CHAPTER EIGHT: Duel of the Dark Lords
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, the last season would have ended very differently….. Let's not get into it.
BEWK: Thanks for the support.
Yugi groaned as the light came into his room. Darn, he hated being woken up by the sun. Normally, he would have been sleeping till eleven, if he hadn't forgotten to close those curtains the previous night. Yami, who was an early riser, was already pacing up and down his soul room.
After he had got dressed, he ran down the stairs, to find his grandfather with a customer. The man was interested in buying Dungeon Dice Monsters merchandise, and it looked like he was taking a long time. Yugi muttered to his grandfather, "Gramps, I'm going out." "Of course, Yugi. But do have some breakfast first." Yugi nodded and went to the kitchen. After he had treated himself to cereal and milk, he yelled goodbye to his grandfather, and left.
Solomon Moto was surprised that his grandson looked so preoccupied. After all, he had just graduated from college. He should have been enjoying a few good months with his friends. He sighed and the door opened to reveal another customer.
Marik smirked at the man opposite him. "You don't know what you've gotten yourself into," chuckled Dartz. "Make your move if you feel like."
Marik nodded and drew. "I summon Thunder Nyan-Nyan (1900/800), in attack mode!" A woman in a tiger print leotard appeared along with a set of drums. She held a pair of drumsticks and began playing her drums. "I set one card face down and end my turn."
Dartz drew and said, "My, my, my, I never thought I'd draw this card on my first turn. Oh well, here goes. I activate the unstoppable field magic card, the Seal of Orichalcos!!" Holding up the powerful card, he opened his Duel Disk's field card slot and stuck the card within. Instantly, the seal spread across the field. The usual six pointed star formation then formed on the desert sand. Marik grunted angrily. That card was extremely powerful.
"Now, thanks to the Seal, all my monsters gain 500 more attack points. To start of, I'll summon Orichalcos Avarice (0+500 500/0) in defense mode!" A small, green imp appeared on the field. It was barely six inches tall, and had a long nose. It grinned cheekily and Marik. "Then I'll play the powerful spell card, Infinite Cards! As long as this is on the field, there is no limit to the number of cards we can hold in our hands." Marik didn't react. "I end my turn."
Marik drew, and thought, "I don't know the powers of his Orichalcos monsters, but once I summon a dark God, I'll be undefeatable." After a moment, he said, "I set one card face down and attack Orichalcos Avarice with Thunder Nyan-Nyan!" The creature croaked and rushing forward, it whacked the imp with its drumsticks. The imp instead, pouted and the wild lady was blown back by an explosion of green energy.
"What the hell!" snarled Marik. "How did your pathetic imp blow away my Thunder Nyan-Nyan?"
Dartz chuckled. "My pathetic imp, as you call it, happens to have the ability to survive battle with a stronger monster. It's other ability states that whenever you attack a monster with 'Orichalcos' in its name, I draw cards equal to the levels of the monsters on your side of the field. Thunder Nyan-Nyan had four stars, so I draw four cards." Dartz grinned and drew four cards bringing the total number of cards in his hand to eight. Marik snarled angrily.
"I end my turn."
Dartz drew and glanced at his next card. He chuckled. "Fell the wrath of Orichalcos Malevolence (1500 + 500 2000/0)!" A kind of humanoid dragon made completely of fire appeared and roared at Marik. Marik's Rod shone, showing the power of the opposing beast. "Attack his pathetic monster with Flame Claws!" The powerful flame beast lashed out at the Thunder Nyan-Nyan with flaming whip-like claws, destroying it. Marik grunted at the loss of his monster.
(Marik: 7900, Dartz: 8000)
"End turn. It's over of you, Marik. You'll just become another soul for the Great Leviathan."
Marik drew and smirked. He had drawn the fool into his trap. "First I'll activate my face-down Pot of Greed." He drew two cards from his deck and examined them. Not bad. His strategy was now complete. "Then I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light!"
Three glowing swords shot out of the air and appeared between Marik and Dartz. Dartz snarled angrily, "That means I can't attack for three of my turns!"
Marik smirked. "That's exactly what it means. I think I'll enjoy my newfound safety by playing an extremely rare and powerful card known as the First Sarcophagus!" Even as he inserted the card into his Duel Disk, a large, old piece of parchment appeared on Marik's side of the field.
Dartz raised his eyebrow. "That piece of torn paper will let you defeat me? I think not."
Marik chuckled. "Oh it will, in time. Next I'll place a card face down and next I'll activate Card Destruction, forcing us both to discard our entire hand and draw the same number of cards!"
Dartz shrugged and drew his hand of eight cards. Marik examined his and chuckled. "I end my turn." Just as he said this, another sarcophagus appeared on the field. Dartz gasped.
"What's the meaning of this?" he snarled.
Marik quirked an eyebrow. "It's simple. During my End Phase, the effect of the First Sarcophagus states that a card known as the Second Sarcophagus is placed on the field."
Dartz growled. "As I said before, these tattered pieces of paper are not going to help you defeat my Orichalcos deck!" He snapped the top card off his deck and with a frown, ended his turn. One of the shining swords surrounding him disappeared.
Marik chuckled quietly. The time was coming. He drew, and glancing at the card, said, "I place two more cards face down and end my turn. This also brings the Third Sarcophagus to the field." Another piece of parchment appeared, inciting a grunt from the lord of the Orichalcos.
Dartz had noticed Marik's calm and collected attitude. Dartz had only seen such confidence in one person, and he hadn't liked it. That's why he decided to be safe. "I place one card face down and switch Orichalcos Malevolence to defense mode. That's all for now."
Marik drew, and Dartz saw the maniacal grin on his face. "You fool! By leaving my Sarcophagus cards on the field, you sealed your own fate! I now send the First Sarcophagus, the Second Sarcophagus, and the Third Sarcophagus to the graveyard, to summon forth one of the most powerful beasts in Duel Monsters!" The three sarcophaguses disappeared in a flash of light. "I summon the SPIRIT OF THE PHARAOH (2500/2000)!"
In an influx of light and darkness, a terrible new monster had arrived on the scene. It was wrapped in bandages, but it wore the headpiece of a mighty pharaoh, and in one hand it carried a long staff. Then, on each side of him emerged two mummified soldiers. Two were skeletons dressed in blue robes with white headpieces, and the other two were dressed in yellow armor and carried scythes. They were two Pharaonic Protectors (900/0) and two Pharaoh's Servants (900/0).
Dartz was trembling. "What is this beast?" he snarled. Marik glanced idly over at him. "As I said before, this is the Spirit of the Pharaoh. When he's summoned to the field by the effect of the First Sarcophagus, I can automatically summon four Level 2 or lower zombies from my graveyard. I discarded these four charming fellows with Card Destruction. And now they're back, thanks to the Spirit of the Pharaoh, their master!"
Dartz had recovered from his initial shock. "You fool! All you've done is summon a bunch of ancient weaklings! My Orichalcos Avarice can't be destroyed in battle, so my life-points are safe!"
Marik ignored him. "Next I activate DNA Surgery! Now as long as it's face up on the field, all monsters are treated as one type of my choice. And my choice are machines!" Suddenly, metal plates flew out of nowhere and covered all monsters on the field. Dartz shrugged. "You've simply metallized your weaklings. I still don't see what difference it makes."
Marik grinned. "I have three cards that make all the difference in the world! Here they are: three Limiter Removals!" Dartz's breath got caught in his throat. He couldn't find it. "But that-that doubles…" "The attack points of all machine monsters on my field. Since I've activated three of them, my army's strength is increased by eight!"
Sand blew in all directions as the Pharaoh's Servants (7200/0) slammed their scythes into the ground, and the Pharaonic Protectors (7200/0) howled into the night air. Finally, the Spirit of the Pharaoh raised it's staff and a blast of lightning struck it, raising it's power dramatically (20000/2000). Suddenly, Dartz smirked. "Both my monsters are in defense mode, and as I said before, my Orichalcos Avarice can't be destroyed in battle! At the end of your turn, your monsters will be destroyed by Limiter Removal."
Marik shrugged. "Perhaps…. Not if I activate this: Raikegi!" Without warning, a massive bolt of lightning lanced out of the sky and struck Dartz's two Orichalcos monsters. He cried out in shock. "What is the meaning of this?"
Marik smirked. "Raikegi lets me destroy all your monsters. Now you're wide open. And that means your dead. Spirit of the Pharaoh- end it with…" he was cut off by Dartz, who immediately said, "I activate my powerful trap card, Threatening Roar! This means you can't declare an attack this turn. So you're monsters are wasted!"
Marik snarled as an invisible wall blocked his monsters from advancing forward. Dartz smirked.
"Fine. I end my turn." As he said this, the five zombies roared and were shattered to pieces. Mari grimaced but said nothing. Dartz drew and said, "I activate mystical Space Typhoon to destroy DNA Surgery!" A black tornado spun through the sand and destroyed Marik's magic card.
"Then I summon Orichalcos Black Centaur (1800 + 500 2300/1000) in attack mode!" A hideous black centaur appeared. It had a large sword and howled at Marik. "My powerful beast allows me to destroy one magic or trap card on the field, and I choose your Swords of Revealing Light!" The centaur growled and slashed the air, generating a wave of black magic, which shattered the remaining sword.
"Attack his life-points directly!" The centaur unleashed another wave of energy, which nearly knocked Marik of his feet. Dartz sneered. "End turn."
(Marik: 5600, Dartz: 8000)
It was now Marik's turn. He drew, and a dark look crossed his face. "You fool! Your pathetic Seal is no match for the card I'm about to play! I activate the trap card, Pyramid of Light!" A blue beam then shot up into the higher part of the field. Four beams then shout out of the beam when it reached the top of the field. The four beams then began to fill in with blue energy, to where the seal and the pyramid were within one another.
Dartz was shocked and first, but then recovered. "So what difference does it make?" he sneered.
"Oh it makes plenty of difference! BY paying 1000 life points, I can summon up two nightmarish creatures! Meet, Andro Sphinx (3000/2500), and Sphinx Teleia (2500/3000)!" The blonde, bipedal, male sphinx and the pink-haired, quadruple, female sphinx appeared and roared at Dartz. "Luckily for you, they can't attack the turn that they're summoned. That's why I'll have to end my turn. Next turn, you're finished."
(Marik: 4600, Dartz: 8000)
Dartz drew, and thought, "His sphinxes are powerful, but I've got cards that are nigh indestructible in my deck. I'll simply stall till I draw them, and then he'll be finished." He held up a card and said, "I summon Orichalcos Demon Cyclops (500 + 500 1000/2500), in defense mode." A brown, one-eyed giant appeared in a crouching position on the field. "I end my turn."
Marik drew. "I activate Rush Recklessly, granting Sphinx Teleia 700 attack points this turn! Now Andro Sphinx attack his centaur, Sphinx Teleia attack the Cyclops!" The two sphinxes screeched and rushed forward, slashing the two monsters. Dartz gasped as they continued on and slashed him as well. "What the…" he gasped.
(Marik: 4600, Dartz: 5250)
"When Andro Sphinx destroy a monster in defense mode, you lose half its attack points. And the same goes for Sphinx Teleia, except for defense points." Dartz grimaced at the loss of life points. Marik smirked. "End turn."
Dartz drew and chuckled. "I activate Orichalcos Revival, which lets me special summon an Orichalcos monster from my graveyard. I choose Orichalcos Demon Cyclops (500 + 500 1000/2500), in defense mode!" Marik raised an eyebrow but kept silent. "Then I'll sacrifice it to special summon a new beast! Meet Orichalcos God Cyclops (1500 +
500 2000/4000)!" The terrible beast disappeared in a flash of shining light. Marik had to cover his eyes as he grunted.
It was replaced by a new, horrifying creature. It was at least forty feet high, and was clad in black and white armor. It had a massive shield and sword, and in the middle of its face was one horrible, huge yellow eye. "This card has the highest defense in Duel Monsters, and can only be summoned by sacrificing Orichalcos Demon Cyclops, when the Seal of Orichalcos is on the field. Let's see your sphinxes get past him," said Dartz confidently.
Marik sighed as Dartz ended his turn. This green-haired man was irritating him. He drew and frowned. "End turn."
Dartz drew and said, "I'll activate the magic card Reinforcement of Power! By paying 1000 life points, all Orichalcos monsters get their defense points doubled!" Marik didn't like the sight of a bolt of lightning striking the powerful beast, increasing it's power drastically (2000/8000). "I place one card face down and end my turn." Marik drew and smirked. "I activate Double Spell. By discarding a card from my hand I can take one magic card from your graveyard. And I know just the card I want. Mystical Space Typhoon! And I'll use it to destroy my Pyramid of Light!" Dartz gasped as a tornado exploded out of nowhere and shattered the white pyramid. As this happened, the two sphinxes cried out in pain and disappeared as well. "What the-" swore Dartz.
"When Pyramid of Light is destroyed, both Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia are removed from play." "How does that help you," snarled Dartz. "Well, this is going to be a surprise. I can now pay 500 life points to summon a certain card that I'm sure you remember from my deck. Thenien the Great Sphinx (3500/3000)!"
Sand blew in all directions as the new beast appeared and pawed at the Seal. He roared at Dartz, who smirked and said, "Your beast is 4500 attack points to weak to take out my God Cyclops. What a waste!"
Marik's expression darkened and said, "Not really. I can give up 500 life points to increase my beasts attack points by 3000!" Dartz shook his head as the sphinx roared while it's ATK shot up to 6500. "Still not enough."
"Maybe now. However, I can equip it with the magic card: Megamorph!" Dartz choked. "But that double's your beast's attack points!"
"Too true. When my life points are lower than yours, Megamorph doubles my monster's original attack points!" Even the Seal seemed to shake as Thenien (10000/3000), let out a massive roar. "Now that my sphinx has reached an unrivalled level of power, your one-eyed freak is done! Attack with Rage of the Sphinx!"
Thenien rammed its fists together and slammed its them into the Cyclops's shield. It tried to resist, but the sphinx roared and with one surge of power let lose a devastating blast of energy, which resulted in an explosion. Dartz covered his eyes to block the smoke, while Marik laughed. But, to his shock, the Orichalcos God Cyclops was still present after the smoke cleared. "What's the meaning of this?" snarled Marik angrily. Dartz sneered.
"Orichalcos God Cyclops's effect states that I can give up any number of it's attack points to add it to it's defense points. So as you can see, Orichalcos God Cyclops (0/10000), could survive your lion cub's attack!" Marik's face contorted in anger as Dartz laughed. "I set two cards face down and end my turn. But you do realize that although your overweight beast serves as a good defense, my sphinx still has 7000 attack points, and nothing in your deck can beat it!"
(Marik: 3600, Dartz: 5250)
Dartz replied, "We'll see." He drew. "I set one card face down and end my turn."
Marik drew and glanced at his card. "End turn."
Now it was back to Dartz. Slowly he drew. He looked at the card and began to laugh. Marik frowned. "What's so funny?" Dartz sneered. "You fool! You don't realize what you're in for! I've just drawn one of the most powerful cards in existence! But first I'll pay 500 life points to special summon Orichalcos Kyutora (500 + 500 1000/500) in defense mode on my back row." A spike formed eyeball then appeared on the field. "Next I'll activate Premature Burial. By paying 800 life points, I can revive a monster from my graveyard. I choose Orichalcos Black Centaur (1800 + 500 2300/1000)!"
Once again the hideous beast rose and snarled at Marik.
(Marik: 3600, Dartz: 4450)
Marik raised an eyebrow. "You summon an eyeball and a horse? I don't call those cards of great power." Dartz smirked. "Just you wait. I now sacrifice all three Orichalcos monsters to summon a beast so powerful, so great, that the Gods themselves feared it's might."
As he said this, a hole seemed to appear in the clouds. Lightning struck the three monsters, and they screamed in pain as they shattered to pieces. Dartz's voice was trembling as he continued. "Eons ago, before any humans were alive, before the Universe had been created, a group of entities existed. They were to become the Gods. But some were so ambitious and powerful, that the others feared them so much, they expelled them from the realm. But with the creation of Shadow Magic all those years ago, they were released. One of them was the beast I'm about to summon. He doesn't quite qualify as a God, but I assure you, he doesn't need to."
He raised his fist to the sky. "Now that I've sent my three monsters to the graveyard, I can summon this! Meet Orichalcos Demon Dragon (?)!" Marik cringed as he heard a cross between a screech and a roar. The hole in the clouds widened as a terrifying new beast slowly floated out of it. It was at least four hundred feet long, with a wingspan twice as big. It was jet-black in color, and had glowing, green eyes. Its limbs had long claws, and two razor-sharp horns issued from its head. It looked like a devilish version of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, except the Red-Eyes didn't look so horrible. It let out another roar, nearly shattered Thenien the Great Sphinx, who, against this entity, didn't seem so great anymore.
It couldn't really fit in the Seal, so it landed on it's hind-limbs behind Dartz and roared again. The noise would have chilled any normal man's blood, but Marik looked bored. "He's here at last," sneered Dartz. "I must say, I've been waiting for this moment. A chance to demonstrate my full power."
Marik chuckled. "I'm not impressed. You say you'll summon a beast that has god-like powers. You summon this pathetic lizard." Dartz snarled.
"You fool! My dragon has powers far beyond anything you've ever seen! Here's a small taste! It's so powerful, it can only be summoned by sacrificing three Orichalcos monsters when the Seal is on the field. It's attack points are equal to the original attack points of every Orichalcos monster in my graveyard." Marik raised an eyebrow as Dartz pulled out the cards from his graveyard slot. "Orichalcos Avarice has 0, Orichalcos Malevolence has 1500, Orichalcos Black Centaur has 1800, Orichalcos Demon Cyclops has 500, Orichalcos God Cyclops has 1500, and Orichalcos Kyutora has 500. That's a grand total of 5800. Not forgetting the Seal itself, for a final attack of 6300. The same goes for it's defense points, which happen to be 9000." Marik raised an eyebrow as the Seal began to glow and the Orichalcos Demon Dragon (6300/9000), roared at Thenien. "Well, congratulations, but that's still not enough."
"It doesn't need to be that high. I can simply used its special ability, which lets me destroy one card on the field by discarding a card from my hand. Of course, my target is your sphinx." The gigantic dragon opened it's mouth and a wave of green energy shot towards Thenien. But Marik quickly countered, "I activate Interdimensional Matter Transporter, which lets me remove my Sphinx from play for this turn, saving it from your attack." Dartz shrugged as Thenien disappeared.
"You've done my job for me. It's over. Orichalcos Demon Dragon, attack directly with Divine Destruction!" The dragon opened it's mouth and a blast began to form in its mouth. It was black this time, and was also glowing. With a roar, it fired the blast at Marik. Dartz laughed, "You're done!" "Not if I block the attack! I use Gilasaurus' (1400/400) effect to special summon it to the field in defense mode, stopping your attack."
Marik smirked at Dartz's frustrated cry as a small, brown dinosaur was blown apart by the Divine Destruction attack. Dartz was furious. "YOUR LIZARD SAVED YOU THIS TURN, BUT NEXT TIME YOU WON"T BE SO LUCKY!"
Marik ignored him and drew. Suddenly, a dark look of satisfaction covered his face. "My, my, my…." he chuckled quietly. "All that talk about Gods, and you still have yet to face a true one."
"Explain yourself," spat Dartz.
Marik ignored him. "First, Thenien returns to the field. Unfortunately, Megamorph is no longer active. But no matter." The sphinx once again appeared and roared at the dragon, but was silenced by a growl. "Then I'll activate my trap card, Return from the Different Dimension! By paying half my life-points, I can summon monsters that have been removed from play. The limit would be five, but I only need two. "Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia." The two smaller sphinxes appeared and growled.
"Your lion cubs won't help you," said Dartz. Then it him. "That can only mean you're going to use them to…"
"So you're not that foolish after all," chuckled Marik. "I hereby sacrifice my three sphinxes to summon the first of my Dark God cards. You're dragon may be powerful, but my beast is in a whole different league. Meet, Giglamesh the Chaos Warrior (?)!!!!!!"
Well, let me tell you, this chapter hasn't been easy to write. I had to make up quite few cards, which I'm not too good at. Hope you enjoyed. It was nearly four thousand words, so I stuck to my promise. REVIEW.
Original Cards
Orichalcos Avarice, Orichalcos Black Centaur, Orichalcos God Cyclops, Orichalcos Demon Cyclops, Orichalcos Demon Dragon, Reinforcement of Power, Orichalcos Revival.
Be sure to stick around for the next chapter, where the abilities of the first Dark God will be revealed, and a certain King of Games learns a certain something…….
