The Shadow Falls

HES: It's the sequel you've all been waiting for! I thank you all for your patience so get ready for the aftermath of Amateur Duelist!

Chapter 1: Shades of Death

Ryu-Yami stood on the obsidian platform as a cruel laugh filled the dark sky. "Show yourself!" He said, his voice wavering. The laugh continued and he saw his enemy appear. The figure was of medium height and clad in a black robe. A duel disk on his left arm.

"You'll pay!" Came the adversary's voice as he drew his cards. "It's a game no longer!" Ryu Yami looked puzzled at the reply but drew his cards.

Ryu-Yami 8000/??? 8000

"I'll start with a set monster and end my turn," Ryu-Yami declared fearfully. His opponent snickered drawing his own card.

"I summon Jinzo #7!" 500/400. An android with purple skin and metal armor appeared. "Now attack him directly!" The machine gladly replied to the request and fired a blast of green energy that moved directly into Ryu-Yami. He clutched at his chest as the attack him.

Ryu-Yami 7500/??? 8000

"I'll end my setting two cards," the figure finished.

"The pain...it was real..." Ryu-Yami stammered as he picked up another card. "I sacrifice my set monster to summon Luster Dragon!" 2400/2000. A shimmering green dragon floated slowing down to the field. "Now attack his Jinzo #7!" The dragon reared its head back and open its massive jaws to release a jet of flame that surrounded Jinzo #7.

"I activate Negate Attack," the figure murmured flipping his trap card. Ryu-Yami watched in horror as his mighty dragon was swept back. "Now for my turn. I activate Creature Swap!" The field began to shimmer strangely and the figure smiled as Luster Dragon became his. "Now I summon Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams!" 1300/1800. A horrific ghost clutching a shield and sword hovered before Ryu-Yami's enemy. "Now Gross Ghost, attack his Jinzo #7!" The phantom flew swiftly through the air and slashed the android in half. Ryu-Yami clutched his arm as pain filled him. "Now attack directly Luster Dragon!" The dragon fired a burst of flame that engulfed Ryu-Yami, causing him to fall to his knees in pain.

Ryu-Yami 4300/??? 8000

"Is...that the best you can do?" Ryu-Yami stated with false courage rising to his feet. He smiled upon seeing his card, Fiber Jar. "I set a monster and end my turn."

The figure seemed unmoved. "Give up and save your life while you still can," it said. "I summon Sasuke Samurai!" 1000/500. A short, but powerful looking samurai appeared. He wore a blue robe and carried a wakizashi. "Now attack his monster my samurai!" The warrior ran and nimbly slashed the Jar in half.

"Fool! My Fiber Jar will..." But Ryu-Yami was cut off.

"Sasuke Samurai nullifies your Jar's effect. Now attack directly my Ghost and Dragon!" The two monsters attacked as one, with Luster Dragon lighting Gross Ghost on fire and sending him to slash at Ryu-Yami.

Ryu-Yami 1100/??? 8000

"Impossible! I can't be beaten by you!" Ryu-Yami cried. "I'll find some card to beat you," he looked admiringly as he drew. "I play Soul Exchange so I can sacrifice..."

"Sorry, no," the figure chuckled flipping his other card. "Magic Jammer counters so long as I discard this other worthless card to the graveyard."

"Damn! You can't be doing this!" Ryu-Yami stammered.

"I can...attack him my monsters!" Ryu-Yami fell face first to the ground as the attack took its toll.

Ryu-Yami 0/??? 8000

As the opponent approached, Ryu-Yami managed to state one question "Who are you?"

"Shadow!"

"AHHHHHH!"

Ryu-Yami jolted up in bed. "A dream?" He asked himself, but it had seemed so real. No, it was impossible, he had ordered Shadow be killed a year ago. Had he returned for vengeance? To clear his head, the technology company owner went over to the sink and poured himself a glass of water he quickly emptied. He felt his warm forehead. "I must have a fever, I'd better take a day off."

Meanwhile, at the home of Nikki...

Nikki couldn't sleep, it was just too exciting! Tomorrow would be the one-year anniversary of Ryu-Yami's tournament. She had spent the previous day making calls and arrangements left and right for all the finalists (except Larry and Ryu-Yami of course) to meet for a day of hanging out and dueling. She thumbed through her deck trying to improve it as best she could. At her last birthday she had gotten a few new cards to improve her deck's prowess. Also, she had a bone to pick with her rival, Mark. She was also anxious to see her cousin Raijouta, one of the best duelists she knew. The other three invited were Baxter, world's smartest duelist, Izumi, voted best female duelist worldwide and Ryu-Hikari, the only person who had publicly beaten Ryu-Yami. She wishes she could have just one practice duel before tomorrow to prepare herself for the oncoming day. Suddenly, she had a strange feeling, like someone important had just died. She decided not to dwell on the matter and went to sleep.

"Oh yeah...well my dragon..."

"You'd better be careful, my..."

"Ha ha ha! You can't destroy the..."

"Try...and....see?"

Nikki awoke and quickly dressed upon hearing the voices from outside. She looked to see a group of teenagers dueling. She couldn't identify them, but she was almost sure they had participated in the tournament by the duel disks strapped to their arms. "Any of you guys want to duel me?" She called down. They laughed.

"You, sure," one of them, a tall spiky haired blonde said. "It'll be easy."

"Me too," cried the second, a shorter duelist with dark skin.

"Yeah, I'll have no trouble," the final said, a medium height duelist with an earring.

"I'll be down in a second," Nikki called down, "but don't underestimate me, I was a finalist in Ryu-Yami's tournament." She raced down the stairs and out the door with the duel disk strapped to her arm.

"We've been thinking," the tall one began, "since you're so good, what do you say to a three on one duel?" Nikki smirked.

"Even so, I'll beat you all easy." She drew her cards and got ready as they drew theirs.

Nikki 8000/Dueling Team 8000

Special Rules: The team of three duelists fight as one. In total, all three can have no more than five monsters and five magic/trap cards. They all have one life point count and they lose when it reaches 0 as normal. Their graveyards and fields are all counted as one thing. The duel proceeds to the single duelist, then a chosen member of a team, then back to the single and so on.

Nikki got ready as she played the first card. "I summon Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode!" 1900/1700. A mage wearing a dark robe holding a long staff emerged. He twirled the staff artfully as he prepared for combat. "Now I set two cards and end my turn."

The tall duelist smirked. "That's your best move? Pathetic," he placed his card on the field. "I activate Cost Down! By discarding one card from my hand the levels of my monsters drop by 2." He sent a card to the graveyard and got ready to summon. "I summon Amphibian Beast in attack mode!" 2400/2000. A frog-like creature with light green scales and sharp claws appeared. "Now attack her Magician!" As the amphibian attacked, it was flung back.

"My Negate Attack card," Nikki boasted. "I'm safe for this turn."

The duelist frowned as he finished his turn. "I'll set one card and end my turn."

"Now my turn again," Nikki said. "And thanks to your Cost Down magic card last turn, my Skilled Dark Magician gains a spell token." Suddenly, the magician's staff began to glow and a green jewel appeared at the top. "Now I play Rush Recklessly! This magic card gives my magician 700 extra attack points for this turn and because it's a magic card, my magician gets another spell counter." The mage growled and seemed to grow in size as his attack increased. 2600/1700. After the effect had started, another green jewel had appeared at the top of the staff beside the first. "Now attack his Amphibian Beast!" The wizard spun his staff deftly and shot a blast of dark energy that destroyed the creature.

Nikki 8000/Dueling Team 7800

"My turn now," said the short duelist. "I set one monster as well as three cards and then I end my turn."

Nikki stared at him oddly. "That's it? You guys will have to start playing a lot better than that to beat me." She drew a card and then smiled. "Let's see how you handle this. I sacrifice my set monster for Dark Magician Girl!" 2000/1800. A female magician in blue and pink armor appeared. She held a blue staff with an odd gold symbol at the end. "Now Dark Magician Girl, attack his set monster!" The magician fired a blast that smashed through her opponent's monster. However, he smiled.

"By destroying my Giant Rat I can special summon an Earth Monster to the field in attack mode," the duelist said. He searched his deck and placed a card. "I summon Nimble Momonga in attack mode!" 1000/100. A small, brown flying squirrel appeared and moved quickly back and forth.

"That's still a weak monster," Nikki replied. "Attack his Nimble Momonga my Skilled Dark Magician!" The magician twirled his staff and fired a blast that destroyed the monster. Nikki looked appalled as she saw her opponent's life points and field.

Nikki 8000/Dueling Team 7900

The duelist placed two more Nimble Momongas on the field in defense mode before starting to speak. "When Nimble Momonga is destroyed, I gain 1000 life points and get to summon any other Nimble Momongas I want from my deck."

"Then in that case I set a card and end my turn." Nikki declared.

"Now it's my turn to teach you a lesson," the duelist with the earring began. "I play the Cheerful Coffin, this magic card allows me to discard two cards in my hand."

"Well, that's a weird move," Nikki began, "also considering it gives my Skilled Dark Magic his final spell token!" The staff glowed brightly as all three gems melded into one larger stone.

"That's none of my concern," the duelist continued. "I remove my Crimson Sentry from the graveyard which allows me to special summon my Spirit of Flames!" 1700/1000. A massive monster that resembled the summon skull emerged from a mighty fire. "And now I get to normal summon a monster, so I choose to set a monster. Now, I'll play Hinotama!" Balls of fire rained from the sky and hit Nikki dead on.

Nikki 7500/Dueling Team 7900

"Now, because I don't trust your trap I end my turn." The duelist finished.

Nikki shrugged. "Oh well, it's time to finish you all off. I sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician activating his effect allowing me to summon a Dark Magician from my deck!" The skilled magician disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then, as the smoke cleared, a mighty wizard in purple armor holding a green staff appeared. "Now Dark Magician, attack Spirit of Flames!" The mage shot a powerful blast that destroyed the fire monster. "Now Dark Magician Girl, attack his set monster!" The blast flew and destroyed a strange metallic turtle.

"Remember Giant Rat?" The duelist continued. "This is UFO Turtle. His effect is the same, just with Fire monsters, so now I summon Gorlag in attack mode!" 1000/500. A great demon made of fire appeared on the field. "He gains an extra 500 attack points for every fire monster in play, including himself." The monster grew larger as his attack increased to 1500.

"I end my turn," Nikki sighed.

The tall duelist drew his card. "I sacrifice Earth's Nimble Momonga for my Zaborg the Thunder Monarch!" 2400/1000. A mighty king wreathed in lightning and storm clouds flew down from the heavens. He raised his hands and shot a blast of energy that destroyed Dark Magician. "His effect let's me destroy one monster when he comes into play."

Nikki looked at him oddly. "Did you just call him Earth?" She said pointing at the short, dark skinned duelist.

"Yes," the tall duelist replied. "We are the ultimate team, Storm, that's me, Earth, you already know and our last member is Fire. But now on with the duel, now attack her Dark Magician Girl, Zaborg!" Clouds gathered and lightning flashed destroying Nikki's Dark Magician Girl.

Nikki 7400/Dueling Team 7900

"It's time for me to stop fooling around," Nikki remarked. "I play Cost Down! By discarding one card from my hand I can lower the level of all the monsters in my hand by two. So now I discard Title Of a Knight to allow me to summon my second Dark Magician Girl!" 2000/1800. The female magician twirled her staff artfully as she prepared for combat. "Because I have a Dark Magician in my graveyard, she gains 300 attack points," Nikki added. 2300/1800. "Now I equip her with Book of Secret Arts!" A tome and quill appeared before the magician and she began to flip the pages. After she finished, her staff grew in size and a green aura pulsed around her. "Now attack Zaborg with Ancient Dark Magic Attack!" The mage levitated high into the air and fired a dark purple beam at the monster.

Nikki 7400/Dueling Team 7700

"Damn she's good," Fire muttered. "Earth, take her out."

"Gladly," he said. "Now I'll set a monster and end my turn."

Nikki looked puzzled. "That's it? Come on! Now to show you how a real duelist fights. Attack Earth's set monster Dark Magician Girl!" As her blast flew, the monster appeared as a strange jar covered in branches.

"You look surprised," Earth said, "never seen a Fiber Jar before?"

"That card..." Nikki growled.

"I assume you know what it does, so let's all take our hands, fields and graveyards, return them to our deck, shuffle it and draw five new cards." Earth instructed.

"Well, this hand isn't too bad," Nikki thought. "Since I didn't summon before, now I can. So I set one monster as well as two cards and I end my turn."

"That's fine," Fire laughed. "Like sports Nikki? Because if so, my next card will be a favorite, I summon Ultimate Baseball Kid!" (HES: Yes, it is a real card I have it) 500/1000. A young boy wearing a red-orange batting helmet and uniform appeared. He swung a strange gray bat the resembled more of a spiked club than an object for sports. "Now I play Reasoning. Nikki, choose a level of monster would you?"

"I know that card. I assume you use mostly weaker monster because you haven't sacrificed yet so I choose four!" Nikki called out.

Fire began picking up cards and sending them to the graveyard. Finally, he came upon a monster. "It's not a level four, it my Flame Cerberus!" 2100/1800. A large dog beast with three heads made of fire appeared and roared loudly. "Now remember Ultimate Baseball Kid? He gains 1000 attack points for every Fire monster in play." 1500/1000. "Now Flame Cerebrus attack her set monster!" The beast roared and from its heads sprang jets of fire. The monster disintegrated rapidly but not without Nikki's smile.

"Thanks, by destroying Witch of the Black Forest I can add any monster with 1500 or less defense points to my hand," Nikki searched her deck and pulled out a card.

"It doesn't matter what you chose! Ultimate Baseball Kid attack!" As Fire gave his command, the child lifted his bat high into the air. A ball made of fire fell from the heavens and he struck it, sending it directly into Nikki's life points.

Nikki 7400/Dueling Team 7700

"How the hell?" Storm wondered.

"I played my Waboku card. It does come in handy for protecting me from damage."

"I may have to end my turn, but next time, I'll crush you." Fire bellowed.

"Now it's my turn again," Nikki said with glee. "I summon Gemini Elf in attack mode!" 1900/900. Two female elves appeared and looked sternly at Nikki's opponents. "Now I play Yami!" Darkness enshrouded the entire field and Nikki's opponents watched, as her elves grew more powerful. 2100/1100. "Now attack Ultimate Baseball Kid!" The elves rushed in and delivered several punches and kicks to the child.

Nikki 7400/ Dueling Team 7100

"Uh, maybe I can make up for my friend's failures," Storm said. "I summon King of Swamps in attack mode!" 500/1100. A strange man made of water appeared on the field. "Now I set two cards and end my turn."

"Why play such a weak card?" Nikki asked.

"You'll see..." Storm replied.

"Well it's my turn. I will find out whatever it does and stop it. Now I summon Skilled White Magician in attack mode!" 1700/1900. A mage wearing a white robe and holding a staff emerged from Nikki's field. "Now attack his King of Swamps Skilled White Magician!" The mage fired a blast of energy but the attack rebounded and Nikki watched her two monsters explode.

"My Mirror Force speaks for itself now doesn't it?" Storm replied.

Nikki looked depressed as she set a card and ended her turn.

"Now it's time for our plan to work," Earth said. "I play Polymerization to fuse King of Swamps and my Buster Blader to summon Dark Paladin!" 2900/2500. A mage that resembled the Dark Magician wearing gold armor appeared. He held a mighty sword in his hand and looked ready for combat.

"That's cheating!" Nikki yelled. "You must fuse Dark Magician with Buster Blader in order to summon Dark Paladin!"

"The effect of King of Swamps allows him to be substituted as any fusion monster in a fusion," Storm informed her. "Now continued Earth."

"Gladly, I summon Battle Ox in attack mode!" 1700/1000. A mighty Minotaur with an axe wearing red and gold armor snorted and held his weapon at the ready. "Now my two monsters attack her life points directly!" The paladin raised his sword and slashed Nikki causing her to fall on her back. The Battle Ox flew forth and delivered his own cleave with the mighty axe.

Nikki 2800/Dueling Team 7100

"I won't quit," Nikki replied. "I must get better if I'm ever going to beat the others today." She closed her eyes and concentrated as she drew. "Perfect. I play Snatch Steal on Dark Paladin and summon Harpie's Brother in attack mode!" 1800/600. A mighty male Harpie with brown clothes and red claws glided downwards and flexed his mighty wings. "Now Dark Paladin attack Battle Ox!" The warrior leapt into the sky and brought his sword down through the beast. "Now attack directly Harpie's Brother!" The monster flew into the air and dive-bombed at full speed hitting Earth, then Fire and finally Storm.

Nikki 2800/Dueling Team 4100

"That's not so bad," Fire snickered. "Thanks to Snatch Steal we gain 1000 life points every turn."

Nikki 2800/Dueling Team 5100

"Now I'll set a monster as well as a card and end my turn." Fire finished. "Attack if you dare."

"I don't fear your magic and traps cards because they're history. I play Mystical Space Typhoon!" A bolt of lightning flew and destroyed Fire's set card.

"Damn! My Mirror Wall would've added some heavy damage."

"That's right," Nikki said. "Now for my next move I summon Luster Dragon!" 1900/1600. A shimmering dragon with slightly tattered wings stood before Nikki. "And don't forget, for every dragon in play my Dark Paladin gains 500 attack points." 3400/2500. "Now Luster Dragon attack the set monster!" A breath of shining fire engulfed the monster. "Now attack directly Dark Paladin and Harpie's Brother!" The two monster charged forth and cut a swathe across the team's life points.

Nikki 2800/Dueling Team 0

"She...beat us?" Earth mumbled.

"He won't be happy..." Storm continued.

"Shut up!" Fire cried grabbing them both by their shirt collars and pulling them along. "We can't let her know." The three raced off with a puzzled Nikki standing there.

"I can't just stand around, I have to get to the others, and our party!" Nikki said racing off down the streets not knowing what was in store.

HES: Well, I promised you a sequel, so now it begins. I know this chapter was long, but I still hope you liked it. Anyway, I will make you a promise: I will come out with one to two chapters a month as long as you review. Ok? Cool.

Next time on The Shadow Falls: Nikki arrives to see her friends from Ryu-Yami's tournament and they start their party. However, two strange people show up, a brother and sister by the names of Shift and Phase. What do they have against Raijouta? Why do they want to duel Ryu-Hikari? Find out next time on The Shadow Falls!