Yugiou -- Legacies (Year One)

[shadowferret]

Moonlight filtered through the thin clouds of the night upon a man cloaked in the shadows of a huge tree. Upon his left wrist was a device with a large round dot, kind of like a bead filled with microchips. Resting at the side of the blue bead was a flat strip of machinery, with five small rectangles across it. The strip extended out, laying itself horizontally in front of the bead, as the Duel Disk activated.

Across the garden, a young man dressed in a stunning blue outfit activated his Duel Disk, thus beginning the duel.

“I’ll make the first move!” The blonde boy yelled from across the field. As both duelists drew five cards from their decks, the man hidden in the shadows gave a slight grin.

The game they were about to begin was called Duel Monsters—a not-so-simple game, in which with the draw of one card, the tide of the duel could be turned. Both players began with 4000 Life Points, the points used to determine the winner of the game. When a player’s points reached zero, they lost the game.

“Alright, for my first move, I’ll summon Enraged Battle Ox in attack mode!” As he placed the card upon the Duel Disk in one of the five rectangles, a holographic representation of the monster appeared. Enraged Battle Ox was a man-ox clad in red armor, holding a great axe in his hand. Steam poured out of his nose as he roared his battle cry. “Next, I play the Field Spell, Gaia Power! This boosts the attack of all Earth Monsters by 500 points!” A great tree rose from between the duelists, spreading its roots upon the soil of the garden. Battle Ox seemed to take pleasure in having the tree with him, because the beast let out a grunt, showing off its massive power in the form of a battle cry. “I lay one face-down card on the field and end my turn!” A representation of a face-down Duel Monsters card materialized upon the field at this declaration, and the blonde boy grinned.

“My turn.” The man spoke in a deep voice, but it had a seductive tone to it. It was a voice one could almost fall asleep to. “I begin by playing my field spell card, Sephira’s Divine Temple.” The great tree disappeared, giving way to an even grander shining temple. “Now, using my Temple’s effect, I gain life points equal to the total attack power of the monsters on your field, boosting my life points to 5700. Now, I summon my Cyber Dragon in attack mode, since I have no monsters and you have one. Next, I activate Double Summon, which means I can summon Breaker, The Magical Warrior.” Two monsters materialized, one a silver, robotic dragon that had an eel-shape to it, and the other a warrior in red armor, armed with a sword and a shield.

From Breaker’s shield a light flashed, and a beam shot out, piercing the blonde boy’s face-down card, eradicating it. “When Breaker’s summoned, I can place a Spell Counter on him, then remove it to destroy one spell or trap card you control. Face the force of the breaker!”

“No! Not my Sakuretsu Armor!”

“Yes. Now, I activate the magic card, Brain Control, by paying 800 Life Points.” His counter went from 5700 to 4900, as two ghostly hands reached out to Enraged Battle Ox, snagged him, and put him on the hidden man’s side of the field. “And now, Double Summon kicks in, so I get an extra summoning. I sacrifice all three monsters to summon my Wicked Dreadroot!”

-----------------

As the sun rose, I sat up in bed. My window was open, and the sunlight poured into my dorm room. My bed had a heavy curtain around it, since my lazy roommates seemingly hated the sun. Looking around at the green bubble, I slipped out from under my covers and started dressing into my uniform.

My name is Diego Louis Millan. I attend Duel Academy, a private school erected by KaibaCorp to breed a new generation of duelists. At least, it seems that way. Sure, they teach the same subjects your school does, but also the strategies to dueling, and the countless tactics available to a skilled duelist. You could say coming here is a tactical evolution…

I am a Slifer Red, the lowest rating one could get at this school. Of course, I’m a Freshman, and the rules (as revised for this year, anyway) state that all Freshmen begin as Slifer Reds, and only through a display of dueling skills could a student be promoted to either Ra Yellow or Obelisk Blue.

Basically, kick butt and get a snazzier uniform.

I looked at the green curtain once more, fully dressed this time, and moved it aside, quickly replacing it so the room was once again in darkness.

I have two roommates: One, a Third year named Renin Hagnis, a boy who, as far as I know, is known for being lazy and slow. He was asleep on his own bed, pillows under his butt, blanket thrown across the floor, drool seeping out. Ew.

The second was nowhere in sight—as usual. His name was Yuan Remos, a freshman like me. He was already known in our school as “That creepy guy with the obsession with darkness and funky hair.”

His hair was not, in fact, funky—at least, in my opinion. It was more of a “wet-dog” type hairstyle than funky. It droops down over his face, over his ears, and causes him to flick his head, flipping the hair around to the back of his head, very often. He and I have gotten pretty close in the month we’ve been here already.

Therefore, I knew a few of his habits, such as sneaking out at night and roaming the grounds out in pitch-black.

Odd? Yes. Creepy? Kinda. Stupid? Maybe. Yuan? Definitely.

Anyway, enough of that—the real fun starts at the beginning of my day. I’ve found that every day is best when begun with a duel. I headed out to the coliseum, an arena in which free duels can occur. It’s been expanded from a few years ago, I hear. There are seven dueling rings, and around each is a circle of benches for spectators to sit. Right now, I stood at one end of the ring, with a group of six Obelisk Blues sitting at the bench. One of them challenged me with that smug grin they always have on their stupid faces. He was a guy with black hair, soft white skin, and bright blue eyes. He engaged the Duel Disk as I flashed him my own smile.

“I’ll let you make the first move.”

“That’s right, Slifer scum. One move’s all I need.”

Poor, dumb son of a bucket. He has no idea what he’s in for.

-----------------

Music blared through the windows of a Ra Yellow dorm. A third year student stepped out of the door, dressed in his snazzy yellow outfit, armed with a duel disk. He was pretty tall, with short black hair and darkish skin.

The music ended as he shut the door behind him, leaving his two roommates in there to jam out. The boy walked away, to the west wing of the school. The coliseum.

As he walked in, he spotted a challenger right away. Another Ra Yellow, Miles Power, a duelist who was so-so at the game. They both stepped into the dueling ring.

“You can make the first move.” Miles smiled at the boy and drew his five cards.

“Alright, fine by me.” The boy drew his sixth card and looked onto the field. Both sides flashed 4000LP. “I’ll start by playing my magic card, E-Emergency Call! This will allow me to place one Elemental Hero from my deck into my hand.” A large golden E showed up on the field, and was soon followed by a man dressed in a mainly blue outfit, with two large fans attached to his back. “Using Emergency Call, I get Elemental Hero Stratos and summon him, which allows me to get another E-Hero from my deck and put it in my hand, so I choose Captain Gold! I end my turn by laying one card face-down.”

Miles looked at Stratos, smiled, and drew his card.

“Alright then, I summon Chainsaw Insect in attack mode! Chainsaw Insect, attack Stratos!” A huge beetle showed up on the field, with pincers in the form of a chainsaw. They revved up, and the insect charged with a mighty 2400 attack points, more than enough to defeat Stratos’ 1800 points. “With my Insect’s effect, however, you get to draw a card.”

“Hey, thanks, that’s what I needed. I activate Hero Counterattack! Since you destroyed an Elemental Hero by battle—“ The face-down card revealed itself, thus activating—“you get to choose one card in my hand, so pick!” He held up five cards.

“The middle!”

“Hey, awesome, my Elemental Hero Ocean!” A man dressed in a light blue, fish-like outfit appeared, holding a staff that ended in a curve. “Now, since you picked an Elemental Hero, I get to destroy one of your monsters, so say farewell to Chainsaw Insect!” The huge bug exploded in front of Miles, making his long brown hair flow back behind him.

“Darn… I’ll set two cards face-down and end my turn, then!” Both Life Point markers flashed.

Miles: 4000

John: 3400.

John Olguin drew his card.

“Cool. Alright, my Ocean’s effect allows me to take an Elemental Hero from my field or graveyard and add it into my hand. Hello, Stratos!” The graveyard section of John’s Duel Disk flashed and ejected Stratos, letting John put it back into his hand for a total of 8 cards. “This will be game, Miles. I summon Stratos! Using his secondary effect, I can destroy magic and trap cards equal to the number of Elemental Heroes I had before he was summoned, so destroy the left card!” Stratos’ fans activated, blowing a piercing gust of wind towards the face-down card. It shattered into hundreds of pieces.

“Grr… not Mirror Force… Then I activate my other card, Call Of The Haunted! This will allow me to bring back Chainsaw Insect in attack mode!” A tombstone appeared upon the field, and from it Chainsaw Insect burst through, with its pincers roaring loudly.

John simply looked on, smiling as he played his next card.

[shadowferret]

At the other end of the school, in the garden, Professor Honda stood, surrounded by three Obelisk Blue students.

“Jeez, what happened to him,” a tall student with dark skin and black spiky hair asked.

“Who knows,” responded the boy next to him, a slightly shorter boy with slightly lighter skin and slightly spikier red hair.

“His soul’s been absorbed into the shadows. I’ve seen this before…” He whispered it to himself. The Professor looked down at the blonde boy in the stunning blue outfit. His Duel Disk was still active, but there were only three cards on it—all in the graveyard.

“Looks like he’d been in a duel. I wonder how good the other guy had been, to be able to defeat one of our teammates before he had a chance to play more than three cards…” A short, roundish-boy with black messy hair spoke up. “Poor guy.”

“Pedro, Ricardo, Alfredo, you three hafta head to class soon. Leave, and I’ll take care of this.” Professor Honda had short brown hair that seemed to stand up by itself, not in spikes, but in a flat top.

“Yes, Professor.” The three departed, each looking back one last time before exiting the garden.

“So you’re his professor? He wasn’t much of a challenge.” Honda looked up and took a step back, his silver trench coat flowing with his feet. “I defeated the poor boy in one turn.” Honda looked the man in his green eyes. He had short black hair that lay flat on his head. Black made up his wardrobe.

“Who are you? How did you get on campus?” Professor Honda nearly tripped over the boy as he backed away to put a good distance between this weirdo and himself.

“Defeat me…” He engaged his Duel Disk, a model identical to the ones used by the students. “…and you can have all the answers you seek.”

Professor Honda looked down at the unconscious boy. “I’ll need to borrow this, then.” He undid the Duel Disk, attached it to his own arm, and replaced the deck with one from his pocket. “I need answers, and if I have to beat you for them, then so be it.”

“Good…” Shadows leaped out from behind the man, surrounding both him and the Professor. “The Shadow Realm seems to recognize you. You know it well… do you not? No matter… I’ll find out soon enough.”

Professor Honda: 4000

????: 4000

--------------------------

“This is a good hand. I lay three cards face-down, and set one monster. Next, I play the spell card Gold Sarcophagus! This will allow me to take one card from my deck and remove it for play from two turns, and add it to my hand during my second standby phase.” He looked through his deck for his card and lay it in the Removed-From-Play zone of the Duel Disk. Boring. “I end my turn!”

“Finally, jeez. Alright, here we go!” I drew my sixth card. “I summon Mecha-Dog Marron in attack mode!” A yellow mechanical dog appeared on the field. It flashed 1000ATK/1000DEF. “Go, Marron, attack!” My puppy leaped on the face-down monster, annihilating it. A furry round thing flashed, then screamed as it was destroyed.

“Since you destroyed my Sangan, I can take one monster with 1500 attack or less from my deck and add it to my hand, so I’ll pick this!” He added another card from his deck to his hand, shuffled, and offered for me to cut it.

“Nah. I’ll just finish my move now. I lay one card face-down, and activate the spell card, Chain Energy! Now we both must pay 500 life points to play any cards from our hand.” A yellow manacle appeared on our wrists and ankles, chaining us against a wall that materialized.

“Chain Energy? Really? You do belong in Slifer Red… My turn!” The cocky boy drew his card. “I activate my three face-down cards, Jar Of Greed! Since I activated three of them, I get to draw three cards…” His hand went from two to five cards. “Next, I set one card face-down, and then I set a monster in defense mode.” The chains tightened around his wrists, inflicting 1000 damage to his life points as he laid the two cards on the field. “Your turn, punk.”

“Good. This is the end, Obelisk Blue. I summon Cannon Soldier!” The chains tightened on my wrists this time as I summoned a machine that had two legs, two arms, a box for a body, and a cannon in place of a head. “Now, I activate my face-down card, Ceasefire! This’ll flip your monster, and then you take 500 damage for every Effect monster on the field!” A purple train, Dekoichi, revealed itself on his side of the field. “I count three, so your life points go down to 1500. Now, Cannon Soldier, attack Dekoichi!” My cannon fired a deafening blast at the train, smashing it to pieces. He simply smiled. Smug son-of-a-biscuit. “Marron, attack his life points directly!” The mechanical dog charged, but his face-down card flipped up.

“Activate Call Of The Haunted, bringing back my Sangan in attack mode!” The furry thing was back. That’s fine, I thought.

“Marron, attack it!”

“They’re equal! They’ll destroy each other, and I’ll be left with 1500 Life Points. So what? When my Sangan’s destroyed, I can get the fourth piece of Exodia, the Forbidden One—that’s right, THE Exodia—to my hand! And then, my Sarcophagus will add the final piece to my hand, thus winning me the game. And you don’t have enough tributes to finish me with that cannon of yours!”

The furball and my puppy clashed, destroying each other. I saw Sangan burn as my dog exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere.

“You don’t know, do you? When Marron is destroyed by battle… Both players lose 1000 Life Points.” I felt a hot chunk of metal strike my chest, subtracting 1000 Life Points, reducing me to 2500. I saw my opponent stumble back as Marron’s paw struck him in the face, reducing him to 500 Life Points. “Finish it, Cannon Soldier. Offer yourself to eliminate my opponent!” Cannon Soldier began glowing, as its body converted into energy that loaded into the cannon portion of its body. It fired, striking the Obelisk Blue, reducing his Life Points to 0000. “Don’t underestimate us Slifers.” I smiled as I stepped down from the ring, leaving the smoke-filled arena behind me. I didn’t bother taking a look back at that snobby Obelisk Blue or any of his friends.

Plus one victory for us slacking Slifers!

-------------------------------

“So, tell me, should I hold back, or should I take you out with all the force I can muster?” John held a magic card in his hand, ready to play it, when he posed this question to his opponent.

“Just make your move. Don’t try that intimidation junk with me.”

“Full force it is! I activate the spell card, Polymerization!” A card appeared, showing two monsters swirling in a small vortex. “This’ll let me fuse my Elemental Hero Wildheart and Elemental Hero Necroshade in my hand into a new monster!” A man with dark skin and a black ponytail appeared in the air, along with another man dressed in a black suit resembling a skeleton, and the two began the fusion process. “C’mon out, Necroid Shaman!” Wildheart reappeared, the dark skinned one, except this time he wore a mask and held a white staff. “Necroid Shaman lets me destroy one of your monsters, and summon another one from your graveyard. Say goodbye to your Chainsaw Insect again!” Necroid Shaman let loose a black burst, eradicating the bug.

“But that’s the only monster in my graveyard. You have to re-summon it!”

“I know, but I can bring it back… in Defense mode.” The insect reappeared, this time in a defensive stance. It’s defense points flashed 0000. “Next, activate the magic card, Future Fusion. This lets me send Elemental Hero Bubbleman, Elemental Hero Sparkman, and Elemental Hero Avian from my deck to my graveyard, and I can summon a new fusion in two turns. I won’t be doing that, though… ‘cuz now I activate another spell, Miracle Fusion. I can fuse Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Necroshade together from my graveyard by removing them from play!” The process happened again, only this time a man in a yellow suit appeared next to Necroshade, fusing them into a mostly golden-clad man with black legs and arms, and a black face hidden under a golden mask. “Now’s the end. I discard Captain Gold from my hand to bring Skyscraper to my hand, and I activate the field spell!” The ring was replaced with countless buildings, lit by the electric glow of lamps in the city, as moonlight glowed down onto the field. “Now when an Elemental Hero monster battles another monster with a higher attack power, my Hero gains 1000 attack points. So, Elemental Hero Darkbright, attack Chainsaw Insect!” The fusion of Sparkman and Necroshade charged forward, firing a burst of black energy at the insect, causing it to explode.

“Since my Insect was in defense mode, I take no damage!”

“Not true, man. Darkbright’s ability makes it so you take damage even if it was in defense mode. Also, since Darkbright was 400 points lower than Chainsaw Insect’s attack power, it went up to 3000, meaning you took 3000 points of damage from your zero defense defender.”

“Darn it… that brings me down to 1000 Life Points… I don’t believe it…”

“You’d better. Now, Ocean, attack him directly for game!” The blue-clad Hero swung his staff, sending a huge wave of water at Miles, depleting his Life Points to zero, and thus winning John the duel. “Never underestimate a Hero!”

-------------------------

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. I sat near the middle of the audience, all gathered in the lecture hall, awaiting Professor Honda’s appearance. However, it’s been fifteen minutes, and he still isn’t here. I looked around at all the students. The Ra Yellows, Obelisk Blues, and Slifer Reds were all separated by group. This wasn’t ‘cause of the teacher—the students did it themselves.

“Huh… wonder what’s up…” I looked over to Yuan and Renin, who both simply shrugged. “Let’s have a look around and see if we can find anything. If not, at least we won’t hafta sit with all those losers in there…” I stood up, and following my lead, Yuan and Renin followed. As we passed through the crowd and got to the doors, an Obelisk Blue spoke up.

“Hey, no ditching, Slifers.” His school ID read “Alfredo Orozco”. What a lame name. Behind him, two other Obelisks spoke up.

“Hey, Fredo, there’s another one over there trying to get out.” I looked over and saw a boy about my age, a Slifer Red with a hat on, trying to slip out the opposite doors leading out into the garden. “I’ll get him,” the black-spiky-haired boy said as he stood up and began his pursuit.

While Alfredo was distracted, I lead my friends out the door. When we got out, I broke into a run, followed by my two companions, just as I heard “Hey, don’t let ‘em get away! It’s our problem if they get caught ditching!” Looking behind us, I saw Alfredo, the round boy that he is, running after us, followed by one of the two Obelisks who spotted the other boy. This guy had red spiky hair and fair skin.

“Catch us if you can!” I taunted them.

“Obelisk losers, go ahead and try, you’ll never catch us!” Yuan spoke in a deep, dark voice. His taunt came out strangely, somehow creepy and infuriating at the same time.

“Nah nah, can’t get us!” Renin said as he stuck out his tongue. He turned to look ahead—and hit a pillar. The one named Alfredo stopped, pinned down Renin, and yelled out, “Ricardo, get the other two!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know!” Spiky head kept up the chase, following me and Yuan. We ran around the huge hall, and I looked out the window as we did. The sea was beautiful.

Soon, we passed the garden. I saw two people standing there. From the looks of it, they were dueling. The garden was pitch-black, though, as if it were night. On one side, one of the duelists had a giant black orb behind him, surrounded by a white temple. It looked like a fierce monster.

On the other side, the man had a dragon on his field, one I recognized as Chthonian Emperor Dragon. The duelist using him was…

“Professor Honda!” All three of us stopped to watch the duel, momentarily forgetting the fact that we were ditching. I looked down and saw the Obelisk that had accompanied Alfredo and that dude named Ricardo. He was still chasing the Slifer, but they both stopped moving as soon as they entered the garden, both awed by the duel that was going on.

Behind us, I heard a voice.

“Ricardo, what’re you doing just standing around? You were supposed to… what the heck…?” He stared in awe, like the rest of us. He had Renin by the wrists, though, who also stared.

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In the lecture hall, after three Obelisks and four Slifers had already gone out, John stood up.

“What the heck, I’ll just go, too.” He walked towards the same route that the Obelisk with black spiky hair had chased the Slifer in the hat through. “The garden’ll be a nice place to relax.” He stepped through the door, walked through the corridor, and stepped out into the night.

“Wait, night? This garden should be brigh---whoa…”

-------------------

[shadowferret]

Let’s rewind a bit. Professor Honda made the first move. He drew his card.

“I will not lose this. I don’t know how you’ve summoned the Shadow Realm, but I do know that you cannot be up to any good. Therefore, I can’t let you run loose at Duel Academy.” He fiercely placed a monster on his Duel Disk, slapping it down hard. “I summon my Magical Reflect Slime!” A small, blue manifestation of water appeared. It was like a kaleidoscope, constantly changing shape, as its stats flashed. 700ATK/1100DEF. “Now I play the spell card, Double Summon! I can summon twice this turn. So, I use my summoning to activate Magical Reflect Slime’s effect!” The Slime burst, then reappeared, looking identical. “Since Magical Reflect Slime is a Gemini monster, I must summon it twice to activate its effect, but it’s well worth it. I equip my slime with Heart of Clear Water, meaning you can’t destroy it by battle or by an effect that targets my Slime. Next, I lay one card face-down and end my turn.”

“Good.” The man spoke in his deep, seductive voice again. “So I can’t eliminate that slime, eh? No matter, with this, I can. I activate Heavy Storm!” A huge storm conjured itself up, shattering Professor Honda’s spell and trap cards—his Heart of Clear Water, and the face-down Magic Cylinder.

“Dang…”

“Next, I activate the Field Spell, Sephira’s Divine Temple.” A white temple grew out of the shadows as mist covered the field. “Once per turn, I can increase my Life Points by an amount equal to the combined attack power of your monsters, bringing my Life Points to 4700. Now, since you have one monster and I have none, I can summon Cyber Dragon from my hand as a Special Summon!” The metal Dragon appeared again, letting out a mechanical cry. “Then, I follow up with Spirit Reaper!” A small incarnation of the Grim Reaper appeared, clad in purple, holding a short scythe. “I lay one-card face-down. Now, Cyber Dragon, eliminate that slime!” The Dragon lunged forward, opening its mouth. The Slime transformed into an image of the mysterious man as Cyber Dragon smashed it into oblivion. At that time, the man felt a shock, as his Life Points went from 4700 to 3300. “What the—“

“My Slime’s effect is that when you attack it, you take the damage I would’ve taken.”

“Darn you. Spirit Reaper, attack his Life Points Directly!” The zombie flew forward, striking Professor Honda with its scythe. “My Spirit Reaper, when it attacks directly, will discard one card randomly from your hand!” The Reaper pointed a bony finger at the left card in Professor Honda’s hand, and it fell into the graveyard. “Take that. You’re down to 3700 Life Points. Now, let’s see how you fare next turn. I end my turn!”

Honda: 3700, two cards in the hand.

????: 3300, one card in the hand.

“My draw. Okay, I play Premature Burial!” An image of a person screaming out, holding his arm up appeared, as the magic card activated. “By giving up 800 Life Points, I can equip this card to one monster in the graveyard, reviving it. I choose Chthonian Emperor Dragon, the monster your Spirit Reaper discarded!” The great blue dragon arose out of the graveyard, much resembling a phoenix. It let out a roar as its 2400 attack points flashed. “Now, I give up my summoning to activate its effect!” The Dragon let out an even mightier roar, causing the garden to vibrate a bit. “Now, Chthonian Emperor Dragon, attack Spirit Reaper!” The Dragon roared as it charged, throwing its head down to the small Reaper.

“Activate trap, Draining Shield! This card stops the attack, and increases my Life Points by the attack power of your monster!” A blue shield appeared over Spirit Reaper, draining the power of Chthonian Emperor Dragon. The man’s Life Points increased from 3300 to 5700.

“Ah, fine then. Chthonian Emperor Dragon, attack Spirit Reaper again!” The Dragon resumed its strike, bashing the zombie with its skull.

“WHAT?!”

“Chthonian Emperor Dragon is another Gemini creature, who can attack twice per turn!”

The man grinned.

“Nicely done, Professor. It’s a good thing my Spirit Reaper can’t be destroyed by battle, but that was still a good amount of damage I took.” The man’s points decreased from 5700 to 3600.

“You saved your monster, but as for your Life Points, I can’t say the same. Your move.”

“Heh, not too bad…” The mysterious man drew his card. “My field spell will increase my Life Points by 2400, bringing me to 6000 Life Points. Next, I remove my Heavy Storm in my graveyard from play to Special Summon my Spell Striker!” A little creature with a small staff appeared, flashing its 200 attack points.

“What’re you planning, to tribute them?” But for what, Professor Honda asked himself.

“Exactly. I offer all three of my monsters to summon one of the most powerful monsters in all of Duel Monsters… I offer Cyber Dragon, Spirit Reaper, and Spell Striker to summon The Wicked Avatar!” The three creatures faded from the field, offering themselves as a great black orb appeared on the field. It simply floated there in front of the man, seemingly doing nothing.

“Exactly what is that thing…”

“You’ll see. Avatar, attack Chthonian Emperor Dragon!” The orb flashed its 2500 attack points as it cracked open. A dragon formed by a black skeleton crawled out, bony wings flapping. It floated a few moments, then screeched loudly. It was then that Professor Honda noticed the three students standing in the garden, watching this duel. He didn’t have time to say anything, though, because the Dragon that emerged swung its tail, slashing open Chthonian Emperor Dragon. The Emperor Dragon faded away, defeated, as Professor Honda’s life points were reduced to 3600. The skeletal dragon retreated back into the orb, safe.

“Heh, cower before the power of the Wicked Avatar! Make your last move, Professor Honda… oh, and before I forget, neither of us can activate spells or traps for two rounds…”

Stunned by the apparition he’d just seen, Professor Honda shakily drew his card.

“Grr…” was all Honda could muster. “Fine, then. I set a monster and end my turn.”

“Alright, my turn.” The man drew his card. “Since you have no face-up monsters, I gain nothing, but I already have more than enough Life Points. I summon Obnoxious Celtic Guard in attack mode!” An elf clad in green armor stood, holding a blade. His blonde hair flowed behind him as he stood, ready to strike. “I’m a bit uneasy about striking your monster, so I’ll end my turn.”

“Big mistake, pal…” Honda drew his card. “I sacrifice my face-down monster to summon another monster in face-down defense position. Since I can’t do anything else, I end my turn.”

“Interesting move. Gotta be something with a high defense. So, I’ll simply end my turn by setting one monster in defense mode. Your move. Oh, and you can play your spells and traps now.”

“That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear. However, this turn, it’s best to defend. I end it!”

“Hm, interesting. Same here. I draw and end.”

“Finally! I flip up my Grasschopper!” A huge praying mantis appeared from under the card, flashing its 2350 attack points. “Next, I equip my insect with Big Bang Shot, increasing his attack by 400 points.” The mantis began glowing a light blue as its attack shot up to 2750. “It’s more than enough to eliminate your whole field. Now, I re-summon it to activate Grasschopper’s effect. My insect can attack each and every one of your monsters! Strike the face-down monster!” The mantis leapt and slashed at the face-down card, revealing a fluffy, marshmallow like monster.

“You attacked my Marshmallon! He can’t be destroyed by battle, and when he’s flipped by an attack, you take 1000 damage.” Honda’s Life points decreased to 2600 as the man’s Life Points decreased to 4250.

“Big Bang Shot, However, inflicts damage even if your monster was in Defense mode.”

“Smart. I guess that’s why you’re the Professor, Honda.”

“Darn right. Now, Grasschopper, mow down that elf!” The insect threw itself upon Obnoxious Celtic Guard, who blocked by holding up his blade.

“Though I still take damage”--The man’s points were reduced to 2900—“My Obnoxious Celtic Guard cannot be destroyed in a battle with a monster that has more than 1900 attack points.” The mantis leapt off the survivor, and moved onto the orb.

“I can still take out that Avatar, though!” As Grasschopper jumped onto the orb and hacked away, the Orb cracked open once more, this time revealing a dark mantis with shadows seeping from its eyes and mouth. It was another praying mantis, and its attack points flashed once more—only this time, the value was at 2850. Grasschopper slashed, but the Avatar countered with its own slash, then followed by slicing Grasschopper with its other claw. Honda’s Life Points dropped to 2500. “What the…?”

“Have you figured it out yet? My Avatar copies the strongest monster on the field—only, it is always 100 points stronger than that monster. There is no way to defeat my Wicked God!” The man smiled insanely as the Professor let out a sigh. “That last card in your hand had better save you next turn, or else you’re finished.”

“I set one card face-down and end my turn. You know, at Duel Academy, we have a saying—never give up, because you never know what the next card has in store. I have faith in this deck, and I know I won’t lose to someone like you. Make your move!”

“Very well. I draw.” The man drew his card. “I summon Zombie Master in Attack Mode!” A man clad in a black cloak appeared, flashing 1800 attack points. “Now, by discarding one card from my hand, I can special summon one zombie monster from my graveyard, like Spirit Reaper!” The small Reaper arose out of the earth, joining the man and his army. “I have five monsters on the field. You’d better save yourself! Wicked Avatar, attack his Life Points directly!” The orb broke open again, revealing a man made of shadows. He was as tall, but darker than, Zombie Master. It flashed 1900 attack points as it shot a wave of dark energy at Professor Honda.

“I activate my face-down card, Negate Attack! I stop your attack, and end your Battle Phase!” The beam faded away as the Avatar retreated back into its orb.

“Nice save. Keep it up! I end my turn!”

“This is it, deck… save me now.” Professor Honda closed his eyes and drew a card. He opened his eyes slowly, afraid to look. When he saw the card, he slipped it into the spell zone of the Duel Disk. “I activate my Card of Sanctity! By removing all cards on my field and in my hand,”—there were no cards on his field, and only one in his hand—“I draw two cards. Now, I set a monster and activate The Dark Door!” A spell popped up, showing a doorway with a single shadow through it. “We can only attack with one monster per turn. I end my turn with that.” It’s all up to you, deck.

“Nice save. I draw. Since you have no face-up monsters, I can’t gain anything. I switch my Celtic Guard and Spirit Reaper to defense mode. Wicked Avatar, reveal yourself and strike!” The orb cracked open, and the dark copy of Zombie Master appeared again, firing at the face-down monster with an attack of 1900. A woman with purple hair and a crescent staff screamed as she was destroyed, and the Avatar retreated once more.

“Magician of Faith! Since you attacked her, I can return a spell card from my graveyard—such as Premature Burial—to my hand.”

“Hm. I see. Well, I’ll end my turn by setting one card face-down. Let’s see how you do here.” The man looked onto the Professor’s empty field. Two cards in his hand after he draws, one of which is Premature Burial, he thought. Don’t disappoint me, Honda.

“I draw!”

Honda: 2500, with two cards in the hand.

????: 2900, with no cards in his hand.

“I activate Premature Burial by reducing my Life Points to 1700, to bring back my Chthonian Emperor Dragon. I re-summon him, therefore activating his effect.” The Dragon roared, ready to face the army of monsters. “Now I activate the card I just drew, Enemy Controller! This’ll allow me to switch your Marshmallon into attack mode!” The marshmallow like monster switched into an offensive stance, flashing its 500 points.

“Nice, nice.”

“Now, Chthonian Emperor Dragon, attack Marshmallon!” The Dragon struck, ramming the marshmallow, and reducing the other man’s life points to 1000.

“Ngh… nice… but too bad you won’t be able to finish me off!”

“Are you deaf, or just dumb? My Dragon can attack twice, so Chthonian Emperor Dragon, strike Marshmallon once more for game!” The dragon rammed again.

“Activate spell card, Shrink!” The man yelled. The card flipped up, blasting Chthonian Emperor Dragon with its magic, shrinking it down to half its size. Its attack flashed as 1200 when it struck Marshmallon, bringing down the mysterious man to 300 Life Points. “It cut your dragon’s attack in half, saving my hide.”

Professor Honda growled at this move. He bet the whole duel on that one move, and failed. “Fine, then. I can’t do anything else… so I end my turn.”

Honda: 2500, no cards in hand

????: 300, no cards in hand

“You fought nicely, my friend, but I’m afraid it’s over now. I draw!” The man drew the card that would end this duel once and for all. He smiled. “You’re a very lucky man. Never before have I had to unleash two of my ultimate monsters to defeat an opponent.” Professor Honda stared the man in his eyes, matching his smile with a frown of equal magnitude.

“Two?”

“Yes, two. First, I activate my field spell, increasing my Life Points to 2700. Now, I sacrifice all five of my monsters, to play the strongest monster in my deck.” The army faded into nothingness, as a cocoon made of white feathers descended onto the field. It broke open, revealing an angel clad in black armor. It was a man, average-sized, with pale skin on his arms and legs. He held a sword in one hand and a chalice in the other. His face, however, was a pitch-black skull. It opened, laughing maniacally at Professor Honda. “I summon Sephira, Emissary of the Fallen Gods!” The angel lifted the chalice to its mouth, drinking heartily.

Professor Honda looked on in shock, trembling a little before the apparition he was seeing.

“Now, Sephira’s effect activates! My Life Points will increase by the combined attack power of the monsters I sacrificed. Count with me, now. Spirit Reaper was 300, plus Marshmallon would be 800, then Zombie Master makes 2600. Don’t forget Obnoxious Celtic Guard, for 4000. Finally, my Wicked Avatar, copying your Dragon, makes it a total of 6500. Add that to my Life Points, and I have a total 9200 Life Points.”

“And then?”

“And then…” The man grew an insane look in his eyes. It inspired almost as much fear as Sephira’s face. “Then, Sephira’s attack power becomes equal to my Life Points.” Sephira laughed once more as he drew his sword, aimed it at Chthonian Emperor Dragon, and awaited commands. “Sephira… STRIKE DOWN CHTHONIAN EMPEROR DRAGON AND END THIS DUEL!” He was screaming throughout the garden. Sephira reacted by screaming just as loud, a loud screech, as his blade rose up, and he charged forward, propelled by his wings. The blade pierced the hide of Chthonian Emperor Dragon, slaying it instantly, and reducing Honda’s life points to 0000.

“It’s over, Professor. I must say, though, you fought well.” Professor Honda fell to his knees slowly, defeated.

In the corner, the three students conversed.

“What happened to Professor Honda? He looks drained.” The Slifer Red was wondering.

“I have no idea, man. He lost, but I don’t think that’s why he’s despairing…” John stood, watching Professor Honda as he lay collapsed on the ground.

“No… this is where Professor Honda always talked about. It’s a place called the Shadow Realm. The battles become real here…” Pedro stared at Professor Honda. “…and the loser has his soul devoured by the Shadow Realm.”

“What? That’s all fairytale stuff.” The Slifer Red turned to Pedro when he said it, then turned to Professor Honda as the shadows started licking at him. “Right? …fairytale stuff, right?!” He looked around, then retreated from the room, back into the corridor through which they entered.

The man stood over Professor Honda, Sephira still behind him.

“I’ll enjoy absorbing such a strong soul, you know. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt one bit…”

[shadowferret]

That night, we didn’t get any punishment at all for ditching. In fact, everyone at the school was too puzzled about Professor Honda’s mysterious coma that they really didn’t care about a few delinquents.

As usual, Renin fell asleep right away. Me and Yuan sat up, looking at each other from across the room.

“So… you wanna come explore with me?” He was dressed in a casual outfit, all black, of course. He opened the door and took a step out.

“Sure.” I figured, I can’t sleep anyway.

We walked off of the school grounds this time. Duel Academy is on an island, see, so you can’t really escape. However, the installation is surrounded by a canyon on one side, and forest on the rest of the island. Otherwise, it’s just a big beach and then ocean.

“There’s nothing in the forest, y’know. Only a few birds, some insects, and on a few rare occasions, lizards have shown up.” Yuan had led me to a clearing in the forest, where the moon shone clearly on the grass. He plopped down, flat on the grass, staring up through the hole in the leaves at the stars. “It’s a good place to just rest and contemplate.”

“I see. And you do this every night?” I sat next to him, relaxing as I let the softness of the grass absorb into my hands.

“Just about.”

“Then it must simply be luck that you haven’t encountered me yet in your little excursions, young man.” From behind us, I heard a deep, melodic voice. It sounded inviting, yet at the same time… sinister. Yuan and I both stumbled forward and about-faced as we stood to face him.

“W-Who are you,” I asked rather shakily.

“I recognize him. He was the one who dueled Professor Honda earlier.” Yuan, for some reason that I don’t know, brought his Duel Disk with him on these little adventures of his. He suggested that I brought mine, too. However, right now, Yuan activated his, setting the deck in place as he stepped back.

“So, I did have an audience earlier. Then you already know of my power. Yet, boy…” I felt a shiver creep down my spine as a splitting coldness flashed through all of my bones. The moonlight faded away, giving way to only cold, dark shadows. “…you still challenge me? I admire your bravery. However…” Yuan had a look of determination on his face. The shadows swallowed us, leaving only the glow of the Duel Disks to keep us from going blind. “…bravery alone will not assure your survival in the Shadow Realm.”

-----------------------------

In the infirmary of the school, two people were resting in white beds—one, Professor Honda; the other was the Obelisk Blue who’d fallen victim to the mysterious man before the Professor, Justin Ganados.

The medical room was completely dark, save for the glow from the machines that monitored the status of the patients.

There was no school nurse, or even a security guard present to witness the two people rise from their beds and stand as if nothing had happened to them.

However, it was obvious something had happened to them—their eyes were glossed over, as if they were dead. In a way, they were, having had their souls stolen by the unforgiving shadows.

Both of the shells walked to the hallway, grabbing their decks from the table on the way out. Behind them, the hall seemed darker than usual. They stepped, one foot after the other, marching forward into the pitch black halls. Once that was done with, the two bodies exited the school, heading out into the moonlit forest, heeding the call of their new master.

---------------------

“Seeing as how I have the home field advantage, young man, you can make the first move.” The guy who wore the shadows like a blanket around him was staring at Yuan with a glare that seemed to pierce through Yuan’s head and right into my eyes. He turned and met my eyes. Yuan gave me a look that I interpreted to say “I got this.”

“I’ll draw my card, then.” Yuan turned back to the man and stared him in the eyes. “I’ll start by summoning the Shadowknight Archfiend in attack mode.” A skeleton appeared, with long blue hair and a red sword fused to its right arm.

“Interesting.”

“I’ll finish up by setting two cards face-down and playing Pandemonium.” The shadows receded and gave way to a huge alter. It was dome-shaped, and the two duelists stood upon the center of the altar. I stood at the side of the altar, staring at the battlefield. “I end my turn.”

Yuan: 4000, two cards in hand

????: 4000, five cards in hand

----------------------

The boy let out a loud yawn as he sat up in his bed. He had fluffy brown hair that stuck up in random spots. The ultimate case of bedhead. He looked around and grabbed his glasses off of the table. Sensing the need to use the little boys’ room, he stood and headed for the door. On the way out, he remembered to grab his hat from the coat rack.

Returning from the lavatory, now fully awake, James Wilkins looked around quickly. He’d heard a strange shuffling and was trying to locate the source.

“Who’s there…?” At that, a man walked into James’ line of vision. He recognized him instantly as the duelist who’d suffered a defeat earlier in the day—Professor Honda.

“Hello, student. Care for a duel?” The Professor asked him casually. There was something weird in his voice, though—a sort of… absent-mindedness. The Professor, James knew, wouldn’t talk this casually.

“Uh… sure, Professor Toyota.”

“Please come this way, then.” The Professor turned around and began walking down the hallway. James followed cautiously, stopping on the way to retrieve his Duel Disk from his room. He thought to himself, “Didn’t that Obelisk Blue say something about the loser having his soul taken? I knew it was fairytale junk…”

“Here we are, Mr. Wilkins.” The Professor switched on a large light switch, causing the lights above the stadium to blaze on, illuminating the huge arena. He proceeded to the center ring, awaiting his young opponent.

As James stepped up to the stage, both duelists engaged their Duel Disks.

“You may make the first move, young man.”

“Uh… cool. Alright, I’ll draw.” James drew his card. He looked at his hand for a few seconds, then made his move. “I’ll start by summoning my Marauding Captain in attack mode.” A soldier clad in silver armor appeared, with his short blonde hair bouncing and his two swords shining in the electric light. “Now, with my Marauding Captain’s effect, I can summon one level 4 or lower monster from my hand, so I summon the Spirit of the Six Samurai in attack mode.” A small sprite appeared next to the Captain, floating around with its flamish body blazing on. “I’ll set a card face-down, and then, since I have a Six Samurai monster on the field, I can special summon The Grandmaster of the Six Samurai from my hand.” An old man appeared on the field, with an eye-patch covering his right eye. He held a sword in his hand, and had it stuck in the ground at the moment. “Now, since I have another Six Samurai on the field, I can activate my Spirit’s effect—I infuse his essence into the Grandmaster, increasing his stats by 500 points.” The old man gained the armor that surrounded the blue flame that was the sprite, and he grinned a tiny bit. “Alright, that’s the end of my move.”

“Okay, students, I’ll show you how it’s done.” Professor Honda drew his card. “I’ll begin by summoning my Shadow Delver in attack mode.” A man materialized onto the field. He was surrounded by shadows that wrapped themselves around him like snakes. “I’ll follow up with the spell card, Double Summon, so I can also summon my Chthonian Emperor Dragon by sacrificing Shadow Delver.” The man exploded into fragments. The fragments reassembled themselves into the great dragon that Honda was so fond of. It let out a roar as it reared its head back. “Chthonian Emperor Dragon, attack Marauding Captain!” The serpent roared as it charged, bashing its head against the soldier. The man fell back and dematerialized in the air, as James’ life points were reduced to 2800.

“Meh, that’s fine.”

“I’ll follow up by setting two cards face-down onto the field and ending my turn.”

James: 2800, two cards in hand

Honda: 4000, one card in hand

“Alright, my draw.” James drew, then activated the card he drew—Six Samurai United. “Now, every time a Samurai is summoned, I can put one Bushido counter on this card. But I’ll do that later. For now, I summon Six Samurai—Yaichi.” A man clad in yellow armor appeared, holding a longbow in his hands. His eyes glowed a bright yellow as he raised his bow. “Yaichi’s effect activates—when I control another Six Samurai, he can destroy one of your face-down cards. So, Yaichi, eliminate the one on the left!” The Samurai pulled back the string of his bow.

“I activate it, then—Unleash Your Power! This gives all Gemini monsters on the field their effects, so my Dragon is now Gemini Summoned.” The beast screeched, unleashing its power.

“Alright, then. Now, I summon the Great Shogun Shien from my hand. Since I already have two Samurai, he can be special summoned.” A man wearing crimson armor appeared. A black aura glowed around the katana he held, and his eyes glowed a shade matching his armor. The stats of each monster flashed—Shien at 2500, Grandmaster at 2600, Yaichi at 1300, and Chthonian Emperor Dragon at 2400.

“Shien, strike down the Dragon!” The Shogun charged at the great behemoth, leaping high into the air. He brought his blade down, slicing the Dragon’s skull, then brought through the rest of the carcass. The Dragon shattered into bits as Honda’s life points reduced themselves to 3900.

“Good job, Mr. Wilkins, but you failed to take into account my face-down card—Gemini Trap Hole. When my Gemini monster is destroyed, this trap card destroys each and every one of your monsters.” The Samurai watched as the Dragon let out a final roar, shaking the arena. A burst of energy released, heading straight for them.

“Nice, but I’ll activate Great Shogun Shien’s effect—I can have one of my other Samurai be destroyed instead of him.” The old samurai jumped in front of the Shogun, ready to take the blast.

“But my card destroys all of them—there’s no substitute to be used, so therefore your Shogun perishes!”

“And my Spirit’s effect will activate. I can destroy it to save the Samurai it’s currently equipped to.” The sprite ejected itself from the Grandmaster, taking the hit for the old Samurai. “And then I can sacrifice the Grandmaster to save the Shogun.” The old man was blown back by the burst, along with the bowman, both shattering into millions of shards. The Shogun remained standing, a lone swordsman.

“Very good, Mr. Wilkins. Finish your move.”

“Okay, since my Grandmaster was destroyed by a card effect, I can add one Samurai to my hand—including himself, which I will return.” The Grandmaster arose from the grave, then leaped into the air, transforming into a light that shot itself into James’ hand. “I’ll end my turn with that.”

James: 2800, two cards in hand

Honda: 3900, two cards in hand

“My turn, so I summon Magical Reflect Slime in Attack mode.” The blue slime materialized onto the field. It reflected the field in its body, as it stood there. “I’ll set a card face-down and end my turn.”

“You’re handless now. So, it’s my turn…” James drew his card, sending his hand amount to three. “I’ll summon the Six Samurai—Nisashi in attack mode.” The green samurai appeared, his armor and eyes glowing green as he drew two swords. “Now, since I have summoned two Samurai, my Six Samurai United card goes to the graveyard, allowing me to draw two cards.” He drew. “Now I special summon my Grandmaster again!” The old man jumped down onto the field, holding his sword up, pointing it at the Professor. “This is the end, Professor.” James let out a dorky smile as he opened his face-down card—Return of the Six Samurai. “This trap allows one of the Six Samurai to return to the field, so I bring back Yaichi!” The bowman appeared again and instantly took aim. He fired as James commanded him to destroy the face-down.

“It would seem like the end, yes, but I activate my card—Super Double Summon!! This allows my Slime to gain its Gemini Effect until the end of my turn.” The Slime burst, then reformed into an image of James.

“Okay, then. Now I activate my magic card, The A. Forces. For every Warrior on the field, all of my Warriors gain 200 ATK. Since there are four, all of them get an extra 800 points.” The Samurai let out a collective grunt, pumping themselves for the charge. “Finally, I activate Double Summon, to summon another Spirit of the Six Samurai and equip it to my Grandmaster.” The old man regained the armor he once adorned, as the Spirit possessed him again. “My Grandmaster now has an attack of 3400. Grandmaster, attack the Magical Reflect Slime!” Honda simply responded by letting out a laugh. As the old man slashed through the slime, James felt a slicing sensation through his body. He nearly doubled over out of pain, as his life points were reduced to 100.

“Did you not pay attention the first time? You take all Battle Damage from attacking my Slime.”

James stood up slowly, staring Honda in the eyes.

“You’ll pay for this. Nisashi, attack him directly!” The green samurai charged, holding both of his swords in hand. His 2200 points flashed as the first sword slashed downwards, slicing through the Professor. He stumbled back, barely able to regain his footing before he fell off the stage. His life points reduced themselves to 1700.

“Nice, student.”

“I’m not done yet! Nisashi, finish him!” The samurai slashed his other blade horizontally through the Professor’s chest, reducing his life points to 0000 as he fell to the ground below the arena. “When Nisashi is on the field with another Samurai, he can attack twice. Take that, Professor Hyundai!” The monsters disappeared from the field as James’ Duel Disk disengaged.

“Very good, VERY good, Wilkins!” He heard Professor Honda exclaim from the ground below. James quickly ran down to check on him, knowing that he got carried away. The Professor was letting out a laugh. His voice had that slight insane quality from before as he laughed. “You beat me. Though, can you really say I’m me?” The Professor, James concluded, was talking in riddles.

“Professor, are you alright?”

“I’m simply fine, Mr. Wilkins. But I am no longer your Professor—you saw the duel earlier. Your friend’s soul—“ his voice suddenly became dark and malevolent—“is not in here. I am simply the shell of Honda. Now, what happens when you defeat a shell?” James looked at Honda with a puzzled look on his face. “See, I have no essence left. Though you couldn’t sense it, we were in fact dueling in the Shadow Realm. Now, the shadows”—as he said it, James suddenly saw the shadows that had been surrounding them. He’d been blind to them until now—“have come to devour me. All I have left is a body… at least this body had fun. Haha…” His laughs echoed as the shadows licked down and absorbed the Professor’s body, bit by bit. James watched in shock as the body vanished before him. He slowly backed away a bit, too stunned to do anything but retreat. As the final remnants of his body were being absorbed, Honda’s duel disk clattered on the floor of the arena.

The boy was already gone by that time. Behind him, the lights automatically shut off, sensing no one in the arena.

James ran on, holding with him the knowledge that he was now responsible for someone’s death.

[shadowferret]

Pedro Contreras sat in a lonely chair in the Chancellor’s office as the creator of Duel Monsters stood before the man’s desk.

“This has happened only once before. That’s why I stuck the chips into the three Wicked God cards—so I could retrieve them before they caused any havoc, in case someone stole them again.” Pegasus J. Crawford’s now-silver hair covered the left side of his face, shaking a little as his expressions changed from anger to fear. Chancellor Sheppard, an old bald man with a silver beard, sat at the desk.

”A student, as well as a Professor, have already fallen victim to this man. Pegasus, how could you have created something like those cards?!”

“I simply follow the will of the cards. I didn’t know what I’d created until they were already there!” Pegasus leaned over the Chancellor’s desk, slamming his hands down, banging it pretty hard. “Do you know what kind of power those three cards possess? I wish I did before I made them…” Over in the dark corner, sitting at the edge of the moonlight, Pedro spoke up in a deep, solemn voice.

“Professor Honda explained it to me… the Shadow Realm. And from what it looks like, those cards can conjure up the Shadow Realm…”

“Close, young man.” Pegasus turned to Pedro and walked closer. His steps echoed around the dark room. “They bestow the user with Shadow Magic. Also… any victims of this person… they become soulless shells, under the bidding of the Wicked Gods’ wielder.” Pegasus was kneeling down now, peering into Pedro’s eyes. His eyes were staring off into the distance.

“So… the Professor is under the control of that man…” Pedro stood up finally. He picked up the Duel Disk that stood beside his chair and attached it onto his arm. His deck was already secured into the deck slot. “…then, as his protégé, I vow to free him of that control.”

“Young man, I hate to say this but I doubt you have the power to stop him. That man who’s wielding the Wicked Gods—you told us about his tactics. Do you really think you can stand up to that?!” Pegasus was following Pedro slowly as he continued walking out the door.

“I have to. There’s no other option but for me to fight for Professor Honda. The man took me as his own son—I owe him a lot.” The door slid closed behind him, and Pegasus was left standing in the shadows.

“Don’t worry, Pegasus. Pedro is one of the best students at this school. If anyone has a chance of defeating this man, it’s him.”

“And if he can’t, then it’s my fault for what happens to the boy.” Pegasus opened the door again, letting the lamplight into the moonlit room. “I’m going to hunt down the man who took the Wicked Gods and eliminate him myself.”

--------------------------------

Outside the main office building, Pedro walked through the halls aimlessly. After having lost his mentor, the man who he saw as somewhat of a father, he was disillusioned. He thought there was such a thing as a flawless strategy.

“Perhaps not. Then, I’ll just have to perfect my strategy…” At that moment, however, another Obelisk Blue approached him—the one he recognized as Justin Ganados.

The first victim of the Wicked Gods’ wielder.

“What? Are you looking for a duel?”

“Let’s duel, Pedro. It oughta be fun to have you join us…”

“I’ll never join you.” Pedro drew his card. “I’ll go first.” He spent a few seconds looking at his hand, then started. “First, I activate the Field Spell, Sanctuary in the Sky!” The darkness was dispelled as a huge temple appeared upon the field. Mist surrounded it, as the light overflowed the field. “Now whenever a fairy is in a battle, I don’t lose any life points. I’ll finish by setting a card face-down and summoning the Agent of Force – Mars in attack mode!” A red angel floated down unto the field, his red wings beating hard against the mists. “I end my turn with that.”

Justin stared at the angel. It flashed 0000/0000.

“That thing has no attack or defense! It’s useless.”

“It’s called strategy.”

“Whatever. I draw.” Justin made his move without even thinking. He was used to dueling on instinct. “I summon Enraged Battle Ox in attack mode!” A man-ox clad in red armor appeared, handling a small red hand-axe. He let out a snort as he charged. “Battle Ox, attack Mars!”

“Open face-down, Aegis of Gaia!” Pedro screamed out, as the card revealed itself. Roots rose from out of the ground and wrapped themselves around Pedro. “This card remains on the field, and as long as it’s not destroyed, I gain 3000 life points...”

“No matter! My ox’ll still take out your Angel!”

“…and then, my Mars’ effect activates. As long as the Sanctuary is on the field…” The roots around Pedro shrunk, then wrapped themselves around the red angel, grabbing him tightly. “…my Agent of Force gains attack points equal to the difference in our life points when mine are higher.” The angel blocked the hand-axe, then pushed the beast back as a beam of light shone down and annihilated it. His 3000 points flashed as Justin’s life points were reduced.

“Nice… I see what you mean about strategy. But my Baboon’s effect activates…” A green baboon suddenly summoned itself onto the field as the Ox disappeared, in a defensive stance. “When a beast or beast-warrior is destroyed, I can special summon him by paying 1000 of my Life Points.” Pedro looked at the baboon, shrugged, and waited. “I’ll finish my move by setting two cards face-down.”

Pedro: 7000, three cards in hand.

Justin: 1700, two cards in hand

-------------------------

“Wow, that’s just perfect.” The man got a wicked smile on his face as he drew. I really hope Yuan can put up a fight against this creep…

“Just make your move.”

“Gladly. I activate Heavy storm!” A huge storm struck the field, wiping out all of Yuan’s traps. The stadium had disappeared, too. “Then I’ll follow up by summoning Cyber Dragon in attack mode.” The metallic dragon appeared onto the field flashing its 2100 attack points as it let out a metallic screech. “Now I summon Breaker The Magical Warrior in attack mode!” The red-clad mage summoned himself onto the field, sword and shield in his hands. “Cyber Dragon, take out the Shadowknight!” The metal dragon charged, ramming the fiend with its mechanical skull. The Archfiend disappeared in shards as Yuan’s life points were reduced to 3900. “Breaker, attack his life points directly!” The swordsman charged at Yuan, slashing him through the chest, reducing his life points to 2000. “End turn by setting one card face-down.”

Dang. Yuan already lost half his life points during the first turn. You better not lose, Yuan…

Yuan: 2000, two cards in hand

????: 4000, three cards in hand

“My turn. I draw.” Yuan looked troubled. Doubtful.

“Yuan! C’mon, you can come back from this!”

“Diego, just shut up and let me do my move.” Jeez, what’s his problem? “I’ll activate the spell card, Terraforming! This allows me to take a Field spell from my deck and add it to my hand. I’ll activate the card I just got—Pandemonium!” The stadium reappeared, darkening the sky with its crimson aura. “This allows me to summon my Archfiend General!” A skeleton holding a huge sword, wearing crimson armor appeared. He let out a ghostly scream as he brought the sword into the air, then swung down. “Strike down Breaker!” His 2100 attack points flashed next to Breaker’s 1900 points.

“Stop! I activate my trap—Sephira’s Wings!” Black wings emerged from Breaker’s back, wings that wrapped around the Magical Warrior, absorbing the sword’s blow. The blade ripped through them, sending feathers flying that floated back to the mysterious man. As they sliced through him, his life points were reduced to 3800. “This allows me to, by discarding one card, make a monster of my choice invincible when you attack, so Breaker lives!” The wings disappeared, leaving Breaker standing there, unharmed. “Then, I can special summon one monster in my deck whose attack points are equal to or lower than the amount of life points I lost.” This time, the black wings formed a cocoon next to Breaker, and they opened to reveal a small sprite riding on a flaming broomstick. “I summon Raging Flame Sprite in attack mode!” Its 100 attack points flashed as the sprite let out a small laugh.

“Okay… then I’ll set a card face-down and end my turn!” Yuan looked doubtful about this duel. I could see he wasn’t prepared for it at all. These tactics were way out of his league…

Yuan: 2000, no cards in hand

????: 3800, two cards in hand

“My draw”, the man said in his deep voice. “Now, since I have no magic or trap cards during my standby phase, my Treeborn Frog that I discarded will return from the graveyard!” A small spotted frog with wings appeared onto the field, flashing its 100 defense points. “Now I’ll activate the effect of Breaker, the Magical Warrior—by reducing his attack points to 1600, I can destroy one of the magic or trap cards on the field. So, Pandemonium goes away once more…” The stadium disappeared as I watched the red magician blast it away, eradicating it to nothing in a matter of seconds. “…as does your General.” Eh?

“Since my Archfiend General can only be on the field when Pandemonium is there… he’s destroyed.” The General slowly vanished away along with the stadium, leaving Yuan with nothing but a face-down card.

“That’s right. And now, young man… it’s time for the fun to begin.” I have a bad feeling about that. “I offer Cyber Dragon, Breaker the Magical Warrior, and Treeborn Frog to summon… The Wicked Eraser in attack mode.” The three creatures faded away into nothingness as shadows wrapped around the field. They converged into a long line, then faded away as a skeletal dragon took their place. It had a long serpent’s body, with black flames seeping out of its body. The dragon let out a terrifying screech as it slithered around the field, wrapping its body around all of us two or three times as it did so.

I felt all the warmth in my body seeping out as the dragon’s body came close to mine. I could feel the cold settling into my bones… and I felt the coldness of the darkness more than ever before. The Shadow Realm was trying to devour me whole. I felt it.

“And now, my Eraser’s effect activates—For every card on your side of the field, its attack power increases by 1000 points.” The dragon let out a screech again as its 1000/0000 points flashed. “It may not seem like a lot at the moment… however, you’ll feel every single ounce of strength he has. Eraser, attack his life points directly!” The dragon quickly recoiled its body, letting the tail flow behind it as it charged straight at Yuan.

“Yuan, do something already!” He’s doomed.

“It’s time for my trap! Activate Usurpation of the Throne!” A trap card revealed itself, conjuring up a throne onto the field. It had demons lurking in it, I could tell. It emitted a dark aura… “I can only activate this card when you have a monster whose attack points are higher than any monsters I control while I have a Pandemonium in the graveyard. Since both are there already, and I have no monsters at all… I get to activate it! It allows me to special summon one Terrorking Archfiend from my deck in attack mode.” The throne glowed black for a second as the Terrorking walked onto the field from out of nowhere. He was a skeleton, but held a huge blade and had a jewel-encrusted crown. He sat in the throne as he let out a snarl.

“Very nice. And now my Eraser’s attack power goes up to 2000. However, I won’t ram it into your Terrorking… instead, I’ll use my Raging Flame Sprite’s effect to attack you directly!” The small pixie grinned and screamed out of glee as it floated over Yuan’s fiend and struck him directly, dealing out 100 points of damage.

“And then my Sprite gains 1000 attack points.” The flame it held grew bigger, only making the thing laugh louder. “I end my turn with a face-down card.”

This is bad. Yuan’s in trouble here.

“My move. I draw!” Yuan drew his card. “Now, since I don’t have Pandemonium on the field, my Archfiend’s effect activates, forcing me to pay 800 life points.

Yuan: 1100, one card in hand

????: 3800, no cards in hand

“Terrorking Archfiend, attack the Raging Flame Sprite!” The skeleton let out a huge roar as he charged, lightning quick, batting the sprite out of the sky with a quick slash of his sword. “I end my turn with that.”

“My draw.” The man looked at his card. The bastard was smiling. He wasn’t concerned very much with Yuan—or me, it seemed. “I end my turn.”

“Nothing, huh? My draw.” Yuan cringed as the Terrorking sapped 800 more of his life points.

“I don’t have to do anything when your own monsters are destroying you for me.”

“That’s what you think. First, I set one card face-down.”

“And my Eraser soars to 3000 attack points!” The dragon let out a small growl as it seemed to grow darker and larger.

“Just what I need to happen. I activate Usurpation of the Throne’s effect!” The throne glowed black again, conjuring up another of the Terrorkings.

“And now my Eraser has 4000 attack points!”

“At the moment. Not when I activate my spell card, though…” I have a sudden good feeling about this. Yuan looks confident. He looks sure. He looks like he can win this. “I activate the spell card, Checkmate!” One of his kings disappeared, forming itself into what looked like pure energy. The other Terrorking absorbed the energy into his body. “By sacrificing one of my Archfiend monsters, I can allow Terrorking Archfiend to attack your life points directly!” The Terrorking released the energy, unleashing it as a beam of light that pierced the man’s chest. He let out a cough as he stumbled back, nearly falling over.

“Clever… kid!” He quickly stood upright, recovering as if it were nothing. “Very clever!”

“Just make your move. I end.”

Yuan: 300, no cards in hand

????: 1800, one card in hand.

“Draw.” He drew his card. “This is the end, child. I set one card face-down, and then summon Grinder Golem in attack mode!” Two small gear-looking machines appeared on the man’s field, flashing their 0000/0000 status.

What the heck?

“What’s this about?”

“See… Grinder Golem can only be summoned to my opponent’s side of the field by summoning two tokens on my side of the field.” A huge version of the little machines appeared on Yuan’s field, flashing its 3000/0300 status.

“Why would you give me such a powerful monster?”

“Because my Eraser goes to 4000 attack points now, enough to finish you off. Wicked Eraser, attack Grinder Golem!” The dragon let out a deafening screech as it charged at the huge machine. Yuan simply held a smile on his face. He’s got a plan.

“Activate face-down card, Emergency Provisions!” The throne faded away into a light that floated into Yuan, seeming to heal him. “I can give up all my magic and traps to increase my life points by 1000 for each one.” His life points increased themselves to 1300. “And more importantly, your Eraser is reduced to 2000 attack points. Grinder Golem, counterattack!” The Golem grabbed the Eraser’s head with one of its pincer claws, stopping the attack. Yuan basically has this won. That’s all, folks.

The Golem countered by smashing the dragon into the ground, shattering its body into millions of pieces. The man’s life points reduced themselves to 800.

“Take that.” The man responded simply by letting out a cold laugh.

“Haha! You really thought that’d be it, eh? NOW MY ERASER’S EFFECT ACTIVATES!” The black flames that had been possessing the dragon fanned out over the field, burning everything to ashes. Yuan’s Terrorking, the Golem, the two tiny machines, along with the man’s two face-down cards, were obliterated. “When its destroyed, everything on the field goes away with it!”

“Grr…” Yuan’s move was destroyed by that.

“And it’s still my battle phase. So my trap cards aren’t completely wasted—Statue of the Wicked activates!” Two small black demons appeared on the field. They were shaped like tiny minotaurs, and they flashed their 1000/1000 points. “Since Statue of the Wicked was destroyed, I can summon a Wicked Token in attack mode. And there were two, so… Wicked Tokens, attack his life points directly for game!” Yuan had nothing he could do. He had nothing on the field to protect him. Nothing could have saved him. And I could do nothing but watch what had become my best friend here slowly be devoured by the shadows.

The two demons struck him, knocking him to the ground as his life points were reduced to 0000. The shadows licked down to retrieve him.

“Diego… get away from here.” Yuan looked straight at me as he said it. The man approached his fallen body. “Get away now…” I watched as those green eyes of his were replaced by black, and his essence disappeared.

“Young souls are full of that energy I just love… This should be enjoyable. Young man, take your friends advice.” The man looked at me for only a second. I turned from Yuan’s face and looked into his, meeting those green eyes of his. It was a look that held no emotion in it. He smiled at me as I turned away. What can I do? The shadows disappeared around me, wrapping themselves around the man and Yuan. I couldn’t see them. The moonlight shone once more, but it didn’t shine on me. I was left behind in the shadows, as the Shadow Realm disappeared before me. The two men were not visible anywhere.

“What… am I supposed to do?” I looked around, not quite knowing where I was. I just lost my best friend on this freaking rock. What am I supposed to do?

[Tokyo Duel]

Great job! Keep it up! :D :D :D

[shadowferret]

“Alright, my turn. I draw!” Pedro looked at Justin from across the moonlit battlefield. “I don’t know what those two face-down cards are, but it doesn’t matter either way. I activate Sanctuary’s Release! By paying 1000 Life Points per card, I can destroy all your magic and trap cards when Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field.”

“Crap… my traps…”

“And now, it’s the end. I sacrifice my Mars to summon the Agent of Judgment – Saturn.” A blue angel descended to the field, shining around the area with a light that blinded Justin. “And I activate his effect to end this duel. I can offer him as a sacrifice while my Sanctuary is active to inflict damage to your life points equal to the difference in our life points.” The Angel let out a scream, sending light everywhere. A ball of light shot straight at Justin, piercing his chest. The blast sent him rolling back as his Life Points were reduced to 0000. The light faded away as the shadows reached down to claim their next victim.

“Haha…” Justin was laughing. Pedro simply disregarded him. “How does it feel to know you’re a killer now?!” The boy yelled after him as, just as it did with Professor Honda, the Shadow Realm consumed what was left of Justin—the empty shell.

Pedro didn’t hear his words, though—nor did he notice the Shadows. He simply walked on, with only his mission on his mind. The boy was gone, and Pedro simply moved on, not bothering to look back. This one action defined the course of his whole life—stay focused on your one goal, and never hesitate or take a look back.

It was with this philosophy that Pedro walked forward, in search of the man who’d targeted Professor Honda.

“Ready or not… here I come.”

-----------------------------

Moonlight filtered through the thin clouds of the night upon a man cloaked in the shadows of a huge tree. The man stood, facing ahead at his newest opponent.

“You found me very quickly. Resourceful old fool, aren’t you?” He smiled that wicked smile of his as a slow wind shook the trees overhead. Just outside the outer walls of Duel Academy, a faint, dim light shone on the two from the side.

“I thought it might have been you…” Pegasus stared at the man with a fierceness in his eyes unmatched by anything the man had ever seen. “I knew right from the beginning it was you who stole the Wicked Gods, Antoine.” His silver hair covered half of his face, as always, as he spat the words out. The man—Antoine—simply let out a small laugh.

“So you knew it was me the whole time…” He stepped out of the shadows, engaging his duel disk quickly. His black hair shone in the moonlight, and his green eyes glowed eerily as the shadows instantly devoured the two. His voice suddenly became sadistic and gained a hiss-type quality—far from the deep, seductive voice he had before. “That doesn’t mean you’re anymore capable of stopping me, Pegasus!”

“I created this game. It is mine—and do you honestly believe, even with those Wicked Gods, you can defeat me at my own game?” Pegasus stepped forward, his own silver hair shaking slightly as he did so. The duel disk engaged, and he was ready to duel.

His left eye socket ached—the memory of the Shadow Realm would always be imprinted into his mind. The memories of how he wielded it so freely, and of all the souls he doomed to the Shadow Realm flashed back to him. His left eye, where the Millennium Eye had once presided, was burning him. He could stand the pain, though—the fact that he was in the Shadow Realm once again distracted him more than the pain. He felt oddly comfortable at the same time, though.

“We’ll see, won’t we?” The man’s green eyes stopped shining for a second as he blinked, and Pegasus simply responded:

“As a young man once told me: ‘It’s time to duel!’”

Pegasus: 4000, Five cards in hand

Antoine: 4000, five cards in hand

----------------

[shadowferret]

I’d been wandering through the forest for nearly an hour. The moonlight shone down, but I seemed to be followed only by shadows. There was no room for any light to shine on me.

It’s that man’s doing. He started this. He took my friend.

I’m going to get my revenge on him. I don’t care about the stakes. I don’t care about the risks.

I will avenge Yuan.

With this resolve, I ran ahead, headed straight for Duel Academy. If he was looking for more victims, it’s the best place to look.

Of course, I didn’t even have to go into the Academy itself to find my enemy.

Outside the front gate, he stood across from the creator of Duel Monsters—Pegasus J. Crawford—ready to duel. The same shadows surrounded the two duelists.

I’m never going to get used to those shadows.

----------------------------------------------------------

Pedro stalked the halls, the corridors, for hours, but still to no avail. It was only when he made the decision to head out into the wilderness of the Island that something actually occurred.

He was stopped by Chancellor Sheppard right before he left the main entrance.

“Pedro, wait!” He was panting, obviously tired from running after the tall boy.

“Chancellor, you can’t stop me. You know how close I was to Professor Honda.” Pedro turned to the Chancellor, all emotion gone from his face. He always made himself indifferent at the most emotional times.

“Yes, but it’s foolish of you to go after this man on your own. You can’t possibly bea—“

“I can damn well try,” he yelled out, as an echo followed him through the doors. That’s when he saw the sudden darkness—not the darkness of the night, but another darkness. A malevolent, cold, unforgiving darkness. A beckoning darkness that hungered for nothing but souls.

“The Shadow Realm… he’s here!”

--------------------------------------

James walked through the halls of the Academy, distraught. He thought back to what had happened a few hours ago. Still unable to believe the whole situation, he hadn’t realized that he took a wrong turn, and ended up turning into the garden room—the room in which he first saw the Shadow Realm at work. His memories of watching the Professor duel the man were vivid.

That dark man. Even the aura he gave off was dark. He summoned the darkness to raise the stakes in these battles.

It made him realize that, slowly, a darkness was rising in his own heart. Thus, James had his first taste of a darkened heart—and now, it only yearned for one thing.

He must find that man.

“But what do I do when I find him?” He thought to himself slowly. The shadows growing in his heart urged him forward, and he obeyed. He simply stepped forward until he was out of the garden, and in front of the academy.

It was as if the darkness was leading him somewhere specific, and he soon found out where—that dark bubble was in front of him once again, surrounding the man and another man he instantly recognized as Pegasus.

The darkness rested within him for the moment, no longer urging him to do anything.

“So, now what do I do?”

----------------------

“…ey…ohn…wake up, John!” The boy slowly sat up as his roommates—Josef Palor and Thomas Pryce—talked at him. “Dude, there’s some crazy stuff going on outside. Let’s go check it out.”

John quickly sat up, suddenly energized by the news that anything was going on.

“About time something happened. It’s been almost a whole day since something exciting’s gone on!”

Outside, in the hall, the three boys—John with his black hair, darkish skin and brown eyes, Josef with his blonde hair, pale skin and blue eyes, and Thomas with his red hair and ice-blue eyes—walked out towards the entrance.

“So…exactly what’s going down?” John looked at his friends with a questioning look on his face. Josef spoke back in a light Russian accent.

“Outside is a man who’s surrounded by dark shadows. The creator of Duel Monsters is dueling him right now.” Thomas spoke up beside the two, with a voice that seemed to be capable of no harm.

“It’s not often that the creator himself shows up, you know.”

That’s true, but the shadow guy is what intrigues me more, John thought to himself. Sounds like that guy from before.

--------------------------------------

The Obelisk Blue dorms were silent. The two seniors silently walked outside in search of their friend. However, the two weren’t aware that the other was outside, and therefore they startled each other when they nearly bumped into the other boy as they turned the corner into the garden.

“Ricardo, what’re you doing out here?” The short, black-haired boy looked around at the moonlit room.

“I could ask you the same, Fredo.” The boy with spiky reddish hair looked straight out of the garden, into the main gate of the Academy, trying to figure out what was there.

“I’m looking for Pedro.” Alfredo noticed that Ricardo was staring at something in the distance and turned. “What’s that?”

“I don’t know exactly, but I’m going to check it out.”

---------------------------------

[shadowferret]

“I’ll make the first move, Pegasus.”

“As always, impatient, Antoine.”

“Shut up and just draw your hand.” Antoine surveyed what was in his hand, and then started his move. “I set one monster in defense mode, as well as a face-down card, and end my turn.”

Pegasus looked at the field, then at his hand.

Knowing Antoine’s style will be my biggest advantage here, he thought to himself.

“Alright, then, it’s time to begin!” Pegasus drew his sixth card. “I start by activating the spell, Toon World, by paying 1000 Life Points!” A green book decorated with colorful cartoon characters popped onto the field, and as the pages opened, a small town popped out. “And then I summon Dandylion in attack mode!” A small lion appeared onto the field. For hands, though, it had leaves like a flower’s, and a flower’s petal ring in place of a mane. “However, this cute little guy won’t be here long, because I can sacrifice him to Special Summon Toon Dark Magician Girl in Attack Mode!” The Dandylion disappeared into a flash of light, allowing the Dark Magician Girl to appear. Before anyone could see her, though, Toon World swallowed her up, turning her into what looked like a little girl. She smiled and giggled as Pegasus yelled out, “Toon Dark Magician Girl, attack his life points directly!” She propelled herself forward as a pink beam of energy streaked behind her, and her staff struck Antoine right in the face.

“Those damn Toons of yours, always breaking the rules of the game.” Antoine stumbled backwards a bit, but regained his footing quickly as his Life Points were reduced to 2000.

“It’s also breaking the rules to use cards that aren’t yours.”

“Just finish your move, old man.” Antoine was frowning for once. He’d just lost half of his life points—I could see from where I stood that he was worried about that.

I turned my attention away from the duel long enough to look around. As I did, I noticed that quite an audience had turned up. Two of the Senior Obelisk Blues that were chasing us earlier through the Academy were watching. That freshman Slifer Red I saw in the garden during Professor Honda’s and Antoine’s duel was watching this one, as well. The Senior Ra Yellow with black hair—the one who wasn’t part of Mr. Orozco’s little group—was watching with two other boys I didn’t recognize. And then there was the third member of Orozco’s group—he was famous, I knew he was Pedro Contreras right away.

Interesting. Looks like I’m not the only one with a reason to be here. Hell, even the Chancellor was here to watch.

“Next, since my Dandylion was sent to the graveyard, I get two Fluffy Tokens!” Two small pieces of fluff appeared on the field, flashing their 0000/0000 status. “But now I’ll sacrifice them to summon another favorite of mine—Blue Eyes Toon Dragon!” A huge white dragon appeared, but was quickly swallowed by Toon World. The thing that emerged was a pure white dragon, albeit a tiny one. It wad the most wicked grin on its face as its blue eyes flashed innocently.

“Then I activate Fires of Doomsday! It allows me to summon two Doomsday Tokens to my field!” Two small black apparitions that looked like fog appeared, flashing their 0000/0000 stats.

“Good enough. I set two cards face down and end my turn!”

Pegasus: 3000, no cards in hand

Antoine: 2000, four cards in hand

“I draw.” He laughed as he looked at the field. “Pegasus, you know how it’s always been. You always struggled to beat me before. How do you think you’ll be able to beat me now that I have the Wicked Gods?!”

“Easily.” Pegasus simply grinned. In his eye, I could see an odd malevolence. I knew his intentions must’ve been good, but if the rumors of him and the Shadow Realm were true… maybe he was enjoying this a bit too much.