Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.
Legends of the Demon Duelist-Chaos Arc
Chapter 1: I have a what?
"Heads up Krieger!" A brown-haired, hazel-eyed young man in a pair of red gym shorts and a white t-shirt bend slowly at the knees as he watched the ball's flight path. Ichigo Pilkington leapt a clean ten feet into the air and slammed his fist down onto the volleyball, stopping its original flight path and sending it to his roommate instead.
His roommate, a slightly tall boy with brown hair and crystal blue eyes in the same attire saw the ball coming and made the correct adjustments to get to it. Krieger Reinhardt leapt back and shoved the ball as gently as he could from underneath, sending it sailing upwards in the air. "Coming your way Griff!"
The third member of the team was a dark-skinned boy with black hair and a pair of red-brown eyes. Griff Mohistava took a deep breath and focused as he saw the ball start its slow descent. ("Remember…don't hit it too hard. Last time you did they had to charge dad for the hole you made in the floor.") Bending at the knees, he pushed off and easily covered the distance between himself and the ball in a matter of moments. Lifting back his hand, he brought the appendage down onto the rubber sphere with the gentlest tap he could muster. It shuddered against his touch for a couple of seconds and then hurtled across the net like a rocket.
On the opposing team, a tall and well-built dark-skinned young man flicked his black pony-tail over one shoulder and prepared to make his attack on the incoming ball. Kenshin Anderson smirked as he watched the offending item's approach. "I'm glad to see that you are getting the hang of having demonic strength, Griff." His face went stern. "However, like all things in life I don't plan on being beaten at this!" With remarkable grace for someone with his musculature, he leapt into the air and knocked the ball downwards. "Hitokage!"
"I'm not blind." The speaker was a blond-haired jade-eyed Japanese boy wearing a white t-shirt and blue gym shorts. Hitokage Seijitsu casually uncrossed his hands and took two steps backwards. "This should be sufficient enough for even you, Zaytel." With the effort of stretching, he smacked the ball sideways and over to the third member of their group.
"Whatever you say, buddy!" The recipient of the incoming ball was a tall boy with spiky black-hair, who was wearing the same attire as his other two teammates. Adriel Zaytel pushed off of the ground and spiked the ball as hard as he could towards the ground on their opponent's field.
-
Daniel Pilkington tugged on his grey t-shirt and muttered something uncomplimentary under his breath about a couple of school rules. "I never thought I'd have to wear one of these stupid outfits ever again." He brushed some of the locks of his wild red hair back and glanced over at his two 'assistants' with his brown eyes. "What about you two?"
"Keh! There's nothing wrong with showing off your physique, if you have it of course," A raven black-haired man with gold-amber eyes said confidently. "After all, the great Rikuo Amero has nothing to hide about himself to his adoring public."
From next to him, a gold-haired silver-eyed man in similar gym attire snorted derisively. "Well aren't you being extra egotistical today? You don't see me running around calling myself the Grand Dragon General Jourgen Politumas anymore, do you? I'm Ryu Zaytel and that's all there is to me. Why didn't you ever come up with a new name for yourself?"
It was Rikuo's turn to snort. "Because I like my name. I can see why you might want to change your name though."
"What's that supposed to mean?" The gold-haired dragon demon frowned and tapped his fingers on his forearms.
"It means that the name Jourgen sucks!"
-
"Go Griff!" A brown-haired girl, Sammy Coffin yelled out to the crowd from her seat in the bleachers. She and her friends didn't have anything to do for this hour, so they had come to cheer on their respective interests/friends.
"Come on Krieger, show some aggressiveness that I know you have in you!" A blond-haired girl, Ashley whistled to catch the half cat-demon's attention.
"Kenshin baby, show them why you're called the Crusader!" Ebony, Kenshin's girlfriend, grinned widely as she watched her boyfriend at work. If there was one thing she loved about him, it was the way he moved.
The fourth member of the girls sat silently in her seat. She had raven-black hair and a pair of crimson-gold eyes.
Sammy looked over and smiled wryly. "Hey Eri, doesn't Ichigo look cute in those gym shorts?"
"He'd look cuter on fire," Erika Amero replied coldly, her eyes watching the movement on the field only because of reflex.
"You have the sex drive of a corpse, you know that right?" Ashley muttered under her breath, knowing full and well that Eri could hear her.
-
Daniel rolled his eyes as the argument between Rikuo and Ryu had escalated to the point where the wolf demon and dragon demon had started to exchange physical blows. He wasn't afraid that one might kill or even injure the other, but he worried more for the damages they would cause to the gym. "Guys, can't you settle this with a method other than violence?"
Both demons froze, their fists still solidly planted in the other's face. As one they removed their hands and smirked calmly. "A duel? Fine!" In nearly perfect unison they ran over to their bags to get their duel disks…
…until an explosion echoed across the room. Smoke quickly filled the gym and left everyone scrambling for some kind of light to see what was going on.
Daniel could hear screams from the numerous students in the gym, and bit his lower lip. ("I can't see anything, smell anything, or hear anything well enough to find the air vent system!")
As quickly as the smoke had appeared though, it just as quickly disappeared. Though when everyone could see again they almost wished they could have just hid in the smoke cloud.
In nearly every position that someone could exit from was at least a dozen armed men in fatigues, each one holding a heavy assault rifle or stun gun.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" Daniel asked calmly. "This is a school ground, so if you could please avoid making any excessive noise it would be appreciated."
None of the guards made any noise or seemed inclined to move. They simply had their weapons trained on….Rikuo.
The wolf demon perked his ears and slid slowly into a martial arts stance. In his head he was calculating the chances that he could defeat this small army of at least two hundred men with heavy fire-power at their disposal. ("They should have brought another hundred and this might be a challenge.") Then he remembered that any stray fire could hit a student. ("Nevermind…looks like I have to be a good boy until we figure out what is going on.") Calmly, he returned to a normal standing position.
Ryu seemed fairly disinterested. If these soldiers wanted to fight then they'd simply be walking into their deaths.
"I've finally found you after all these years, Amero," an incredibly thick Texan accent drawled out from somewhere amongst the sudden throng of soldiers.
Rikuo turned so white that he seemed like he would die right there on the spot. ("It can't be…")
"You're very good at covering your tracks, but not good enough. When we last saw each other I promised that I would come and find you, and that is exactly what I have come to do." The man that stepped out from amongst the soldiers was a tall grey-haired and distinguished gentleman in a white business suit. On top of his head rested a white cowboy hat. Stroking his white mustache, the man continued to talk. "Now then, mister Amero. If you'll be giving me my payment then I'll gladly leave without a fight. However…if you deny me now…" He snapped his fingers and soldiers raised their weapons to point at random groups of students, all of which were too frightened to do much more than stand silently.
While the man had been talking Rikuo had been taking small half-steps towards the nearest exit. ("Screw the humans…I'm out of here!") Spinning around, he nearly made a run for it but was stopped cold by a tight grip around his right wrist.
Daniel spun his other half around to face him. "You're gonna run from this guy? If you owe him something then pay up and let's move on! What could he do to hurt you anyway?"
Rikuo gulped loudly and refused to shed the white pallor that adorned his cheeks. "It isn't him I'm worried about though…it's…it's…"
Eri walked past the soldiers without the slightest bit of fear. She stood in front of the business-suited man and glared coldly. "What business do you have with my father?"
The man looked taken aback for a few moments, and then it seemed like tears of joy were running down his face. "It's…you!" Before Eri could protest he wrapped the girl into a huge hug. "I've finally found you Erika! After all of these years I get to meet my grand-daughter in person!"
"Grand-daughter?" Eri was too confused to even attempt to dislodge herself from this crazy human.
"Grand-daughter?" Daniel echoed incredulously. "Rikuo, care to explain?"
The wolf demon's face had returned to its normal pallor, and he coughed sagely with his eyes closed.
Everyone, the man and Eri included, all looked at Rikuo and waited for an answer.
"No." Rikuo turned on one heel and charged for the wall. He could take the pain of running straight through stone over what alternatives there were to it.
Ryu snapped his foot out and tripped the wolf demon, watching Rikuo slide along the ground and slam face-first into the wall. "I think you owe all of us an explanation, Amero."
"Perhaps I can shed some light on your misunderstanding," the white-suited man released the still stupefied Eri and tugged on his tie. "My name is Justus Beauregard, owner of the Duel Monsters themed casino chains. I'm here because mister Amero owes me a certain debt from a wager he and I had about eleven years ago."
"Okay then Colonel Sanders, what did Rikuo lose to you?" Daniel really didn't have anything personal against Justus, but anyone who broke into his class and caused a commotion got an immediate dislike mark in his book.
The white-suited man let the insult slide, knowing that he deserved it for his rather uncouth manner of dealing with this situation. "He owes me…" He let the sentence draw out for dramatic pause. "His daughter's hand in marriage."
"…….." Everyone in the room was not just silent, but deathly silent. All eyes turned to look at Rikuo, who continued to edge towards the nearest exit. Then all eyes turned to look at said daughter.
Eri stood there, both of her eyes twitching rapidly and veins bulging out of her forehead. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Justus reached into his coat and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. "This contract gives over the marriage rights of Erika Amero to me. She will marry my grandson and they will continue to supply our family with a blood-line."
"…………" Eri was beyond words. All that was left was a black aura of flame that surrounded her. She stomped past Justus and Daniel. Ryu had already casually moved aside to clear her path to the one person she wanted to speak with at the moment.
"Now Princess….you have to understand…" Rikuo stumbled backwards until he hit the wall of the gym. "…the circumstances for this situation are very unique…."
The fires around the still silent Eri flared larger.
Daniel walked over and smacked Rikuo in the back of the head. "What the heck are you babbling about, you idiot? How could you treat your daughter like an object that you can trade? Isn't she worth more than…"
"It was one hundred million dollars!" Rikuo covered his head with his hands. "And it was at a game I thought I had understood. Poker didn't seem that hard at the time!"
"You actually have your daughter priced at one hundred million dollars, don't you?" Daniel dead-panned, knowing that if Eri attacked his other half now he wouldn't try to stop her.
Rikuo stood up straight and shook his head. "Wrong! She's actually worth ninety million dollars to me! I had a good deal going in that bet…"
"Where did you get that number from?" Eri looked like she was about to explode.
Rikuo pointed at Ryu. "I called Jourgen and asked him about how much he thought Eri was going to cost me over the years! He did some math and factored in sentimental value…and gave me that number!"
Everyone turned to look at Ryu…and only saw an already closing gym door.
Eri's eyes continued to twitch…and she gently reached over and punched her father right in the chin. "You….you…." I won't go into details about what she did then, but let's just say Rikuo will be feeling the after-effects for days.
Justus cleared his throat, "Well that's all well and good, but the fact of the matter is that Erika will be coming with me."
"No, she won't."
Everyone in the gym turned to look at the speaker. It was Ichigo, with his eyes closed. "No one will be taking her anywhere against her will. If you have something to say about that, then I'll show you hell and beyond," the half-demon opened his eyes to reveal a pair of emerald irises. "I challenge you to a duel over Erika Amero."
Justus ran his hands through his mustache. "I think, my dear boy, you misunderstand who I am. I don't take deals without having some kind of incentive. Do you have something to offer me that would be worth even wasting my time beating you?"
"I'm sure you have daughters, correct?"
Justus nodded. "So you'll risk your own future for this girl's? Very well then, I can't say no to a man who fights for his woman. Before we begin I give you my gratitude for being a gentleman." One of the soldiers behind him held out a duel disk for him. Taking it the white-suited man slid it onto his arm and inserted his deck into the slot. "Let the duel begin!"
Everyone cleared the area that was between the two of them.
Ichigo- 4000
Justus- 4000
Ichigo's eyes shimmered slightly and turned hazel. "I'll take this duel, Ahran."
Daniel and Eri both gasped at that declaration.
Justus didn't quite understand what the boy was talking about, but he didn't care. "Let the duel begin with my starting play!" He drew. "You seem like a smart boy, but it will take more than smarts to beat a professional gambler such as myself. I've been all across the world, and in the end I keep coming back to one place." Two cards slid into his disk. "I set two cards face-down on the field and one monster in defense mode. End turn."
Ichigo drew six cards off of his deck. "I'm about to show you that my skill doesn't rely on being worldly or experienced. It requires a strong heart and nerves of steel!" He slapped a card onto his disk. "Go Cyber Shadow-Assassin (1000/800) in attack mode!" A humanoid warrior in a black body-suit that covered its face appeared on the field. "Attack the set monster now!" It pulled a glowing knife from out of nowhere and flew across the field, slashing through the set card with ease.
Justus smirked and slid the card into his graveyard. "You may have destroyed my monster, but all you did was start the beginning of your end. I reveal my continuous trap card Escape from Oppression. When I lose a normal monster with three stars or less on my field because of battle I can special summon another one from my deck out." He removed a card from his deck and placed it onto his disk. "These are the Oppressed People!" (400/2000) A group of miserable-looking men and women in rags appeared on the field. "I summon them out in defense mode."
Ichigo frowned at the disheveled mass of people that stood cowering in fear at his Assassin. ("Is he trying to make me pity his monsters? Just because they look sad and hurt doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on them.") "I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
Justus drew. "First I play the quickplay magic card Mystical Space Typhoon on your set card." A sharp wind blew across the field and shattered whatever card Ichigo had planned to use. "Then I summon King's Spearman (1500/1000) in attack mode." A man in plain steel armor with a royal crest across the shoulder appeared on the field. It hefted its spear and watched the Assassin warily. "Now I attack your monster!"
Ichigo held up his hand. "Wait a second Justus, are you sure you want to sacrifice your own creature just to get rid of mine?"
"What are you talking about? My monster has 500 more attack points than yours does."
"No it doesn't." Ichigo caught a card that was spat out of his graveyard and inserted it into his disk. "I activate the quickplay magic card Special Operative Weapon-Quicksilver Cannon! This card can only be activated from my graveyard, and when it does I equip it to one monster on my field and raise that creature's attack points by 500." The Cyber Shadow-Assassin held up a plain-looking steel gun with casual ease, more than ready to give its life taking down the Spearman. (1500/800)
Justus nodded at the wise play on his opponent's part. "That is definitely impressive…but you still won't win with weak monsters. I end my turn for now."
Ichigo drew. "I don't have any weak monsters." His eyes widened at the drawn card and he smiled slightly. "But I do have monsters with powers that make them seem weaker than they are!" He placed the drawn card onto his disk. "I summon Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh (300/200) in defense mode!"
"Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh?" Echoed most of the students and adults in the auditorium.
The creature that appeared on Ichigo's field was a normal brown-furred and green limbed little fuzzball, but it had a couple of things that made it stand out from other Kuriboh. The first was that it wore a little tuxedo that seemed tailor-fit for it, and the other was that in one hand it held a little martini glass.
Ichigo smirked and slid a card from his hand into his graveyard slot. "Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh's special ability activates now! Go Cuteness Espionage!" The little creature downed the martini glass and threw it aside. Then it pulled a little pair of helicopter rotors out of its coat pocket and stuck them on its head. A whirring noise came from the pieces of metal as they started to spin and lifted the little secret agent up into the air and over the heads of Justus' two monsters.
"What's it doing?" Eri watched the little demon make its way towards Justus himself.
Sammy and Ashley both watched its flight with little stars shining in their eyes. "It's so cute!"
Letting out a string of squeaks, the creature hovered down in front of Justus and slid the top card off of his deck. It did a little victory dance and then returned to Ichigo's field, where it handed him the card.
The half-demon smirked and flicked the card out of sight while he reached over and patted the Kuriboh's head. "Thanks for the help. When Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh uses his effect he takes the top card from your deck and gives it to me. I may immediately play that card, though I cannot conduct a battle phase this turn." Flicking his wrist, Ichigo returned the card to his hand. "And this is just what I needed. I summon King's Scout (800/1200) in attack mode!" A skinny man in light steel armor appeared on the field. "This guy's attack power isn't perfect, but it'll do for what I plan to do to you."
Justus chuckled and readjusted his hat. "I think you're forgetting that you gave up your battle phase."
Ichigo shook his head and flipped a card from his hand over. "Nope. I play the magic card Brave Attack!" A red aura started to glow around the Cyber Shadow-Assassin and the King's Scout. "This card will force all monsters on my field that are in attack mode to go after one creature on your field. Go King's Scout!" The warrior yelled out a battle cry and threw himself at the King's Spearman, only to get instantly pierced by the sharp weapon and blown apart.
"That was a waste of your monster and a waste of your life points," Justus couldn't believe his opponent made such an amateurish mistake.
"Actually, no it wasn't." Ichigo's hand lifted up and pointed at the Spearman, who seemed tired and worn out from his earlier fight. "Go Cyber Shadow-Assassin, attack now!" On his field the black-suited warrior nodded and charged. It knocked the weapon of the Spearman aside and placed the Quicksilver Cannon right into the warrior's stomach. Silently it started to pull the trigger until all that could be heard was the empty clicks of the gun. Then the scene ended as both monsters exploded into dust.
"When Brave Attack is active my monsters are all destroyed but their attack points are tallied against one monster target on the field. Because of this your Spearman just got hit with 2300 attack points," Ichigo lowered his pointing hand. "End turn."
Ichigo- 4000
Justus- 3200
Coughing to clear his throat of the smoke that had come from the gunfire, Justus drew. "It's been a long time since I've met anyone who used such strategy to fight me, and it's a refreshing change." He looked at the drawn card and closed his eyes with a satisfied smile on his face. "However, my family's livelihood depends on my victory, so you are going to have to lose." Taking the card, he slid it into his disk and then slapped a different card onto the plate. "I set one card face-down and summon United Resistance (1000/400) in attack mode!" A group of ragtag men in dirty clothing and with patchwork weapons appeared on the field. "Attack his Kuriboh now!" The whole group roared out a collective battle cry and leapt upon the furball, hacking it to pieces with their weapons. "End turn."
Ichigo's eyes went momentarily watery, but then they quickly regained clarity. "I promised not to hold back and you didn't either…so I can't complain. Draw!" He snapped the top card off of his deck. "I summon Cyber Shadow-Medic (1200/1600) in attack mode!" A man in black fatigues with red crosses all over his uniform appeared on the field. "His power is when he is summoned to return one warrior monster from my deck to my hand." Removing a card from the slot, he pointed at the United Resistance. "Go!"
"Not so fast!" Justus motioned to one of his two face-down cards, which flipped up. "Activate my continuous magic card Mediocrity Defense!" All of the members of the United Resistance ran over to the Oppressed People and joined them momentarily. "This raises the power of my monsters by their total attack points." (1400/2600) The whole group charged and ran over the field medic.
Ichigo- 3800
Justus- 3200
Ichigo's eyes widened and he slowly closed them. ("I…blew it.") "End turn."
Justus drew. "Welcome to the family, my boy. It won't be bad at all, I promise you." He slid a card from his hand into his duel disk. "I activate the magic card Premature Burial! This card costs 800 life points, but I can revive one monster from my graveyard to the field into attack mode!" A group of peasants who looked on the verge of running appeared on the field. "Go People Running About!" (600/600)
The men of the Oppressed People group lifted up their farming tools and stepped forward to join the United Resistance and People Running About. "Then I switch my Oppressed People into attack mode."
Ichigo gulped quietly. Though the damage he was about to take wasn't going to be enough to beat him, it was going to hurt.
Justus flipped up his remaining face-down card. "This duel is over. I activate the trap card Huge Revolution!"
"Huge Revolution?" Some people from the Obelisk Blue group gasped in complete surprise. They had heard Professor King talk about this strategy, but they had never seen anyone actually pull it off before.
"Huge Revolution?" Ichigo blinked as all the members of the United Resistance, People Running About, and Oppressed People all charged towards him at once.
Everyone winced collectively as Ichigo disappeared underneath the mass of people.
"Ichigo!" Eri, of all people, actually started to move forwards…only to have Daniel place his hand on her shoulder to stop her.
As the dust cloud from the charging group faded, Ichigo was revealed. He was face-first into the ground with dust marks and scratches all over him.
Ichigo- 1800
Justus- 3200
Justus didn't like doing this to a new member of his family, but it was required. "Huge Revolution can only be activated when United Resistance, Oppressed People, and People Running About are in play. All cards on your field and hand are sent to your graveyard. And I attacked your life points directly with these guys while I was at it." Inserting a card into his duel disk, Justus motioned to a card that appeared on his field. "Go A New Kingdom Established! This card prevents you from attacking as long as these guys are all on the field."
The Texan placed his hands into his pockets calmly. "Do you still think it was worth betting yourself to save Eri from a fate that's not that bad?"
Ichigo slowly climbed to his feet, snarling quietly. "My turn…draw!"
"So you still got some fight in you?" Justus shrugged. "Your loss."
"I'll fight you to my last breath! Eri is staying here and that…is…final!" Ichigo snapped the card around. "Go Pot of Greed!" Snapping two cards off of his deck, he slid two cards into his disk and slapped a card onto it. "I set one card face-down and then I summon Cyber Shadow-Shield Bearer (500/2400) in defense mode!" A man appeared on the field in a crouching position, with a huge steel shield in front of him to protect himself with. "End turn!"
Justus rolled his shoulders in an innocent shrug and drew. "Keep trying then. I appreciate someone with a lot of focus to their dueling skill." Frowning at the drawn card, he placed it onto his disk. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
Ichigo brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes and drew. "I flip up Polymerization!" He slapped the drawn card onto his disk. "Go Cyber Shadow-Strongarm (1900/1300) and fuse with Shield Bearer!" A towering behemoth of a warrior appeared on the field and was pulled into a vortex along with the shield-carrying warrior. What emerged was a huge man with a tower shield in one hand and a bazooka in the other. "Cyber Shadow-Big Blaster (1200/3000) in defense mode!"
"It can't attack," Justus reminded him.
"That's what you wish! Special ability activate now!" Ichigo pointed at the set monster. "Defense Breaker Blast!" The warrior moved its shield aside and lifted up the bazooka. An echoing explosion shook the building as the set monster was blown apart. "Big Blaster, when in defense mode, can destroy any defense mode monster once per turn. End turn."
Justus slid the card into his graveyard with a smirk on his face. "That was your last mistake, my boy. By destroying my Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) I can search my deck for one monster with 1500 defense points or less." He removed a card from his deck and drew for his turn. "And with these two cards I have the perfect offensive strategy to deal with you. First I'll play this magic card!" The three members of the Huge Revolution group got into position to attack again. "Go Bring Back the Revolution! This card can only work if I have A New Kingdom Established on the field. It sends that card to the field, removes my battle phase, and then activates Huge Revolution if it is in my graveyard!" The mob charged and Ichigo's monster disappeared beneath them.
Ichigo gritted his teeth as his best defense disappeared.
Justus motioned to his monsters, which all returned to him only to disappear. "Then I'll sacrifice my monsters to summon the ultimate creature!" A human in regal robes appeared on the field. "My almighty Oppressive King (1800/1500) can only be summoned by sacrificing People Running About, Oppressed People and United Resistance to summon this creature out. His effect is very controlling. Before you draw during your turn you must declare how many cards you will play that turn. If you guess it wrong then you lose. Also, if you say one or two then you lose 1000 life points per turn. So for now my turn is done."
Ichigo went silent and stared at his deck intently. "I say…"
"If you say one or two, you lose life points. If you say any more than that you lose. What more can you do then give up? It isn't like you won't get to see Erika anymore, since you and her will be related now," Justus tried to lessen the blow as much as he could.
Ichigo's eyes met the old man's for a few moments. "It isn't that…" He had yet to touch his disk. "Eri is staying here because I want her to remain here with me…"
Sammy, Ashley, Griff, Krieger, and Daniel all gasped the loudest out of the rest of the student body. The last person to say something like that had been beaten later by Eri to the point where he had to withdraw from the school. And all eyes went to look at Eri…
The demoness had her eyes closed and arms crossed. "Then prove it, instead of just standing there and getting made a fool of." Her eyes snapped open and she pointed right at Ichigo. "Pilkington, show your true power right now!"
Ichigo nodded. "I call five cards."
"Five cards?" Justus chortled and waited patiently. "Fine then."
Ichigo snapped the top card off of his deck and snapped it over to show to everyone in the crowd. When he heard gasps of surprise, he smiled slightly and moved it over enough to show to Justus.
The old man had gone silent.
Then the half-demon flipped the card over and looked at it. "It's like I thought. Go Card of Sanctity! Now we both draw six cards from our deck!" He removed six cards from his deck.
Justus did the same, though he did not yet look at what he drew.
Ichigo looked at the drawn cards and without the slightest emotion in his eyes he slid a card into his disk. "This is card number two. I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Big Blaster." The burly defense warrior reappeared on the field. "Then for card number three I play the magic card Five-Star Twilight!" His monster faded away and was replaced by a single glowing star of light. "This lets me sacrifice a level five monster to summon out these guys! Go Kuriboh Siblings!" (300/200X5) The star split into five stars, which then in turn faded away to reveal five furballs. One was blue, one was pink, one was white, one was violet and the last one was brown. "Now my Kuriboh will take you down!" Each of three creatures squeaked cutely and danced around on his field.
"I don't see how your little army of critters is going to cause me even the slightest problem," Justus wasn't affected by their cuteness.
Ichigo discarded a card from his hand. "Kuribu's special ability activates now! By discarding one trap card from my hand I can lower the attack of one monster on your field by 1500! Go now, Kuriball!" The five Kuriboh started to roll towards the Oppressive King slowly at first, though they were quickly gaining speed. Then the white member of the group leapt ahead and swallowed each of his siblings in turn, growing in size until he was as big as a beach ball. Then the ball slammed right into the king's face, sending him stumbling backwards. (300/1500)
The ball bounced back over to Ichigo's field and blew apart into the five Kuriboh Siblings. "Your monster just lost what little attack points it had Justus, and now your creature falls! I use Kuriba's special ability to sacrifice my five Kuriboh!" The five furballs floated together and disappeared in a flash of light, replaced by a blue-green giant Kuriboh that had fangs and a horn. "And this summons out Kuribabylon!" (1500/1200) "Its attack and defense are equal to the attack of the monsters sacrificed to summon it. Now you're defeated…go Kuribabylon!" Letting out a Kuriboh version of a roar, the creature flew across the field to destroy the Oppressive King.
Justus fanned out his hand and snatched a card from it, tossing it into his graveyard. "Once per turn I may discard a card from my hand to negate one attack against my King!" The King lifted its hand and glowing barrier leapt up to stop the attack. When Kuribabylon slammed into it he blew apart into his original five parts, which squeaked angrily and floated back over to Ichigo's field. "Sorry my boy, but you just got denied."
Ichigo silently slid a card from his hand into his graveyard. "I activate the effect of Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh. By discarding one card from my hand while my creature is in the graveyard I can convert any monsters with Kuri in their title on my field into Cyber Shadows!" There was a flash of light as the tuxedo-wearing spy furball appeared on the field and whistled. Each of the five Kuriboh Siblings saluted to it.
Eri rolled her eyes at the six creatures. "This is ridiculous…"
"This is his strategy at the moment," Daniel said quietly.
Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh floated amongst the five Kuriboh Siblings, spouting instructions. A minute later each of the Kuriboh Siblings was asleep from listening to the lecture. Letting out an outraged squeak, the spy Kuriboh gave up and slapped a little tag on each of the now sleeping Kuriboh that said "Junior Cyber Shadow". Nodding to Ichigo, it disappeared.
Ichigo smiled slightly as the Kuriboh Siblings woke up and got back into position. "That was card four. So now I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Justus drew. "That was an awfully long turn. However, I must admit you did well with dealing with the effect of the Oppressive King. Too bad it won't help you." He fanned out his hand and motioned to his face-up Escape from Oppression trap card. "By sacrificing a continuous trap card on my field and discarding three cards, I can prevent you from drawing cards during your draw phase for the rest of the game!"
"What?" Ichigo's eyes widened as his disk beeped and locked his deck slot closed.
"That isn't all though," Justus slapped a card onto his disk. "I summon King's Guard (1400/1300) in attack mode!" A man in steel armor with a shield and sword appeared on the field. "Go kill those critters now!" He charged forwards and raised his sword to chop through one of the five Kuriboh Siblings.
"It's not that easy!" Ichigo motioned to one of the five. "Kuribi's special ability activates now! Go Star Defense!" Each of the five Kuriboh Siblings lifted their hands and created a little glowing star that was the same color as they were. Each of the stars launched out and formed one large star that caught the sword strike and blocked it. "Once per game I can use Kuribi's special ability to negate one attack."
Justus discarded a card from his hand. "And I can discard a card from my hand to make my King's Sentry attack if its first attack was negated! Go!" The warrior smacked the star aside and charged…only to hit nothing but air. "Where'd they go?"
Ichigo held up his set card. "My trap card Narrow Escape saved my Cyber Shadow Kuriboh Siblings from your attack and ended your turn." The five Kuriboh reappeared on the field. "And I get to draw one card thanks to the effect of my trap."
Justus nodded slightly. "But now you have to call how many cards you'll be using this turn. If you call one or two you will take damage, and if you call higher then you will most likely lose."
"I call five again." Ichigo ignored the murmurs of the crowd about how he was performing suicide. "I play the magic card Hand Control! This lets me call one card and if that card is in your hand it activates immediately! I call Card of Sanctity!"
Justus' eyes widened and he stared at the card in his hand like it had betrayed him. "How did you know what card I was holding?"
"Because you were sacrificing cards from your hand like it didn't matter what happened to them," Ichigo drew five cards and added them to his hand, while his opponent did the same. "That counts as my first card. Now I fuse my Kuriboh Siblings together to create Kuribabylon once more!" The five furballs flew together and turned into the monster version of the cuteness. "Then I sacrifice Kuribabylon to summon Cyber Shadow-Moonblade (2000/1700) in attack mode!" A blond-haired woman appeared on the field in place of the furry monster. She nodded to Ichigo. He nodded back and discarded a card from his hand. "Then I activate her effect! By discarding one card from my hand I can add a Polymerization magic card and one Cyber Shadow from my deck to my hand!" Removing two cards from the stack, he added them to his hand and shuffled his deck.
("He's going to try to form that monster from before…") Eri watched silently.
Ichigo slid a card from his hand into his disk. "Next I activate Polymerization and fuse Cyber Shadow-Blademaster (2000/1600) with Moonblade to create Cyber Shadow-Boss!" (3000/2200) A tall woman in futuristic armor appeared on the field. In her hands was a pair of glowing energy swords. "This monster's special ability lets it gain 200 attack points for every Cyber Shadow in my graveyard!" (5400/2200) "Go and attack his Sentry now!" The female warrior leapt forward, only to slam into a glowing barrier of light.
Justus discarded a card from his hand. "Oppressive King's power stops your attack."
Ichigo slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down on the field and then play the continuous magic card Cyber Shadow Mainframe. As long as this remains in play all Cyber Shadows gain 500 attack points!" (5900/2200) "End turn!"
Justus drew. "This is getting good. Now then, prepare yourself to lose. I play the magic card Revolutionaries Charge!" His Oppressive King and the Sentry exploded into dust. "I must sacrifice a King's monster and the King himself for this effect to work. Now I take Oppressed People, People Running About, and United Resistance into my hand. After that I can sacrifice three cards from my hand to summon those three back to the field!" The mob returned, but this time they returned with Pitchforks and Torches. "Then I can take back one trap card from my graveyard." Removing a card from his graveyard, the man inserted it into his disk. "I set two cards face-down on the field and end my turn."
Ichigo glanced at his deck and frowned. ("I can't do anything with these cards so far. I have to get rid of his monsters before they can start the Huge Revolution.") He started to point at the Oppressed People…
Justus discarded the last card in his hand and a glowing barrier appeared around his field. "I activate my trap card, which is called Energy of the Mediocre. This effect will stop all monsters with over 500 attack points from attacking this turn. However, anything that can attack gets a direct attack."
Ichigo's eyes widened and his lip started to quiver.
"I'm sorry to do that to you, my…" Justus blinked as Ichigo's lips curled slightly into a smirk.
"You just gave me the win." Ichigo motioned to his face-down card. "Go Focused Summon! This trap card lets me send two cards on my field back to my hand and then I can special summon a monster from my hand to the field with 500 extra attack points!" His Boss disappeared into his fusion deck and his Mainframe returned to his hand. "Now…for my final blow!" A smooth-plated silver robot appeared on the field in a standing position. "Cyber Shadow-Guardian (500/2200) in attack mode!"
Justus chuckled. "Do you really expect that to stop me? It can attack me directly, but it only has 500 attack points."
"Sometimes strength isn't needed for a victory…just heart and a good reason to win!" Ichigo slid a card into his disk. "I activate Cyber Shadow Mainframe, choosing to use its effect to raise the defense points of all Cyber Shadows by 1000 this time!" (500/3200)
"You understand that my set card is Huge Revolution, right?" Justus didn't understand why someone would raise the defense of a monster that was in attack mode.
Ichigo ignored him, looking over at Eri instead. "You wanted to see my best? This is it." He flipped the card in his hand over. "Go Life Risking Charge! This card works only if I have a monster on the field with 1000 or less attack points. Now I pay 1000 life points."
Ichigo- 800
Justus- 3200
Ichigo pointed at Justus. "Go Guardian, attack his life points directly!" The machine released a beam of prismatic light from its eyes that slammed into Justus' chest and sent him stumbling backwards.
Ichigo- 800
Justus- 2700
Brushing a bit of dust off of his suit, Justus tipped his hat to Ichigo. "Welcome to the family, because that was your last move."
"Yes it was," Ichigo nodded. "Life Risking Charge activates if during this turn that 1000 or less attack monster deals you life point damage. It adds the damage of that monster's defense points to the battle damage you take!"
Ichigo- 800
Justus- 0
Justus felt his heart skip a few beats. "I…lost?"
Ichigo nodded and shuffled his deck back together. "Now go away and leave Eri alone."
Regaining his composure quickly, the old man nodded slightly. "You possess potential to be the best, my boy. Enjoy your new fiancée." He removed the contract from his coat pocket and threw it to Daniel, who caught it and was already reading over the fine print.
-
A few minutes later Ichigo was surrounded by the rest of his classmates.
"That was so romantic!" Ashley ruffled Ichigo's hair. "You're like a knight in shining armor."
Smirking, Ichigo looked past the groups of students to one particular student.
The crowd parted and Eri walked up to him slowly. "You showed your true power. I'm impressed."
"Hey, I said you weren't leaving and I meant it." The half-demon gave her a thumbs-up and turned to walk off, still smirking. ("Now to walk off and make myself seem like the great gentleman…")
"Hey Ichigo!" Daniel referred to his son by his first name when in school, to avoid embarrassment on both of their parts. "You should have read the contract before accepting that duel. Or maybe you understand that Eri is now your legal fiancée?"
Ichigo stumbled and crashed face-first to the ground. "What?"
"Fiancée? Him?" Eri's eyes widened and she barely heard the excited words coming out of the mouths of all the nearby girls.
Ichigo came to his to receive reassuring pats and the occasional congratulations. ("…Oh Luna, why me?")
To be continued…
Author's Notes: Hello and welcome to the newest exciting arc of LDD. I hope you enjoyed the first episode and plan on continuing to read my further chapters. For all of my devote readers, I thank you once again for your help and criticism. For all new readers, enjoy and e-mail me if you have any questions about the storyline.
BTW, the gold and silver-eyed dude at the end of my first arc was not Dartz. Just thought I'd get that off my chest.