’!”

 

 

Sheppard

 

 

“We won’t let you get a leg up on us, Arma-whatever,” said Thomas (LP: 3000). “I defend myself with a face-down, defense position monster, and a two face-down cards.”

 

“And while Tommy’s setting up his defense,” Ria announced defiantly (LP: 3000), “I’ll prep for our offense with one face-down card, and the monster card ‘Monk Fighter’.”

 

A modestly-dress, physically fit but slim and unintimidating young man appeared at Ria’s side (ATK: 1300).

 

These kids don’t know what they’re dealing with, I thought. They might very well lose this duel, and their lives. But as terrible as it sounds, defeating Armityle is more important than protecting them.

 

I looked at my hand, But maybe if I’m lucky I can defeat Armityle and protect them at the same time, by hitting Armityle hard and fast.

 

“I play ‘Pot of Greed’,” I began, “to draw two cards (LP: 3000).”

 

I examined my newest acquisition, and formed a plan. It would mean taking a risk, but if it worked, I’d gain the element of surprise, and a monster than might just be strong enough to match a demon god.

 

“I send the top card of my deck to the Graveyard,” I declared, “to Special Summon ‘Cyber Mite’ from my hand.”

 

I discarded the top card of deck without giving it a second thought, and a large, robotic insect appeared before me. It had missile launchers on its back, but its relatively small size made it overall pretty unremarkable (DEF: 200).

 

 

“I tribute ‘Cyber Mite’,” I continued, and the robotic insect disappeared, “to summon my ‘Cyber Ogre’.”

 

My fiendish machine appeared, towering over the field, his razor sharp claws held at the ready (ATK: 1900).

 

“Interesting,” Armityle told me, ignoring the others almost completely, “but you assume that I will not know the threat that comes from attacking your monster. But I do, and I don’t plan to attack. Instead I set a monster and three cards (LP: 9000). Make your next pitiful moves.”

 

“You’re pretty dull,” said Thomas. “I mean, I know I only played defense, but I couldn’t attack on my turn. Well, lucky for everyone concerned, I’m about to kick this duel up a notch with the Spell card ‘Painful Choice’. I select five cards from my deck, and you choose one of them to add to my hand, and the rest are discarded.”

 

As he explained, Thomas thumbed through his deck. His Field card zone opened up, and Thomas placed four of his chosen five cards in his open monster card zones, and the fifth in his Field zone. Holograms of his five cards appeared overhead; three copies of ‘Inferno’ and two copies of ‘Hinotama Soul’.

 

“Is this a joke,” Armityle asked mockingly, “or is that really what you’ve chosen? Is that all your deck has to offer? If so, you’re even more pitiful than I could have guessed!”

 

“No joke,” Thomas replied, maintaining his cool. “Now choose, before I decide for you.”

 

“Alright,” said Armityle, dismissing Thomas completely as a non-threat, “add ‘Hinotama Soul to your hand.”

 

Thomas did as he was told, still never faltering.

 

“Alright,” Thomas continued, “I flip-summon my favorite card. Appear, ‘Flame Spirit Ignis’!”

 

The many-eyed, fox-faced spirit appeared at Thomas’ side.

 

“Now,” Thomas explained, “I summon ‘Hinotama Soul’, and I tribute him to fuel ‘Ignis’’ effect, dealing my opponent one hundred damage for every Fire monster in my Graveyard.”

 

“What?” Armityle asked, surprised. He obviously hadn’t expected to take any damage so early in the game.

 

‘Hinotama Soul’, the living fireball, appeared at ‘Ignis’’ side. It was drawn into ‘Ignis’’ hands, and ‘Ignis’ raised his hands above his head, summoning up five fireballs that rained down on Armityle (9000-500=8500). Thomas nodded, satisfied with his work, “It’s not much, but it’ll do for now. Now, to take care of that hidden monster. I‘ll have ‘Ignis’ attack.”

 

‘Ignis’ conjured flames in his palms and charged toward the figure hidden in the shadows of Armityle’s side of the field. The monster was revealed as a floating ball, colored a sickly green. It looked like a single-celled organism blow up to several hundred times its size.

 

“Oh man,” Thomas lamented, “not ‘Giant Germ.”

 

‘Ignis’ punched the ‘Germ’ with a fiery fist, and the monster exploded, releasing a hazy viral cloud that poured over Thomas. He coughed, and his Life Points fell (3000-500=2500). Thomas watched wide-eyed as a portion of his arm disappeared, obviously as a result of the Shadow Game that our foe had created.

 

“It’s alright, son,” I told him. “When we win, you’ll go back to normal.”

 

Thomas gulped fearfully, “Good, ‘cuz this is freaking me way out.”

 

“Because you destroyed one ‘Giant Germ’,” said Armityle, “I get to summon two more ‘Giant Germs’ from my deck.”

 

Two more of the vulgar creatures appeared before their master (ATK: 1000 (each)).

 

“That’s totally unfair!” Ria roared, always confrontational. I was opening my mouth to calm her when Thomas beat me to it.

 

“Don’t worry about it, Ria,” he said. “They’re no big deal. They barely hurt, and the fact that he used it so early proves he’s scared of us.

 

“This guy wants to cause us pain,” Thomas explained. “He wants to hurt us, because he wants to scare us. Well, I’m not gonna let him do that. I’m not very brave most of the time. The only time I feel brave, or strong, or resourceful, is when I’m dueling. I won’t let him take dueling away from me!”

 

“And I don’t plan on letting him take anything from anybody!” said Ria, roused by Thomas’ words. “My ‘Monk Fighter’ attack one of the ‘Germs’!”

 

The ‘Monk Fighter’ attacked his target with a flurry of kicks. The viral cloud spread over Ria this time, and a portion of her right shoulder disappeared (3000-500=2500). Ria gritted her teeth against the pain of the experience, and then said, “Well, that sucks, but at least I did some damage (8500+1000-1300=8200).”

 

“I’ll deal you more than some damage,” I stated fiercely. I guess Thomas’ words had inspired me as well, without me even knowing it. I draw, and I’ll have my ‘Cyber Ogre’ attack the final ‘Germ’. Once it’s gone the threat to our Life Points that they present will disappear with them.”

 

My ‘Ogre’’s claws tore the final ‘Germ’ apart, dealing substantial damage to our opponent (7300+1000-1900=6400). The ‘Germ’’s cloud reached me, but I ignored it. I could not, however, ignore the pain that came when a chunk of my midsection became part of the darkness summoned around us. I flinched, my eyes squeezed shut, my teeth clenched. It was more painful than I’d expected. But as surprising as the pain was, I felt even more surprised when I opened my eyes to find two figures having just appeared between the three of us and Armityle. The figures of ‘Giant Germs’.

 

“No way!” Thomas exclaimed.

 

“How?” I demanded.

 

“It was simple,” Armityle explained, “with the power of the ‘Transmigration Property’ Trap card. Now I have two monsters on the field once again.

 

“There’s nothing more that i can do against you, at least for now,” I told Armityle threateningly. “Take your turn.”

 

“Gladly.” Armityle drew, “I summon ‘Dark Jeroid’ in attack mode. This demon has the unique power to drain away eight hundred points of a single monster’s Attack.” Still mostly ignoring the others, Armityle declared, “I target the ‘Cyber Ogre’.”

 

A deformed creature with spindly legs and arms, no head, and a face in its midsection appeared (ATK: 1200). It raised its arms and drew energy from my monster. The machine’s power fell (1900-800=1100).

 

“And now,” Armityle continued, “in case you have noticed, I control three monsters. All of these monsters are Fiend type. That means I can tribute all three of them to Special Summon the first of my three mighty forms, and the most powerful; ‘Raviel, the Lord of Phantasms’!”

 

The floor shook beneath our feet. The two ‘Giant Germs’ and ‘Dark Jeroid’ disappeared. The floor behind Armityle broke clear away, carrying the front wall and most of the ceiling with it, along with the outer chunk of every room beneath Kagemaru’s office. Smoke formed when the three fiends melted away poured through the gap in the building, joining with an immense form still emerging from the darkness.

 

“Arise my monster!”

 

Things were silent for a moment, and then the darkness broke, and it emerged. My eyes went wide. I couldn’t peel them away from such an awe inspiring sight. It stood at its full height, standing easily two stories taller than the building itself. Its demonic blue head alone was bigger than an SUV. ‘Raviel’ flexed his immense, oversized arms and massive claws. He opened his transparent, almost bat-like wings, threw his arms open wide, and roared. He swiped with his claws, slashing the front wall, opening the entire room up to the dark, star-speckled sky outside.

 

“With four thousand Attack,” Armityle explained, “my ‘Raviel’ cannot be matched!”

 

“Hey Professor,” Thomas asked nervously, “you wouldn’t happen to know what that thing does, would you?”

 

“No,” I answered.

 

“Well don’t worry,” said Ria sarcastically, “because I think we’re gonna get to find out.”

 

I stared up at the towering creature that was like nothing I’d ever seen, and I wondered how I ever could have hoped to win.

 

“I activate ‘Painful Choice’,” Armityle continued. “I’d explain its effect, but I really think you should know it by now.”

 

He fanned out my friends deck and selected five cards from it. In all of the years that I’d known Kagemaru, I’d never seen him duel, so I had no idea what to expect. I can honestly say I was surprised when I saw the choices; two copies of the draw card ‘Dual Gate’, and three copies of the damage prevention card ‘Delta Barrier’. Allowing him to draw more cards would put Armityle in a better place immediately, but giving him ‘Delta Barrier’ would make him far less vulnerable overall. That was something that I couldn’t allow. So when Armityle asked me, “So what will it be, David?” I was ready with an answer.

 

“Add the Dual Gate to your hand.”

 

“Excellent!” said Armityle excitedly. “I play ‘Dual Gate’, removing the ‘Dual Gate’ just played and the ‘Dual Gate’ in my Graveyard from play to draw two cards.”

 

Armityle drew, “Next, I play ‘Pot of Greed’ to draw again.”

 

He drew two more cards and then continued.

 

“’Raviel’ attacks,” Armityle began, still looking right at me, “the pitiful ‘Flame Spirit Ignis’.” He twisted my friend’s lips into a wicked smile, and I realized his plan. He was going to make me suffer by hurting the children first.

 

Not if I can help it!

 

“I won’t let you,” I declared. “Reveal ‘Cyber Shadow Gardna’.”

 

A dark form appeared, growing larger as it prepared to take on the form of Armityle’s monster.

 

“Let me guess,” said Armityle. “You plan to divert my monster’s attack to his duplicate. Well I won’t allow that. Reveal ‘Dark Illusion’ to destroy your Trap monster. And my attack continues.”

 

‘Raviel’ thrust his claws.

 

No!

 

“Reveal ‘Staunch Defender’,” my ‘Cyber Ogre’ stepped between the attacking ‘Raviel’ and the ‘Flame Spirit Ignis’, “and I discard a second ‘Cyber Ogre’ to activate my monster’s effect.”

 

Only inches from ‘Cyber Ogre’, ‘Raviel’’s claws were repelled by an invisible barrier.

 

“My monster’s effect negates your attack and boosts ‘Ogre’’s attack by two thousand until after he battles again (1100+2000=3100).”

 

“Set two cards,” Armityle declared, not nearly so cheery anymore, “and pass. But know this. You may have postponed his attack, but no matter how many tricks you have up your sleeve, there is no way that any of you can defeat ‘Raviel’.”

 

And looking up at the demon, I worried that he was right.

 

[spoiler=Card of the Day]

This monster of nearly incomprehensible strength is a blight on the world, and on Duel Academy itself. This would not be the last time that this monster would threaten the island, either. With his power to be Special Summoned and to Special Summon additional demons to his side, "Raviel" is truly a force to be reckoned with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter The Beasts Attack, Part Three

 

Misfortune befalls both groups of heroes. Does their situation have a silver lining, or are they doomed to fall before their powerful foes?

[legendhiro]

as i'm sure my few readers have noticed, i have been away lately. sadly real life has come a callin' and i must put this fic on unexpected hiatus until further notice. hopefully the hiatus will be a short one.

[Stigma_Horrizone]

This would not be the last time that this monster would threaten the island

 

You mean the time in GX right?