Chapter 10 - Abandon All Hope
"Why are we here this early?" - Daniel asked, as he and Hannah entered the arena she was dueling in, two hours before the scheduled start of the duel.
"My opponent messaged me in advance and asked if we could reschedule the duel and have it start a couple of hours earlier."
"Can you just reschedule duels like that?"
"Yeah, I checked in the rules. As long as both parties agree to it, the duels can be held outside of their scheduled times in any empty arena." - Hannah said, quoting word for word what was written on the Championship's official website.
"Isn't it a bit suspicious though?"
"Why would it be suspicious? People are busy, it happens. Besides, it's not like I have anything better to do." - Hannah looked around the arena, which despite its seating capacity of ten thousand people currently had no people in it - "Why didn't anyone else show up?" - she asked.
"Well, nobody knows the time's been changed."
"But, I sent a text to everyone I know. Surely someone would've shown up."
"It's nine in the morning though." - Daniel replied - "Everyone's probably still sleeping."
"Then why aren't you?" - Hannah asked, as she stopped walking and waited for her opponent to appear.
"I don't like sleep." - Daniel said, leaving her to prepare, and went to sit in the first row of the arena - "Anyways, good luck!"
"Thanks!" - Hannah said, putting on a smile to try and conceal the fact she was extremely uneasy about this whole situation.
"I'll need all the luck in the world. I mean, I'm in round 5, nothing comes easy here." - she thought - "And Daniel's right, this change of schedule does seem a bit weird. But what else could I do? My parents are coming to visit tomorrow, so it couldn't be rescheduled for then."
Hannah's mind briefly drifted off into thoughts about how she has to clean her apartment, which she hasn't done in over a week, before coming back to her previous train of thought.
"I'm sure there aren't actually any ulterior motives behind this though. It's just… ever since Sara barged in that day, I've been on edge, worried about things I shouldn't really be worried about."
At this moment, a dark-haired man walked onto the side of the field opposite her, wearing a red vest underneath a pitch-black trench coat.
"It's him!" - Hannah immediately recognized this man - "That's the guy that was randomly standing around in front of the school!" - she thought, as she also remembered seeing him last week during Jonas' duel, and she immediately became that much more worried about the situation.
"I'm sure it's nothing. It's probably just a coincidence that I ran into him a couple of times." - she tried to calm herself down.
On the other side of the arena, Damien was just finishing up his preparations for the duel.
"Look at her, she looks so worried." - he thought - "I'd say a few words to calm her down, but I'm not sure that'd really work."
"Some things just have to be done." - he thought, looking at Hannah, trying to not feel pity on her because of what was about to happen - "It is unfortunate that we have a spectator though. I rescheduled this just so nobody would show up, but he's here anyway. Well, I'll have to deal with that when the time comes." - he quickly looked at Daniel, who was eagerly awaiting the start of the duel.
"Can we start?" - Damien asked, and Hannah snapped out of her thoughts and nodded her head.
"Don't let whatever's happening get to you!" - she thought, trying to suppress the worry welling up inside her - "You can win this!"
"Duel!" - both duelists exclaimed.
IDC - Round 5 - Duelists remaining: 32
Turn 1 - Hannah (LP - 4000 / Hand - 5 / Field - X)
"I'll go first!" - Hannah said, then briefly paused to take a look at her starting hand.
"Using my Scale 2 Majespecter Unicorn - Kirin and Scale 5 Majespecter Toad - Ogama, I set the Pendulum Scale!" - a large white unicorn appeared to her left, and a much smaller toad to her right.
"So she's definitely the one I'm looking for, without a doubt." - Damien thought.
"Now, I'll Pendulum Summon Majespecter Crow - Yata! (WIND/Spellcaster/Level 4/ATK 1000/DEF 1500)" - a three-legged crow wearing a scarlet cape materialized on the field - "When Yata is summoned, I can add one Majespecter Spell Card from my deck to my hand! And I add Majespecter Storm!"
The card came out of the deck near the very bottom of it, and Hannah grabbed it, and put it in her hand. After taking another brief pause, she set one card onto the field, and ended her turn.
"I've got Majespecter Tornado set." - she thought - "That should keep me safe if he summons anything threatening."
Turn 2 - Damien (LP - 4000 / Hand - 6 / Field - X)
"My turn!" - Damien said, as he drew a card from his deck. Unlike Hannah, he spent no time looking at his hand, as if his moves were planned in advance.
"While I control no Spell or Trap Cards, I can Special Summon this card from my hand! Come forth, Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss! (DARK/Fiend/Level 3/ATK 1500/DEF 300)" - a dark opening appeared on the floor in front of him, and out of it came a black beast, partially resembling a werewolf. Its front legs had shackles on them, with loose bits of chain dangling off them, signifying that it was once restrained, but now broke free. It opened its bright yellow eyes, situated just beneath the three horns on its head, and loudly roared, spreading its demonic wings.
"That thing looks threatening." - Hannah thought - "Luckily, I still have Tornado. I just have to wait to see what else he does."
"Next, I'll Normal Summon Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss! (DARK/Fiend/Level 3/ATK 800/DEF 2000)" - Damien continued, and another demonic creature appeared in front of him. This one had wings even larger than that of the beast next to him, and wore a metallic helmet covering its eyes. Both its hands had four fingers, out of which extended long, sharp claws, and its legs were similar to that of a bird. Hannah couldn't help but be scared at the very sight of the creature, which fortunately for her didn't stick around for long.
"Now, I'll overlay my two Level 3 Malebranche - Cagna and Scarm!" - Damien continued - "Supreme poet, ascend above this world! Abandon everything you love most, and travel through this tumultuous realm, void of all light, where the souls of the wretched are destined to a miserable eternity! Xyz Summon! Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss! (LIGHT/Warrior/Rank 3/ATK 1000/DEF 2500)" - in contrast to the demons that previously inhabited the field, what appeared in their place was an ordinary man. He wore a red coat over black clothes, and had belts tightened around his waist and chest, one of which had a sheathed sword on it. Atop his dark turquoise-haired head, the man wore a green laurel crown.
"That looks way less threatening. I won't interrupt this for now. Let's see where he goes with this." - Hannah looked on as Damien's turn unfolded.
"I'll use Dante's effect! I detach one Xyz Material, and then declare a number from one to three!" - Damien kept on going - "Then, I send that many cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard! I detach Scarm, and send three cards to my graveyard!"
"This might get unpleasant. There's no way he's sending those cards to the graveyard for no reason." - Hannah thought, as Damien took the top three cards of his deck, and placed them in the graveyard.
"Now, because I sent Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to my graveyard, I can return one set Spell or Trap from the field to the hand!" - Damien said, pointing towards the only set card on Hannah's field.
"Well, I guess he's forcing my hand here." - she thought, and went to select the targeted card on her disk's central unit.
"I activate Majespecter Tornado! I tribute my Majespecter Crow - Yata, and then banish one of your monsters!" - the purple crow disappeared from the field, sending a large tornado Dante's way.
"Nothing I didn't expect." - despite thinking this, Damien was still surprised with how everything unfolded, as he watched Dante slowly get blown away by the strong wind.
"I'll set one card, and end my turn." - he said - "At this moment, the effect of Scarm activates. Because it was sent to the graveyard this turn, I can add 1 Burning Abyss monster from my deck to my hand. I add Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss! Your turn."
"That was his boss monster?" - Hannah thought - "Maybe he's not as threatening as I thought."
Turn 3 - Hannah (LP - 4000 / Hand - 3 / Field - Pendulum Cards: Majespecter Unicorn - Kirin, Majespecter Toad - Ogama)
Hannah went to draw, but Damien immediately activated a card in response, immediately proving her previous thoughts completely wrong.
"I activate Twin Twister!" - he said - "I discard Barbar to the graveyard, and destroy both of your Pendulum Scales!"
"Again with the damn Twin Twister!" - Hannah thought.
"Not done there!" - Damien said - "When Barbar is sent to the graveyard, I can banish three Burning Abyss cards from my graveyard! I banish Cagna, Calcab and Scarm from the graveyard! Now, you take 300 damage for each banished card!"
Hannah: LP 4000 - 900 = 3100
"Now you may go on with your turn." - Damien finished up, as Hannah was left helpless, and without any way to access the Pendulum Monsters stuck in her extra deck.
"I don't even have a complete scale in my hand!" - she groaned - "Whatever, I can still make things work here! I Normal Summon Majespecter Fox - Kyubi! (WIND/Spellcaster/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1000)" - a small orange tornado-tailed fox appeared in front of her.
"When Kyubi is summoned, I can add one Majespecter Trap Card from my deck to my hand! I add another copy of Majespecter Tornado to my hand!"
Hannah set Tornado, as well as another Trap Card, from her hand, then went into the Battle Phase.
"Not an ideal situation, but I have to deal with it. The least I can do is go for some damage while his field is empty." - she thought.
"Majespecter Fox - Kyubi, direct attack!"
Damien: LP 4000 - 1500 = 2500
Damien barely moved despite the strong tornado the fox sent over in his direction.
"I end my turn." - Hannah said.
"I could've done this last turn, but I wanted to see what she could do." - Damien thought - "I'm underwhelmed at the moment, but I think she has more up her sleeve. So it's time to bring out the big guns, and force her into summoning the one thing I came here for."
Turn 4 - Damien (LP - 2500 / Hand - 3 / Field - X)
"Draw!" - he said, and much like on his last turn, started playing without pause.
"I activate the Ritual Spell Card, Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss!" - he said.
"Ritual Spell Card?" - Hannah thought - "Haven't seen one of those in a while."
"This isn't looking good." - Daniel muttered, as he watched the duel, growing steadily more worried.
"From my hand I'll tribute the two Malebranche - Cir and Graff! From the depths of hell rises the guardian of the cursed and leader of the twelve demons! Abandon all hope! Ritual Summon, Level 6! Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss! (DARK/Fiend/Level 6/ATK 2700/DEF 2200)" - a yellow-eyed demon appeared, larger than all the ones before him. Its head was a striking red colour, much like the rest of its body, and had four horns coming out of it - two resembling those of a bull, and two coming out of the side of its head. It wore a dark blue chestplate and leg armour, which almost exactly matched its dark purple wings in colour. In its right hand was a blue blade, and in its left a blood-red sword. As the monster slowly descended onto the field, it let out a demonic screech, and fully spread its wings, which were almost as wide as the playing field itself, and a testament to the monster's terrifying size.
"That thing looks massive, I better..." - Hannah was ready to activate Majespecter Tornado, but Damien continued.
"I see you want to get rid of Malacoda immediately." - he noticed what she was trying to do - "But at the very least, let me get a few more effects first." - he said calmly.
"First of all, when Cir is sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon another Burning Abyss monster from my graveyard - come forth, Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss! (DARK/Fiend/Level 3/ATK 1700/DEF 1000)" - in front of him appeared a demon that resembled a human, what with its long grey beard, and large, muscular body. However, the similarities stopped there - the demon's head had two large horns growing out of it, one of which was almost entirely shattered. It had wings much like the other Malebranche, and it held a golden chain with a massive flail at the end of it.
"Next, when Graff is sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a Malebranche from my deck! Summon, Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss! (DARK/Fiend/Level 2/ATK 1200/DEF 0)" - the demon that appeared this time resembled a woman, what with its long grey hair, but whether or not it was ever actually human was debatable. It had three horns - one in the middle of its head, which was cut off in a similar way to Barbar's left horn, and two downwards ones, which ran down parallel with its elongated face. Its wings, which were now spread, were a burgundy colour.
The three demons on Damien's field looked threatening, but Hannah didn't change her plans the slightest bit.
"I activate Majespecter Tornado! By tributing Kyubi, I banish Malacoda!" - she said, and the Netherlord disappeared off the field as quickly as Dante before him.
"Everything's going according to plan." - Damien thought, trying his very hardest to not look arrogant.
"Battle! Barbar, attack her directly!" - the large demons swung its chain around a few times, before throwing the flail in Hannah's direction, smashing the ground before her and knocking her back.
Hannah: LP 3100 - 1700 = 1400
"Next up, Alich, direct attack!" - the demon to the left of Barbar, raised its right hand, and slowly materialized a bright blue flame in its palm, which it then shot towards Hannah, who was still lying down on the floor after the last attack.
Hannah: LP 1400 - 1200 = 200
"Dude, calm down!" - Daniel shouted from the stands, noticing Hannah wasn't getting up, but was immediately silenced by Damien's reply.
"You be quiet! I could've ended this duel here and now, be glad your friend's still in it!" - he said sternly, displeased with Daniel's interruption, and general presence.
"Plus, I'm not leaving without seeing the monster I came here for. That's why I didn't beat her this turn, even if I could have. I want her to know what it feels like to be at the brink of defeat."
Damien watched on for another minute, before Hannah finally got back up on her feet.
"Your turn." - he said.
Turn 5 - Hannah (LP - 200 / Hand - 2 / Field - Spells/Traps: 1 set)
"Draw." - Hannah said, barely managing to stand up, as she noticed a faint glow coming from the card on top of her deck. As she drew the card, she was left in shock.
"She seems surprised." - Damien thought - "Maybe it's finally time."
"I've never seen this card before." - Hannah stared at the card in her right hand - "Where..."
"...they want one card in your deck, and they'll stop at nothing to get it." - Hannah remembered Sara's words from a week ago - "Why is it not here?" - the words from that encounter came flooding back.
"Could this be the card she was talking about?" - Hannah thought, as she diverted her stare to the extra deck, which was also faintly glowing. As she accessed the extra deck menu on the touchscreen on her duel disk, she noticed that it too had a new card in it.
"Where did these cards appear from? These aren't mine!" - she started panicking, but quickly calmed back down, and proceeded with her turn as if nothing happened, almost as if she was being taken over by something.
"I activate my set card, Pendulum Reborn! Using its effect, I Special Summon Majespecter Fox - Kyubi back from my extra deck!" - she said with more vigour, though still barely standing, as the small orange fox once again appeared on the field.
"Next, I'll summon Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer! (LIGHT/Dragon/Tuner/Level 4/ATK 1850/DEF 0)" - a humanoid creature appeared, holding a golden sword one hand and a white shield in the other. The rest of its armour matched the shield, and was primarily white in colour, with bronze highlights. It wore a mask with two horns on it, resembling a dragon's face. Despite its initial human appearance, it had a large blue tail, and dark green wings split into four sections coming out of its back.
"Yes! It's coming!" - Damien couldn't help but scream to the sky, partially out of joy, and partially out of relief. Meanwhile, Daniel looked at what was happening in the duel, and had a hard time believing any of it.
"That's not her monster…" - he thought - "…where did she get that from?"
"Now, I'll overlay my Level 4 Majespecter Fox - Kyubi and Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer!" - Hannah continued - "Combine! The splendour of the Majespecters and the might of the Dracoslayers! Exalted champion, rise towards the heavens on wings of glory! Xyz Summon! Majester Paladin, the Ascending Dracoslayer! (WIND/Dragon/Rank 4/ATK 1850/DEF 2000)!" - Luster Pendulum slowly rose to the sky, stopping in its ascent after a few seconds, as Majespecter Unicorn - Kirin slowly materialized beneath it. Luster then descended, as slowly as he had ascended, and sat down on Kirin's back, raising his sword to the sky as the unicorn knelt.
"I'm better off summoning it in defense position than going for damage." - Hannah thought - "I remember what Barbar does. If Majester was in attack, he could just run Barbar into him and I'd be done for."
"I set one card, and end my turn." - she said - "At this time, I can use Majester's effect, allowing me to add one Pendulum Monster from my deck to my hand. I add Majespecter Raccoon - Bunbuku!"
"Now, next turn, I'll be able to summon Bunbuku, and get a scale. Then we're in business." - she thought.
"That's a bit underwhelming, in all honesty." - Damien's thoughts were the exact opposite of Hannah's - "Oh well, makes it easier for me I guess."
Turn 6 - Damien (LP - 2500 / Hand - 0 / Field - Monsters: Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss)
"Draw!" - Damien said.
"He only has one card in his hand, surely there's no way…" - Hannah thought, but was interrupted by Damien.
"I activate the effect of a card in my graveyard - The Terminus of the Burning Abyss! I banish it from my graveyard, and give one Burning Abyss monster an extra 800 ATK!"
"When did that card get in the graveyard?" - Hannah asked.
"I sent it there with Dante, remember?"
Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss: ATK 1700 + 800 = 2500
"Now…" - Damien started saying, but it was his turn to be interrupted.
"I activate Compulsory Evacuation Device!" - Hannah said - "And return Barbar to the hand!"
"Now that's a card I haven't seen in a while!" - Damien said - "Well done! Though it won't help you survive this turn." - he continued in a sinister tone of voice, and Hannah's eyes widened.
"From my graveyard, I banish Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss! Now, I send 1 Burning Abyss monster from my hand to the graveyard, and add 1 Burning Abyss monster from my deck to the hand!" - he said with a wide grin on his face, revealing Barbar in his hand.
"I add Scarm to my hand, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that Barbar was sent to the graveyard, which means I can now banish up to three Burning Abyss cards from my graveyard and inflict you 300 damage for each!"
"No…" - Daniel thought, as he helplessly looked at his friend on the brink of defeat - "She returned it back to his hand so he couldn't get that effect, but he managed to do it anyway."
"I banish Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my graveyard!" - Damien stated his finishing move. The ghost of Barbar appeared, swinging its chain, and threw the flail in Hannah's direction once again, this time hitting her, instead of the ground in front of her, with full force.
Hannah: LP 200 - 200 = 0
Round 5 winner: Damien Portinari
Daniel started rushing towards Hannah, while Damien slowly walked over to his now unconscious opponent. He was just about to pick her up, before being pushed out of the way by Daniel.
"Are you crazy? She could be seriously hurt!" - Daniel said, but Damien just stared at him.
"You stay out of this." - he said.
"What do you mean? What do you even want with her?" - Daniel asked, desperately trying to get some answers.
"I said, stay out of this." - Damien repeated himself, and upon noticing that Daniel wasn't complying, grabbed him by the throat, and violently threw him to the side, knocking him out in the process, then picked up Hannah's unconscious body.
When Daniel woke up, neither Damien nor Hannah were anywhere to be seen.