Chapter 7
Rory frowned. He was sitting on a velvet sofa, outside the chancellor's office.
He looked down at his watch, for the seventh time that minute. It was almost 4 in the morning. He had now been waiting for about an hour, but what he needed couldn't last until morning.
He had to tell the Chancellor about Damien. He had to recount the events of the night, of how Wolf had challenged Richard to a shadow game, how Bone had arrived and attacked him, and about the horrific creature that would soon be unleashed upon the world.
When he had arrived, an assistant had told him that he would have to wait until morning, because the Chancellor was asleep, but when he urged her about how important this was, she had eventually complied, and gone to awake the Chancellor.
That had been three quarters of an hour ago, and he had had no reply since. He glanced down again at his watch. As he did this, the doors in front of him opened, to reveal dim lights on inside.
He stood up, brushing the layer of dust off of him. He gave out one yawn and stepped forward.
"Rory, you can come in now." Muttered the assistant from somewhere inside, though the lighting was too dim for him to see anything in the room. She sounded quite nervous, but Rory ignored this, and stepped in to through the open door.
He walked in, and saw the assistant standing in front of him, a pistol pointing at her head. Holding the pistol was Bone, the American in the cloak that Rory had met that night.
"So glad that you could join us, Rory." He giggled "My little friend here did just what I wanted. Now then, if you want to save her, you and I are going to play a little game!"
"Whatever game you have in mind, I doubt I'll want to play" Frowned Rory
"Oh, just a Shadow game." Laughed Bone "And every life point you lose will rot some of your flesh away."
"Surely it will rot away yours as well, that seems fair." Rory suggested, a grim frown still on his face.
"Oh, that would be hard." Laughed Bone, throwing down his cloak. Beneath it there was no skin, but a skeletal man, with insects and maggots writhing around him. "You see, I have no flesh."
Rory's frown turned to a fearful gaze, as he looked on at this sight of pure terror. Bone lifted his cloak and slung it around his shoulders, masking the bugs on his torso, but leaving his skull in plain view.
"So then, are you going to start or am I?" Questioned Bone, cracking his knuckles.
Rory chuckled to himself "You can begin. You're deck can't be that powerful anyway. What does it focus on, Skull servants?"
Rory let out an enormous burst of laughter.
Bone smirked. "Be careful what you wish for." As he said this, he tapped a button on his wrist, and the pair of them vanished, reappearing on the academy roof. The sky was completely black, with stars shining throughout. The island looked so small from this high up, except for the volcano, which was still towering above Rory.
Bone pulled a card from his duel disk. "Excellent!" He grinned "I'll place two cards face-down, set a monster and end my turn."
Rory sniggered. He too drew a card. "Ok, then, time to see what a real duellist does!" Rory mocked
"But it isn't my turn yet." Interrupted the skeletal creature.
Rory frowned, and slapped a monster on to his duel disk. "I summon La Jinn, the Mystical genie of the lamp!" Rory cried, as an enormous green genie appeared next to him, its hands covered in jewels. "Now my jinn attacks your face-down monster."
The great monster lumbered forwards, launching an enormous purple blast of power at the card. Before the blast hit, a small skeleton in a purple cloak appeared, much like Bone. Within seconds it was engulfed and destroyed.
"What was that?" Laughed Rory "You really do play a skull servant deck!" Rory collapsed to the floor, unable to contain his laughter. After a few minutes, he managed to drag himself up, wiping tears of joy from his eyes.
"Well if you weren't too busy laughing; you'd have noticed my trap card, next to be lost. It allows me to select one monster on my field, choose another from my deck and send it to the grave!" Bone smiled "Which means that since I activated it when you attacked, I now have two skull servants in my graveyard."
"Well, I don't see how that is relevant, so I'll end my turn." Said Rory, still chuckling silently.
"My draw." Bone muttered, lifting a card. He smiled. "And it's one of my favourites. I use graceful charity. I can draw 3 cards, but I have to burn away two afterwards."
"I don't see why it's your favourite." Rory frowned, as an angel appeared, and three cards bounced from bone's deck to his hand.
"It's my favourite because it lets my throw away a third skull servant, and a king of skull servants." Bone said, as another smile lit up his face.
Rory suddenly stopped laughing. He had just remembered 'king of skull servants' effect. "Wait, but why did you destroy that monster? If you'd have kept it, you could have summoned a 3000 attack point monster!" Rory went pale as he said this, realising his opponent's strategy.
"Oh. I just thought that I might destroy him so that this one in my hand is even more powerful. You see, my king of skull servants gains 1000 attack for every skull servant in my graveyard, but he also gains 1000 for every king in my graveyard. That gives this one 4000 attack points! And I think that I'll summon him right now!"
The academy began to shake. A small skeleton appeared in a dark purple cloak, but it glowed with energy, growing larger and fiercer. When it stopped growing, the shaking stopped, and it was at least fifteen foot tall; it's robes torn and dangling from a few of the joints. Its bones had reformed, and it now had a massive jaw with numerous fangs, as well as mighty talons on its hands. Rory was completely pale as he stood beneath this great creature. He fell to the floor in terror, and Bone let out a burst of villainous laughter.
"My minion, destroy this pest!" Bone yelled, as the beast bounded forwards and smashed in to La Jinn. The genie exploded in to purple ashes which impaled Rory sending him flying backwards towards the edge of the dome. He began to skid backwards, but reached out and grasped the pillar next to him. He heaved and pulled himself up, collapsing again and panting for breath.
But He hadn't been on the floor for a minute by the time he felt another agony kick in. As his arms went to his chest, Rory now lay face down against the floor, remembering the deal that he had made with Bone. He looked down at his hands, and saw them fade and turn green, as he felt the blood flowing beneath them grow cold.
Clutching his arm, Rory slumped upwards, to see an even more terrifying sight in front of him. Bone had removed his cloak, and pieces of flesh were beginning to appear on him. It was Rory's flesh. Half of Rory's face now clung to Bone's skull, and Bones ribs now had a layer of muscle atop them.
"By the way, I forgot to mention. When you lose flesh, I get to keep it." Bone smirked "So I get to come back to life in your form when you pass away. Then I'll attack your friend in your body, and no-one will be able to stop us! The brilliance of Cavvoure's plan!"
"You're a lunatic!" Rory screamed, though he felt his jaw sink slightly as he did so. He could tell that that was also rotting, and the flesh would not be able to hold on to the bone for too long. The second that his flesh fell away, he was as good as dead.
Bone grinned, half of Rory's teeth doing the same. "I believe that it's your turn."
Rory's life points were now at 1800, the attack of his monster. If he had not had it on the field, he would be dead by now. He looked down at his disk, and tried to move his hand to it. There was no feeling in his arm, and it swayed as he tried to balance it. His eyes unfocused and he stumbled.
"It's a bit of a pain at first, but you'll get used to it after fifty years or so as a corpse." Bone said, his single eye glowing in the moonlight.
Rory smacked his hand down, and swung it back, pulling a card with it. He looked down at the card, but could not see it properly. He could only see a hand sticking upwards, but decided to play it anyway. His gut told him it was the right thing to do. It was one of the only parts of his body that he had left, so he had to trust it. "I play a spell card." He murmured, his arm lifting for only a moment before it shrunk to his side again.
"Fissure!" Bone yelped, his eye twitching. "But that will destroy the monster with the lowest attack on my field!"
Rory's eyes refocused. He stood up to his full height, and stared at the card again. "That's right! And since you only have that King of skull servants, it goes away!"
"But you're forgetting my face-down! I use generation shift! It destroys my monster and adds another king of skulls servants to my hand! So you're fissure does nothing!" Bone smirked, though Rory could sense worry on his face.
"That doesn't matter, because you still don't have a monster!" Rory smiled
"Oh but I will. Next turn I will be able to summon a 5000 attack point monster. You won't stand a chance!"
"But for now, I have the field. I'll just need to find a way to stop your next king. Now I summon Shining abyss!" Rory grinned. A large blue creature with golden wings and one bright yellow eye appeared in front of him.
"My monster, attack! Shining radiance!"
The creature beat its wings and an enormous golden wave of energy crashed in to Bone. As it did so, Bone's skin began to fade, leaving only a small portion of Rory's face still attached to him.
"My flesh! My Body! I can't lose it now! I'm so close!" screamed Bone, collapsing to his knees. "No matter. I can still take you now and have your body!"
As Bone's life points hit 2400, Rory placed one card face-down on the field. "I'll play one card face-down and end my turn. And if the heart of the cards are with me next turn, I can banish that king of skull servants that I know you're about to play!"
"But that's the problem. My monster will crush you this turn. There won't be a chance for you to draw a card." Bone giggled "I'll bring out my monster once more!"
Once again, a small skeletal figure appeared, and once again it grew, only this time it grew much bigger. It grew until it was twenty feet tall, and looked like an enormous dragon, with wings of pure bone. Only vague rags hung to it now, and it glowed purple as it skydived downwards towards Rory.
"Now go! Skeletal Surge!" Yelled Bone "Destined, feel your body leave you!"
An enormous purple flame burst from the creature's mouth, rocketing towards Rory. As it closed in, a green energy appeared in front of Rory, holding the blast away. After a few seconds of constant fire, the barrier shattered and only a small portion of the blast came through.
The dust cleared, and Bone could no longer see anyone in front of him. He smiled and began to turn away. Suddenly, he heard a voice from behind him.
"I'm not done yet." Muttered Rory, as he pulled himself back on to the building.
"But my attack! How did you survive my monster?" Bone stuttered
"I activated my face-down card, Waboku. It stops all battle damage, and stops your attack from scratching my monster. The blast nearly sent me flying anyway though, but I managed to get back up. Are you ready to finish this duel?"
Bone chuckled "Fine. You are so eager to be wrenched from your body, I shall not deny your wish. I'll place one card face-down."
"Excellent." Rory mumbled. He struggled again moving his arm to his deck. After a few moments, he had to shift it with his second hand. Pulling the card from the top of his deck, he was breathless. He gazed down, and could barely see anything. He recognised the picture though, and he smiled.
"Now I'm going to win!" He yelled to Bone, who laughed at him
"You're never going to win. The demon DreadRoute shall be brought out upon this realm. You shall die!"
"I shall victor," Rory grinned, blood trickling down his green cheek "Because I have the heart of the cards. I activate soul release."
A white light encompassed the field, covering the two battlers.
"Soul release? What is this? Tell me now!" Shrieked Bone, his eye spinning around at all the light.
"Soul release allows me to select up to 5 cards in either of our graveyards and remove them from play. For example your skull servants and king of skull servants." Rory stated
"I don't see what that will do." Grinned Bone, suddenly turning pale as his creature fell from the sky "Wait, that means that my king doesn't gain a bonus anymore!"
"Exactly." Rory said, propping himself up against one of the pillars on the roof.
The Dragon glowed purple, as the spirits of the skull servants flew out of it. It began to shrink, and turn back in to a normal skeleton, limping to its feet. Its torn rags hung loosely around it, as it stumbled along.
"Next up, I tribute my Shining abyss to summon Swordstalker." Yelled Rory, as a great purple warrior with a large gold sword appeared next to him. "And it will attack your King of skull servants!"
The tiny creature turned to see Rory's Swordstalker launch itself towards it. It let out a shriek, but was quickly silenced by a golden blade flying in to it and splitting it in half.
The sword kept on going, and cut directly in to Bone, sending him flying against a pillar. The creature came back to Rory's side, as Bone slumped to the floor. Bone's life points fell to 400.
Rory smiled through his blood-covered teeth. A single eye rolled across the floor towards him, and he stepped aside so that it could go past. Bone clambered up from the other side of the rooftop, and glared at Rory through empty eye-sockets. His bones were charred, and not a single piece of flesh hung to him. Even the insects had left his torso.
"I guess that makes it your turn." Grinned Rory, looking at the pathetic creature in front of him.
"Indeed." Screamed Bone through gritted teeth. "I activate call of the haunted on my King of skull servants."
The small skeleton reappeared alongside Bone.
"Hello. Your monster still has 0 attack points!" Yelled Rory. " It can't scratch me."
"You should listen to your friend more! There is more than one way to duel. I now tribute my king to summon vampire lord!"
The skeleton disappeared and was quickly replaced by a tall vampiric creature. It had pale skin, and bright blue hair and it was wearing a long, flowing purple cloak, with enormous spines emerging from it. It had 2000 attack points.
"Ha! That's not going to do anything!" Rory smirked "My Swordstalker also has 2000 attack. If you attack, they're both destroyed and you are open to attack next turn!"
"Ah, but I play Violet crystal! It increases my monsters attack by 300." Bone gestured to his vampire as he said this. It glowed bright pink, and its fingers grew to giant talons. "Now, Vampire lord, attack his Swordstalker."
The vampire leapt forwards and tore apart Rory's Swordstalker. Rory himself collapsed to the floor as his face turned green, and his life points hit 1500. As he looked down, he expected to see green fungus all over him, but instead, he was glowing purple.
"Next, my Vampires effect activates!" Bone smiled "And that means that you select a monster in your deck and send it to the graveyard!"
Rory began to look through his deck for his weakest monster, when he remembered Richard's words. There's more than one way to duel. The phrase rang in his head as he looked at his cards. He grinned, and grabbed a card, tossing it to his graveyard.
"You're wrong by the way!" Laughed Rory "I do listen to Richard. And I can play like no other duellist on the planet!"
Bone let out a burst of evil laughter "You are a fool. You cannot win. Surrender. I shall give you a turn, then I shall eliminate you."
"That's all that I need!" Smiled Rory. "I activate Monster Reincarnation! By sending a card from my hand to the graveyard, I can bring any monster in my graveyard back to my hand!"
Bone smirked "It's not like you having anything there that could save you anyway!"
"How wrong." Smiled Rory "I choose Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the end!"
Bone stepped backwards. "How did that get in there?" He muttered in his American Accent.
"It was the card that your vampire sent away. And Now it returns to win me the duel!"
"But that means that you planned this!"
"Exactly. I remove from play my Swordstalker and my Shining Abyss to summon my Emperor Dragon!"
A storm cloud began to appear above the academy. Bolts of lightning crashed to the ground, as rain dropped on to the roof. Chaos Emperor dragon hovered down from above, its blue skin lit up by the lightning. Rory pointed at the vampire Lord, and instantly, the dragon launched a blast of pure energy at it.
The energy tore it up, splitting it in to pieces, and blasting Bone backwards. Bone flew from the rooftop, holding his hands backwards, now hovering in the sky. His life point counter hit 0.
"I lose but live on through my curse." Bone giggled "I tried playing fair, so now I'll just have to cheat."
Bone lifted a pistol to Rory. He smiled. "Rory Lionheart, prepare to die."
Rory looked on in terror, and time slowed as the gun fired. The bullet seemed to take a lifetime to pass over the rooftop, towards Rory. He leapt sideways, but the bullet hit his shoulder, piercing it and flying on through. Rory collapsed. He could still see Bone from his new position.
Bone growled. He reloaded the gun and took aim again. Just before he shot, a bolt of lightning flew down from the storm cloud. It completely encompassed Bone, who only had time to curse once before he was ripped to shreds.
Rory lay still for a moment, smiling to himself about his survival. He stood up, and began to limp towards the ladder to the main academy. He needed to go to the hospital ward. He needed to find Richard. Luckily, they were in the same place.
