A/N: Welcome all to an epic story following Yugi after his duel with Atem. What the two didn't know was that they would team up once again to battle evil on many different levels both new and old. A dark, evil organization will take the world by storm and try to plunge it into eternal darkness for both an old and new enemies. One that both Yugi and Atem thought to be gone forever. Then there is one that even Dartz sealed away to protect his people from an even greater evil. The two heroes will have to join forces with their old friends, rivals, and some new friends. This story is connected to TheNew959's Yugioh GX America: The American Duel Academy. Also check out his X-Men Mutant Academy story and my Godzilla Legacy Series, Kingdom Hearts Origins: The Keyblade War, The Hounds & The Buzzards, and WWE: Tale of Malice. We are accepting OC submissions so head on over my forums to learn what we are looking for. Also sorry for the delay on the debut as I had MAJOR internet issues. Reviews are always welcomed. This story is a New Raven Production, so with all that said and done enjoy Yu-Gi-Oh: Cards of Destiny!
Chapter 1: The Pharaoh's Return Pt.1
Domino City Orphanage
It was sunset in Domino City where we see several kids playing outside the orphanage. The kids were excited to go to the big event tomorrow at the Kaiba Dome. Tomorrow was the big Tournament of the King which the winner would get the chance to duel Yugi Muto for his title of King of Games! Since it was getting close to dinner time, the care takers were calling in all the kids. One by one they all ran inside now hungry after playing tag, pretend Duel Monsters, making sandcastles, and other kid stuff. All but one little boy sitting alone on the swing, looking at the ground with tears dripping down his face. His name is Henry Wallace and today was an adoption day. He was so sure he would get adopted today, but sadly it didn't happen. Oh how he wished and prayed he would get a family soon. Then like that his hopes and dreams were crushed into dust. It was then in his despair that a dark spirit appeared from the shadows behind him. The only distinguishable feature was that it wore a black Venetian raven mask and that its eyes glowed red.
"There is no need to fear me my boy. You wish to have a family that will love and care for you? I can grant you that wish." Said the dark spirit as Henry turned around in shock.
"Wwwho arrrre yyyou?" said Henry in a trembling voice. His face showed pure fear.
"Does it matter? I'm here to grant your wish."
"But why?" asked Henry wiping away the tears in his eyes.
"Because I believe you deserve it! I have been listening to your wishes, your dreams. They have all been heard by me. All I ask is one thing from you my boy." Said the dark spirit as it came closer to Henry.
"What?"
"Let me into your soul. With me you will find a family today. And maybe you could meet your idol Yugi Muto."
"You mean I get to meet Yugi!"
"Oh yes and I will make you a powerful duelist as well. I will make you into a champion one day. All I ask is for you to let me into your soul. What do you say?"
"Wow a champion, meet Yugi, and a family! I will finally have my happy ending. Then yes I will let you in." said the ecstatic Henry as he opened his arms open to the dark spirit. What he didn't know was what will happen next.
"Hehehe a wise choice Sam. Now, embrace me and let me into your soul!" cried out the dark spirit as a huge gust of wind erupted in the playground, the clouds darkened, and red lightning streaked across the sky. Then as the boy looked around his surroundings, the spirit plunged itself into the young 10 year old boy as he was engulfed in darkness. Just as quickly as it began it all stopped like nothing happened. But something did happen. Henry was looking at the ground like he was earlier, and yet he had a wicked smile on his face.
"Henry, get inside before your dinner gets cold. You only have a half hour before bath time." Said Ms. Kronket.
"Hehehe coming Ms. Kronket," Said Henry in a dark, deep voice. His eyes were also glowing red and he was laughing while he walked back to the orphanage, "So many souls, and so little time. I'm coming for you little Yugi. But don't worry I will have an old friend join in our little party. Before that though I'm going to have to take something precious of yours." Then there was screams of horror ringing from inside the orphanage.
"I see that my new family has arrived. Then the fun is about to begin! Mwahahahahahahaha!"
Afterlife
Atem felt a huge cold shiver down his back. Never had he felt such an evil, unnatural force or at least not since Dark Master Zorc. It had been 3 years since Atem ascended into the afterlife after he achieved his destiny and his final duel with his best friend Yugi Muto. In truth he was happy to be with his family and friends in the afterlife and in this time he got to enjoy dueling, but he truly missed Yugi. But this huge wave of dark energy was what woke him from his current slumber. He then walked out of his chamber to look up at the sky. In his afterlife he was in Egypt, but today they sky was no longer blue but black with red lightning streaking all over. He saw that there was a dark shape at the top of the palace roof, so he then ran as quickly as he could to find out what was going on. There he saw it. A dark spirit with a black Venetian raven mask with glowing red eyes.
"Ah so the great and powerful Pharaoh Atem has finally come to greet me. I was beginning to wonder if you would come." Said the dark spirit in an amused tone.
"Who are you and what are you doing here? This is my sanctuary and you don't belong." Said the strong Pharaoh in a commanding voice.
"My name is of no importance. What is important is the events that are to befall on the world as well as your precious friends that you have protected SOOOOOOOOO fiercely for so long. All your work will be for nothing. Hahahaha." Cackled the dark spirit.
"What have you done to my friends?!"
"Nothing yet, but that will change very soon. But first I propose a small duel. Just to see if you are up to snuff. So please indulge me." Then out of nowhere a duel disk appeared on Atem and a dark duel disk (the one used by Dartz and his boys) appeared on the dark spirit's arm.
"Very well, but should I win then you tell me everything."
"We shall see."
"DUEL!"
Atem: 4000
Dark Spirit: 4000
"Since you challenged me I shall start this duel. Draw! First I discard one card from my hand to special summon The Tricky in attack mode. Then I summon Queen's Knight. I end my turn with 2 cards facedown. Your move." Said Atem as a magician with a jester hat and a question mark on its face appeared and a female warrior in red armor with shield and sword in hand next to him.
"An interesting move. I now draw, and then I summon my Dark Crusader in attack mode. Then I activate his special ability. By sending creatures of darkness in my hand to the grave, my crusader's attack is raised by 400 for each one sent. Now his attack is now 2400 and can easily crush your weak monsters. Now go my warrior attack!" ordered the dark spirit as the warrior with a skull helmet and huge sword lunged itself at Queen's Knight.
"Not so fast! I activate my Magic Cylinder trap card. This card negates your attack and you take damage by your monsters attack."
"Hehehe I activate my quick play spell card from my hand, Spell of Pain which send the damage back to you. Nice try Pharaoh."
Atem: 1600
Dark Spirit: 4000
"Ugh!"
"Is this all you can do? I expected more from you. I end my turn from here."
"This duel is not over yet. First I draw and then I use Card of Sanctity which allows us to draw up to 6 new cards. Now I summon to the field my King's Knight and since both he and Queen's Knight is on the field I can special summon my Jack's Knight. Now I fuse them together to make Arcana Knight Joker. I then use my Double Summon spell card for an extra summoning. I sacrifice my Tricky to summon Dark Magician Girl. But that's not all. I use my Sage Stone spell to allow me to special summon Dark Magician!" The ornate looking knight was on one side with sword in hand and a young, female magician in pink popped up, waved her wand and in a flash of purple light came the purple clad magician landing next to her. As all of this was happening the dark spirit shut off his duel disk.
"I've seen enough."
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Simply put I got to see what I wanted to see. You are a formidable opponent and will finally give me a challenge. I give you 2 choices. One you go through the doorway behind you which will lead you into the world of the living. There I will give you a fighting chance to truly beat me. Option two is that you stay here in your little sanctuary. But then I take all of your friends souls for my collection, the people will become my slaves, and the world will be covered in eternal darkness. So which will it be Pharaoh? Save the world or save yourself? The choice is yours and yours alone, but I do warn you to make haste in your decision. I can be patient when I want to, but sometimes I can be rather impatient when it comes to some parts of my plan. Choose now!" said the Dark Spirit as a doorway shrouded in darkness appeared behind Atem. He knew that if he leaved that he may never return to the afterlife to be with all of his loved ones. But he had to save his friends. Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea', Duke, Bakura, Mokuba, Pegasus, and Kaiba. Even Marik and his family. The whole world needed his help once again by this evil dark spirit. The question was what was he after and why?
"Very well I will return to the world of the living so I may protect my friends. But make no mistake I will find you and I WILL defeat you." Said Atem as he headed toward the doorway of darkness.
"Brave words. I've heard of them before, but none have ever truly defeated me. I always win in the end Pharaoh. The question is when. We will meet again and when we do you will truly understand despair, hatred, and pain like you never have before. You will understand true darkness. Farewell Pharaoh hahahahahahahaha" laughed the dark spirit as it disappeared. Atem then stepped into the doorway and all he could see was darkness.
Domino City Orphanage
We now see a group of people walk up to the ivy, covered orphanage just as the sun was setting. Earlier they were merely watching the kids play while waiting for the sign. Not the most exciting job for these individuals. They would rather do what they do best: dueling and killing. These were not any ordinary people. These were the nine core members of the League of Duel Assassins also known as LODA to others. This was the most dangerous group of dueling mercenaries in the world. Even back then they were feared by Rare Hunters. Only Marik and Odion didn't, but even they kept her distance
It was only the power of the Egyptian God cards and the Millennium Rod that stopped LODA from annihilating them. But even their leader was a force to be reckoned with. Out of the 9 he seemed to be out of place with them at the moment. Eight of them were currently wearing black cloaks with the LODA crest on the front which was a shield with a devil skull on the top right, a phoenix on the top left, and a dagger on the bottom. He on the other hand wore a black trench coat that was red on the inside, and as for looks he was like The Major from Hellsing
Ultimate. His name was Heinrich Van Stantz. There were very few things he loved in the world. He loved classical music, steak, German beer, WWII, Duel Monsters, and most importantly killing. This was a man who would get excited on seeing a man beaten to death or see a building in flames. Heinrich was infatuated with chaos. The bigger the destruction the better he would feel. Hence why EVERYONE feared him and he was as ruthless as he was cunning. He was also insane.
Today he was ecstatic! A few days ago he was approached by someone in what he thought was a dream. Instead he found himself in the Shadow Realm where he met him. He met the Dark Spirit with the black Venetian raven mask where it asked him for his help. In return he promised him that he would grant Heinrich's wish. Total world destruction like no other. He told him it would be covered in darkness and that the only light in the world would be from the fires from hell itself. To this statement, Heinrich agreed without hesitation. All he had to do now was to wait for a little boy to be alone and wait for the Dark Spirit to appear.
Then it finally happened. The Dark Spirit appeared like it would and took over the little boy's body. The next step in the plan was for Heinrich and LODA to do away with the adults and haul away all the children to their base to await further orders with them. The final step was to meet with the possessed boy.
"Ah it is just as he foretold. Well ladies and gentlemen, let us proceed inside and let our presence to be known. You all know ze plan so stick to it. Capture all ze children and send them back to HQ. Then you may kill all ze adults in ze area. I want no witnesses please. They can be annoying sometimes and we are on a tight schedule. Then we need to meet with our little friend. Now go and do have some fun! I want to see some chaos this evening. Hohohohohohohoho." Said Heinrich as he and his LODA went inside. The screams were all that could be heard throughout the orphanage. The children were running around in fear screaming as several of the cloaked assailants snatched them up and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then the caretakers and volunteers were all shot, stabbed, and beaten to death. Heinrich was making hand motions like he was conducting a symphony. He then stopped in the middle of the living room where he met little Henry Wallace.
"Is this the boy sir?" asked the nearby assailant.
"Yes I believe so Mr. Wrath." Said Heinrich as he kneeled before the boy. The assailant known as Johnny Wrath pulls down his hood to reveal his face. His face was pale with a jagged scar down the left side of his face, blue-grey eyes, and crimson red hair styled like Zexion. He was second in command to Heinrich and was one of the most brutal of the bunch.
"Are you here to adopt me mister?" asked Henry in a singsong voice.
"Why of course we are my dear boy! We are here to take you to your new home. And your name?" asked Heinrich with a smile.
"My name is Henry Wallace. But you can call me Syn now. Hehehe." Said the little boy in the singsong voice at first when all of a sudden it became a dark, distorted voice. The new voice even surprised Johnny Wrath.
"What's wrong with his voice?" asked Johnny with a confused look on his face.
"Nothing is wrong with my voice Mr. Wrath. This is how I talk." smiled Syn.
"Mr. Wrath, do mind your manners. This little boy is much more powerful than you could possibly imagine. Now bring me our newest core member. Run off."
"Very well sir." Said Johnny as he bowed.
"Now my little Syn do tell me what's the next step to your grand plan?"
"All the players are being summoned. There is to be 5 Chosen on each side. 5 for the Light and 5 for the Darkness. We already have 3 and they are about to have 2. I have already begun the next phase and we need to find our final two. All we need to do now is to encourage our final three for their side per the rules of this game. I shall personally take care of our main attraction. You send your new member to deal with the former champion." Said Syn as he and Heinrich walked outside to meet with the LODA members. In front was Johnny Wrath and with him a young man with the black LODA cloak.
"Here he is boss." Said Johnny as the young man stepped forward and bowed.
"Very good. Now my new operative today you will have your first true assignment. What is your name again?" asked Heinrich.
"It's Larry sir. Larry The Fool at your service my lord and master." Spoke a young Larry.
"Larry The Fool eh? Interesting name. Very well proceed Heinrich." Said Syn.
"Well my dear Fool, your assignment is to kill Seto Kaiba. I will have all the other details set for you later. Let us be off for the moment." Said Heinrich as he, Syn, and the rest of the LODA members started to walk away.
"Oh this shall be fun! Whahahahahahahahahaha!" cackled Larry The Fool.
Solomon Muto's Card Shop.
It was around midnight when Yugi woke up from a terrible nightmare. In it he saw himself helpless to save his friends from an evil looking man with a black Venetian raven mask with glowing red eyes complete with an evil laugh that scared Yugi. He had fought Pegasus to save his Grandpa's soul, save the world from Marik, Dartz, and Zorc, but never had he felt such an evil force. Something so evil that even made Yugi scared. As he went to get himself a glass of water he noticed a familiar sight that he had not seen in 3 years. Atem with the Millennium Puzzle in his hand was sitting on his desk.
"Hello Yugi. It has been a while hasn't it?" said Atem with a smile.
"Atem! It's great to see you, but how did you get here?" asked Yugi.
"It is quite a strange to be honest my old friend. I'm willing to bet your dream had a dark person with a mask didn't it?"
"Well yes. Wait a minute. How did you know that?"
"Because even in the Afterlife I was visited by him too."
"Who is he and why is he in my dreams?" asked Yugi as he and Atem went downstairs to the kitchen.
"Well Yugi that is the same question I have. The only thing I know is that he is planning on taking the world for himself and cover it in eternal darkness." Said Atem as he leaned against the fridge. (Atem is wearing his old getup from the show not his Pharaoh look)
"He sounds like Zorc. Could it be him?"
"No, I didn't sense his presence. He is someone new and yet he seemed to have an older power."
"So we are back to saving the world once more."
"It looks like that, but I could use your help again partner. The Dark Spirit may have brought me back here, but I feel like I could disappear at any moment. So I have to use the Puzzle once more."
"Atem, you are my best friend and I'm more than willing to help you partner." Said Yugi.
"Thank you my friend. I noticed on your table that you were working on your deck."
"Yeah I'm getting ready for the Tournament of the King."
"Oh? What's that?"
"The new annual tournament that has duelists all over the world duel for a chance to duel me for my title."
"Is Kaiba in it?"
"No, but he helped make this tournament. Joey will be in it though."
"How is everyone anyway?"
"Joey became the Intercontinental champion by beating Rebecca, Tristan finally got into dueling more, but is about to go to college soon, Tea' got accepted to a prestigious dance school, Duke's Dungeon Dice game is getting bigger, Serenity is now in high school and doing well, and both Kaiba and Mokuba have been working on their Kaiba Land."
"Wow sounds great. What about Marik and his family?"
"All well last I heard. Bakura is better now too."
"That's good to hear. Well I will let you head back to bed. You have a big day tomorrow. Don't forget this." Said Atem as he handed the Puzzle to Yugi as he disappeared in a flash of golden light. Yugi had no idea that now destiny was calling him to help save the world again.
Domino City Park
It was getting late in the Domino City Park where mostly everyone was trying to head on home for dinner while others were either meeting with friends or playing Duel Monsters. Take the two teens that just had a great duel session. Joey Wheeler had been training with his friend Tristan Taylor all day in preparation for the big tournament tomorrow. Joey was really looking forward to this one as who truly believed he was going to win it and challenge his best friend Yugi.
"Well I think I got dis tournament in the bag Tristan." Said Joey as he shut off his duel disk.
"After all this practice these past few weeks I would hope so." Laughed Tristan.
"Man it's been a long time since I got to duel Yugi. Tomorrow I will become the NEW King of Games!" said the ever excited Joey. As he and Tristan were leaving, a young boy with short brown hair stopped them. He wore a simple long sleeved blue shirt, baggy shorts and a duel disk.
"Hey kid what's da deal?" asked Joey confused.
"You're Joey Wheeler! This is so cool that I found you." Said the little boy in a singsong voice.
"Yo kid where's your parents?" asked Tristan.
"Oh they are around. Hey Mr. Wheeler can you duel me quick? I always wanted to duel a legend."
"Well I guess one duel won't kill me." Said Joey as he activated his duel disk.
"Joey I thought we were done for the day? I'm hungry dude." Groaned Tristan.
"Can't resist a challenge. Besides he called me a legend hehe."
"All right! By the way my name is Henry Wallace." Said Henry.
"DUEL!"
Joey: 4000
Henry: 4000
"I will start this duel with a draw! Now I summon my Gigabyte in attack mode. Then I end my turn with a facedown. Your move." Said Henry. A little alligator baby looking warrior appeared.
"Dat little thing? Man I was hoping dis would be more of a challenge. Oh well my turn! Aww yeah here comes my Axe Raider in attack mode. Now Axe Raider attack his Gigabyte now." Ordered Joey as a man in armor wielding an axe appeared and then sliced the little reptile in half.
Joey: 4000
Henry: 2650
"Ugh good move." Grunted Henry.
"Then I end my turn with my own facedown."
"Awesome move Mr. Wheeler. Okay my turn. I summon my Gagagio to the field. Now my new monster attack!"
"Big mistake kid. Watch a pro at work. I activate my trap card, Kunai With Chain. Dis card will stop your attack and increase my monster's attack by 500."
"Nope, I activate my facedown, Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your trap."
"Say what?!" said a surprised Joey as his axe wielding warrior was destroyed by the reptilian warrior.
Joey: 3850
Henry: 2650
"Dat was a good move kid."
"Thank you! Now I use my Dark Door spell card that way only one attack per turn."
"Yikes, Joey man I think you should stop holding back now."
Kaiba Corp
It was late at the Kaiba Corp headquarters as Seto Kaiba was finishing up some future plans for the Duel Monsters committee. He was the head of the board and was always looking for more ideas. Last year he was successful in opening up the first ever Dual Monsters Academy and started up the Duel Monsters Pro League. Things were looking great for Kaiba Land also. His and Mokuba's dream was truly coming true. However, retirement from dueling wasn't as what he was expecting. He longed to duel Yugi once more to not only prove the world he was the best, but also to Yugi. Then there was Atem. The one he wanted to duel the most, but couldn't as he had ascended to the afterlife never to be seen again.
Kaiba then shut off his computer and was about to leave his office when he saw a peculiar sight. He saw in his office a young man in red and black jester outfit with an evil looking clown makeup. In one hand he had a crooked dagger and in the other a duel disk. The evil jester smiled and then let out a crazed laugh that even disturbed Kaiba.
"Who the hell are you?" said an annoyed Kaiba.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO someone is feisty. But since you ask sooooooooo nicely then my name is Larry The Fool at your service. I represent the illustrious group known as the League of Duel Assassins." Snickered the evil jester.
"Great another stupid clown. I don't have time for such stupidity so why don't you do us both a favor and disappear."
"Oh no no no that won't do. You see I'm here to kill you Mr. Kaiba and I'm going to destroy you!"
"Destroy me? I heard better threats."
"Duel me and show me how much of a baddass you are."
"A duel? Fine then if you are looking to get thrashed then you found the best. I'm going to send you back to the circus where you belong." Said Kaiba as he activated his duel disk.
"DUEL!"
"I will start this duel. I summon my Battle Ox to the field and place two cards face down. Your move clown."
"Wahahahahaha is that it? You're no fun! Well I guess I got to make this quick then. Draw time. Ooooooo good card. I summon my Jester Apprentice in attack mode. Then I place one card facedown. Your turn Mr. Broody Moody." Said the amused jester as a young man in some sort of jester outfit appeared on the field.
Jester Apprentice: lv2 Dark Warrior/Effect Atk: 700 Def: 200
"Tch this is hardly worth my time. But I must ask, who sent you?"
"Why the big boss himself of the League of Duel Assassins of course silly. I also must take your precious Blue Eyes White Dragon cards too. Now make your move! I hate too many questions."
"You are going to wish you never crossed me clown. I summon my Kaiser Seahorse to the field. Now Battle Ox attack that stupid clown." As Kaiba's new monster clad in purple armor, his ox proceeded to crush Larry's monster with ease. Then Kaiba noticed that the Fool had activated his facedown.
"Hehehe you fell for Larry's trap! My Mystical Space Typhoon destroys your facedown first," a small whirlwind destroyed Kaiba's facedown which was Ring of Destruction, "And by destroying my monster I get to destroy one of yours now! Say bye bye to your oversized cow." Cackled the Fool.
Kaiba: 4000
Larry: 3000
"I end my turn with two cards facedown. You got lucky that time clown, now make your move."
"You know you must be the killjoy at the parties. I use Monster Reborn to bring back my monster you so rudely sent to the grave. But his time will be short as I sacrifice him to bring out my Jester Fiend. Now my fiend destroy his weird seahorse or whatever the hell it is." The green monster with a golden jester hat went to slash at the opposing monster, but an invisible veil stopped it.
Jester Fiend: lv5 Dark Fiend/Effect Atk: 2200 Def: 1000
"Hey what gives?" pouted the Fool.
"My own trap, Negate Attack!"
"No fair! Fine I place one card facedown. Your move."
"With pleasure, draw. Now I sacrifice my Kaiser Seahorse who acts as 2 tributes for a Light monster. Say hello to my Blue Eyes White Dragon!" yelled Kaiba as his famous dragon appeared on the field with a mighty roar.
"This is not good." Said the Fool in a serious voice.
"Now my Blue Eyes use White Lightning!" The powerful dragon powered up its attack as it unleashed its lethal attack obliterating the evil fiend.
Kaiba: 4000
Larry: 2200
"Gah!"
"And that is my turn. Not much of a challenge are we?" taunted Kaiba.
"You stupid. Insignificant insect. If I really wanted to beat you then I would've by now." Said the now angry fool as he deactivated his duel disk and showed Kaiba his last facedown was Magic Cylinder.
"Then why did you hold back?"
"Ha stupid, idiotic boy. No wonder Pegasus and the others always outsmarted you. This was merely a show. The real prize was your brother!" said the evil Fool as he threw a sticky bomb onto the window as it blew up. Outside was a chopper with its door open. In the doorway was two men with a young boy. It was Mokuba. One man had crimson red hair and was holding onto Kaiba's little brother tied up. The other was a short man in a black trench coat and glasses with a mad look on his face.
"Ah Herr Kaiba how are you doing? I see my Fool has done an excellent job. You see we of LODA needed to get your attention somehow. I vant you to be at ze Kaiba Dome tomorrow at ze Tournament of the King. There all shall be revealed. I hope to see you soon Herr Kaiba hohohoho." Said Heinrich as he motioned to the pilot to pull out.
"Been real Mr. Moody, but Larry needs to go get ready for tomorrow's party. Laters hehehehehehehahahahahahaha" laughed Larry as he back flipped into the chopper leaving Kaiba dumbstruck. Seto Kaiba felt like he did that day Mokuba was taken by Pegasus. He promised Mokuba that sort of thing would never happen again.
"MOKUBA!" yelled Kaiba. This was not over yet. To Kaiba this war with LODA has just begun and he vowed to take them all down. Starting with Larry The Fool.
Domino City Park
"All right Time Wizard do ya thing!" said Joey as the Time Wizard's spinner wand began its spin. It landed on a castle.
"Oh no! That means I lose!" said Henry in a sad singsong voice. His Gogiga Gagagigo became old and decrepit, when it then turned to dust taking out the rest of Henry's life points.
Joey: Winner
Henry: 0
"All right I won. Hey kid that was an awesome duel. Just keep practicing and I bet you be as good as me one day. Uh hello?" said Joey happy at first, but then noticed a strange look on Henry's face.
"Hey kid what gives?" asked Tristan with concern.
"Oh nothing really. This was an amusing duel I will admit, but my fun is done here. Time for you fools to sleep hahaha." Laughed Henry as his whole expression changed from the carefree kid to a dark, scary kid with glowing red eyes and a deep dark voice. That's when both Joey and Tristan were shocked with a whole bunch of electricity from behind them. Johnny Wrath and two others grabbed the two friends and dumped them in a nearby van. Syn was all joyful when he got into the van. He was very pleased to see Mokuba bound and gagged in the back which meant his plan was going perfectly.
The next day: Kaiba Dome
We now see a group of teens, kids, and adults waiting in a room in the back for their placement in the Tournament of the King. They were all uneasy at the moment not only because of the big tournament, but because Joey Wheeler was missing as well as his friend Tristan Taylor. The ones in the corner was a young girl with short black hair, pale skin, and quite of an attractive body for her age. Wears a white shirt, with a red skirt, and wears black socks and shoes. Her name is Menia Lendo and she was a master of the VWXYZ deck and was known to play aggressive in her duels. To her left is a young teen with short dark blue hair with a spike horseshoe earrings in his ears, green eyes, slightly muscular, wears a black fedora hat, and the rest of his clothes looks like Yuri from Shadow Hearts 2. His name is Rayce Highwind and his deck of choice was the one of a kind Ronin deck that was inspired by the old Ronin Warriors show. They were quarter-finalists in this tournament and they both kicked major ass in it.
"I wish they would hurry up. Sheesh they are taking FOREVER!" whined Menia as she began to pace around.
"Honestly I don't care for the wait. It doesn't matter who they out me up against. I'm going to win this and then challenge Yugi Muto to take his title." Said Rayce coolly.
"Oh so you think you got what it takes? Bet you can't beat me. I would crush you in my first move." Said the confident Menia.
"I KNOW I will win this. Doubt you could beat me in one move. No one has ever gotten to against me."
"Well at least you got guts unlike everyone else in here."
"First one to the finish then?" said Rayce as he got up and extended his hand out.
"Oh yeah you are on! May the best gal win hehe." Giggled Menia as she shooked his hand. They finally got their brackets and made for the dueling arena outside.
Stands in the top box
Yugi was nervous all morning. Two of his best friends were taken last night not long after he met up again with his old friend, Pharaoh Atem. Yugi took his puzzle with him to make sure Atem was safe from any thieves. At least he had Tea' with him today as well as Duke.
"This tournament is wild Yugi. Nervous about any of those challengers?" asked Duke. He didn't know yet about Joey and Tristan and neither did Tea'. Yugi got the message early this morning by an unknown messenger. Something about the assassin group known as LODA.
"Huh what? You say something Duke?" asked Yugi who was deep in thought.
"Is everything all right Yugi?" asked Tea'.
"No, nothing is all right now. Joey and Tristan were abducted last night."
"WHAT?!" gasped both Duke and Tea'.
"Yeah they were taken last night by this group called LODA."
"LODA? What's that?" asked Tea'.
"Beats me" said Duke.
"Same here, but this all happened around the same time Atem appeared to me last night. He said a new evil was coming and that we need to stop it." Said Yugi.
"Another save the world deal?"
"I guess so."
"Well then we are in. We will help you find Joey and Tristan and stop this new evil like we always do." Said Tea' confidently.
"Thanks guys. The LODA said they would be here at the tournament, but no sign of them yet."
"Well anyway as to who I'm picking to win I say that Rayce dude will win it all to face Yugi." Said Duke.
"No way that Menia has got some real fire. I say she wins it." Said Tea'.
"Well who do you think will win it Yugi?"
"To be honest guys I'm up to duel either of them. They are both amazing duelists and both will be a great challenge." Said Yugi. He felt Atem's spirit appear beside him and nod in agreement to what Yugi said. Then the MC came in to make his final announcement.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please! After a day of intense duels, we have our 2 finalists, Menia Lendo and Rayce Highwind! The winner of this duel will have a chance to duel Yugi Muto for the title of King of Games! So without further adieu, let the final duel of the Tournament of the King begin!" Said the Mc.
"I hope you give me a worthy challenge." Said Rayce with a focused look in his eyes.
"I shall, and as in any occasion like this. Ladies first!" she said with a headstrong attitude." she said just as she draws the first card. "Perfect. I activate the field spell known as Neo Vortex Hanger." she said, and then a vortex appears in the sky with a huge battleship from it. "This card is surely going to help me win this duel, this deck is built to take on any challenge. Now I summon my X-Head cannon from my hand in attack mode." she said, and summons her cannon robot. (Atk: 1800) "Then I place a card facedown and let you go," she smiled just as she ends her turn with a face down, "During each of my standby phases, my field spell requires me to send the top 3 cards to the graveyard as payment. Not that it matters as I will win this duel at the end." she smiled just as she sends the cards to the graveyard (useless cards mostly).
"Interesting, but not good enough! First of I draw. Next I summon to the field Warrior of Life-Strata in attack mode. He comes with a special ability you won't like. Once per turn I can remove one card on the field for 2 turns, but my monster cannot attack for 2 turns. I activate my Ronin Shield spell also. With this card my warriors cannot be destroyed in battle once per turn and I don't take any battle damage. I end my turn with 2 cards facedown. Now my Strata's effect comes into play. I choose your machine." Said Rayce as a warrior in blue samurai armor with a metal looking now came in from the sky and shot an arrow at X Head Cannon.
Warrior of Life-Strata: Lv3 Wind Warrior/Effect. Atk: 1300 Def: 900
The machine then disappears. "Clever, you managed to stop one of my monsters. But let's see if you can handle this one. I draw!" Menia said just as she look at her card. "Not bad. I now activate my Different Dimension Hanger. Now I go through my deck and look for some monsters to remove, and when I remove them from play the fun can begin, as now if I summon a monster that is in that family, I can bring one back. I shall start off by removing my Y-Dragon Head, my Z-Metal Tank, and my W-Wing Catapult." she said just as she removes the 3 from the game. "Now I summon V-Tiger Jet." (1600 attack points) and a robot tiger with jet attachments is played.
"This is looking sweet." said by the announcer.
"Now I can bring back my W-Wing Catapult, and combine them to bring out VW Tiger Catapult!" she said and the two monsters combined into one new machine (2000). "But hold on, it's gets worse, because now I activate my face-down magic card known as Neo Conversion System Activate. As long as this card remains on the field, I am allow to trade in my recent monster I just summoned for a Neo version of the same monster, so come out now... NEO VW-Tiger Catapult." she said, and her monster gets brighter and more advanced in tech. (same values)
"Now I activate its effect, by dropping a card from my hand to the grave, I can change the position of your monster from attack to defense mode, and thanks to this being a Neo monster, it also inflicts 500 points of damage when it uses its effect." she said, and her monster effect now activates, firing missiles at the monster to switch it to defense mode.
"I am aware your monster cannot be destroyed in battle thanks to your shield card, but get this, you lose life points based off the differences of my monster's attack points and your monster's defense points, not to mention that my monster gains 500 more points thanks to the field spell." (monster value now at 2500) "Now take it away Neo VW-Tiger Catapult, attack his monster now." she ordered, and missiles barrage the field.
"Now that is much better. But you activated my trap card, Staff of the Ancient Warrior. Here's the deal with this card. If I draw a Ronin Warrior then I get to special summon it and cancel your battle phase. If not then I lose 1000 life points and your attack continues. Feel lucky? Cause I do and my deck has NEVER failed me." Said the cool, but confident Rayce as he went to draw his card.
"Alright, it looks like we are about to find out. But you see, my monsters cannot be affected by your spells in traps as long as my field spell remains in play, sorry." she smiled.
"That's where you are wrong. Because inactivate my other facedown The Warrior's Darkness. By paying 800 life points I can negate all your spell and traps on the field for one turn. And now the moment you've been waiting for," said Rayce as darkness enveloped the hanger, "All right here we go, I drew my Warrior of Obedience-Corruption. And his ability is that he is unaffected by any of your card effects. Since I drew a Ronin Warrior your attack is null and void." A new warrior in tan and black armor with a long katana on his back, red cape, and a claw gauntlet on his left. From the sky a golden ornate staff came between Neo VW Tiger Catapult.
"Fine then, I place this face-down and end my turn." Menia said just as she places her last card in the hand face-down. "You got lucky this time Rayce. Say, I think you been keeping good eye on how I dueled, but you know I did as well, and this duel has just begun." Menia said, getting ready to get her game on big time.
"Likewise. And I'm about to turn up the heat in this duel. First I draw. I activate my Pot of Greed to draw 2 more cards. Next I sacrifice my two warriors to summon my Warrior of Virtue-Wildfire!" Cried out Rayce as a tower of flames engulfed the other two warriors and from the flames came a red armor samurai with two katana in hand.
Warrior of Obedience-Corruption: Lv4 Dark Warrior/Effect Atk: 1750 Def: 1400
Warrior of Virtue-Wildfire: Lv7 Fire Warrior/effect Atk: 2500 Def: 2100
"Sorry to disappoint you, I have a trap card, and it's going to turn this around right now. I activate my trap card, Mirror Force, now your monster takes a one way trip to the graveyard." Menia said, and the barrier forms around her monster to block his attack. "Unless you have something to play now I would do it."
"Guess again I activate Wildfire Flames. By paying 500 life points I save my monster from your trap this time.
Menia: 4000
Rayce: 2700
"I am impressed, got your best monster out in the nick of time." Menia said, impressed by his move. It was a show how he stopped her assault and canceled her spells and traps for a turn.
"Then I will place 2 cards facedown. Now Wildfire attack her machine with Flare Up!" Ordered Rayce as the red armored warrior combined his two swords into a double bladed weapon, leapt into the air as he was engulfed in flames, and charged at Menia's monster.
Menia: 3500
Rayce: 2700
The monster then gets destroyed. Menia smiled for him, knowing it was a good move. "Very good." she said. (3500 LP) "but now it's my move." She said just as she drew her card.
"Due to the effect of Neo Vortex Hanger, I must send another 3 cards from my deck to the graveyard. And since the Warrior's Darkness effect has now ended, we can continue the fun. I now activate the Card of Sanity, so now we must draw from our decks until we have 6 cards in our hand." She said, then she draws her cards with Rayce. "Now I shall summon the monster that will begin your end... A monster known as Revival Jam!" She said, then blue goo appears in defense mode.
"Then next I shall activate my Monster Reborn magic card from my hand, so I can bring back an old friend, known as Neo VW Tiger Catapult." Menia just as her robot comes back. "Then next I will play my Swords of Revealing Light magic card, so now your attacking privileges are null and void for 3 turns," then green light swords appears on Rayce's field, "Impressed huh, but now things get alot better as now my monster shall attack yours, and since my field is now back in the game, you cannot use your spells and traps on them, plus there 500 point boost comes back, but there is one more support you should know. As long as my field is in play, my Neo monsters cannot be destroyed."
"I forgot to mention that when any of my warriors are sent to the grave by any means that they leave behind their armor in my spell and trap zones and cannot be destroyed by card effects. But yes your machines are deadly powerful. The thing is that my warriors are powerful together and I'm just getting started. So do your worst. I have faith in my deck and Wildfire." Said Rayce undaunted by Menia's combo while putting up a calm face. Deep down he knew he was in trouble and as powerful as Wildfire was he knew that so long as the field spell was in play that he wasn't really getting anywhere. But there was hope. There was one warrior that could help. The question was if he could draw it in time.
"Well fine then. Do your worst." Menia said confidently just as her beast destroys his. "I will end my turn by placing 2 cards face down. Say, this is so far my most fun duel I had yet, what do you think?" said Menia.
"I will give you credit for coming this far and commend you for your superb dueling. With that said only one of us will get to duel Yugi and become the new King of Games. I plan on being the first to defeat Yugi for that title. First I draw and activate my spell card Ronin Armor Restoration. This card allows me to summon to the field the original warriors from earlier back to the field. I lose the armors and the ones in the graveyard are now removed, but I have a way to get past all of your cards." Said Rayce as his armors crumbled to show the warriors back as they jumped from the spell and trap zone to the monster zones.
"Wow look at them go. Are you nervous Yugi?" Asked Tea'.
"I am a little bit now. These two are really good duelists and both are a serious challenge. The way they are dueling though makes it difficult to figure out who will win. One plays the difficult, but powerful deck with the VWXYZ cards and the Neo versions to a great effect. The other plays the one of a kind Ronin deck and each warrior has their own effect to easily change the duel. Plus of they are destroyed then they leave their armor to make an even more powerful warrior. In any case I'm excited and nervous, but as long as I have faith in my deck and the Heart of the Cards I know I can win." Said the confident Yugi as he watched the intense duel.
"Here comes the pain. I sacrifice my Strata and my Corruption warriors to summon my deadly Warrior of Loyalty-Cruelty!" Said Rayce as a black armored warrior appeared with yellow and black clothes over the armor, red mask, and a small scythe in one hand with a chain claw in the other.
Warrior of Loyalty-Cruelty: Lv8 Earth Warrior/ effect Atk: 2800 Def: 2300
"Bring it on!" Menia said confidently. "I ain't afraid."
"No, but if my field spell is destroyed my Neo monsters go, a d I take damage to their attack points!" Menia gasped just as her field spell hanger gets destroyed and so does her monster. It also ruined her entire plan. Her plan was to keep her monsters in the field until she can build enough to summon her ace monster, but now that chance is gone.
"Sorry, but I am aiming to duel for Yugi you know." Said the confident Rayce. Just then the blimp overhead with the huge monitor when static and then on the screen was Heinrich Van Stantz.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Heinrich Van Stantz, the leader of the illustrious group the League of Duel Assassins! I hope you all had fun today, but you all know of ze old zaying is jah? All good zings must come to an end! You see before you all arrived here today to watch some of the best duel, I had taken the liberty of placing explosives underneath your chairs and exits. There is no way out except one. Will Yugi Muto please meet with me in 15 minutes at the production booth. If you do not come well then ze whole stadium goes kaboom and everyone is blown up into little pieces. If you do then wunderbar! You would save everyone, but please do come alone. We have much to discuss and I have other chaotic things to do. Do hurry up please. I don't like to wait too long or else everyone goes boom! Hohohohohohohohohahahahaahaha" laughed the maniacal Heinrich as both everyone in the stadium panics. Only Yugi with Atem, Menia, and Rayce were focused on the vile man. The next thing was will Yugi reach the insane leader of LODA in time. The clock was indeed ticking as it appeared on the screen.
A/N: This is by far one of my favorite chapters I've ever written. Thanks for TheNew959 for his contribution in the Menia and Rayce duel. Menia is his as Rayce is mine lol. Hope you all enjoyed our first chapter. Will Yugi and Atem reach Heinrich in time? What will Menia and Rayce do? Also where is Kaiba?! BTW Kaiba was my fave in the show besides Yami Marik lol. Want to know what happens next? Tune in next time on Yu-Gi-Oh: Cards of Destiny. Next time, Chapter 2: The Pharaoh's Return Pt2. Reviews are always welcomed. This is Jase Raven 13 signing off. Later peeps!
