Ya know, I've had my fair share of dealing with punks left and right, whether it be during my days as a NYC Detective, my time in school, or heck, just being on the streets themselves (I'll admit that I've been the victim of a pick-pocket every now and then).
So, when I first met one of my fellow Shadowchasers for the first time, you can bet that right off the bat, I thought he was nothing but trouble… And for the first month or two, I stood by that opinion of Barron Diego strongly.
However, after working with the guy for two years before he got called out for an undercover mission, I learned that he was an alright guy (even if he sometimes asked me to buy him some questionable materials every now and then… But I never budged on that) and someone I could trust my back to in a sticky situation.
He's almost back where he belongs, back with the team…
… But it looks like he has a little detour to take before then…
0-0-0-0
Draw 10
Infernal Flame Emperor
0-0-0-0
A new day has dawned on the open road, but for Barron, it was if night and day never even changed since he got on the road this early morning. It would be still a long drive for him, but since he was waiting at one of the convenient gas stations in the middle of the dessert (he never really understood why they were still called gas stations, since a vast majority of the world had changed to a cleaner source of fuel) he was able to enjoy some of the simple pleasures of life…
"Ah, beef jerky and a root beer," Barron snickered to himself before he munched on the fore-mentioned jerky. "Truly the breakfast of champions!"
It was still early morning, and since Barron didn't like traveling when the sun would rise, the young Shadowchaser was killing some time at the station, refueling his D-Wheel and getting a makeshift breakfast. He'd need it for the day he was in stored for…
… A day full of driving in hopes of getting back to the very city that he grew up in, Las Vegas, and hanging out with the crew of Shadowchasers Barron had grown accustomed too.
'… Although, I'm more interested in seeing this new Shadowchaser,' Barron thought to himself as he chewed on the super tough jerky. 'Personally, Faye's good to look at, but she's just not my type of girl… Maybe this new one will provide adequate fan service?'
… Boy was he in for such a disappointment…
But, Barron had made sure that before he left this morning that he did not alert the LV Shadowchasers that he was coming… He was never one for welcome parties (even the bash that Jalal threw him was a little over the top in his opinion), and if someone was to be surprised, it was going to be the team.
Pulling his right sleeve up, Barron eyed the digital watch he had strapped to his wrist.
6:43 AM
"… Guess I should head out…" Barron sighed before he chomped down on his makeshift breakfast of dried meet. 'Before I get that call from one of them…'
0-0-0-0
"Damn it…"
Roughly the same time that Barron was wrapping up his snack themed breakfast, at the Shadowchaser headquarters, Faye was slumped on the couch, her jacket thrown on the floor behind her as she kept her arms propped behind her head.
'I don't know how Hyde's able to move after all nighters…' Faye thought to herself as she slowly pulled off her glasses to rub her eyes.
"Hmm… You're up early…"
Faye pulled her hand away from her eyes, seeing Hyde standing over her with a cup of coffee in his hand that he swirled about with a stirrer.
"Never went to sleep," Faye moaned loudly with grimace appearing on her face.
"Welcome to the club," Hyde chuckled before he sipped some of the coffee in the mug he had. "We're always looking for new members who seem to enjoy working the graveyard shift."
"Ugh… How do you keep on living?" Faye asked snapping her head forward.
"… I thank my good friend caffeine for that," Hyde answered taking a seat adjacent to Faye, sipping his coffee once more. 'That and tobacco seems to keep me up in the morning…'
"That fresh?" Faye yawned pointing at the mug.
"… Freshly brewed," Hyde sighed. "But, anyway, what exactly were you looking up?"
"I got a name yesterday," Faye replied quickly, making Hyde almost drop his coffee mug.
'… Damn, I got one-upped,' Hyde thought to himself before he regained his composure. "I see… You need any help?"
"Nah…" Faye yawned once more. "But I could go for a shower and a nap… So, I don't really have a choice in asking for your help. I've got the information I found about him on the laptop here… So, yeah… Thanks Hyde…"
Hyde nodded at his colleague as she stood up stretching, "Hey, its what I do. Since Ace is out on her patrol, I don't mind pulling a little extra work… I've gotten used to it since Barron left for his mission…"
"Meh, he should be back any day now…" Faye sighed pulling up the jacket that was skewed on the ground. "Who knows? He might even be able to give a fresh perspective on this…"
"Yeah," Hyde muttered as he pulled the laptop towards him. "Or he could ruin everything… Then again, with the way things have been going…"
Both Shadowchasers stopped what they were doing and sighed loudly…
… It was going to be difficult either way if Barron did or didn't show up…
0-0-0-0
8:27 AM
Despite its lively interior, Las Vegas was surrounded by desert with the roads breaking up the scenery of the hot sand and cacti, almost completely devoid of any life due to the harsh environment conditions.
However, several miles into the desert…
"How much longer till you finish it?"
Hidden amongst the rocks and dirt, a single car was parked several meters away from the main road, with a familiar Russian mountain-of-a-man lying on the hood of the car with a cloth covered item atop of his chest. "We've been out here since dawn, can't you speed it up?"
"Ugh…" The cloaked figure growled, standing up from the rune-in-process around him. It was the same cloaked person who had been with Volk when Mira had picked the two up, only this time his cloak was slightly drenched with sweat. "Then… Then why not get off your duff and give me a hand?"
Volk sighed as he pushed the wrapped item onto the hood of the car and jumped to his feet. And then he quickly clapped a few times.
"Oh, you're just a riot!" The cloaked man growled as he stepped away from the rune, his hand grasping at the collar of his cloak. "And do I have to wear this tacky thing? It so doesn't match with my outfit! Can I take it off?"
"… I wasn't the one to tell you to wear it," Volk answered as he sat back down on the hood of the car. "You're more than willing to take the dang thing off, Rowen."
A little taken slightly, the cloaked Rowen quickly pulled the cloak off, allowing it to float through the breeze that swept up against his now revealed form. With a sleek physique, this young pale skinned man shook his long black hair, making it flip over the long red headband over his forehead. Of course, since his cloak was sweat covered, it stood to reason that his black leather vest, gray T-shirt and black cargo pants would also be moistened.
"… You think this is a photo op or something?" Volk asked raising an eyebrow.
"You're just jealous that I've got the looks to pull this style off," Rowen replied fixing his black hair over his pointed ears. "You big brute."
"Yeah, this coming from an emo elf," Volk cackled returning his grip to the wrapped up item on the hood of the car. "Just get back to work Rowen… We need to get this stuff done before we noticed out here."
"Fine! Then how about you just go get the damn package that cowboy runt got us?" Rowen suggested before he went back to drawing the rune.
"Sure," Volk yawned loudly… Not moving still. "I still don't get what the flowers have to do with this?"
"Well… If you really have to know," Rowen growled, not noticing that Volk was only stretching on the car hood. "What we're doing here is actually a summoning… And in order to entice the thing we're summoning, we kinda…"
"Blah, blah, blah…" Volk chuckled making a mouth formation with his hand. "What do I look like over here? Nerd scientist? Save the lecture for someone who really cares."
"Then why did you ask?!" Rowen snapped, only to narrow his eyes at the Russian. "And get off your ass and give me a hand already!"
Once again, Volk jumped off the hood and began to clap for Rowen.
"… You already did that joke," Rowen growled with a slap to his head. "Get over here and help me!"
"Yeah, yeah," Volk sighed with a shrug. "I guess you just can't take a classic joke…"
"No, I can take classic jokes," Rowen corrected. "But its bad jokes that get me."
"You just can't get good humor," Volk growled as he headed to the backseat of the car.
0-0-0-0
9:22 AM
We are living our lives,
Abound with so much information.
Come on, let go the remote;
Don't you know you're letting all the junk flood in?
As that beat flowed through his helmet, Barron couldn't help but bob his head up and down to the rythem of the song and words. It may not have been loud enough (hey, listening to music while driving a D-Wheel is still pretty dangerous), but when you're on the road since daybreak on a deafening motor with the road in front of you…
… Gotta do something to cure those road blues…
'Although… I wish I had downloaded something a little more upbeat,' Barron thought to himself as he quickly turned off the music.
Moving his eyes to the side, Barron sighed as he took notice of the desert surroundings that sped past him. Sure he had grown up in this sort of environment (he wasn't really allowed to tread around the casinos after school let out), but hanging out in the outskirts of the city really passed the time for him.
And made some memories while he was at it.
Its not that Barron didn't make some good memories while he was in the Shadowchasers, but those were all work related.
'I can honestly say that I never thought I'd be fighting supernatural…' Barron thought to himself with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.
He would've continued that thought, but an upcoming green sign caught his attention…
Las Vegas
65 miles
"Damn it! I thought I was closer than that!" Barron moaned loudly with his head lowered slightly.
Meanwhile…
"URK! Okay!" Rowan moaned as he wiped off the sweat from his brow. "We're almost done…"
Volk yawned loudly from his perch atop of the car, "Really? That was quick…"
"It would've been quicker if you actually helped!" Rowen snarled loudly as he stood up straight. "Anyway, take a look for yourself…"
Sitting up straight on the car's roof, Volk blinked a few times at the large red rune that was painted with what he hoped was red paint. The design of the rune looked circular with several flame symbols with the Japanese kanji for fire imprinted into the middle.
But what was really weird, were the seven flower pots that were lined along the runes, all of them filled with some weird looking red flowers.
"So… What's with the weeds?" Volk asked as Rowen was looking through some of the materials inside the backseat of the car.
"They happen to be Moon Fire Roses, ya dunce," Rowen answered as he produced a rather small lighter from the backseat. "A rare type of rose only known to Shadowkind and Awares… They're known to be used for aggressive hormones when synthesized correctly."
"And… They're helping us… How?" Volk muttered with his head tilted slightly.
"… Damn it… I don't like explaining everything to you," Rowen stated as he walked towards the circle, holding the lighter over his head. "Watch and learn…"
With a quick flick, the lighter lit up in Rowen's hands, "Igne natura renovatur integra…
"Igni ferroque…
"Ignis fatuus…
"Imago dei, ignis aurum probat!"
The flame from the lighter shot off overhead, slowly growing by the second as Rowen continued his chanting, "… IN GIRUM IMUS NOCTE ET CONSUMIMUR IGNI!"
The fire exploded into seven large embers that floated down into the seven flower pots, immediately igniting the flowers, sending several burnt petals into the air.
"… Now with the flames ignited," Rowen continued as he pulled out a small bag, dumping the contents into his hand to reveal several sharp teeth. "I offer the fangs of a blood lust beast… In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni!"
Throwing all the curved fangs into the circle, the flames in the flower pots erupted into the air, spinning through the air.
"… Damn…" Volk whistled out. "This is better than the fountain show at late night! I wish I had some popcorn!"
"Quiet!" Rowen hissed loudly as all seven flying flames crashed into the middle of the rune, combining into one large pillar of fire that bent and twisted.
That's when something struck Rowen, like a small surge of electricity coursing through his veins…
"Uh… We should probably run now," the emo elf suggested taking a few steps back towards the car.
"Huh?" Volk questioned watching as Rowen jumped into the driver's seat. "We've still have a job to do here…"
To prove his point, Volk lifted up the cloth covered device from before. "We've gotta collect the red stuff from after the…"
"Look! Just get in the car!" Rowen snapped as the engine revved loudly. "Just trust me! We wanna get as far away as we can! We can collect it afterwards!"
Back on the road…
"Finally! Fifty miles to go!" Barron cheered to himself with a few tears appearing in the corners of his eyes.
… Hard to tell how many traffic laws Barron had broken to get where he was now on the road… Not that he was counting that sort of thing.
BOOM!
Barron's eyes widened as a huge shockwave slammed through the earth and road, making Barron's D-Wheel stagger off the road. It took all he could in order to make sure he didn't go off road and into some of the cacti. Of course, having driven a D-Wheel for the last few years straight, Barron was more than able to straighten himself out…
… Of course, when he did, he was met with an awe inspiring sight – A tower of fire that began to falter to the ground.
"… Looks like I won't be able to rest when I get to Vegas," Barron muttered to himself as he quickly turned his D-Wheel towards the direction of the tower of flames.
A few minutes later…
"Damn…" Barron muttered under his breath as he drove within seeing distance of the fiery tower, but far enough not to get hit by any discharge of flames should that be the case. "… That's something you don't see everyday…"
"Finally…"
Barron's attention was jerked around as he turned left and right, trying to find the source of the deep voice…
"After one thousand years… The door has been opened once more…"
Like lightning striking a tree, realization struck Barron as he turned towards the rippling tower of flames, seeing that the flames were beginning to meld and shape themselves. "The human world… I can smell the changes…"
"Okay… Definitely not something you see everyday," Barron muttered as the flames erupted into several embers to unleash an intimidating form in front of his D-Wheel.
Standing before Barron was a giant monster that he had never seen before, looking like a melding pot of different beasts, monsters and Shadows. With the general shape of a centaur, a lion-like, scaly lower body, with a humanoid upper body with a pair of wings made of pure flames, a lion-like face topped with bull-horns, all covered with coal like scales that had flames licking off of its body. With a loud roar, the demon took its first few steps away from its original summoned area.
"What an interesting development," The demon cackled to itself as it stomped towards Barron. "Never in my dreams would I imagine being summoned to this plane of existence again…"
Barron was about to floor it… But that's when the large demon just stomped past him, as if he wasn't even noticed. "This world has changed… I can taste the tension between every single race in each of my breaths…"
'… What the?' Barron questioned as he turned his head around to stare at the fiery demon that stomped past him. 'He ignored me!'
Reaching into his pocket, Barron produced a small vial of light blue liquid and held it between his fingers, "Hey!"
The demon didn't hear Barron, even as the young Shadowchaser's D-Wheel revved up, running alongside of the larger fire demon. When he was right along the demon's front leg, Barron threw the vial at the fiery demon's leg, smashing up against the enflamed limb…
When the glass broke, a large amount of ice began to escalade on the demon's leg, crawling up to its shin.
This of course caught the attention of the demon merely glaring at the ice that had covered his leg and then at the small D-Wheel, "… How interesting… A rat that thinks it can stop me with such a simple trick…"
The ice shattered, steam coming off of the demon's leg.
"Humans have become so insolent in the last thousand years," the demon cackled bending over to have its face at an angle towards Barron. "Do you have any clue as to who I am?"
"Some demon with a superior complex?" Barron guessed with his eyes narrowed at the demon.
"A pointless question, I surmise," The demon sighed straightening out its back. "Very well… I shall burn my name into your fragile little mind. I am Berial of the Hell Fire!"
"… Wow, you know, now that I hear that," Barron muttered and raised an eyebrow at the demon. "And get a good look at ya… You definitely look like a boss from a video game I once played, same name too…"
"Foolish mortal…" Berial chuckled with his muscular arms crossed over his fiery chest. "In the short time I was originally on this plane of existence, my form, my will, and my presence has lofted over this world, embedding itself into the minds of some you weak willed beings…
"It was quite the feat, but well worth it… As long as my name was known by at least one being in this world, the door to this world for me will always be open, at least window wise, so I've been able to study this world from afar. Through your artists and authors, my name as remained in this world long after I was forced to leave…"
"Yeah that's real nice," Barron stated pointing his finger at Berial. "But what the hell are you doing here?"
"… Some foolish mortal opened the door to this world for me," Berial admitted narrowing his glowing red eyes. "However… He did not expect me to answer to the call of his summoning… He was trying to summon a small fire demon… But he gathered the attention of me, one of the strongest demons in the realm I originated from."
'Great… Someone did something stupid…' Barron thought as he pumped his fist. "Listen, Berry…"
The fire demon snorted, "Berial."
"Yeah, whatever," Barron replied with a shrug. "Listen, you seem like a reasonable demon… What's it going to take to make you go back through that door to your plane of existence? Maybe some coal or gasoline to keep that fire burning? Maybe listening to some Disco Inferno?"
If the demon was capable of it, he would've had a large bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head, "Do not think that such childish temptations would soil my requirements… I have come to this world seeking the very warrior who had sealed me over one thousand years ago."
"… I don't know who this warrior is," Barron stated rolling his eyes. "But if he defeated you a thousand years ago, I highly doubt that he'd still be alive…"
"His presence…" Berial growled as the flame in his chest began to grow brighter. "I can sense his blood in the air… But, it's faint. Perhaps maybe if I set blaze to that strange village in the distance, I can attract that warrior…"
Barron's eyes widened as he realized that Berial was referring to Las Vegas, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Look if you wanna destroy something, I can point you in the right direction of a few credit card companies that I owe some money to… But I can't really let ya go destroying Sin City. I kinda live there…"
"It matters not…" Berial chuckled looking down on the D-Wheel riding Shadowchaser. "It's highly unlikely that someone like you has the capabilities to stop me and my ideals… You should just move out of the way…"
'Damn it… He's right!' Barron thought to himself looking over the towering fire demon. 'Although I have my training… The fact that our sizes differ greatly makes me like a rat to him! Its impossible to beat him with what little supplies I have with me….At the very least, I might just be able to stall him long enough…
'Maybe I can get some back up…'
"Hey Berry!"
"Insolent human…" Berial snarled, his patience starting to wane. "My name is…"
"Whatever," Barron interrupted holding his fist up. "You said you've studied this world right?"
"In a sense…" Berial snorted. "What is your point?"
"Well… We kind of have this little ritual," Barron explained turning his wrist around to reveal the deck of Duel Monster cards in the deck gauntlet. "Simply known as…"
"Duel Monsters," Berial interrupted. "I've seen the power that such small cards posses in the last few years… I must say, you humans certainly have opened Pandora's Box with those… The Egyptian God cards, the Three Legendary Demons, and those Earthbound Gods…
"There are more that I could say, but that's beside the point, are you challenging me in that simple game of sport?"
"Uh…" Barron muttered.
He'd admit he didn't think that the demon would take to the idea so quickly.
"I could use some entertainment before I get to my destruction," Berial admitted, uncrossing his arms summoning a large flame in his clawed hand. "I suppose you'll have to suffice… You see I have seen many of the important battles in today's day and age through the eyes of fire…"
Crushing the flame between his claws, the embers began to form into a large card shaped form before Berial's chest – The flames disappeared to reveal a familiar Duel Monster card that began to embed itself into the fire demon's chest…
"Is that… Speed World?" Barron questioned as the Speed World on his D-Wheel's monitor.
Five more flames erupted in front of Berial, circling the demon's torso, "Your Riding Duels are quite intriguing…" (BELP: 8000 / SPC: 0)
Barron couldn't help but blink a few times at the fiery counters that appeared at Berial's shoulders… Demons certainly had unique ways of turning simple things into complicated and flashy situations. (BALP: 8000 / SPC: 0)
Meanwhile…
"… Um… Volk," Rowen muttered watching the Shadowchaser confront the large fire demon. "Shouldn't we do something about the fiery demon that we summoned?"
Volk only cracked his neck as he stepped out from the car, "Not our problem. We just needed to summon the big guy and…"
Reaching back into car, Volk produced the same cloth covered item that he had earlier before the two had bolted from the scene, "… Gather the red stuff afterwards. So, when they're far enough, we'll go and get it."
"… Uh, but what if that demon destroys the city?" Rowen asked with a large sweatdrop from his cohort's opinion about the matter. "Especially the office that…"
"Like I said, not our problem," Volk cackled pulling the cloth off to reveal a large glass container with metallic casings at the mouth and bottom of the glass. "Let the Shadowchasers deal with the big guy."
"… Whatever…" Rowen sighed.
Back on the road…
"I wonder… What will happen first," Berial questioned as he began to walk onto the road, leaving a fire covered footprint in its wake as Barron drove right next to the demon. "Your defeat… Or me reaching that weird village…"
'Great… I just hope someone saw this!' Barron thought as he drew his five cards, trying to make sure he kept his distance from the fire covered demon.
"How is it you humans say this?" Berial chuckled as a sixth card shaped flame erupted around him. "Was it… Get your game on?"
"… No one says that…" Barron muttered with a bead of sweat pouring down the side of his head. "EVER!"
"It matters not," Berial sighed pointing towards one of the fiery cards around him. "I summon the first denizen of my domain – Arise, Abaki!"
The card shattered into a large bulky red skinned ogre, running alongside Berial with a large spiked mace grasped tightly in its comically small hands (1700/1100).
Nodding at two other cards around it, the set cards appeared at Berial's slowly treading feet, "I wonder how a mortal will deal with this set up?"
"Are you kidding?" Barron snickered as he drew, making the speed counters click up to one each. "I've seen worst things in my locker at the gym!"
Berial took a second to look at the weird human, "… Humans were never this insolent a thousand years ago…"
"Times change Berry!" Barron laughed out slapping the card he just drew onto his D-Wheel disk field. "And the field is no exception! I summon Brron, Mad King of Dark World!"
A soul piercing laugh pierced through the sky, even making Berial turn his gaze over to Barron as a dark portal appeared next to the Shadowchaser, unleashing a gangly-looking, bronze skinned demon to float over Barron's D-Wheel. The dark blue cloak that covered its body was wrapped with chains, the 'hair' of the demon looked to be in dreads, and its face had the look of pure madness draped all over it (1800/400).
"… I see…" Berial muttered as he glared at the demon on Barron's field. "A human controlling a demon… What a marvelous day this is!"
Barron raised an eyebrow, 'Why would he say that?'
Shaking his head Barron merely threw his hand up into the air, "Brron! Attack Abaki!"
With a devilish smile, the mad king shattered the chains around his body, allowing him to leapt at the red ogre, tackling the other demon into the passing cement. The force and weight of Brron shattered the Abaki into countless flames. (BELP: 7900 / SPC: 1)
"Foolish mortal," Berial growled as the flames from Abaki's defeat began to surge around both duelists. "For destroying Abaki, you have incurred the wrath of the Hell Fire… For when destroyed in battle, Abaki destroys five hundred life points for both of us…"
"I know that," Barron stated as he lifted up a card from his hand. "But before destruction, battle damage is applied… So I can use Brron's effect before I take the damage! So I'll discard Broww, Huntsman of Dark World in order to draw a different card!"
Fitting Broww's card into his D-Wheel's graveyard, Barron quickly snapped up another card as the flames began to circle both him and Berial. "… Uh oh…"
The flames crashed into Barron's D-Wheel making him grit his teeth at the powerful heat… (BALP: 7500 / SPC: 1)
But Berial enjoyed the fiery assault, not surprising as he was a demon born of fire. (BELP: 7400 / SPC: 1)
"W… What the?" Barron coughed out as the flames disappeared. "Why the hell were those…"
"BWAHAHA!" Berial laughed loudly. "Did you really think that this was just some child's game? When you deal with a demon of my caliber, nothing is ever as it seems… The damage is real…"
"Great…" Barron muttered as he slipped a card into his duel disk. "I'll set a card face down card… Your move ugly!"
"… I should just crush you," Berial snarled as another flame appeared in front of him, giving him four 'cards' to work with, giving him and Barron two Speed Counters each. "But watching you burn will be a much more pleasurable watching you burn… To do this, since I was able to use Abaki for his purpose, I'll banish him…"
The flame engulfed card spun around shattering into a large demonic fire spirit, its arms and legs completely engulfed in fire (1700/1000). "To allow the second of my servants to appear – Spirit of Flames!"
'… I think it's safe to say that he has a fire deck going on,' Barron thought to himself as he eyed the elemental spirit.
"Spirit of Flames! Eradicate Brron!" Berial roared as the flames erupted around his demonic spirit (1700/1000 + 300/0). "And during the battle phase, my emissary gains three hundred attack points! Slay that treacherous demon!"
Flying through the air, the fire engulfed spirit pulled its flame engulfed fist back…
"Time for drama!" Barron announced as a large amulet appeared before his Mad King, made to look as if its metal was created by bones and had several uncut jewels embedded in it. "Meet my Depth Amulet! And when you declare an attack, I can discard a card from my hand to stop that attack! So, I'll get rid of Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World…"
A powerful barrier erupted between Brron and the Spirit of Flames separating the two demonic monsters from fighting.
"And since Depth Amulet's effect isn't a cost, I can summon…" Barron chuckled as a powerful bolt of dark electricity crashed into the ground behind his D-Wheel, forming into the bone armored Vanguard of Dark World (1600/1300). "Beiige!"
"A pointless struggle," Berial replied pointing at one flame in front of him, making it float down to the ground. "I continue my turn by setting one card face down… And I shall call out one more of my servants this turn…
"Fire Trooper!"
A powerful fiery explosion rocked over Berial's head, allowing the diabolic black armored warrior to appear. With a long purple cloak billowing from its back, the warrior roared loudly to have its face and clawed hands engulfed in fire (1000/1000). "But, he won't be remaining… When summoned, you get a little surprise from him…"
Barron's eyes widened as the Fire Trooper fell atop of his D-Wheel, his entire armor glowing a bright red before the warrior exploded! The fire engulfed Barron's D-Wheel, making him spin out, screaming out in pain as the flames washed over him. "AAAAAAHHH!" (BALP: 6500 / SPC: 1)
All the while, Berial was laughing loudly as he continued his trek towards Las Vegas, "Heh… Humans are quite an interesting breed… They're gluttons of punishment, are you going to be different and be sensible to stop this? Or are you going to continue to satisfy my desire to relinquish pain?"
The flames slowly disappeared from Barron's D-Wheel, showing that his clothing and hair was slightly singed, "… Oh… I'm going to continue, Berry… But I'm also going to kick your ass for ruining my hair!
"DRAW!"
Both duelists' Speed Counters increased by one, Berial's up to three and Barron's to two. "… Let me just say this… My deck may consist of mostly of Dark World monsters, but I have many more fiends at my disposal! I sacrifice Beiige..."
Cackling loudly, the dark world demon disappeared into a dark orb of ooze that flowed around Barron's D-Wheel. Soon the ooze erupted into a large demonic creature with black skin that was covered with dark brown armor that resembled that of bones with several bushy sprouts of hair protruding from underneath the armor. With a loud screech, this horned demon threw its arms to the side before it ran behind its duelist's D-Wheel (0/0).
"… Which allows me to summon Great Maju Garzett!"
"Such a weak demon…" Berial snarled at the demon as a dark aura began to pour over the Great Maju Garzett's body (0/0 + 3200/0). "Or so it seems…"
"Yeah! The big guy here gains double the attack of the tributed monster," Barron chuckled as he pumped his arm up into the air. "And why wait to allow him get you back for that weak comment? Great Maju Garzett! Attack his Spirit of Flames!"
Reeling its head back, the mish-mashed demon began to take in a long deep breath, its chest expanding…
"Foolish mortal," Berial remarked as one of the face down cards flipped up in front of him. "You have triggered my trap card – The trap known as Negate Attack! A simple card that you humans use, but I require my Spirit to remain on the field for the time being."
The Great Maju Garzett growled loudly as its chest began to decrease in size, making the horrible demon snarl even louder.
"You wanna play that way?" Barron growled as he pulled up two cards from his hand and fitted them into his duel disk, appearing behind his two demons. "Fine! I'll toss two cards face down as well… Your move ugly!"
"You're starting to get on my last nerve human," Berial snarled as a third flame appeared around him, as the Speed Counters clicked up to three for him and two for Barron.
Glancing at the flames, Berial pointed at the card he just produced, "Speed Spell activate…"
'This guy's got Speed Spells?!' Barron thought as the flame spun around.
"Angel Baton," the fire demon growled as the flame exploded. "Not something that I would really consider using… But it was still useful."
Two more flames appeared in front of Berial, but then one of the original two shattered, "Angels and demons… Like water and fire. They just don't go together. Still, to use angels is another matter. Now then, I relinquish the Spirit of Flames from my field…"
The Spirit of Flames roared loudly before the flames around its body began to surge around its entire body, allowing an incredibly large dragon covered with skeletal armor over its dark green and black scaled body with long bat wings at its arms (2400/1500). "In order to call out Chthonian Emperor Dragon!"
"Uh… Okay…" Barron muttered looking at the large bat-like dragon with flames erupting from between its joints. "You certainly the unique taste in cards… Not the most conventional fire deck I've seen…"
"Emperor Dragon!" Berial roared without showing that he cared for Barron's comment, forcing his dragon to roar as well. "Attack Brron!"
Reeling its head back, the Chthonian dragon immediately snapped its head forward to unleash a powerful flame towards the cackling demon.
"Looks like you'll need to have your eyes checked," Barron snickered fitting a monster card into his duel disk, making the Depth Amulet appear before his cackling Mad King, absorbing the flames. "Cause you would've known that I have my Depth Amulet still out! And by discarding a second Beiige, I can negate your attack!
"But more importantly…"
In a bolt of dark electricity, a second Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World emerged onto the road, spinning the pike in its demonic hands (1600/1300). "My dark army gets bigger!"
Berial didn't say anything, all he did was gesture towards one of the remaining two cards/flames in front of him. "One card face down. Make your move vermin."
'… I'm so not used to being called that…' Barron thought as he slowly reached for his deck…
… Only to stop as a sign began to come up…
Las Vegas
40 Miles
Barron was running out of time.
"Draw!" Barron announced as he quickly drew his next card, clicking his Speed Counters to three and the demon's to four (he was a little surprised that his computer was able to sync up with a demon, but at the moment, Barron was more interested in defeating said demon).
Looking over the two remaining cards in his hand, Barron merely nodded to himself as he threw his hand up into the air. "Great Maju Garzett! Clear the way and attack his dragon!"
Once more, the mish-mash demon drew in a large breath, its chest expanding for a few seconds until it unleash a geyser of black ooze from its mouth, aimed at the Chthonian Emperor Dragon.
However, Barron wasn't able to see the smirk on the fire demon's face, "… If I cannot attack you… Then I'll just counter-attack! I discard King Pyron in order force the activation of one of my face down cards…
"Rising Energy!"
Barron's eyes widened greatly as he saw a fiery aura appear around the demonic dragon (2400/1500 + 1500/0), making the monster cross its wings over its body to block the oncoming ooze.
Eventually, the force of the ooze died down, allowing the dragon to snap its wings up, revealing a large orb of fire being charged between its teeth, "Hell's Fire!"
The dragon unleashed the orb of fire, making it grow into a tidal wave of flames! Barron steered to the side to avoid the flames, but his Great Maju Garzett wasn't as lucky. The flames washed over the demon's body shattering the monster into countless scorched remains. (BALP: 5800 / SPC: 3)
"Uh…" Barron muttered as his demon's embers began to scatter.
"Humans always rush into things without thinking," Berial chuckled with its arms crossed. "However, I've seen many a times when that was actually possible to defeat several other demons in that same manner… But they were underclass demons, while I am a higher class, so I think ahead and…"
"Blah, blah, blah!" Barron snarled as he slapped a card onto his duel disk, making a face down monster appear before him. "I set one monster face down… And I'll switch my other two monsters to defense mode! Turn end!"
The Chthonian Emperor Dragon chuckled as the aura around its body began to die down (3900/1500 – 1500/0).
"Still insolent," Berial chuckled as a single flame erupted in front of him.
The Demon of Hell Fire's Speed Counters rose to five and Barron's increased to four.
"I'll show you the true power of the Hell's Fire!" the demon roared as the flame in front of his chest spun around, revealing a spell card. "Speed Spell – Fiery Collision!"
"I… I never heard of that one…" Barron muttered as a powerful flame began to surge over Berial's head.
"Foolish rat… Did you think I'd be bound by normal cards?" Berial asked as he lifted his clawed hand into the orb of fire over his head. "This card was created within my entire demonic being. And by removing all of the Speed Counters on my Speed World, for every two Speed Counters that were removed… I unleash the fires of hell and destroy one spell or trap card on your field!"
Barron's eyes widened as Berial crushed the flame with no effort, creating two fireballs that crashed into the Depth Amulet and his face down card (Fine).
"… Uh…" Barron muttered as a powerful fiery aura erupted around the Chthonian Emperor Dragon's body.
"Now, I invoke the Gemini abilities of my Dragon," Berial explained with his arms crossed. "I can normal summon it once more, allowing me to unleash the hidden abilities of my servant. Normally treated as a normal monster, this dragon gains the ability to attack twice in a battle phase!"
The dragon roared in an approving manner.
"But do not think it'll stop there," Berial growled as one of his face down flames/cards flipped up, revealing a Battle Ox falling from the sky with several meteors falling behind it. "I activate Meteorain!"
There were several words that could be used to describe the current situation, but Barron chose the most subtle that he could come up with, "… Oh crap…"
"Oh, so you know?" Berial cackled as the Chthonian Emperor Dragon charged up a powerful flame in its maw. "Now my servant, attack the Mad King!"
The dragon unleashed the flames, allowing them to crash into the crouching Brron, washing the flames over screaming demon before it shattered. Barron's eyes widened as the flames began to wash over his D-Wheel, the fire licking over his entire body as he roared in pain, "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" (BALP: 3800 / SPC: 2)
"But as I said before," Berial cackled watching Barron's D-Wheel spin out to remove the flames. "My Dragon servant now has the ability to attack twice… So, why not attack? Destroy his other revealed demon!"
Screeching loudly, the dragon unleashed another powerful flame that pierced right through the Dark World fiend and crashed into Barron's D-Wheel, igniting it once more in a powerful flame to make Barron scream in absolute pain. (BALP: 2700 / SPC: 1)
"Ack!" Barron coughed out as the flames flew from his D-Wheel, allowing him to barely straighten out his ride. "T-That all you got?"
"… You certainly are a glutton for punishment," Berial cackled with its massive arms crossed over its chest. "I'm beginning to get bored…"
"Bored?" Barron growled as he snapped off his next card, increasing his Speed Counters to two and Berial's to one. "I'll change that quickly!"
Looking at the two remaining cards in his hand, Barron closed his eyes…
'… There it is!'
Snapping his eyes open, Barron slapped a card onto his duel disk, "I summon Dark Resonator!"
A loud dinging sound echoed through the air, allowing a small imp like demon dressed in a large blue robe with metallic plates on its back and a tuning fork in its hands (1300/300) to appear over the road with a large grin.
"Hmm… More demons?" Berial growled. "It is a shame to see such prideful creatures following the orders of an incompetent…"
"Shut your trap!" Barron snarled as he threw his hand over his face down monster. "And watch as I flip up my Grand Tiki Elder!"
The face down card erupted in smoke, revealing a weird ghostly shaman dressed with several masks covering cloaked body (1500/800). "But I'm not keeping them out on the field… I'm tuning my two monsters together…"
Ringing the tuning fork, the Dark Resonator shattered into three rings that flew around the Grand Tiki Elder, transforming the fiend into four glowing stars that spun through the air. "Let the darkness come together, allowing the light to pierce through to form a new tomorrow!"
The lights erupted into a long tall pillar of white energy over Barron's moving D-Wheel, immediately turning into a large cloud of dark smoke, allowing a sleek and tall, blue armored demon with long arms and wings that ended with sharp claws and behind its skull-like face a large amount of smoke that served as it hair (2600/2600) to fly over the road. "Demon Chaos King!"
"… Demons and fiends," Berial roared with a shake of his head. "It's a sad day to see such noble demons at the commands of humans…"
"At least these guys don't go about lighting cities full of innocents on fire!" Barron shouted throwing his arm to the side. "Demon Chaos King! Attack his Chthonian Emperor Dragon!"
The Synchro demon king flew through the air, sending a dark aura pulsing through the large bat like dragon, making it roar out in pain (2400/1500 = 1500/2400). "And by the way, since my Demon Chaos King attacked, the attack and defense of all your monsters switch!"
And just like that, the Demon Chaos King slashed right through the Chthonian Emperor Dragon, cutting it in two. (BELP: 6300 / SPC: 0)
Berial didn't seem upset… Or angry… Or any emotion what so ever…
"… Parting is such sweet sorrow…" Berial sighed with a loud snort. "Oh well…"
Barron raised an eyebrow at that comment, and with a quick pull of the last card in his hand, Barron fitted it into his duel disk. "Turn end…"
A flame erupted from Berial's chest, allowing the demon to look at the fire intently as its Speed Counters clicked to one and Barron's to three, "… I have grown bored… I set one monster in defense mode."
The set monster appeared before Berial, giving him a semblance of a defense. "… Turn end."
"… Bored?" Barron muttered with his next draw, increasing both duelists' Speed Counters by one. "I'll show you bored! Demon Chaos King! Attack!"
Spinning through the air, the blue armored, sleek demon stabbed both of its claws into the face down monster, making the card flip up into a familiar jar like monster (700/600) only to be sliced into several pieces.
And just like that, thanks to the Morphing Jar, five flames appeared in front of Berial while Barron dropped the single card he had drawn beforehand and picked up five new cards…
… A smirk appearing on his face…
"Thank you human," Berial cackled as the demon crossed its arms over its chest. "Now I'll be…"
"Before you thank me," Barron chuckled as a surge of dark electricity appeared over his D-Wheel. "I should thank you… You see, the one card you made me discard was another Dark World monster… One of the Lords!"
The electricity shattered like glass, allowing a large golden armored fiend to float over the road, its black under armor (or skin!) bulging with pure muscular might. Clutched within the demon's hands was a large golden battle axe that the demon spun effortlessly (2300/1400), "Goldd! Wu-Lord of Dark World!
"And since he was discarded by your effect, two of your cards get blasted!"
Berial's fiery eyes widened as the two set flames on his field shattered like glass, "Grr…"
"And guess what?" Barron chuckled as Goldd spun the axe overhead. "… It's still my battle phase! Goldd! Attack him directly!"
With a demonic battle cry, the axe wielding demon leapt through the air, and slashed Berial across the chest…
… And surprisingly, the demon roared out in pain as several flames gushed out of the open wound, "ARRRGGH!" (BELP: 4000 / SPC: 0)
Barron blinked a few times as he lifted up two of the five new cards he drew, "I… I, uh, set two cards face down. And end my turn."
Before Berial could draw, another sign caught Barron's attention…
Las Vegas
25 Miles
'Damn it…' Barron thought as he continued driving on the road.
"… You…"
Turning over to Berial, Barron's eyes widened at the pure look of malice that dripped from the fire demon's eyes, the flames pouring from its body becoming much fiercer. "… You pitiful human! How dare you scar my body?!"
"Uh…" Barron muttered as a sixth flame erupted around Berial's body, indicating his draw of another card as well as both duelists' Speed Counters increasing. "I guess I'm daring?"
"… Fool…" Berial snarled as two of the flames began to surge. "I remove Chthonian Emperor Dragon and Fire Trooper from the game…"
The two flames began to twist and turn, forming into a pair of diabolic faces made out of the flames, both of them cackling loudly (1100/1900 x2). "To call forth my two Infernos!"
'… Not good…' Barron thought as the two flames began to whip around, twisting and turning.
"Next… I set two flames face down…" Berial snarled as the flames appeared on the road. "And then… I relinquish these monsters…"
The two Infernos began to meld together, creating a small compact orb of fire in front of the enflamed demon. "In order to summon my very avatar…"
"Avatar?" Barron thought out loud before his eyes widened. "Oh! Aw man!"
The orb of fire exploded, escalating into a large tower of flames that began to shape into a very familiar form – A large centaur shaped flame, with a lion like head and a pair of wings sprouting from its back (2700/1600). The demonic flame roared out as three blue flames erupted over its head. "Infernal… Flame… EMPEROR!"
'… I should've seen this a mile ago…' Barron yelled at himself.
"I remove Spirit of Flames and my two Infernos," Berial cackled as the blue flames began to fire themselves from the Infernal Flame Emperor, flying around before they crashed into all three of Barron's face down cards. "So, all of your face down cards are destroyed…"
'… Damn it… There goes a few strategies…' Barron thought with a cold bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.
"Infernal Flame Emperor!" Berial roared as the duel monster counterpart of the demon slammed its fiery fists together, generating even more flames around its arms. "Destroy his false Chaos King!"
By its demonic counterpart's command, the flame engulfed monster threw both of its fiery fists towards the Demon Chaos King. The smoke-like demon lifted its arms up at the last second, however, the rush of the two powerful fists made the Synchro monster disperse like the smoke that poured from its head. (BALP: 2600 / SPC: 5)
"Uh…" Barron muttered as he leered at the two titans of fire.
"Turn end…" Berial cackled with its arms crossed.
Taking a deep breath, Barron looked to his deck.
'Okay… Clock's ticking…' Barron thought as he turned towards the road, with each passing second, the two were getting closer and closer to Las Vegas. '… At the very least, I could try to lead ugly away from the city… Of course, it's not a smart plan, but at this point… What choice do I have?'
Unknown to the two dueling forces, another D-Wheel was viewing the duel from afar. Unlike Barron's, this D-Wheel wasn't bound by Speed World and was moving faster, despite the fact that it was riding on the rough desert ground.
From the way things were looking, the masked D-Wheeler couldn't help but shake his head… Still… It gave him a reason to implement his plans sooner than he anticipated.
"Draw!" Barron announced as he drew once more, giving him six speed counters and two for Berial.
"… We're ending this," Berial announced as one of the two face down cards flipped up to reveal a rough looking young girl with fiery red hair dressed in a long brown coat. In her hands, the young girl began to spin around a large red staff that had a live flame at the end of it. "Spiritual Fire Art – Kurenai!"
Barron's eyes widened as the Infernal Flame Emperor roared loudly, the flames covering its body began to surge about. "Now, but relinquishing my Avatar… I can eliminate the remainder of your life points!"
Stomping over to Barron's D-Wheel, the avatar of Berial began to pulse out violently, its flames starting to surge over the Shadowchaser's body. However, slowly, Barron looked to the card he just drew, his eyes widening as he slowly fitted the card into his graveyard slot.
The flames washed over Barron's D-Wheel.
All the while, Berial was laughing its horned head off, "I never tire of watching vermin burn!"
"… Then I'm sorry to disappoint you!"
Berial's eyes widened as the flames seemed to flow away from Barron's D-Wheel and onto the roads, a large smirk appearing on the Shadowchaser's face. (BALP: 2600 / SPC: 6)
"What?!" Berial snarled throwing its arm to the side. "How the hell did you…"
A loud chirping sound interrupted the fire demon, allowing a ghostly black furred puffball with large (yet cute) red eyes to flap its bat like wings in joy as it appeared in front of Barron. "Kuri! Kuri!"
"What is this?!" Berial roared.
"This… Is Yami Kuriboh!" Barron laughed with his grin growing larger. "And when I should take effect damage, I can simply discard the little guy to drain it to zero!"
"A rat saving a rat…" Berial snarled with its eyes narrowed. "How appropriate… In a sense…"
"Hmm… I wouldn't be saying that if I were you," Barron advised turning towards the monster on his field.
Goldd tightened its grip on the battle axe, cackling loudly as it spun the weapon overhead.
"… Especially since you wasted your monster for that last attack!" Barron announced holding his hand up. "Goldd! Attack!"
Cackling loudly, the gold-plated demon leapt through the air towards Berial once more…
"I have a back up plan…" Berial roared as his remaining face down card flipped up. "Trap reveal! A Hero Emerges!"
"… Seems wrong that someone like you would use that card," Barron commented raising an eyebrow.
"It matters not," Berial explained holding his hand up to the final flame in front of him, making it surge out. "For the last card I hold is a monster!"
The flames began to settle, forming into a large turtle with a large steel shell that resembled that of a flying saucer (1400/1200), the turtle pulling its head into its steel shell. "UFO Turtle! In defense mode!"
"… I know what that monster's can do," Barron replied fitting another card into his duel disk. "Too bad I'm not going to let you get a chance to use it. I'm ending my turn with just a set card!"
Berial remained silent as another flame appeared before it, giving Barron seven Speed Counters and Berial three of them.
"… I shall pass," Berial snarled as he crossed his arms.
"What?" Barron muttered blinking a few times.
"What are you waiting for?" Berial snarled narrowing its fiery brow at the Shadowchaser. "Are you giving up?"
Barron nodded…
"Fine!"
Just as both speed counters were increasing, Barron drew his next card… But his gaze was drawn to the road ahead… In the distance, he could see the outline of Sin City, getting closer rapidly. "… Playtime's over! I activate a familiar Speed Spell… Angel Baton!"
With two more quick clicks, Barron looked at the three cards left in his hand before he fitted one of them into his D-Wheel's graveyard slot, "And just to let ya know… The monster I discard was known as Silva, War-Lord of Dark World… And when discarded…"
A silver bolt of energy erupted from the road, allowing a large black and silver armored demon (the armor much like Goldd's only a little lighter) with a pair of sabers grasped in its two clawed hands (2300/1400), "Well… He's the second in command next to Goldd in the Dark World army! But I'm not done yet… Zure!"
And just like that, the dark world knight leapt atop of Barron's D-Wheel, drawing the bone like saber that was its trademarked weapon (1800/1500). "Now then… Zure! Attack his turtle!"
Leaping from the D-Wheel, the Dark World Knight flew through the air, holding the sword up into the air. Then with a powerful thrust, the demon stabbed the sword directly through the shell of the turtle, making it explode in a flurry of flames.
Zure flipped backwards, landing atop of Barron's D-Wheel, arms crossed for a job well done.
"Fool…" Berial cackled as another flame erupted in front of him, forming into a second UFO turtle (1400/1200). "When destroyed, my…"
"I know what your turtles are capable of!" Barron interrupted with a dreadful smirk on his face. "Why do you think I attacked with Zure first? You see, you gotta summon whatever you choose in attack mode, so… Silva! Attack!"
Cackling loudly, Silva spun around with a shadow covering its body allowing it to disappear.
A few seconds later, Silva appeared right behind the second UFO turtle, stabbing both silver sabers into both sides of the turtle's shell, shattering the monster into several flames. (BELP: 3100 / SPC: 4)
Berial growled as third UFO turtle (1400/1200) appeared before it, this one staggering slightly at the sight of the three powerful demons before it.
"Goldd… If you'd be so kind," Barron chuckled.
Cackling loudly, the golden armored demon flew through the air, slamming the axe into the flying saucer shell, crushing the turtle under the weight of the weapon. (BELP: 2200 / SPC: 4)
"… Summon Charcoal Inpachi!" Berial roared as another flame appeared in front of the demon…
… Only to smolder into a dull, limped wooden figure, barely clinging onto life itself as it drooped its head (100/2100).
'… What the?' Barron thought to himself looking at the weird choice of monsters. "… Whatever floats your boat, big guy. I'm ending my turn."
A second flame erupted in front of Berial, making the demon lord's eyes widen slightly at the flame… Whatever was in that fire, it made the demon growl.
"What's the matter?" Barron chuckled as his speed counters clicked up to nine while Berial's went to nine. "Bad draw, Berry?"
"… On the contrary, human rat," Berial roared with its arms crossed over its wide chest. "The card I drew is quite powerful, possessing the ability to end this duel the instant that I choose to play it."
"Then what's stopping you?" Barron growled.
"Oh," Berial cackled. "The reason being is that this monster is a rival of the fire realm… I only keep it in my arsenal when I face against this being in order to throw it off guard. However, the same would be said about my avatar… So, whoever got it out managed to pull the advantage.
"Still… At the moment, I am not the one to make a decision based on pride.
"So I shall summon it."
'… Oh boy… What monster could rival the Infernal Flame Emperor?' Barron thought as the flame that had just appeared before Berial spun around, transforming into Duel Monster card.
"However, in order to summon this creature," Berial continued as the card continued to spin around, generating flames. "I would have to sacrifice two monsters…"
"Then what was the point of all that talk?!" Barron shouted.
"I said would have to," Berial stated as the Charcoal Inpachi erupted into a powerful flame. "Not that have I to… For each Pyro-type monster on my field, I can decrease the number of sacrifices for this monster. So since I am in possession of one monster of the pyro persuasion…"
The Charcoal Inpachi shattered, leaving only a powerful flame to ride along the roads.
"I can summon… SURT!"
The flames shot into the air, wrapping around each other until a towering red and black armored golem crashed into the ground next to Berial, running alongside the road as the monster grasped onto two long sabers of pure fire (3000/200).
"Um…" Barron muttered looking at the impressive armored giant.
"Surt!" Berial roared as the armored giant scoffed to the side at the sight of the Hell Fire Demon. "Destroy his Knight of Dark World!"
Growling in disdain, Surt merely turned towards Zure, making the Dark World Knight gulp slightly…
"Hold up!" Barron announced pushing a button on his duel disk. "I activate my trap card – Dark Spirit Art – Greed! So, by relinquishing Zure, I can draw two new cards! However, if you have a spell card in your hand you want to reveal, you can prevent me from drawing!"
Berial couldn't help but growl as Zure disappeared in a dark smoke, "… I possess no spell cards…"
"Heh," Barron chuckled as he quickly drew twice more. "Well then, I owe ya a little…"
"Surt! Destroy Goldd then!" Berial commanded as the fire giant nodded.
Goldd lifted its battle axe up, prepared to fight to the end, however, the two fiery sabers quickly crashed into the gold armored demon's body, enveloping the demon and making it scream loudly in pain before it was simply eradicated. (BALP: 1700 / SPC: 9)
"It'll take a lot more than…" Barron started until he noticed that the fires from the attack that had slammed into Goldd were circling around his D-Wheel… Uh… Well…"
The flames crashed into Barron's D-Wheel, once more engulfing the Shadowchaser in pure flames, making him roar in pain as more of his skin was exposed to the diabolic fires. (BALP: 550 / SPC: 8)
"When Surt destroys a monster in battle," Berial explained as Surt continued to run alongside with the Hell Fire Demon. "You take damage equal to half of that monster's attack points… Even if you put that monster in defense mode.
"Next turn, I'll destroy your other Dark World failure and destroy you."
The flames began to subside around Barron's D-Wheel, revealing that his clothing was now very burned, to the point where his coat was basically just rags. "… You… You…"
"Hmm?" Berial mused looking down at the human.
"YOU BASTARD!!!" Barron roared loudly as a powerful flame appeared in his eyes. "Do you know how much this red leather jacket meant to me!? And just like that, you just destroyed it like it was nothing! I'm… I'm going to…
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU DEAD!"
"… A futile effort," Berial cackled. "I shall win… I will win… There is…"
"Shut up!" Barron snarled pointing to his chest with his thumb. "I'm tired from my trip… I'm tired of this duel… But… Most of all…"
Barron drew, increasing his and Berial's Speed Counters by one, "… I'm tired of looking at your ugly ass face!"
"S… Such impudence!" Berial roared.
"I… Activate the Speed Spell – Gear Shifter!" Barron announced as Silva smirked wildly.
"W… What does that do?" Berial questioned, a small hint of surprise in the back of his voice.
"What this does, is kick your ass!" Barron snarled as Silva shattered into several silver stars that began to float around his D-Wheel. "You see, by removing as many intervals of two speed counters as I want, and by tributing one face up monster I control, I can special summon one monster who's level is equal to my tributed monster's level and the number of intervals…
"… And I'm getting rid of four Speed Counters… So that means I can special summon a level seven monster from my graveyard!" (BALP: 550 / SPC: 5)
"Nonsense! What could you posses that could pose a…" Berial started until all seven stars around Barron's D-Wheel erupted into a pitch black smoke screen.
From the smoke, a tall, sleek, blue armored demon reappeared on the field, spinning about until it formed a cocky pose with one of its clawed hands at his skull like face (2600/2600).
"… NO!" Berial roared at the sight of the smoke demon.
"Yes!" Barron snarled with his brow narrowed. "But I'm not done… Not a chance! Demon Chaos King! Attack Surt!"
With a light chuckle, the smoke demon immediately pushed itself from the air that it floated from and flew towards the large armored titan. Surt roared as it threw both of the fiery blades towards the Demon Chaos King, with a confidence that spoke of victory…
… Unfortunately, the moment that the sleeker demon caught the two blades, one in each claw, Surt snarled in surprise and anger, beginning to put more and more force into his slashes.
It wasn't until the smoke began to wrap around Surt's armored body that the Norse-themed monster realized that something was wrong (3000/200 = 200/3000). But then it was two late…
The Demon Chaos King clamped its claws, shattering the flames, making them scatter through the air. Surt stomped back in surprise, however, the smoke demon saw its chance, and charged right through the fire titan's helmet, destroying the monster's head and allowing the armor to erupt in a powerful explosion that flew through the air.
Berial's eyes widened as he realized that the smoke demon continued to fly about the air, until the Demon Chaos King stabbed into his chest, "AARRGH!" (BELP: 0)
The force caused Berial to trip over its front legs, making it fall into the ground face first.
Barron smirked as he spun around his D-Wheel, turning around to smirk at the fallen Demon of Hell Fire, and with a large smirk, Barron threw his fist forward with his thumb up, "What'd I tell ya? I killed ya dead!"
Coughing smoke and growling loudly, Berial slowly got to his feet, slowly trotting over towards the D-Wheel mounted human, "You… Rat Bastard! Did you forget that this little spectacle was just a game to me?! I will destroy you and then that city!"
A powerful surge of fire erupted from all over Berial's body, making Barron blink a few times with a cold sweat.
"Now…" Berial snarled pulling its fist back. "You shall di…"
SCRREEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCHHHH!
The dragging of steel on the concrete was enough to make Berial halt in its tracks and make Barron turn around, seeing a lone figure walking on the road towards the two… His red and black bat-wing like armor hanging loosely off of the figure's muscular body as he walked on the pavement, the wings were even on his motorcycle helmet that had a large pair of red visors that covered his a majority of his helmet, both of them styled in the shape of Jack-o'-lantern eyes.
Dragging on the ground behind him was a large steel mallet that was roughly the same length as his body, sparks erupting from the steel portion and the ground.
Barron blinked numerous times at the masked man, even as he passed the D-Wheel without turning his masked face towards Barron.
Then the man stopped and lifted his head up to face Berial, and with his free hand lifted up, "… Yo."
Barron nearly fell off his D-Wheel, "Hey! You can't make such a dramatic entrance and say something like that!"
"Sorry," The masked man chuckled rubbing the back of his head. "But that's all I had in my head…"
"I don't care!" Barron spat with his brow narrowed. "Only I'm allowed to do that!"
Berial wasn't a fan of humans… But when two of them were right in front of him and ignoring him…
… Well, toss in the fact that he was just beaten in a game that he had proposed… That was the last straw.
"Don't ignore me!" Berial snarled throwing its flame covered fist towards Kamen.
CLANK!
Needless to say, when Berial realized that his fist was stopped with the non-metallic end of the mallet, and managed to push it back so easily, the demon was surprised.
The masked man on the other hand, wasn't even paying attention that he did it, "… Can't you see… That the two of us were in conversation?!"
With an effortless spin of the mallet, the masked man sent Berial's fist flying upwards, surprising the titanic demon to stagger backwards.
"Someone needs a lesson in manners!" The masked man announced running towards Berial, spinning the mallet as if it wasn't even as heavy as a feather.
Berial was about to reply, but just like that, in a black and red blur – The masked man disappeared!
"Lesson one… Never interrupt!"
Only to reappear seconds later right in front of Berial's face, surprising the demon.
With a twist and turn, the masked man slammed the steel segment of the mallet directly into Berial's skull – Right between the eyes, sending a sickening crack and echo through the air as Berial's eyes widened in pain. "ARRGH!"
"Lesson two!" The masked man called out as Berial slowly began to slump backwards, allowing the masked duelist to land on the ground spinning around to allow the mallet to fling around his body. "When you meet someone new, it's only polite to introduce yourself!
"The name's Kamen! Nice to meet ya!"
And just like that, Kamen released his grip and unleashed the hammer towards Berial, the weapon flying through the air at a high speed until it slammed into the fire demon's chest, sending the monster flying through the air.
"And…" Kamen stated as he turned his back towards the in-flight demon.
With perfect timing, the moment that Kamen snapped his fingers, Berial exploded into a fiery hell fire that swept through the air over the deserted area. "… Goodbye."
BAM!
From the smoky remains of the demon, the same mallet that was used to slay the demon crashed into the pavement behind Kamen, sending cracks into the road behind him.
Barron had to take his helmet off to make sure he didn't miss a moment of what just happened…
A single man (possibly) just took down a demon that was roughly a good seven to eight times larger than the man himself… With just a hammer! And even sent the demon flying through the air!
"Uh…" Barron muttered, dismounting his D-Wheel. "… Thanks?"
Kamen quickly drew his mallet from the road and rested it at his shoulder, "… No worries. I couldn't let that big baddie wreck the town… I just signed a contract for my new apartment and I'll be damned if I'm going to let a demon wreck it."
"Well… Uh… Wait…" Barron stuttered as Kamen walked up to him. "Are you…"
Kamen lifted his free hand up, "Please, no questions, no autographs, and no drooling on the suit… Just got back from the cleaners."
"… You got a set of note cards for those cheesy lines?" Barron questioned, before mentally scolding himself… He had his own set of note cards for his lines for love.
"Gee, what a way to say thanks for doing your job," Kamen spat crossing his arms. "Some Shadowchaser you are."
That just made Barron's eyes widen, "Wait a second… How the hell…?"
Once more, Kamen lifted his hand up, wagging his finger, "What did I just say about questions? Tell you what though… I'll give you a chance for a question if you do one thing…"
"And that would be…" Barron muttered raising an eyebrow.
Kamen dropped the mallet to the ground behind him, making the ground shake violent as he lifted his left arm, allowing a large bat wing to erupt from the armor, with five field zones and a pair of slots at the wrist.
"… Duel me… With a condition…"
TBC
0-0-0-0
Card Stats
Demon Chaos King / Dark / LV. 7 / ATK: 2600 / DEF: 2600 / Fiend/Synchro/Effect: [1 Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuner monsters] When this card attacks, switch the ATK and DEF of your opponent's monsters until the end of the Battle Phase.
Description: a sleek and tall, blue armored demon with long arms and wings that ended with sharp claws and behind its skull-like face a large amount of smoke that served as it hair
This card was borrowed by Jack in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime
Surt / Fire / LV. 8 / ATK: 3000 / DEF: 200 / Pyro / Effect: This monster cannot be special summoned. Reduce the amount of releases to advance summon this monster by one for each Pyro-type monster you control. When this monster destroys an opponent's monster as a result of battle, inflict half that monster's ATK to them as damage.
Description: A towering giant dressed in fire red and black armor wielding two long blades of pure fire.
This card was created by one of my friends – Scarlet Weather, and it was based off of Norse mythology. The creative ideas for this card belong to my friend.
Speed Spell – Fiery Collision / Normal Spell / Effect: Remove all of your Speed Counters. For every two Speed Counters removed with this effect, you must destroy one Spell or Trap card on the field.
Image: A large being of fire stomping into a sleek convertible.
Speed Spell – Gear Shifter / Normal Spell / Effect: This card can only be activated when you have at least two Speed Counters. Release one monster on your side of the field. Then you may remove two or more Speed Counters from your Speed World. You may special summon one monster from your graveyard with a level equal to the tributed monster's level plus one for every two Speed Counters that were removed with this card's effect.
Image: A race car driver shifting gears as his car transforms.
Yami Kuriboh / Dark / LV. 1 / ATK: 300 / DEF: 200 / Fiend/Effect: When you would take effect damage, you may discard this card from your hand to lower the damage to 0.
Description: A dark furred puffball with large red eyes and a pair of bat wings from its back.
0-0-0-0
The gauntlet has been thrown…
Once more Kamen has appeared before a Shadowchaser, only this time he was an ally. Who is this masked wonder? And why is he interested in the Shadowchasers?
Is he even human?
Only time will tell…
Next time:
Draw 11
The Masked Beast
Don't miss it!