Chapter 1: Dark Deck Unleashed

Darius vs. Yugi

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the championship round of the Kaiba Corp. World Championship!" Cheers greeted this exclamation. "Presenting first: from New York, New York, the winner of the tournament, the master of the dark cards, Darius Rhodes!" Cheers erupted as Darius took the stage, anxious that he was actually going to duel the greatest duelist alive today. He fought some tough duels to get here, and he wasn't going to back down now. Darius briefly touched the pendant that hung from his neck and waited for his opponent to appear.

"And now, the champion, crowned duel monsters World Champion, and undisputed King of Games: Yugi Mutou!" Even more cheers were unleashed as the King of Games took the field. He looked as powerful as he always did when preparing for a duel. Accompanying him were his ever present friends: Joey Wheeler, Tea Gardener, and Tristan Taylor.

Without as word, both duelists met in the center to shuffle each others deck.

"May this duel be an honorable one, and may the Heart of the Cards serve you well, Darius," said Yugi as he shuffled his opponent's deck.

"You, too," replied Darius.

They handed back each others deck and went back to their respected spots. Darius loaded his deck into his customized black, purple, and dark grey duel dist and activated it. Yugi did the same.

"As the challenger," said the announcer to Darius, "you have the option of who goes first."

"I'll let Yugi go first," said Darius, and the duel began.

Yugi: 4000
Darius: 4000

"Okay, Darius, my move," Yugi said, drawing a card. "I summon my Queen's Knight in defense mode. That ends my turn."

"My move now," said Darius. "I'll activate a magic card known as Dark Seal: Forging of the Bonds."

"What does that do?" Yugi inquired.

"I'll tell you. By discarding the top to cards off the top of my deck, I can summon a high powered monster without a sacrifice," Darius explained. "So I'll do just that. I discard my top two cards and summon my Shadow Warrior in attack mode. And thanks to my warrior's special effect, I can summon my Shadow Spearsman to the field in attack mode. And when Shadow Warrior and Shadow Spearsman are on the field, I can automatically summon my Shadow Archer to the field."

"He just summoned three powerful monsters in one turn!" Joey exclaimed, clearly impressed by Darius' move.

"Fortunately for you, my archer is the only one able to attack, but that doesn't mean that your life points are safe." Yugi just looked on in confusion as Darius ordered his archer to attack. "Shadow Archer, attack his Queen's Knight with Shadow Arrow Piercer!" Shadow Archer let loose an arrow that pierced Yugi's monster's shield destroying her. Yugi lost 500 life points.

"How did I just lose life points? My monster was in defense mode."

"That may be true," Darius explained, "but my archer has a piercer ability. You lose the difference between my monster's attack and your monster's defense. I end my turn."

Yugi: 3500
Darius: 4000
Yugi Field: no cards
Darius Field: Shadow Warrior Atk: 2800, Shadow Spearsman Atk: 1500, Shadow Archer Atk: 2100

"Okay, my turn." Yugi drew a card and activated it. "I activate my Swords of Revealing Light, now you cannot attack for 3 turns." Swords made of pure light rained down from the heavens and encircled Darius and his monsters. "I end my turn by summoning my Big Shield Gardna in defense mode."

"Then it is my turn to take over," said Darius, drawing a card. "I summon my Rapid-Fire Magician in attack mode, then I activate my Pot of Greed to draw 2 cards, and thanks to my magician's special effect, you lose 400 life points." Yugi grunted as an orb of dark magic blasted away 400 of his life points. "I end my turn."

Yugi: 3100
Darius: 4000
Yugi Field: Big Shield Gardna Def: 2600
Darius Field: Shadow Warrior Atk: 2800, Shadow Spearsman Atk: 1500, Shadow Archer Atk: 2100, Rapid-Fire Magician Atk: 1600

"My move." Yugi drew a card. "I activate my Card Destruction, now we both must discard both of our hands and draw the same number of cards we had." Darius drew four cards while Yugi drew 3. "I now summon Watapon via his special ability. Next, I sacrifice my two monsters to summon my favorite card. Come forth, Dark Magician!" Appearing in a blaze of black light came Yugi's ace card, the famed Dark Magician. "Dark Magician attack his spearsman with your Dark Magic Attack!" The Dark Magician let loose a stream of dark magic that obliterated Darius' Shadow Spearsman, sapping 1000 life points from him. "I throw one card facedown and end my turn."

Yugi: 3100
Darius: 3000
Yugi Field: Dark Magician Atk: 2500
Darius Field: Shadow Warrior Atk: 2800, Shadow Archer Atk: 2100, Rapid-Fire Magician Atk: 1600

Darius drew his card and smirked and started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Joey asked hotly.

"Not only is this the best duel I've ever been in, but this duel is over." Yugi just looked on as Darius began his killer combo. "First, I activate my Dark Heart magic card. By sending one card from my hand to the grave, I can destroy one trap or magic card on the field, and I choose your swords." A black heart appeared on the field then exploded, shattering Yugi's swords. "Next, I activate my Dark Seal: Breaking of the Bonds."

"What does that card do?" asked Yugi.

"By sacrificing half of my life points, I can resurrect one monster from my grave, and I choose my Shadow Bladesmaster, which was sent to the grave using my Forging of the Bonds. Then I can bring one ritual monster and its corresponding ritual card to my hand."

"That is a powerful card you have."

Darius: 1500
Darius Field: Shadow Warrior Atk: 2800, Shadow Archer Atk: 2100, Rapid-Fire Magician Atk: 1600, Shadow Bladesmaster Atk: 2900

"You haven't seen anything yet. I activate my Dark Magic Ritual of the Eternal Night."

"That's a mouthful," commented Tristan from the side.

"Indeed," replied Darius, smiling at Tristan's comment. "I now sacrifice my bladesmaster to ritual summon my Shade of the Eternal Night!" The darkness created by the ritual vanished to reveal a spellcaster with 3000 attack points. "And I'm not done. I activate Polymerization and fuse my shade with my Shadow Warrior to create my strongest monster: Mage of the Abyss." A swirl of colors revealed a mage with a sword in one hand and a staff in the other.

"4000 attack points!" exclaimed Yugi in awe of the powerful mage.

"Yep, and it only gets stronger. For every warrior monster in each of our graves, he gains 300 attack points."

"Both graves?"

"Yep, again." Yugi could only watch as Darius' mage grew in power until it reached...

"5500 attack points!" Tea exclaimed. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I think that Yugi is about to lose."

"How right you are," said Darius, not really believing that he was about to become the new World Champion. "Mage of the Abyss, end this duel. Attack his Dark Magician with Dark Abysmal Magic Strike!" Darius' monster prepared to strike down Yugi's mage, but before it could...

"I activate my Magic Cylinder, now your attack gets redirected right back at your life points," said Yugi, revealing his face down trap card.

"No!" shouted Darius. "That means I lose! Oh, well. I did my best."

Yugi: 3100
Darius: 0000
Yugi Field: Dark Magician Atk: 2500 Magic Cylinder
Darius Field: Mage of the Abyss Atk: 5500, Rapid-Fire Magician Atk: 1600, Shadow Archer Atk: 2100
Winner: Yugi

"The winner, and still the World Champion, Yugi Mutou!" The crowd erupted in cheers and even Darius applauded after the wonderful duel. They met in the center and shook hands.

"That was an excellent duel, Darius," said Yugi. "That was an amazing move you pulled at the end. If it wasn't form my Magic Cylinder, you would have won." It was then that Yugi noticed the pendant that hung around Darius' neck. Immediately, Yugi's face became fearful.

"What's wrong?" asked Darius, noticing Yugi's look.

"Where did you get that pendant?"

"I found it when I was in Egypt," said Darius. "Why? What's wrong?"

Yugi shook himself out of his stupor. "Nothing, I just overreacted." He then took a card out of his deck. "Here add this to your deck; I think that this card belongs with you." Darius took the card and looked at it. In his was the Dark Magician.

"I can't take this. This is your ace card," said Darius, offering the card back.

"That particular Dark Magician I picked up from a trader who thought that it brought bad luck, but I believe it was waiting for the right person. I believe that is you."

"Wow. Thanks, Yugi. I promise to take real good care of it," Darius said, his eyes shining.

"I'm sure you will," replied.

As Darius walked off, Yugi went to his friends.

"Hey, Yuge, great job," said Joey. "But what freaked you out at the end?"

"He was wearing a Millennium Item," Yugi simply stated.

"But I thought that they were all sealed away," said Tea.

"So did I," said Yugi watching Darius leave. "So did I."

Card Info:

Dark Seal: Forging of the Bonds: Magic: Discard 2 cards off the top of your deck to summon any Dark Attribute monster without a sacrifice from your hand. The selected monster cannot attack the turn it is summoned.

Dark Seal: Breaking of the Bonds: Magic: Sacrifice half your life points to summon one monster from your graveyard. You may also bring one ritual monster card and corresponding ritual magic card to your hand.

Shadow Warrior: 2800/2400 Lv: 7 Dark/Warrior/Effect: If this monster is successfully summoned, summon one Dark or Warrior type monster from your hand or deck with an attack of 2500 or less. The selected monster cannot attack the turn it is summoned.

Shadow Spearsman: 1500/2200 Lv: 6 Dark/Warrior/Effect: You may discard one card from your hand to negate the activation of a trap card and destroy it.

Shadow Archer: 2100/1900 Lv: 6 Dark/Warrior/Effect: This monster may only be summoned if Shadow Warrior and Shadow Spearsman is on the field. If you attack a monster in defense mode whose defense lower than this monster's attack, deduct the difference from your opponent's life points. You may also discard one card from your hand to attack another monster. This card cannot attack directly if you decide to do this.

Dark Magic Ritual of the Eternal Night: Magic: This card is used to summon Shade of the Eternal Night. You must also sacrifice monsters whose total level is 8.

Shade of the Eternal Night: 3000/2500 Lv: 8 Dark/Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect: This card can only be summoned by the effect of Dark Magic Ritual of the Eternal Night. Prevent the activation of all spell cards on the field and destroy them.

Mage of the Abyss: 4000/3000 Lv: 9 Dark/Spellcaster/Warrior/Fusion/Effect: Shadow Warrior+Shade of the Eternal Night. Increase the attack of this monster by 300 for every Warrior type monster in each person's graveyard.

Dark Heart: Magic: Discard one card from your hand to destroy one magic or trap card on the field.