Author's Note: Here's the lowdown; my e-mail got hacked, I deleted it, I couldn't recover it, I lost all my documents, and I had to make this one to replace my old one. I am still Imagineer379, but I can no longer access that account anymore, because I deleted that e-mail. It took me a good while to get all my old documents together, and I lost my drafts when I was moving to my new apartment, and that's why it took so long for me to post stuff. Not to mention all my finals I had to go through. I wanted to die halfway through them. Please note that these chapters will be edited versions of the originals. Chapters 2-4 of TDoE were NOT my best work, and I feel I took my creative liberties too far with them. Now with that all out of the way, I present the first edited chapter of The Duelist of Equestria!
Chapter 1: The Tournament and Terrorism
"Great, rain." I grumbled as I walked to my apartment. Walking home wasn't exactly the best idea, especially since live close to a more worn down section of Detroit, but my bike had been stolen the night before, so walking was the only option. As I approached the alley that led to the entrance of the building, five figures slunk out of the shadows, effectively blocking his path. I groaned. I knew them well. They were members representing the gang that ran this side of the city; the Duelists.
"James Connell." The woman in the middle called out. She had her raven black hair in a pixie cut, framing a beautiful, chiseled face with high cheekbones. Her green eyes were framed by long eyelashes, and a smirk showed itself on her lips.
"Danielle. It's been a long time." I said, my hand drifting towards my hip. Danielle eyed me hungrily. I knew I had to be strong, if I wanted to live in Detroit, so I hit the gym hard. Over the course of the six months of living here, I had put on quite a bit of muscle. Through the intense training program a friend of mine made, I had gained a solid six pack and had developed the rest of my body incredibly well. On this occasion, I wore a dark blue shirt, a black leather jacket, black jeans, and blue shoes, all of which really clung to my solid frame, outlining my well defined muscles. I rolled my eyes at her hungry gaze, as most women did that upon seeing me these days. I was about to say something, when the man next to Danielle nudged her. She snapped out of her train of thought, looking embarrassed.
"I assume that Granger wants something from me." I said, slowly stepping forward, moving my hand away from his hip. Danielle looked me in my ice blue eyes.
"Granger wants me to assess your skills." Danielle purred, stepping towards me, swaying her hips seductively. My eyes widened, remembering it was time for the bi-annual skill check.
The reason this gang called themselves the Duelists, was because they were the best Yu-Gi-Oh players in the state, possibly the nation. They were amazing at it. Sure, they used force to get control, but dueling was their mojo. Other gangs in the city used to look down on them because of it. I say used to, because when the other gangs tried to take the Duelists' territory, because they thought they would be easy to take out, it didn't end well for them. The result was… apocalyptic. The Duelists were described as raging bulls and rabid ussuri brown bears, with guns. No gang ever tried to take on the Duelists again.
The Duelists weren't a bad gang. They were one of the largest, large enough to be considered a crime family. They defended their territory, and allowed people to move in and live there; provided they understood that the Duelists were in charge. All rent was paid to the Duelists. The biggest rule of the Duelists was that everybody who lived in their territory aged 16 or older was technically a member of the Duelists, and they were expected to play Yu-Gi-Oh.
I was already a skilled duelist before I moved to Detroit, so I fit into this neighborhood pretty well. My skills also earned the attention of the Duelists boss, Father Granger. Yes, he called himself Father Granger. He took a personal interest in me, due to my skills in dueling. I had only seen him twice, but never in person. The first was to welcome me into their territory, and the second was to assess my skills as a duelist. He was a tough opponent, but so was I. The duel took a solid three hours. He beat me, but I managed to beat him down to about five hundred life points. Father Granger always wore an elaborate mask with a voice scrambler, so nobody except his inner circle knew who he was.
"So, do you want to do this inside, or here?" I asked. Danielle smiled.
"Oh, you're such a gentleman, letting a lady choose. We'll do this inside your apartment." Danielle said. I shrugged, and walked inside.
A few minutes later, Danielle and I were comfortably seated in my apartment, her escorts waiting in the lobby. I lived on the thirteenth floor. Yes, the building has a labeled thirteenth floor. The building is called Grayson Apartments, and it sits halfway over the border of the Duelists territory, and the edge of the unofficial border where the city laws are still effective. The Duelists still allowed some of the city laws to remain, but they had put many of their own in place. The cops were permitted inside the Duelists territory, but only for routine patrols and arrests. The Duelists policed their own people inside their territory, and actually worked with the Detroit police force on occasion. Cool fun fact about this section of town; Father Granger tried to BUY this section from the city, attempting to officially mark it as Duelist territory. The city disagreed, but ever since, this section of town was known as 'The Duelist District'. Even the mayor calls it that.
Anyway, Danielle and I had set up the board for the duel. I was about to draw my hand, when she stopped me.
"Questions first, James." She purred, seductiveness dripping from each word. I gulped slightly. I've always been awkward and uncomfortable around women. I'm sort of immune to them trying to seduce me, but I wasn't completely immune.
"First question, how many decks do you currently possess?" I relaxed a bit.
"I currently own three decks; a warrior/spellcaster mashup, a dragunity deck, and a machine deck." I stated. Danielle raised an eyebrow, as she wrote it down.
"Second question, how many duels have you had in the last six months?" This was a little tricky to answer, seeing as I had attended around ten to twelve different tournaments, placing in either first or second. It was how I made most of my money. They weren't official tournaments either. They were underground tournaments, organized by shady benefactors. I had won plenty of rare cards and money as a result. My decks were strong, and my skills matched by few. After a few more questions, we dueled. I used my dragunity deck against her amazoness deck. The duel was one sided from the start, in Danielle's favor.
I'll very quickly explain how a Yu-Gi-Oh duel works. Typical duels involve two duelists, but they can have more. They take turns summoning monsters to their side of the field. The objective is to reduce your opponent's life points down to zero, whilst defending your own. Duelists typically have 8000 life points at the start of a duel, but the amounts can vary. Your deck can have between 40-60 cards in it, not counting the side deck and the extra deck. Coupled along with the monsters being summoned, you can play various spells and traps to better shift the odds in your favor. Some spells and traps destroy others, some destroy monsters, some strengthen your monsters, and the possibilities go on and on. Some monsters have special abilities that can be used, some depending on certain circumstances. Take the monster Mataza the Zapper for example. He cannot be taken control of by your opponent, and he can make a second attack whenever he does attack. Some monsters have specific summoning conditions, like Valkyrion the Magna Warrior. In order to summon him, one must tribute Alpha the Magna Warrior, Beta the Magna Warrior, and Gamma the Magna Warrior.
Each monster has an attack and defense number, a level (sometimes referred to as a rank), a type (some have more than one), an attribute (attributes could be fire, earth, air, water, dark, light, or divine), a photo of the monster, and a description. There are seven different kinds of monster, but I'll get into them later.
Despite Danielle having a massive upper hand, I still won with 1000 of my life points still intact. I smirked at her distraught face.
"Next time you make a direct attack, be prepared for payback." I said, cleaning up my deck. Danielle was also distraught because she made a wager against me; if she won I would have to sleep with her for a week, and she could make this happen, due to her being a part of Father Granger's inner circle. If I won, she would have to settle with the sight of me naked.
I stripped down in my bathroom, and then came back out. Danielle nearly jumped my bones at the sight. After a few minutes of letting her drool at seeing me nude, I got dressed again, and let her leave. Afterwards, I noticed she left two things; her phone number, and a black pair of panties.
I kept the phone number, but threw the panties out, with some difficulty. I pocketed Danielle's phone number, showered, and got ready for tonight. I was entered in another underground tournament, the biggest I had ever participated in. It only came around once every three years, and had a reputation for being one of the toughest tournaments ever, but the prizes were absolutely insane. This was also one of the few mass tournaments that dispensed with the banlist for cards. Every card was fair game in this tournament.
I headed outside, and after a few mishaps and close calls, I was at the tournament. The dress code for the tournament was a costume of any monster or character from any Yu-Gi-Oh series or card. I saw some of the most amazing costumes there. I chose to dress as one of my favorite monsters; Ma'at. Ma'at is the Egyptian word for order. The monster is tricky to use though. His attack and defense depend on how well you know your deck. I can't really describe Ma'at's attire, it's too amazing. I got plenty of awestruck stares as I joined up with the few friends I had gained from my time in Detroit.
"Hey man, WHOA!" Jack said, turning to look at me. Jackson McCoy was the first person who really welcomed me into the Duelist territory. He was a pretty cool guy and a fantastic duelist. Jack favored a power-warrior deck, centered on tributing his opponent's monsters to summon his own high level monsters. Cards like brain control and soul exchange were pretty common in his deck. Jack was dressed as one of his greatest monsters, the almighty Gilford the Lightning.
"Yeah man, your costume looks too good to be real." Hendrick said appreciatively. I met Hendrick Cottonmouth a couple days after I moved into this part of town. Hendrick's deck was a Fire Fist deck, and filled to the brim with monsters that had powerful synergy bonuses when used together. Hendrick is nearly impossible to defeat when using that deck. I was only able to defeat him with my Dragunity deck, which also contains powerful synergies within it. Hendrick was dressed as Brotherhood of the Fire Fist- Horse Prince. The role suited him well, seeing as Hendrick is of royal blood.
"Wow dude, you really went all out." Jared said eyeing me approvingly. Jared Kamaya had helped me out of a tight spot once, and we've been good friends ever since. He used a Six Samurai deck, and it was pretty powerful. Jared really fit the role of his costume, The Six Samurai-Irou. His parents moved to the U.S from Japan, and were killed by a gang a few years afterwards. Jared was thirteen when it happened, but he found a new family, in the form of the Duelists. Father Granger himself saved him from a rival gang, and took him under his wing.
"Well, now that James is here, we're complete." An elderly voice said. I turned and my jaw dropped. Rudy Smith had appeared out of nowhere. Rudy was 76 years old, and he was one of the greatest Duelists I had ever met, one of their founding members. Rudy had a deck chock full of spellcasters, fairies, and fiends. Rudy himself chose to dress as the mighty Dark Sage, which he pulled off so well, I thought he actually was Dark Sage. BTW, he grew his beard out and trimmed it to match Dark Sage.
"Thanks guys, and you all look amazing as well." I said earnestly. A few minutes later, we were all gathered around a massive stage. The lights dimmed. Flash pots went off, as seven announcers appeared. We all clapped and cheered at the show. Three announcers were dressed as the three legendary knights; Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos, and the other three were humanized versions of the three Egyptian God monsters; Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and the Winged Dragon of Ra. The seventh was hidden in shadow. There were some catcalls at the Egyptian God monsters, for they were all women dressed in some very sexy costumes. The one that was dressed as Obelisk wore a sexy skin tight royal blue triangle bikini two piece, with huge demonic wings protruding from the back, and massive royal blue gauntlets and boots that looked like Obelisk's hands and feet. She had a headpiece with Obelisk's horns protruding from it.
The Winged Dragon of Ra wore a tight golden yellow pretzelkini, with sharp feathery wings coming out of the back. She had a headpiece that was the head of the dragon, which sat above her face. Like the Obelisk announcer, she had gauntlets and boots that looked like the dragon's clawed hands and talons.
The one dressed as Slifer was the one that really captured my eyes. She wore a tight red trikini with Slifer's scales patterned in the front, and huge crimson bat wings coming out of the back. Her headpiece was Slifer's head, positioned so it rested above her gorgeous face. Her arms were covered in a translucent red material, and her hands were covers in tight, thin red gloves with Slifer's talons on the ends of her fingers. Since Slifer didn't have legs, the cosplayer's legs were covered in a skin-tight mesh patterned to look like his tail. The cosplayers were so sexy, I was certain if the three Egyptian God monsters were actually there in person, their noses would've transformed into bloody replicas of Niagara Falls, and would probably propose marriage on the spot. I looked over at my friends that were trying hard not to drool, well, all except Rudy. He looked at the stage calmly. The man cannot be fazed. He once mistakenly walked into an underground brothel, saw where he was, shrugged, and walked back out, completely unaffected. What he was doing in that district is still a mystery.
I couldn't blame my friends though. Those girls were hot enough to make lava look like ice. The announcers smiled broadly, and spoke.
"Hello fellow Duelists!" Timaeus said into his mic. "Well, we have a massive turnout tonight, and it's better than we ever expected." Critias proclaimed loudly.
"It really warms our hearts to see how many of you have taken on the roles of Duelists." Hermos said warmly.
"This tournament, we decided to do something a little different." Obelisk said mysteriously.
"You'll all be split up into five different sections. The winners of each section will be given a key." Ra said, displaying a bronze key inlaid with bands of ruby and yellow crystal.
"The winners of the five groups will compete in a five way duel, and the winner of that will be the winner overall, and be crowned Duelist Supreme!" Slifer proclaimed, which caused a large amount of muttering among the crowd.
"The other four will receive prizes for making it to the final round, but there can only be one Duelist Supreme." Timaeus said, smiling.
"We've already split you all up into your sections. So get out there and get your game on!" The six said in unison, as they disappeared. The last announcer shrouded in shadow simply faded away. We were all shocked. No tournament was ever like this. Then, the wristband each of us had to put on at the entrance suddenly lit up. There were five colors; red, blue, yellow, green, and violet. The five of us huddled up, and to our surprise, we all had a wristband of a different color. None of us were in the same group.
"Okay guys. Duel your hearts out, and we'll all meet up to battle each other in the finals." Rudy said determinedly. We all nodded, and split up, even though we all knew that there was no possible way we would all be in the final round. I had to go the the red section, which was overseen by the Hermos announcer, and the Slifer announcer. We all filed in to a couple rooms, and got to work. I quickly mopped the floor with my opponents, using a mix of machines and some of my other monsters from my side deck. It wasn't long before I had beaten the last Duelist in our section. She was dressed as one of my favorite ritual monsters, Cu Chulain the Awakened, and she was good, really good. She used an artifact deck, which made beating her difficult, but thanks to a few choice cards and a quick stratagem, I finished her off. We shook hands, and she slipped her phone number into my hand.
I sighed, rolling my eyes, as I was greeted by handshakes and congratulations. I walked up to Hermos and Slifer to receive my key. Both were smiling broadly at me.
"You've done well, and have proved you are worthy of this key." Hermos said, shaking my hand. Slifer smirked as she pulled the key out from her enormous cleavage. She swayed her hips sexily, as she placed the key in my hand, and planted a kiss on my cheek.
"See you at the finals." She purred, walking away. I was frozen with shock, staring at her figure leaving. My brain had short circuited and was trying to reboot itself. One of my teenage fantasies had come true; I had just gotten kissed by a sexy hot Slifer. Slifer the Sky Dragon has always been my favorite Egyptian God monster. In my adolescent fantasies, I envisioned myself being seduced by a female anthro form of Slifer. Why? Because anthros are hot, and Slifer is awesome.
Putting those thoughts aside, I received even more pats on the back and statements of respect from the guys in my section. A lot of the girls were glaring at the receding Slifer, and staring at me hungrily. I gulped as several walked towards me. I quickly left the room, sweating profoundly.
I made it back to the commons, after hiding my key in the Millenium Puzzle that served as my belt buckle/emergency snack storage. I made it back to the table the five of us were using as base camp. I was the last to make it there, the others staring at my nervous expression, and the red lipstick mark on my cheek.
"Bro, who got you?" Jack asked. My face turned red at the memory.
"The Slifer announcer came up and kissed me after I won." I explained, quickly draining a bottle of water. Hendrick's eyebrows zipped up to his forehead. Jack gaped at me in disbelief. Jared's eye was twitching. Rudy slapped me on the back.
"You are truly lucky, James." He said approvingly.
"More to the point, James, did you get a key?" Jared asked. I cautiously opened up my belt buckle, and displayed my prize. Now it was my turn to stare as they each produced a key of their own.
"We have to duel… each other." I said, awestruck.
"Attention Duelists, the final round is about to begin. Will the five finalists please bring their keys up to the front stage." The announcement shook us from our train of thought. We all hid our keys on our persons, and walked up to the stage. The other contestants cleared a path, as they recognized us from the duels.
We walked on to the stage, and were greeted by the smiling announcers.
"Please present your keys." Timaeus said calmly. We each pulled them out, proudly displaying them to the audience. The announcers smiles broadened.
"Alright, we have our finalists!" Obelisk announced excitedly. The room erupted into cheers and clapping.
"Please, follow us." Critias said, gesturing for us to come. We complied, and eventually, the six announcers led us to a small room, with five desks set up in a pentagon, with dueling boards carved into the tops.
"This is the final stage of the tournament." Hermos explained, as we sat down.
"You may attack and use your spells and traps on any person of your choosing." Ra said, as we pulled out our decks.
"So, it's kind of like the Battle City tournament semi-finals." Jared said, shuffling his deck.
"Correct, but turns rotate counter clockwise, starting with the person with the red band." Timaeus explained.
"And, neither of you can attack on your first turns." Obelisk said, as the announcers began to leave.
"If one of you is defeated, you must give your key to the person who defeated you. The first person to defeat his opponent gets the key." Critias explained, as he stood in the doorway.
"Oh, and one more thing." Timaeus said. "The final match is being seen live by the other Duelists. Now, it's time to duel." Timaeus finally said, as he shut the door. We all looked at each other. This was going to be interesting.
"Well, I guess I go first." I said, drawing my hand.
Time skip; three hours later
I was panicking on the inside. Rudy had me down to my last two hundred life points, courtesy of his Magician of Black Chaos. He still had three thousand life points left, and I was wide open for another direct attack.
"Now, to end this. I directly attack with Dark Sage." Rudy smiled, but then frowned when I was still sitting there.
"Not quite." I said smiling. I pulled one of my favorite monsters from my hand; Kuriboh, who is arguably the cutest monster in Yu-Gi-Oh.
"By using Kuriboh's ability, I'm safe from that last attack." I said smugly.
"Next, I activate Flashbang, effectively ending your turn." I said, as relief flooded my body. Rudy looked a bit irritated for a moment, but then it passed.
"No matter, you don't have any card that can defeat me." He said smugly. I drew a new card, praying it was good. My heart stopped. I couldn't believe it. My face curled into a wide grin, as a wicked plan formed in my head.
"You're going to eat those words Rudy." I said confidence filling me, as I activated a trap.
"I activate Windstorm of Etaqua, changing the battle position of your monsters. Next, I'll activate Raigeki, destroying them both." I drew a deep breath as I activated the final part of my plan. Rudy looked really nervous now. He had two keys, and I had three. We were both at our wits end, but my deck had one last trick to give. After a seven card chain of effects, and some quick cardwork, I managed to get the correct setup to bring out one of the aces of this deck.
"I summon forth, the mighty Rocket Arrow Express!" I proclaimed mightily, placing the powerhouse machine down. Rudy stared at its attack power with pure dread. Rocket Arrow Express is one of the most powerful machines in Yu-Gi-Oh. For starters, it has FIVE THOUSAND freaking attack power. The drawback, is that you have to discard your entire hand at the end of your next standby phase, or Rocket Arrow Express gets destroyed.
"I'll make a direct attack, effectively ending this duel." I said triumphantly. Rudy looked shocked. I had won the tournament. I packed up my deck, and tapped Rudy on the shoulder. He shook himself out of his disbelief, and did the same, after we shook hands.
We walked out, and we were both greeted with a tsunami of cheers. Jared, Hendrick, and Jack ran over, and we had a massive group hug, before we went on to the stage to receive our prizes. Jared went up first, having been knocked out of the duel first. His Six Samurai were good, but they were no match for the fury of my Superheavy Samurai. Jack went next. He held out for a while, but he couldn't summon any monsters, thanks to Rudy's Xing Zhen Hu Replica taking out all of his control spells. Hendrick went up next. He was a hard one to beat. His defenses were nearly impenetrable, but I quickly demolished his life points with the help of my Ancient Gear Golem and Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max. Rudy went up next. His mages were the biggest problem, seeing as their abilities kept on allowing him to bypass my defenses with a myriad of powerhouse spells. The only thing that allowed me to last so long was the might of my Apoqliphort Towers, until the Magician of Black Chaos was summoned.
I was the last to go up, and I got the largest cheer of all. My friends were smiling broadly at me, despite me winning overall.
"Because of your demonstration of courtesy and respect during every duel in this tournament, it is the great pleasure of us three Legendary Knights to grant you our power." Timaeus said into his mic. The three knights each gave me a copy of the card they each represented, along with the cards I needed to summon them. I was awestruck. I'm always polite to my opponents, even if they're complete jerks. It's one of the unwritten rules of Yu-Gi-Oh. Then, the other three gave out their prize.
"You used your machines to support and synergize with each other, rather than focusing on empowering a single monster to win. For this, we grace you with our powers." Slifer said, as they pulled a copy of the cards they represent out of their cleavage. They each handed them to me, and then gave me a kiss. I stood there, frozen, as the guys that participated cheered at my luck. Timaeus had to shake me from my train of thought.
"And that is not all. Our mystery guest has a couple prizes to give." He said loudly. Instantly, all the cheers stopped. A massive slab of upright stone with five keyholes appeared on stage.
"Please insert the keys to claim what you have earned." Critias said reverently. I placed each key in the correct slot, feeling like I was Parzival at the end of Ready Player One. After I turned the final key, the slab rumbled. The keys glowed, as the stone shattered, transforming into a massive, twelve point star. I was shell shocked, as I watched the keys get absorbed into the star. This occurred when one specific monster was summoned. The most powerful monster Yu-Gi-Oh had ever seen. A bronze-brown arm shot out of one side, then a second from the other. Legs emerged next, followed by an enormous torso, topped by truly terrifying head. I was standing in front of the mightiest of the mighty, the greatest of the great, legendary even to the greatest of legends. I had summoned Exodia the Forbidden One.
His skin was the color of bronze, but it looked like stone. He wore manacles on his ankles and wrists, with broken chains trailing from them. A massive armored battle skirt hung around his lower body, covering half of his massive thighs. He stood at around twelve feet in height, and overflowing with muscle. He wore a golden Ankh around his neck. He was imposing, but the most terrifying thing about him was his face. His mouth was twisted into a grotesque smile, showing all thirty two gleaming white teeth. His eyes were blacker than the blackest Onyx, and the frills that framed his head were magnificent, awe inspiring, and added to his intimidating look.
Exodia stood to his full height… and pushed his hands into his back, resulting in the largest line of pops I ever heard.
"Whoo, that felt good!" Exodia exclaimed. His voice was impossibly deep, and actually quite harmonious. He sounded like an older version of Robin Williams.
"It feels great to be out of the netherworld." He said amiably. Everybody was awestruck. I never thought that Exodia would appear.
The reason why Exodia is called the forbidden one, is because a person isn't supposed to summon him. Exodia was an ancient guardian of Egypt, at least according to the series. He was a powerful mage that kept on growing with power, until he became so powerful, it changed him into what he looked like now. Exodia's powers drove him into a frenzy of destruction, and he wreaked havoc upon Egypt until a group of mages lured him outside the city, into a secluded area in the desert wilderness. It was there that they managed to chain him, and seal him away. This wasn't enough though. Exodia almost broke free, but the mages then split him into five pieces, each one sealed with their own separate spell, sealed into five separate stone tablets. When he was banished, Exodia gained even more power, after learning the secrets of the magic of the Netherworld, and then becoming its ruler, he regained control over his powers. Exodia then granted the Pharaohs of Egypt the ability to break the seals that kept him locked away, and summon him to protect Egypt against its enemies, but this could only be done if the five tablets were brought together. When the Pharaoh's mages found out, they advised their king to not break the seals under any circumstances. He would be unleashing forbidden magic, and it would cost him his life if Exodia was summoned. See, in the series, the mages could only summon up to three monsters at a time, and it was through their own will and powers that the summoned monsters were kept in check. The issue was that summoning took up lots of energy, and it was incredibly taxing on the mages to keep their monsters alive. Every blow their monster took, the mages felt as well. During the final season of the first Yu-Gi-Oh series, Exodia was summoned to defend the city against Zorc. The mage could only do this with the power of the Millenium Key, seeing as his own energies, though great, were not nearly enough. The effort of keeping Exodia on the field, combined with the blows that Exodia took was more than enough to end the mage's life. Now, with that little tidbit cleared up and out of the way, we now return to the story.
Exodia's grin turned less grotesque, and more relaxed. His titanic shoulders drooped slightly, he was leaning forward a bit, and I could sense a bit of excitement in his voice. He wasn't being menacing, or threatening, like we had assumed. He was more like the genie from Disney's Aladdin. He looked out at the various duelists in the crowd.
"Wow, you guys look amazing!" He proclaimed amiably. "You there in the back, the guy in the Dark Magician costume." Exodia pointed. The crowd shuffled around to see who it was. The person was a small boy, about eleven years old.
"I have to say, I honestly thought you were Dark Magician's younger brother, amazing costume!" Exodia said. The boy blushed from being complimented by the king of the Netherworld.
"Seriously, I thought I was back in the Shadow Realm for a moment, after seeing all of these costumes." Exodia proclaimed.
"And now, to give you your reward." He said turning to me. I gulped. I'm five foot eight, but I only came up to his waist. Exodia knelt down in front of me, placing a hand the size of a smart car on my shoulder.
"You have displayed not only great skill in dueling, but you also displayed the true values of a duelist; courteousness, kindness, being cheerful and calm under pressure, courage, respect for your fellow duelists, honesty, and friendliness." Exodia said, as his onyx eyes stared into my blue ones.
"Because of this, you have earned the respect of several powerful beings, who have all agreed to honor you with their power and presence." Exodia said, as he held out his other hand. In a flash of swirling light, nine cards appeared, and three new card packs.
I stared at the cards. Five of them were an ultra rare holo foil limited edition set of Exodia. The others were also ultra rare holo foil limited editions as well, but they were the most powerful beings from Yu-Gi-Oh; I already named Exodia. The second was Ultimaya Tzolkin, better known as the Crimson Dragon from Yu-Gi-Oh Five D's. The other three were the sacred beasts from Yu-Gi-Oh GX; Uria- lord of Searing Flames, Raviel- Lord of Phantasms, and Hamon- Lord of Striking Thunder.
I stared at Exodia in disbelief. He smiled, as I cleared my expression.
"I am honored that they chose to share their power with me. I offer my most sincere gratitude." I said reverently. Exodia gently patted my shoulder.
"I also have one last gift." He said. There was another flash of light, and a duel disk appeared in his palm. It was unlike any I had ever seen.
It was almost the size of my forearm. It was primarily black, with red and gold trimmings. It had three slots, one for my deck, space for an extra deck, and one for a side deck. It had pendulum zones on each side of the monster zones, with a spell and trap zone beneath the monster zone. The weird thing was that the monster and spell and trap zones didn't hang down on a massive curve piece. Instead they were built into the top.
I stared at it, and Exodia chuckled.
"Yes, this is yours. Use it well, and use it wisely." Exodia said, as he stood up.
"Thank you Exodia." I said. He smiled.
"I'll give the others your regards, Duelist Supreme." Exodia said as star portal reappeared, and pulled him in.
The building was dead silent. I was left holding my new cards and duel disk. The silence was suddenly broken by an announcement from Timaeus.
"Alright everybody, its ten o'clock, and we set up a massive buffet for everyone to enjoy and party with." He proclaimed. Everybody looked over at the long tables that were now laden with food. It was swarmed in seconds.
I was also swarmed by my new fans and admirers. I barely got away, and over to my friends. We all exchanged high fives, handshakes, and man hugs. I got home at around eleven thirty. After quickly showering and changing into my clothes from before, I cracked open my new cards. The packs contained quite a few new cards to help strengthen my already powerful decks. Every one of them was an ultra rare holo foil limited edition. The highlights included the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma the Magna Warriors, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, Winged Kuriboh, Dark Magician, Buster Blader, Dark Paladin, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Dark Flare Knight, Flame Swordsman, Ancient Gear Golem, Mirage Knight, Black Luster Swordsman, Black Luster Ritual, three Blue Eyes White Dragons, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Black Luster the Dragon Master, X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, Z-Metal Tank, XYZ Dragon Cannon, and a massive host of others, including a large variety of spells and traps.
I smiled as I added each card to the appropriate deck. I carefully and lovingly put each deck in their cases, and then into my jacket pockets. I was so exhausted, I crashed on my bed still wearing my street clothes. My costume was hung up in my closet.
Time Skip: three hours
Current time: 1:05 A.M
I had a few hours of dreamless sleep, when it was shattered by a massive explosion. I bolted out of bed, and stared out the window, only to see one of the taller buildings in the district topple to the ground. I saw another explosion, except this one was just two blocks away. Instead of falling, that one simply collapsed in on itself, crashing down on its base. I grabbed my jacket, slipped on my new duel disk, stuffed a few things in my backpack, slung it on, and jetted out of my apartment.
I ran out into the chaotic streets. There was fire everywhere. The Detroit Police and Fire Department vainly tried to quench the flames, evacuate the area, and find the culprits for the bombing (according to the bomb squad they had on hand, it wasn't a gas leak). I saw both police and Duelists evacuating people, clearing away roads, and trying to keep order. Then, a massive shockwave rocked the ground. The roads undulated from its sheer power. Basically every building toppled after that.
I could only hear a harsh ringing, my vision blurry. I forced myself to stand, shaking my head violently to clear it. It worked. I could hardly believe my eyes. People were flung in every direction, their bodies twisted and broken. Some were alive, but the majority didn't move again. Rubble was strewn around like confetti at a parade. All I could do was stare at the carnage around me. Then, they appeared.
I recognized most of them as members of our most bitter and hated rivals, but their expressions were… blank. As if they had no will of their own. The second thing that tipped me off was that they had dark auras around them. They were faint, but I could see them, but then I spotted something on one of them that made my heart stop dead.
"Impossible." I whispered. It was a green, glowing six point star inscribed in a circle, located in the middle of their foreheads. I had seen the first Yu-Gi-Oh series enough times to know what it was; the infamous Seal of Orichalcos. It fit. Their blank expressions, their stiff movements, the fact that all these gangs would agree to team up on us with such amazing coordination, and the dark aura. All the facts pointed to the impossible; somehow, Yu-Gi-Oh was real. From the monsters, spells, and traps, to the events of the show. It was all utterly absurd, but the proof was right in front of me.
I knew I had to act fast, so I didn't become enslaved. I spotted my backpack, and grabbed it. The noise earned the attention of the gang members. They shambled towards me.
"Who has the seal?" I called to the advancing mind controlled servants.
"The Great One will rule all." They answered in a monotone unison. I hadn't the foggiest idea of who they were talking about, but a few choice beings came to mind. I wasn't staying around to let them catch me, so I turned tail and ran like 60.
I was silently praising my idiot brother for all the times he made me go on illegal parkour trips with him. He and his moronic friends-who had the brainpower of sheep-forced me go through construction sites, over heavy rush hour traffic, jump across rooftops, and a bunch of other crazy things. The last time we were together, he convinced me to BASE jump with him off the Empire State Building in New York. He jumped; I took the high speed elevator back to the ground level, and sprinted after him, calling the cops and an ambulance. My brother was fine, discounting his broken leg he got from trying to run from the police. He tried to scale the wall to his apartment, but fell after he made it to the second floor balcony.
I was running on autopilot, from years of muscle memory. My reflexes were basically superhuman at this point. I was unstoppable. This was my home turf now. The dangerous places I was forced to parkour across made it feel natural. I was almost out of there when I saw a massive burst of turquoise from my left. I whirled around, and saw a gigantic beam of light jetting up from the Duelist Square. I wanted to leave, but I felt something inside me. Something…strange. I had an urge to go to the square, and urge so powerful, it made me drop to my knees.
My rationality was screaming at me to preserve myself, but the rest of me disagreed. I felt like something was reassuring me, saying it would be okay. I felt power surge through me, more power than I had ever felt before. I instantly knew what I had to do.
I sprinted faster than ever before, that same power flooding through me, like a flash flood roaring through a chain link fence. It gave me strength, the same strength that made mothers able to lift cars to save their children. The same strength that make soldiers perform amazing feats to protect their brothers and sisters in arms. The same strength that made ordinary people break every single physical law. The same strength that Chuck Norris learned to harness and master. Strangely, I felt like there was someone else cheering me on, telling me I could do this.
I made it to the square, and beheld a terrifying sight. My friends were strewn about, still in costume. Members of Father Granger's inner circle had been tossed around, only a few actually moving. Worst of all, Father Granger himself was forced to kneel in front of none other than Danielle. My heart caught in my throat. I couldn't breathe, but I forced myself to watch and wait for an opening.
Father Granger was in a terrible shape. His normally immaculate bulletproof suit was shredded, blood oozing from every laceration. Third degree burns had built a metropolis over every inch of his body.
Danielle was smirking, looking down at Father Granger with utter contempt. She wore a black leather jacket, a deep blue shirt with an embarrassingly low neckline, black leather high heeled boots, and dark leather pants. She slapped Father Granger's face, making it turn towards me. I thought nothing else could surprise me, but once again, I was proven wrong. Father Granger was a man I knew to be long dead. My Uncle Tremain stared back at me.
Something inside of me snapped at that moment, and I instinctively knew that a line was about to be crossed. This demoness had killed my friends, the friends I wished I had when I was a kid, the friends who helped me and showed me what friendship and camaraderie truly is, and now she would kill my uncle, the only blood family I had left. I lost him once. I wouldn't lose him again. Rage boiled inside me more violently than a volcano about to erupt. I was about to charge in, when a voice sounded off in my head, one I didn't recognize.
'Move over to the right, carefully.' A voice said. My head jerked up, seeing nobody.
'I must be going crazy.' Was my initial thought, but instantly that same voice came back.
'No, you're not.' The voice reassured. It was gentle, soft, and peaceful, but it carried a power that could be unleashed in a fury of destruction. It was right on the border of an alto and a tenor, and definitely masculine. I looked to my right and saw why I should go that way. It was hidden in shadow, with plenty of cover. If I wanted to rescue my Uncle, I would have to do it creatively, ironically starting with a strike from the shadows.
"You really thought you could keep it from us?" Danielle said, incredulous. The rage inside me boiled again as I crept over to the cover of the rubble. My Uncle looked up at her, defiance filling every pore of his body. He looked back up at the demoness standing before him.
"I must admit, yes I was foolish enough to think I could keep the map hidden." My Uncle said, shame creeping into his voice. I felt tears dripping down my face, as a flood of memories washed over me. I had to keep silent though, so Danielle didn't hear me.
"Well, you failed in hiding it." Danielle said triumphantly. She threw my Uncle aside, and walked to where the beam was emanating from. Danielle raised her hand up, and the beam dissipated. She walked to the area and after scrabbling around for a minute, she triumphantly produced a small, intricately carved, stone box. Danielle set it on the ground in front of her, and began to chant in a garbled, horrid language. It sounded like she was retching, belching, and sneezing all at the same time, while a chorus of donkeys brayed alongside an orchestra of out of tune banjos. If my ears weren't attached to my head, they would be running away right now.
I stayed where I was, and clamped my hands over my ears, though it didn't do much to block out the noise. The chanting stopped, and I watched as the carvings began to glow turquoise. The box shifted, and the sides all floated away from the base, revealing a pulsing turquoise light. Danielle looked at it hungrily, and reached out to touch it. The second she did, the light disappeared, revealing a hand made of stone, making a very rude gesture at Danielle. It hovered for a moment, then fell to the ground. Danielle stared at it, obviously shocked.
My Uncle began to chuckle, despite the state he was in. Danielle whirled around, rage emanating from every corner of her face. My uncle was pulled to her outstretched hand by an unseen force. She gripped his throat, holding him above her.
"Where is it, bastard?!" She roared. My uncle smiled, and flipped her the bird himself. Danielle tossed my Uncle onto some jagged shards of glass.
"I'm going to kill you slowly, bit by bit, until you'll say where you put it." Danielle said, her voice taking on a soft, sinister, dangerous tone. That's when I broke. I charged out of my hiding place, roaring louder than a freight train. Danielle turned around in time for my fist to break her nose. I delivered another shot to her face, kicked her in the gut, and introduced her face to my left knee as she doubled over from the kick. I Judo flipped her, slamming Danielle into the concrete.
"Are you sure about that?" I asked, my own voice taking on a steely calm, dangerous tone. I backed away from Danielle, as she staggered to her feet. I noted with satisfaction that I had successfully transformed her face into Niagara Falls. Blood was profoundly streaming from her face. One of her eyes was bleeding out, severely limiting her depth perception and range of vision. She let out an inhuman roar of rage, and charged me.
We battled. She was easily faster than I, even in her injured state, but I was stronger and had quicker reflexes, courtesy of my countless years of parkour and the kickboxing lessons my adoptive parents put me in. Every single blow she tried to land was either caught or redirected. Our battle seemed to last forever, but I eventually pinned her to a slab of concrete, a cinder block in my hand.
"You push one Duelist, you push them all." I said, slamming the cinder block into Danielle's chest, hitting her sternum. I heard several satisfying cracks, as blood filled her mouth. Danielle's eyes bulged, but then her head fell back, her eyes glassy and lifeless.
I was panting hard, studying my handiwork. Danielle was dead. I felt a lot of satisfaction. She reminded me of the orphanage I had to stay at when I was younger. I hated that place with a passion. I walked over to my uncle, and helped him to his feet.
We stared at each other. Uncle Tremain was now 43, but he looked fifty years older. His hair had turned prematurely grey. Worry lines creased his face. He even let a bit of grayish stubble grow on his face.
He pulled me into a hug, tears streaming down his face. I hugged him back with the same ferocity. We separated, smiling. I had my Uncle back. We turned to leave, when a loud wind began to blow, starting out small, but growing in power with every passing second, until we were thrown to the ground. I looked up and saw ghostly figures wailing and screeching as they were pulled towards a sight I never wanted to see.
Danielle was standing. Atop her forehead, the Seal of Orichalcos glowed brightly. She stretched her arms out, allowing the spirits to fly into her. A black and purple aura began to surround her, yellow bolts of energy sparking periodically throughout it. I watched in horror as the corpses of the inner circle melted away, becoming bleached skeletons, before breaking apart into dust, which solidified into more wailing spirits. Storm clouds gathered overhead. The Seal of Orichalcos flew off her head, spreading itself out on the ground, with Danielle at the center. I watched, horrified, as she smiled, and spoke. Danielle's voice sounded like dry, brittle paper being crushed into a ball, inside a hollow, echoing grain silo.
"Master has rewarded me!" Danielle let loose a demonic cackle, as a red beam of energy shot out from the clouds, slamming into Danielle. I watched as her ruined clothes shrank and morphed into black and white spiked sci-fi armor. It covered her breasts, dead eye, and her nether regions. Her breasts grew larger, becoming twice their original size. The last of it formed into spiked sci-fi gauntlets with sharp claws formed around her arms and hands, while boots molded themselves around her lower legs, and feet. I had seen this transformation before, and the creatures that emerged from it were truly horrific. She had been resurrected as a Malefic version of herself.
Malefic Danielle smiled as she surveyed her new armor. Once she found it to be good enough, her gaze fell upon us. Malefic Danielle walked towards us, her grin widening, and becoming more predatory. I felt a nervous pit in my stomach take control of the rest of my body, freezing me in place. Malefic Danielle swayed her hips seductively, making her new… assets jiggle and sway. I felt my pants tightening. Why is it that my body froze everywhere except there?
Malefic Danielle grabbed my chin, and stroked my friend with her other hand.
"By the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging to be my slave." She purred. I closed my eyes, preparing for the worst, when a blast of light slammed into Malefic Danielle, knocking her back. I could move again. I looked and saw my Uncle standing in front of me, surrounded by a golden aura.
"You'll take him over my dead body!" He roared, releasing a powerful shockwave, which sent both Malefic Danielle and me flying into the air. I landed hard, and a searing, stabbing pain shot through my left leg, followed by a sharp snap. Malefic Danielle shot to her feet, as her body became cloaked in a black aura.
"James, I need you to get out of here." He said, flying into the air. Well, that was easier said than done. I pushed myself up onto my hands, and pulled myself forward. The pain nearly made me black out. I collapsed, rolling over onto my back, stifling a scream of pain. I saw my uncle and Malefic Danielle trading blow after blow, neither one showing signs of tiring, until Tremain left himself open, and Malefic Danielle took the opportunity. Uncle Tremain was thrown from the sky, crashing down into the rubble with a host of gut wrenching snaps.
I tried to move, but I felt a weight on my chest. Malefic Danielle was sitting on my waist, pushing her hands into my chest. Her predatory grin had taken on a sinister and seductive look. I have no idea how she made that possible.
"You shouldn't have tried to run from your mistress." She purred, grinding her waist against mine. I groaned, partially out of pain, partially out of arousal, and partially out of fear. Malefic Danielle stroked my face with one of her gauntlet claws.
"You need to be punished, naughty slave." She said, her voice turning lustful. Malefic Danielle turned to my pants, slowly unzipping them. She smiled, satisfied at the large tent above my nether regions. I cursed my hormones, trying to will it to go back down. My prostate refused the order.
I braced myself, closing my eyes. All of a sudden, I felt a glow coming from my right arm. I looked, and saw my duel disk humming with energy. Malefic Danielle looked at it, fear entering her gaze at the mere sight of it. The disk suddenly lashed out on its own, sending out a massive whip of energy. It slammed into my captor, freeing me. The whip separated into four other tendrils, reaching out to grab the corpses of my four friends. The tendrils absorbed them, pulling them into my disk.
"What the...?" I whispered. My train of thought was interrupted by another glow. Uncle Tremain stood back up, the golden aura once again cloaking his body, but this time, it had split into two halves, one light, one dark, creating a small avatar around him. I recognized the monster it had formed; one of my favorite warriors, Black Luster Soldier Envoy of The Evening Twilight. So that's how Uncle Tremain was able to hold up against a malefic being. He had the power of one of Yu-Gi-Oh's super soldiers. The "Black Luster Soldier" monsters are supposed to be the ultimate warriors of the Shadow Realm, making them, by definition, super soldiers.
His aura glew brighter and brighter, overpowering any brightness I had ever seen. He charged forward, the avatar above him mimicking his movements. The massive blade he held slashed downwards, but Danielle caught it in a massive dragonic energy fist. She roared, as the head of Malefic Rainbow Dragon formed behind her, firing a blast of dark rainbow energy at my uncle. He held his ground, blocked the blast with his shield, and sent a similar blast at Danielle, destroying the dragon head. I knew that the opportunity would pass quickly though, for Malefic Monsters are basically unstoppable. Need any evidence? In 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time', the evil Duelist Paradox nearly banished the souls of Yugi Muto, Jaden Yuki, and Yusei Fudo using his Malefic monsters, even with all three legendary duelists working together. The three had to pull out all the stops, and then some, in order to win.
Danielle charged my uncle, swatted aside his sword strike, and tackled him to the ground, but my uncle shifted around, putting the evil lust consumed vixen into a full nelson. Black Luster Soldier disappeared back into my uncle, and he continued to glow brighter.
"Uncle! What are you doing?" I croaked frantically. My uncle turned to me, pure love in his eyes.
"I'm buying you some time, Jimmy. I love you." My Uncle uttered his final words, as his body transformed into a bomb of pure energy. The blast hit me like a freight train, throwing me into the air once more. I flew higher, higher than I had ever gone before. I opened my eyes, but I was surrounded by darkness. I felt myself shooting up higher and higher, gaining more and more speed. Images and noises appeared in front of my eyes, images of various monsters, events that happened in the Yu-Gi-Oh series, spells, traps, and swirling colors. The images flashed briefly, before leaving. There was too much to handle. I closed my eyes, letting my exhaustion take over, slipping into a dreamless sleep, but not before hearing someone speak, the same comforting voice from before.
"You are not alone."
Author's Note: Not too much editing on this chapter. I added in a few extra details, and I changed a few things up. I hope you find this edited chapter satisfactory. More edited chapters of this story will be coming soon, but not too soon. I'm no longer living with the three wombats (my crazy roommates), I'm currently on summer break, I have my own place, and the craziness has (somewhat) died down. Very special thanks to Tarnum427, the faithful beta reader of my stories, for helping me recover most of the lost chapters. Without your help, it would've taken longer to get them, and I probably would've dropped writing fanfiction for a long while. This is Imagineer379 signing off.
