Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death
Chapter 1: "Return"
Opening Theme: "Raining" by Art Of Dying
Ending Theme: "Behind Blue Eyes" by Limp Bizkit
The city of County Dame found itself bustling with life as the sun rose above it and its citizens. Shadows casted from the various buildings in the city fell upon one another, creating plenty of shade to help the people of the grand-scale city beat the early May weather.
This was a fact that brightened the hearts of the students of Dexterity High School, as it signaled the approach of their being freed from school in the upcoming June. The very thought brought smiles to the faces of many students that morning as they stepped off of their buses onto the concrete sidewalk that aligned Dexterity High School, which stood four stories high near the center of the city, surrounded by potted plants and tiled walkways around its exterior.
But not all of the school's students weren't immediately marching into the school yet. To the left of the main entrance near the corner of the building stood three teens, who knew they had some time before their first classes started.
"I just don't understand how Mr. Carnell expected us to memorize every President's name in one night!" the one boy standing among the three complained, speaking of their English teacher as he slid his skateboard back and forth across the tiled ground under his feet.
The Senior-year student's long, black hair was slicked back and tied up in a ponytail, unable to cover up his dark eyes that had no discernible color. His chin was scattered with stubbly black hairs that were the survivors of his shaving earlier that morning. His attire consisted of a red hoodie with cut-off sleeves over a black t-shirt, ripped jeans, and red and white converse sneakers. He stood at 5'10", and was eighteen years old.
The girl beside him now shook her head at her friend's complaint. "Oh come on, Danny. What's wrong with giving up one night to memorize a few names?" she said with an inquisitive glance, bemused by her friend's lack of enthusiasm for academic achievement.
Her short, brown hair only brought out the color of her emerald eyes behind her black-rimmed glasses. Her choice of clothing was a gray, casual dress, along with bracelets on both her wrists, and black shoes. She was younger than them all—only seventeen years old in her Junior year, and stood at 5'7".
"Marina, I get and respect that you're a good student and all," the teen named Danny said as he glanced up at the clear sky above him, "But if teachers really wanted us to succeed, they wouldn't have us working our asses off with stupid homework assignments like this!"
"Perhaps if you actually put some effort into your school work rather than complaining about it, you'd actually have some decent grades!" the girl named Marina retorted.
As the two of them argued back and forth as they usually did on this subject, the third girl between them seemed to shrink away from the conversation. Her long, purple hair reached a fair length down her back, and her bangs were long enough in the front to hide her misty, silver eyes. Under her black and blue hoodie, she wore a black t-shirt that barely passed over the waistline of her gray pants, which reached down to her black and white-checkered, slip-on shoes. Like Danny, she too was an eighteen-year-old Senior, and stood at 5'8".
There was no sign of life in the girl's eyes as her two friends bickered in front of her. The frown on her face expressed a sadness that she was trying to hide beneath her bangs. However, Danny and Marina soon took notice of their friend's quietude, and they knew all too well from her body language that something was bothering her. They quelled their bickering to turn to her, Marina being the first to ask: "What's wrong, Violet?"
The teen named Violet now looked up to her two friends. "Are you serious...?" she asked them incredulously, sounding as though she was fighting back tears, "You don't remember what today is...?"
Marina's face lit up with realization as her face then became sullen as well. Only Danny remained the oblivious one as he blinked, asking, "Uh... am I the only one out of the loop here?"
A silent tear begin to fall from Violet's face, and she quickly jerked her head away from his sight so her hair covered her face again. Marina now shot him a look, to which he responded with a confused shrug.
Marina now grabbed him by his sleeveless jacket and pulled him out of earshot from Violet as another busload of students pulled up in front of the school. The sound of the chattering students stepping off the bus made it so that Danny could barely hear Marina, but at least Violet wouldn't overhear her reminding him: "It's been two years since Mike disappeared, remember?"
Not even a millisecond passed before Danny's eyes widened in shock at how he had completely forgotten. Mike Harper had been his best friend since his first day of middle school. He'd also came to know Violet and Marina soon afterwards, and they came to spend the next five years afterwards fending off a bully by the name of Josiah Sullivan. He and Mike often had to challenge Josiah to games of the world-renowned game, Duel Monsters, to get them to leave them alone. But amongst the both of them, Mike had always been the only one with enough dueling skill to put Josiah in his place.
But one day, towards the end of their sophomore year, Mike had suddenly disappeared from County Dame without a trace. Since then, there had never been any word from him or about his whereabouts from anywhere, and no one had even the foggiest idea of what might've happened to him. Even the old nun who owned the orphanage where he'd been living before his disappearance had no idea where he could've gone, but she could've cared less, too. By the time an entire year had passed since his disappearance, most everybody else in County Dame had given up hope for finding him.
Now, as the students from the last bus entered into the school building, Danny and Marina could hear Violet's soft, quiet crying from around the corner where they'd been quarreling earlier; each choking sob tugged at their heartstrings as they remembered all the suffering they'd gone through from their friend's absence.
"Man..." Danny finally said in a low tone as he leaned against the school's marble exterior, "Hard to believe that it's already been two years."
"Yeah," Marina muttered back quietly, "But I can't imagine how Violet must be feeling..."
Danny gave a short shake of his head before glancing to where his crying friend was. Mike and Violet had both known each other long before they'd met Danny and Marina in middle school—back to when they were infants. Mike's parents, before their untimely death, had been close friends with Violet's widowed father before they were even born. And though the two of them seemed to never realize it themselves, Danny and Marina could see that they had always carried strong affection for each other.
So when Marina said she couldn't imagine what Violet was feeling, she was absolutely right: neither her nor Danny felt the same depression that Violet had been thrown into since Mike's disappearance, feeling as if a part of herself had gone with him. Marina could remember a number of times that Violet had tried to move on and stop thinking about him, but it always ended the same way: her heart belonged to Mike, and Mike alone.
"Now what do we have here?"
Danny and Marina turned to watch as a group of four bulky teenagers exited the school, walking towards them. At the front of the pack was Josiah Sullivan, followed by his lackeys from the football team. He wore a black Dexterity High School jacket over a white muscle shirt, and light jeans over his black sneakers. On the left side of his unzipped coat, the school mascot was emblazoned on a woven patch: a knight dressed in full, silver armor. He stood at 5'11", and bore a light-blue and white duel disk on his left arm.
His face bore his usual stupid grin that was his trademark appearance. His sandy hair was cut military-style, and his icy-blue eyes were full of glee. His groupies behind him were dressed like him, only they were all wearing backwards-facing hats.
Now Danny just rolled his eyes at them. "Get lost, Josiah," he said with a scowl, "Don't you have some freshman to give a swirly to or something?"
Josiah only laughed at this, and then disregarded Danny's words as he mockingly said, "Aw, it looks like someone's having a bad day! Why, oh why, could that be?"
He and his three followers then pretended that they were thinking about something by cupping their chins with their hand, using their other hand to support the first's elbow. They stood like this for a moment before Josiah eventually clapped his hands in fake realization: "Oh, yeah! Today's the second anniversary of the day your friend went missing, right?"
Danny only glared at Josiah coldly, his teeth clenched as Marina seemed to shrink behind him. Both of them could hear Violet from around the corner trying to hold back her tears, but it sounded like they were forcing their way out of her.
"I mean it, Josiah. Screw off," Danny shot at him as he stood up straight, meeting the bully at his full height.
"Oh..." Josiah retorted snidely, "Was that a threat? Did you just threaten me?"
Danny's fists balled as Josiah then began to advance. ""I see you didn't bring your duel disk in today," he said as he cracked his knuckles, "So I guess I'll have to teach you to respect your superiors the hard way."
Danny's teeth gritted as he felt the regret of forgetting his duel disk set into his mind. Usually, he would've allowed Josiah to humiliate him in a duel if it meant that he would leave them all alone afterwards. But physically, Danny was just a scrawny stick in comparison to Josiah's bulked-up build, which always spelled an afternoon of putting ice on bruises for him on days where he was unable to duel; and it looked like that was how his day was about to go as well...
"STOP!"
Danny and Marina's expressions turned to shock when Violet suddenly emerged from around the corner, throwing herself between the bully and her friends as she spread her arms defensively to stop him from moving any further.
"Violet..." Danny uttered with surprise, "What are you doing?!"
While Josiah's eyes had gone wide with surprise as well, his face quickly returned to its condescending smirk. "Well, I'll be damned..." he said, "I'm actually surprised to see you here. I thought you would've taken the day off to cry about how your 'hero' was gone, like you did last year."
Violet's tear-stained eyes now widened as Josiah continued to step towards her, reaching a hand out as if to grab her as he said, "I'm gonna enjoy this a lot more than I should..."
Violet could only shut her eyes with terrified panic, powerless to stop Josiah from whatever he was about to do...
"Keep your hands off her."
Josiah's hand stopped abruptly at the sound of the stern, unfamiliar voice coming from his right. He, and everyone else now looked down the smooth walkway that led from the school towards the city sidewalk, where the voice had come from. The person walking towards them was one unlike any of them had ever seen before: he was a young man who stood at 5'10", wearing a black duster over a black shirt. His lower half was dressed in black pants held up with a brown belt, with a leather holster around his waist, and black boots adorning his feet. The young man's dirty-blonde hair just reached the bottom of his neck, and his long bangs hid his eyes from view as he walked towards them.
"And who the hell are you supposed to be?" Josiah spat disrespectfully, unintimidated by the stranger's dark guise.
But Violet, Danny, and Marina were not as oblivious about who this person was as Josiah. But his clothes, the longer hair, and the chillingly calm demeanor made them doubt whether or not this was truly the individual they thought it was...
The stranger finally stopped about ten feet away from them as they stared at him with confusion. Amongst them, Violet could feel her heart throbbing wildly within her chest, and her eyes were unable to unglue themselves from the man in black.
"Josiah Sullivan," he now said as he shifted his head slightly, parting his bangs to reveal his ocean-blue orbs, "You haven't changed a bit."
Danny, Marina, and Violet's eyes went wide with ultimate shock as they met the stranger's eyes, confirming that he was, indeed, who they thought he was. Even Josiah finally came to realize who was standing before him as his face turned whiter than it ever had in his life.
"M-m-m-Mike...!" he was only able to stammer as he took a step backwards, "Y-y-you're alive...?!"
"Well, I'm certainly not dead," was Mike's response, no feeling or tone detectable in his voice, "So sorry if that disappoints you."
"Tch..." Josiah growled, "Well where the hell have you been all this time?!"
"I don't see why I owe you an explanation," Mike said in the same monotonous tone.
Danny was speechless as Marina quivered with excitement now. Violet meanwhile, couldn't process what she was witnessing. Mike was here—alive—standing before her eyes; a sight she thought she would never see again in her lifetime.
Finally, Mike turned to meet the eyes of his friends for a moment as he assured them: "We'll all get to talk later; I promise."
All they could manage to do was give him a nod of understanding, before Mike brought his attention back to his old rival. "So your twenty-first birthday was last month, right Josiah?" he asked, "Which means you got held back in which grade so many times?"
Josiah's face turned red for a moment as he heard his football lackeys behind him holding back snickers at that embarrassing fact, before regaining his composure. "So what, you think you're all high and mighty now after having disappeared for two years?" he shot at him, "The returning hero of Dexterity High school, decked out in your new emo getup?"
"I don't 'think' anything," Mike replied coolly, "But last I checked, you never were able to beat me in a duel anyway."
Josiah's frown turned into a scowl now as he glared at Mike. "Then whattaya say we change that right now?" he said as he raised his duel disk arm up, "I'll show you just how much stronger I've become!"
Mike did not reply, but instead only reached to the inside of his duster, pulling from his holster what looked like a revolver, which made everyone take a step backwards at the sight of the apparent firearm.
But what Mike did with this revolver was something none of them were expecting: he held the barrel of the gun to his wrist, where a metal strap protruded and wrapped its way around and attached itself to his arm. The muzzle then expanded and slid backwards, revealing that it was holding a deck of Duel Monsters cards inside. At the same time, a small piece of metal emerged from the top of the barrel, which then split itself and expanded to make five monster, spell, and trap card zones.
"A duel with you could be interesting..." Mike mused as he drew five cards from his deck, "So I'll amuse you."
Upon realizing what the revolver-shaped contraption was, Josiah's expression returned to its cocky grin before he stepped onto the tiled walkway to face Mike. He drew five cards of his own, before both duelists cried out, "LET'S DUEL!"
[Mike - Life Points (LP): 8000]
[Josiah - LP: 8000]
"Since you only just got back," Josiah spoke with false civility, "I think I'll let you take the first move!"
"Your funeral," Mike returned as he drew his first card, "I'll start by summoning my Constellar Algiedi in attack (ATK) mode!"
[Constellar Algiedi - Level (LV): 4/ATK: 1600]
"Constellar Algiedi...?" Danny repeated with confusion, "I've never seen that card before..."
"Me neither..." Marina admitted, "I guess he's changed up his game."
"Yeah..." Violet agreed, "But I wonder if that's not all that's changed about him..."
Danny and Marina both turned to their friend with surprise. They had always figured that if Mike ever did come back, Violet would have been over-the-top ecstatic to see him again. But the expression on her face right now was more alarmed than anything else, as if his sudden return and partaking in this duel seemed more like a problem to her...
Meanwhile, Mike continued: "Now Algiedi's effect activates! When it's summoned, I can then special summon another LV 4 Constellar monster directly from my hand! So I summon Constellar Pollux!"
[Constellar Pollux - LV: 4/ATK: 1700]
"Next I'll activate a continuous spell card: Constellar Star Chart!" Mike said, "Which is gonna come in handy for me later.
"But for now, I'll overlay my LV 4 Constellar Algiedi and LV 4 Constellar Pollux!" he cried as his two monsters were absorbed into a spatial portal, "With these two monsters, I build the overlay network, and Xyz summon Constellar Praesepe!"
[Constellar Praesepe - Rank (RK): 4/ATK: 2400]
Josiah looked taken aback by the sight of this new monster, while everyone else's jaws had dropped as they marveled at the sight of this new being of Mike's.
Eventually, Josiah managed to recover his game face before he shot at Mike: "So you got yourself some new cards! Is that supposed to scare me or something?"
"Maybe not yet," Mike replied, "But for now, my Constellar Star Chart's effect now activates, allowing me to draw one card whenever I Xyz summon a Constellar monster!"
Josiah watched as he drew another card to add to his hand, before saying, "Now I'll set two cards face down, and end my turn."
"Then it's my turn!" Josiah said smugly, "I draw!"
He scanned his hand for a moment before his lips curled into a sinister smile. "Like you, I'm also gonna start with a spell card that's gonna help me out later: my Six Samurai United!"
"Aw, come on..." Danny uttered, "He had to draw that this early in the duel?!"
"Now whenever a Six Samurai monster is summoned to my field, this card gains a Bushido counter!" Josiah explained as he took another card from his hand. "And speaking of summoning, activate the effect of my Elder of the Six Samurai in my hand! While you control monsters and I don't, I can special summon him to my field in defense (DEF) mode!"
[Elder of the Six Samurai - LV: 3/DEF: 0]
[Six Samurai United - Bushido Counters: 1]
"And then I'll summon my Kagemusha of the Six Samurai tuner monster!" Josiah continued.
[Kagemusha of the Six Samurai - LV: 2/ATK: 400]
[Six Samurai United - Bushido Counters: 2]
"And with these two monsters on the field, I can tune my LV 2 Kagemusha to my LV 3 Elder!" he exclaimed as he sent the two cards to his graveyard, "Now I Synchro summon my Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En!"
[Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En - LV: 5/ATK: 2500]
"Next, I'll use my Six Samurai United's effect!" Josiah went on, "With two Bushido counters on it, I can send it to the graveyard to draw two more cards!"
He drew his two cards, and smirked at one of the ones he'd drawn. "Now, since I control at least one other Six Samurai on my field, I can special summon my Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan!"
[Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan - LV: 4/ATK: 1800]
"And now I'll launch my onslaught on your Constellar Praesepe with my Shi En!" Josiah cried as his monster made a lightning-swift dash towards Mike's monster.
But Mike had other plans for his monster: "I activate Constellar Praesepe's effect! By detaching one overlay unit, I can increase the ATK power of a Constellar monster that's battling by 1000 points!"
[Constellar Praesepe - ATK: 3400]
Everyone watched as Josiah's Legendary Six Samurai Synchro got forced back with a punch from Praesepe. Josiah, however, remained calm as he retorted, "With my Shi En's effect, my Kizan can be destroyed in its place!"
Kizan rushed forward to defend Shi En as Praesepe thrust its fist again, intercepting the blow before shattering as it let out a pained groan.
[Josiah - LP: 7100]
Josiah growled with frustration before saying, "I'll set two cards face down, and end my turn."
[Constellar Praesepe - ATK: 2400]
"Back to me, then," Mike said as he drew his next card, "And once again, I'll have Constellar Praesepe use its effect: by detaching its last overlay unit, it gains 1000 ATK!"
[Constellar Praesepe - ATK: 3400]
"Now attack his Shi En!" Mike declared, prompting his monster to charge towards Josiah's Shi En.
But as it did so, Josiah retaliated: "I activate my Mirror Force trap card! So say goodbye to your Constellar Praesepe!"
The golden warrior hit an invisible barrier between itself and Josiah's Shi En, before being promptly shattered by the power of the trap card.
On the sidelines, Danny's, Marina's, and Violet's eyes all widened. "What was Mike thinking...?" Marina tried to figure, "He walked right into Josiah's trap..."
"I wouldn't be so sure..." Danny spoke up, gaining both Marina's and Violet's attention, "Mike's duelist instinct has always been top-notch. I have a feeling there's more to his strategy than this."
But Josiah clearly didn't see it this way, as he couldn't help but laugh at how Mike had sprung his trap. "Man, you're not nearly as good as you used to be!" he shot at Mike, "You've gotten careless over the last few years!"
"Is that what you think?"
Josiah's eyes narrowed at Mike's response as he explained, "I didn't trigger your trap because I was careless. I attacked because even if you did have something to counteract, it wouldn't make you any more of a threat to me.
"But talk is cheap," Mike continued as he flipped his own set card, "So now I'll activate my Xyz Reborn trap! This card revives any Xyz monster in my graveyard, and then attaches itself to that monster as an overlay unit!"
"I don't think so!" Josiah countered as he pointed to his monster, "Or did you forget about my Shi En's effect? He can negate and destroy any spell or trap card you activate once per turn!"
Shi En made its way over to Mike's side of the field, ready to slash at the trap card that Mike had flipped. But little did it realize that it was actually the one about to be trapped:
"I reveal my second trap card: Dimensional Barrier!" Mike retorted as his second trap flipped, "This card negates the effects of any type of monster that I choose for the turn! So I choose for Synchro monsters to lose all their power!"
A shimmering barrier materialized around Josiah's Samurai, which prevented it from swinging its sword down on Mike's other trap card no matter how many times it tried.
Josiah could feel his temple throbbing as Mike then continued: "Now my Xyz Reborn is safe, and can revive my Constellar Praesepe!"
[Constellar Praesepe - ATK: 2400]
"Now let's try this again!" Mike decided as he cried, "I detach the overlay unit given by my Xyz Reborn to raise Praesepe's ATK by 1000 once more!"
[Constellar Praesepe - ATK: 3400]
"Now attack!" Mike cried out as Praesepe cross over to Josiah's field, where it punched its way through Josiah's Shi En, destroying him as it brought down Josiah's LP once again.
[Josiah - LP: 6200]
"And now that that's done, I'll end my turn with two more cards face down," Mike concluded, "Your move, Josiah."
[Constellar Praesepe - ATK: 2400]
Josiah drew silently, aggravated by the fact that Mike had managed to counter every move he'd made so far. But when he saw what he'd drawn, he realized that he was ready to turn the tables back in his favor.
"I'll start by activating my trap card, Double-Edged Sword Technique!" he started as his other set card now flipped, "With it, I can revive two Six Samurai monsters that are sleeping in my graveyard! So now both my Shi En and Kagemusha come back!"
[Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En - LV: 5/ATK: 2500]
[Kagemusha of the Six Samurai - LV: 2/ATK: 400]
"And now, since I control at least one Six Samurai monster," Josiah continued, "I can special summon Grandmaster of the Six Samurai directly from my hand!"
[Grandmaster of the Six Samurai - LV: 5/ATK: 2100]
"Next, I'll tune my LV 2 Kagemusha to my LV 5 Grandmaster!" Josiah cried, "And by doing so, I Synchro summon my Driven Daredevil!"
[Driven Daredevil - LV: 7/ATK: 2400]
Danny, Marina, and Violet winced at the sight of this monster. Josiah only called out his Driven Daredevil when he was looking at a difficult situation, as its effect made it difficult for any opponent to destroy without paying a hefty price.
Now, Josiah eyed Mike's set card before deciding to take a chance: "Now, I'll have my Shi En strike down your Constellar Praesepe!"
As Shi En took up his sword and dashed towards Praesepe, Mike flipped another trap card: "I activate Impenetrable Attack!" he said, "This card will keep my Praesepe from being destroyed in battle!"
"Idiot!" Josiah shot back, "Don't you remember that my Shi En can negate one of your spell and trap cards once per turn?!"
Sparks dashed across Mike's trap card before it faded away, allowing Shi En to continue as it slashed through Praesepe like a knife would through butter.
[Mike - LP: 7900]
"Actually, I did remember..." Mike retorted as he indicated his other trap card, "That's why I played it, so you couldn't counter this: my Constellar Meteor!
"This trap sends any monster that battled a Constellar monster and survived back to the deck!" Mike explained, "But since your Shi En is a Synchro monster, it'll have to return to your extra deck instead!"
Shi En disappeared from Josiah's field, while the latter balled his free hand into a fist. "I'll make you pay for that..." he uttered angrily, "Driven Daredevil, attack Mike directly!"
The war-torn warrior took up his swords and launched himself at Mike, driving both of his long blades swiftly through Mike's chest before returning to Josiah's field.
[Mike – LP: 5500]
Gasps came from Danny, Marina, and Violet as Josiah sneered at Mike. "Looks like you're not so smart after all!" he called out to him, "Since there was nothing you could do to stop my Driven Daredevil!"
But for all his bravado, Josiah's taunts elicited no reactions from Mike. He just stood there, motionless as he stared into Josiah's eyes—as though he were silently vowing that he would take his vengeance against him for destroying his monster.
"It's like he had ice in his blood..." Marina murmured, "Kind of creepy..."
"Yeah..." Danny agreed, "I've never seen him this calm during a duel before..."
Josiah, meanwhile, had also taken notice of Mike's lack of reaction: "What, what's that look for?" he shot at him, "Can't stand that I managed to finally strike your LP?"
"Are you done?" Mike shot back coldly, "I'm sick of listening to you run your mouth."
Josiah's eyes lit up with fury as Mike continued: "I came here to duel, not to listen to you monologue. So either shut up and make a move, or end your turn."
Everyone's eyes widened with shock at these words from Mike. Amongst them, Violet was especially shaken as she felt her heart beginning to break. She had known Mike for all his life up until two years prior, and she'd neverheard Mike speak to anyone the way he'd just addressed Josiah.
But since the moment he'd first appeared before them again, she could tell that there was something deeper inside of him that had changed: not just in his dueling, appearance, or attitude, but in his soul. And that very idea scared her—the idea that the boy she'd loved for so many years was gone; replaced by this darker, colder version of him of him with no remorse...
Josiah, meanwhile, finally managed to regain his composure before he finished: "I'll just set one card face down. And that ends my turn."
"About time," Mike said as he drew once more, "I'll start by summoning my Constellar Sombre!"
[Constellar Sombre - LV: 4/ATK: 1550]
"And with his effect," Mike explained as he took the card from his graveyard," I can banish the Constellar Algiedi in my graveyard to return my Constellar Pollux back to my hand!
"And then, by doing so, my Sombre's second effect is unlocked!" Mike continued, "Which means I can normal summon one more Constellar monster this turn! So now I'll once again call forth my Constellar Pollux!"
[Constellar Pollux - LV: 4/ATK: 1700]
"Now I'll overlay these two monsters, and build the overlay network!" Mike cried as a spatial portal opened once again, absorbing his two monsters, "And by doing so, I Xyz summon my Starliege Paladynamo!"
[Starliege Paladynamo - RK: 4/ATK: 2000]
Danny, Marina, Violet, and even Josiah's jaws all dropped at the sight of this monster's appearance. This was the only card out of Mike's former deck that they had seen him use so far. It had always been his ace monster back in the day, and apparently that hadn't changed.
Violet especially looked like she was ready to shed tears of happiness. This was the first time since Mike had gotten back that she was finally seeing him as the same Mike that she'd grown up with, which made her wonder if he'd actually changed as much as she originally thought...
"Next I'll use my Starliege Paladynamo's effect," Mike continued as Josiah began to panic internally, "By detaching both of his overlay units, not only can I wipe out your Driven Daredevil's ATK, but I can nullify all its effects that keep it from being destroyed in battle as well!"
[Driven Daredevil - ATK: 0]
"Now attack and destroy his Daredevil, Paladynamo!" Mike declared as he pointed to Josiah's monster.
Without a moment's hesitation, Starliege Paladynamo took up its space-like blade and slashed through Driven Daredevil with one swipe. The shockwaves from the attack forced Josiah to flinch as his LP declined once again.
[Josiah - LP: 4200]
Now Josiah was beyond infuriated. He couldn't even begin to remember how many times he'd watched Mike's Starliege Paladynamo strike down his best monsters. But he wasn't about to let this duel end like that again...
"Now I'll set one more card face down," Mike wrapped up, "And that ends my turn."
"My turn, then!" Josiah cried out as he drew, brimming with anger.
"I'll start by activated my Reckless Greed trap card!" he began, "So by skipping my next two draw phases, I can draw two new cards right now!"
He drew his two cards, and upon seeing what he'd been dealt, his face lit up with a sadistic grin.
"I'll now summon out my Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki!" he continued.
[Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki - LV: 3/ATK: 200]
"And since I just normal summoned him, I can use his effect!" Josiah explained, "Which lets me special summon another LV 4 or lower Six Samurai from my hand! So meet my Six Samurai - Zanji!"
[The Six Samurai - Zanji - LV: 4/ATK: 1800]
"Next, I'll play the spell card known as Cunning of the Six Samurai!" Josiah went on, "And with it, I can release my Kageki to bring back my Kizan in its place!"
[Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan - LV: 4/ATK: 1800]
"And now I'll force your hand!" Josiah exclaimed, "I overlay my Zanji and my Kizan to build the overlay network!"
Everyone watched as another spatial portal opened, this time on Josiah's side of the field that absorbed both of his monsters before he cried out, "I Xyz summon my Blade Armor Ninja!"
[Blade Armor Ninja - RK: 4/ATK: 2200]
"Damn it..." Danny murmured as he eyed the new Xyz warrior with loathing, "I don't like where this is going..."
"If you didn't like that, then you're gonna really hate this!" Josiah retorted to Danny's comment, "Now I'm equipping my Lightning Blade equip spell to my Ninja, which'll raise his ATK power by 800 points!"
[Blade Armor Ninja - ATK: 3000]
"And then, I'll use my Ninja's effect!" Josiah cried out, "By detaching an overlay unit, my Ninja's able to attack twice during this battle phase!"
Violet, Danny, and Marina watched with horror as Josiah then declared, "Now, Blade Armor Ninja! Strike his Paladynamo down!"
The Ninja seemed to vanish, before suddenly reappearing before Paladynamo in the blink of an eye. He drew his twin swords, which crackled with electricity as he struck them through Starliege Paladynamo, shattering him.
[Mike - LP: 4500]
"Tch..." Mike grunted, "Not bad, but since you destroyed him, I'm now allowed to draw an extra card!"
Mike drew as Josiah then said, "Draw all the cards you want, but my Blade Armor Ninja's effect lets him attack again—only this time he'll be striking your LP directly!"
The Ninja vanished once more, reappearing this time before Mike. He pulled his two electric swords out and slashed at him in an X-shape with the blades, causing Mike to stumble backwards as his LP declined again.
[Mike - LP: 1500]
"Mike!" Violet finally cried out to him.
Mike only glanced towards her as he regained his footing, and gave her a stern nod to let her know that he was okay. She reciprocated with a short nod of her own, before Mike stood himself back up at full height again.
"Heh... about time you pulled out your ace monster as well..." he said as Blade Armor Ninja leapt back to Josiah's field, "But while that was a pretty good move, if that's all you're able to do, then I'm afraid you just ran out of luck."
Josiah raised a confused eyebrow as Mike then flipped his set card: "I reveal my Damage Condenser trap! By discarding one card when I take battle damage, I can special summon any monster from my deck with ATK points equal to or less than the damage I took.
"So come on out!" Mike said as he took the card from his deck, "Constellar Antares!"
[Constellar Antares - LV: 6/ATK: 2400]
"And now that he's been special summoned, his effect activates!" Mike explained, "Meaning I can add any Constellar monster in my graveyard back to my hand!
"And the monster that I'm adding back..." Mike said as he reached for the card in his graveyard, "Is my Constellar Kaus!"
Josiah's eyebrows rose at this declaration. "Constellar Kaus?" he questioned, "But you haven't summoned any monster like that!"
"You're right, I haven't," Mike confirmed as a smirk formed on his face, "But I did have to discard a card from my hand to activate my Damage Condenser, remember?"
Everyone's eyes widened with realization as it hit them: Mike had been counting on Josiah pulling off a second attack so that he could activate his Damage Condenser, using the card he'd drawn from his Paladynamo's destruction for its cost. No doubt that Mike had come up with a number of contingency plans depending on what he ended up drawing, but the way it played out had managed to put him a few cards ahead of Josiah, returning the duel to his advantage.
Now, as Mike took the card back from his graveyard, Blade Armor Ninja returned to Josiah's field again as the latter angrily fumed. "Guess I'm done..." he uttered acidly, his tone making it clear that he couldn't believe how Mike had managed to pull so far ahead of him again.
"Then it's my turn!" Mike said as he drew his next card, "I'll start by bringing my Constellar Kaus to the field!"
[Constellar Kaus - LV: 4/ATK: 1800]
"And with his effect," Mike explained, "I can either increase or decrease the LVs of all Constellar monsters by 1 twice per turn! So I'll bring his LV up, while I bring my Antares's LV down!"
[Constellar Kaus - LV: 5]
[Constellar Antares - LV: 5]
"And now that they're set, I'll build the overlay network one more time!" Mike cried as the spatial portal opened once more, "With them, I Xyz summon Constellar Pleiades!"
[Constellar Pleiades - RK: 5/ATK: 2500]
"And now that he's summoned, my Constellar Star Chart's effect lets me draw one more card!" Mike continued.
He now drew his last card of the duel as Violet, Danny, Marina, Josiah, and all of Josiah's lackeys held their breaths, waiting to see what Mike's final card would be.
But the moment Mike looked to see what he'd drawn, he knew his victory was assured.
"Now I'll activate my Pleiades's effect!" Mike said, "By detaching one overlay unit, he can force your Blade Armor Ninja to return back to your extra deck!"
"He can what?!" Josiah cried out as his sword-wielding Ninja vanished from his field.
"And finally, I'll equip my Megamorph equip spell to my Pleiades!" Mike went on, "So since my LP are lower than yours, his ATK strength is doubled!"
[Constellar Pleiades - ATK: 5000]
Josiah's face paled now as Mike made his final declaration: "Now Constellar Pleiades, end this duel with a direct attack!"
Constellar Pleiades took up his large sword and charged at Josiah, who cried out as Mike's creature slashed through him, eliminating the last of his LP.
[Josiah - LP: 0]
[Winner: Mike]
The moment slowly sank into the spectators of the duel as the two duelists' duel disks deactivated, while Josiah sank to his knees in defeat as the football jocks behind him all ran up to circle around him.
"Yo, Josiah!" Mike, Violet, Danny, and Marina heard them cry out, "Are you alright, man?!"
But Josiah ignored his lackeys' concern as he brought himself back to his feet, his eyes shooting daggers at Mike as he did so.
"How..." he uttered acidly at him, "How could I have lost to you again...?"
"Because you don't know what it means to fight for something; or someone," Mike replied as he stared back at Josiah coldly, "You only duel to bully and beat anyone you feel like putting down.
"And anyone who fights only to make others suffer..." Mike's tone now turned deadly serious, "Doesn't deserve to call themselves a duelist."
Josiah remained silent for a moment as he and Mike exchanged long, hard stares, before he then started making his way down the tiled walkway. He walked past Mike, before he then reached the end of the sidewalk and began pacing away from the school, prompting his football lackeys to holler after him as he disappeared into the city.
Mike also watched Josiah's departure as his three friends now made their way over to him, with Danny being the first to give a low whistle. "Man, I don't know where you've been all this time..." he finally said to his old friend, "But you gotta tell me where you learned to duel like that! That was awesome!"
Mike's eyes flickered towards his friends for a moment, remaining silent before he then turned and started walking away in the direction that Josiah had gone, back towards the city sidewalk as the three friends' eyes widened with confusion.
"Hey, Mike?!" Danny called after him, "Where are ya goin'?!"
"He's seriously not just leaving, is he...?" Marina wondered aloud.
But Violet couldn't let that happen. "Mike, wait!" she cried out, running after him and catching him by his arm.
He stopped and stood there, not glancing behind himself to look at Violet. He could feel her hand trembling as it gripped him, and he couldn't blame her: he had just come back to her, and now he was leaving again.
"Violet," he softly but sternly said as he pulled away from her, "Bring the others to the usual spot after school. I'll meet you there."
And without another word, he continued walking away, leaving Violet to then notice a disturbing detail she hadn't been able to see before: the back of his black duster was tattered with what looked like bullet holes.
'Mike...' Violet wondered with horror as she brought a hand over her mouth, 'What happened to you...?'
- Flashback: Two Years Ago -
The desert winds howled as sand whirled in the air, making it difficult for the young man to see as he dredged through the desert, fighting back against the wind. He was dressed in a black, long-sleeved shirt with rolled up sleeves, along with faded jeans held up with a belt, and a deck case attached to it behind him. His black sneakers felt as though they were melting on his feet, as they absorbed the heat of the sun and the sand.
The young man's dirty-blonde hair was cut fairly short, but still had some body to it. His eyes were colored ocean-blue, but had never looked as tired as they did in that moment. His body was exhausted, and his throat was parched and dry. Every step he took felt like another day to his weary mind.
Mike had been walking like this for the last three days since he'd woken in his bed at the orphanage that fateful morning. Without warning, the X-shaped scar on his arm that he'd had since he was a child had awoken him one morning with a sharp, stinging sensation that drew him towards the direction he'd started walking in. And no matter how much he'd tried, he couldn't find it in himself to resist its will.
Now, Mike was beginning to feel its sting again, only more intensely than ever before. He hadn't felt it sting this much since he'd started walking in the direction he was going in, which made him wonder if he'd somehow wandered off the path that it wanted him to go.
But as this thought crossed his mind, Mike suddenly thought that he could make out a distinct figure in the distance: a man standing in the sandy wind, looking as though he were awaiting Mike's arrival.
This had to have been who he was being drawn towards. He pushed himself to try and reach the man faster; his body aching with every agonizing step he took as the scar's sting continued to intensify.
Eventually, he reached the point where he could see the mysterious man more clearly: he had wispy, jet-black hair with only a few streaks of silver here and there, and a van dyke beard of the same color scheme. His eyes were a deep shade of gray—dark as the most electrifying storm. He was wearing a long, black duster, beneath which was a black shirt, belt, pants, and even what appeared to be a gun holster around his waist. He was taller than Mike, standing at about 6'1".
He would've wondered if he was making a mistake in approaching the man, but his mind and body had reached their limits. The stinging from his X-shaped scar had suddenly soared to another new height, making the rest of his body felt like it was on fire. It was only a matter of moments before his body gave in, and the last thing he remembered was his head hitting the sand before he fell out of consciousness.
- Flashback End -
Yo, ThatLoneAvenger here. Thanks for checking out my all-original YGO story, "Mark of Death." If you wanna read more, make sure to follow the story; and if you're really enjoying it, lemme know by giving it a favorite! And if nothing else, PLEASE leave a review; even a line or two of your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Hearing feedback from others is the best motivator for me, and helps make the fact that I've put 5+ years' worth of my free time planning this story feel a little more worthwhile. ^^
Now, there's just a few things I wanna mention that you readers should know going forward:
- Duel Monsters in this story follows the basic rules of the real-life TCG. I'm also not following any ban lists either, so note that I may/may not use a card that is/has been banned. This story is also categorized as Arc-V for the use of all cards until the VRAINS era. Also, I will NOT be using OC cards in this story.
- The first few duels in this story were written BEFORE the applied changes to the rules of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in June of 2014. So to avoid needing to go back and modifying duels to that format's rules, this story's duels will be following the obsolete rulings up to a certain point. So for those of you who're going "you can't draw on the first turn!" in your reviews right now, there's my rebuttal. xP
- I will NOT be accepting OCs into this story. For how long I've worked on it, adding anything else would just throw my plot off-course. However, there are a FEW chapters I'm considering putting other OCs into for either short cameos or generic duel purposes. So should such a chapter arise, I will let you know in these A/Ns. I only ask that you give any dueling OCs actual, real-world decks, and not OC-based cards.
- On my profile, you can check out links to my custom-mixed opening and ending theme songs for this series (because why not?), as well as featured songs that may appear in certain chapters; in case anyone wants to give those a listen. Just hope you like hard rock. ^^
Last but not least, if you spot any major writing or duel errors in my work, let me know via review or PM, and I'll get straight to work on fixing them ASAP.
Thanks again for reading, and stay awesome.
REVISED: 6/12/2019