Disclaimer: I only own the characters that I made up for this story. Everything else is property of its respective owner and I take no credit for it. I do own a few of the cards and those will be marked with a (*).
Theme Song: Tear Away by Drowning Pool
Chapter 26: Wretches and Kings
Blake walked along the deserted streets of Los Angeles. A once magnificent city now turned into ruins. It was obvious that something bad had occurred here, and Blake couldn't shake the feeling that it involved the war that was going on between the Olympians and the Titans. It seems they weren't lying when they said that this war would be a global one.
It was pretty hard for him to walk around. It was extremely cold. Too cold, in fact. Temperatures around here weren't too far from making snow. Though he had a heavy coat on and some thick jeans that he took from a clothing store he passed some time back, it wasn't enough to keep him warm.
If the cold wasn't bad enough, he also had to deal with a severely hindered vision. There was a thick, purple fog covering the whole city. Fortunately for him, though, Shining Angel floated just a couple of feet before him, his glow allowing him to have some visibility as he walked.
He heard a quick mechanical roar, and his eyes glowed a light-blue color, with circuit lines appearing around his pupils. He was silent for a moment, hearing something coming his way. 'Footprints...' he thought. He turned around, which is where the steps were coming from. As soon as the figure got close enough, Shining Angel's glow allowed Blake to see the man clearly. He was taller, dark-skinned, and muscular. He had many rings on his ears and a triangular marker on his forehead. He was wearing a large black trench coat, and carried a green backpack and a duel disk.
"Well... Look who it is! Didn't expect to find you around here!" exclaimed the man.
Back in the Satellite, the Titans regroup once again. Hikazu was about to discuss the fall of Tobikuma, one of their teammates. Needless to say, he was furious.
"How the Hell did we allow the Olympians to obtain a victory!" he demanded.
"Lack of good leadership?" guessed Kichigai, with a smug look on his face.
"Its due to lack of research." stated Atlas, cutting off Hikazu so that his temper wouldn't ruin the meeting. "You asked Tobikuma to fight an Olympian. First, you let him fight Azekial Naganori. His deck consists of Winged Beast-Type monsters. One well-known fact about those kind of monsters is that their effects consist of getting rid of their opponent's spells and traps, of which Tobikuma's deck relied on to maintain full control of the field." Hikazu nodded, understanding that Atlas was right about this.
"Also, you didn't know that Tobikuma was acting under the influence of Uranus, the Sky Titan. Uranus has been attempting to obtain control over the Titans, and later the Olympians, since he was dethroned by Cronus. During the last war, he had an army of powerful creatures led by beings called the 'Sky Scourges'. These beings were defeated and imprisoned by the Olympians at the end of the last war. Uranus became so obsessed with regaining his throne, that he sought out to revive these beings through the war. However, he needed to find them first. Because of this, he split his power amongst many duelists that would act as his vessels during this war. Unfortunately for Tobikuma, he got the short end of the stick when it came down to distribution of power." he explained.
"I see..." muttered Hikazu. Atlas was right. It seems he didn't do enough research. Though he knew this to be true, he would never admit it. Admitting it would be like saying that Kaiser was a better leader than he was, and he would never allow this.
"So what's our next move?" asked Takahiro.
"Your next move should be to fix this." stated an unknown voice. Everyone looked to the door, and saw a dark-skinned young man with short spiky white hair standing there, wearing a cloak that hid the rest of his body.
"Who are you?" asked Hikazu. Everyone else thought the same thing, except for Payne, who already knew who it was.
"My name is Eli." said the young man, introducing himself to the group. "I am merely a messenger at this moment, so have no fear." he told them, causing expressions of discomfort and irritation to appear amongst the group.
"What message?" asked Hikazu, gritting his teeth as he tryed to control his temper.
"They said that you must obtain a victory within the next three days." he said.
"Or what?"
"Or they'll start making changes to the group, like adding a leader fit enough to win this war!" Eli exclaimed.
Hikazu opened up his hand, and began to prepare a fireball to throw at Eli. If there's one thing he couldn't handle, it was people telling him he was a poor leader. Eli, however, caught onto this quickly enough, and put out the fire. Within the blink of an eye, he used an unknown force to push Hikazu against the wall and held him there.
"I'm warning you. I, the Marquis of Darkness, have no mercy. I'm one of the possible candidates for your replacement, and if I get assigned here, you'll see what I can really do..." he told him. Hikazu fell to the floor, the thud heard clearly by everyone. Eli covered himself in a dark shroud and faded into the shadows.
Though everyone looked at Hikazu as he calmly got and took his seat, they remained quiet, except for Kichigai and Shione, who couldn't help but laugh. "Looks like Hikazu is going to get demoted!" Kichigai exclaimed.
Hikazu chuckled. "For that little outburst, you get to be the next one to fight! As a special treat, you can even fight that Olympian that defeated Kaiser. I'm sure your duel will be very interesting..." he stated, leaving the room soon after.
"So, what have you been up to, Crusher?" asked Blake, who was sitting opposite of Crusher and a small roaring fire.
"Well, after I found out about all this stuff about a war between Titans and Olympians, I also found out I was meant to be a part of it. Greuto and I were the firsts to be taken down by Placido. That's the reason I disappeared and ended up here. I don't really know what happened with the rest of my friends, though." he said sadly.
"Kaiser is with the Titans... We've crossed paths a couple of times already." he told him. "I haven't seen Tueur, though."
Crusher felt somewhat relived to know what happened with his friends, though he wasn't happy with it. "I see... As I was saying, we met up with the Olympians that are fighting here and joined them. We've been doing a lot of recon and trying to figure out what's been going on. The Olympians have been cut off from almost all communication, while the Titans seem to be able to send messages back and forth with ease."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Some places get lucky enough to send a message and get a reply. With others, like Japan for example, we get no access. We figure that the places that are inaccessible are the ones that the Titans are focusing onto the most. Meaning, that those places are important in this war. Winning there gives a huge advantage to the side that wins."
Blake nodded. Though he was trying to escape this war and everything related to it, he felt obliged to listen to this.
"So far, we've gotten a good idea of the amount of enemies we are dealing with, though we still don't know much about them. Here we are up against a God who calls himself Zera the Mant. His subordinates, Demise, the King of Armageddon, and Ruin, the Queen of Oblivion, are also his strongest soldiers. They've easily damaged most of the country by themselves.
"In China, whatever team is there is up against impossible odds. We believe that the Society of Light has taken hold of it, and the White Knights are their enforcers. Some of the desert countries in northern Africa say that they are up against a powerful demon. They call him Gandora, the Dragon of Destruction. However, they mention stories of a brave fighter known as Mirage Knight that is trying to protect them.
"The rest of Africa is being terrorized by the Skeleton Knight, though he's having trouble against the powerful forces of the Supreme Arcanite Magician. Parts of Europe have reported monster known as Van'Dalgyon, the Dark Dragon Lord. Fortunately, the three Great Dragon Lords are battling against him. India has become the battleground of a battle between the Darklords and the Archlords.
"Australia is under attack by the four Princes of Hell, led by Belial, the Marquis of Darkness. The Parshaths are fighting them as we speak. Though I have no more knowledge of the locations regarding all the others, I do know this: Dark Balter the Terrible is fighting Arcana Knight Joker, a being calling himself the 'Ambitious Gofer' is allied with the Titans, and so is Voltanis the Adjudicator. The Archfiends as well are fighting alongside the Titans. The Olympians, though have a group of skilled fighters who call themselves the 'Guardians', the Destiny Heroes, and the Elemental Heroes.
"Sadly, that's all we've been able to find out. Recently, we've been investigating rumors of duelists using, as they call it, 'the power of the Orichalcos', but we've reached a dead end." said Crusher.
Blake stared at the roaring fire for a moment. "Seems like this war is bigger than I thought... I'm starting to think it was stupid of me to try and run from it..."
Crusher placed a hand on Blake's shoulder. "Come on, don't beat yourself up like that. War isn't easy. We don't always know what to do, or why exactly we need to fight. Doesn't change the fact that we have to fight. Why did you try to run from it, anyway?"
Blake narrowed his eyes. "Because I can't fight. I thought I could, but I was wrong. I joined this war alongside people I quickly ended up calling my friends. I never truly knew the extent of it, or what would happen afterward. I was treating it almost like if it was a game, oblivious to the fact that it was dangerous." He paused for a moment, and Crusher was about to speak, when Blake continued.
"I remember a girl back in London. She was a great person, and I promised to always be at her side. She had betrayed me, and her betrayal almost cost me my life. In return, I broke my promise to her. Soon after, I left for Neo Domino, hoping to start a new life and forget about what happened in the past. I was never able to do that, though. I still love her. I kept hoping that she would be alright, despite me leaving her. I should have stayed by her side, like I promised her. Then... Then I saw her again. A few days back. We dueled, and I wanted to tell her that I was sorry. Sorry that I broke my promise, and sorry that I left her behind. The words I wanted didn't come out, though. They were pushed down by my anger. All the things I tried not to say after she betrayed me, they came out. I felt angry. Not because of what she did to me, but because of what she did to herself. She joined the Titans. If I continue in this war, it would mean her death. I don't want her to die..." he said, trailing off.
Crusher was silent for a moment, thinking of a way to make Blake feel better. "If you really love her, then try to find a way to save her. If you can't, you can try and end this war quickly, so she won't be completely drawn in by the Titans' influence. Other than that, the only thing you can do is tell her what you said. At least this way, your last memories of each other will be good ones."
Though he still looked sad, Blake cheered up a little on the inside. Crusher was right. The least he could do was make their last memories of each other happy ones.
"That was pathetic! Losers like you two shouldn't even be fighting in this war! You are a waste of space!" shouted a tall Caucasian man. He was about as tall as Crusher, had short blonde hair, wore a dog tag around his neck, and wore green cargo pants and a white undershirt. Next to him stood a girl, shorter than him, with long blonde hair, a black tee, grey pants, and a white scarf wrapped comfortably around her neck.
Crusher and Blake got on the defensive, but it was Crusher who was the most wary. "Russel and Simone. Why on Earth are you two patrolling the streets, especially at this time of night?"
With a deadly glare, Simone answered his question. "We were told that a suspicious person somehow made it into our battleground. Zera the Mant said this person's prescense didn't feel right, so he told us to check it out. Neither one of you would know about this, would you?" she asked, her eyes shifting between Blake and Crusher as she examined them.
"Why no, we don't." replied Crusher.
Simone's eyes focused on Blake. "Really? I don't recall seeing you around here before. Where have you been hiding?"
"I could say the same thing about the two of you." Crusher quickly stated.
She shot him another glare. "You could, but we've still been here all this time. Just because you don't know where to look doesn't mean you can say we've been hiding. Now, if you are done wasting our time, we'd like to take your little friend over to Zera to see what he's got to say about this."
"Why would you want to take him?" asked Crusher. "Your tone makes it sound like he's the one you guys are looking for."
"Well he is!" she exclaimed, pointing her finger at Blake. "Did you honestly think we couldn't feel your strange aura? We can spot it a mile away! I can guarantee you that we won't be leaving here without you!"
Crusher was about to speak, but he was quickly interrupted by Blake. "If you really want me to go with you, you'll have to make me."
Russel smiled evilly. With a rough voice, he replied. "That's fine by me. Let's have a two-on-two duel. If we win, you'll come with us. If you win, you are free to go."
"Russel, in case you forgot, I'm the diplomatic one here! You should have left this to me." Simone stated.
"I think we can both see where this is going, and its nowhere near your area of expertise. Now is the point where we duel and get this over quickly." he replied.
Crusher and Blake activated their duel disks. "You're on!" they exclaimed.
Simone and Russel answered them back by activating their own duel disks.
(4000/4000-4000/4000)
Simone, of course, couldn't help herself from going first. "I'll set a monster on the field and end my turn."
(4000/4000-4000/4000)
Now it was Blake's turn. He drew his sixth card and scanned his hand. He held Return from Different Dimension, Fusion Guard, Y-Dragon Head, DUCKER Mobile Cannon, Trigon, and Reckless Greed.
"I summon Y-Dragon Head in attack mode!" With a screeching roar, Y-Dragon Head appeared on the field. (1500/1600)
"Now I'll set two cards on the field and end my turn."
(4000/4000-4000/4000)
Russel started his turn, eager to start fighting. "I summon Card Guard in attack mode!" A large fiendish creature appeared on the field. Its body was shaped like a manta ray, but it had a red/white bony exoskeleton that protected it. Its demonic face was upsetting, since this wasn't exactly the type of creature that was known for its beauty. (1600/500)-(1900/500)
"He gets a guard counter when he's summoned, and gets an extra 300 attack points for each one. I'll set one card and end my turn."
(4000/4000-4000/4000)
Crusher looked at his hand. He held no monsters to build up a defense, but that wouldn't stop him. His hand contained Magic Cylinder, Shrink, Great Maju Garzett, Super Conductor Tyranno, Curse of Darkness, and Black Tyranno.
"I'll set three cards on the field and end my turn."
(4000/4000-4000/4000)
Now it was Simone's turn, and she wasn't going to pull punches. "I'll flip summon the monster I set last turn. Night Assailant, come on out!" A figure dressed in a black cloak appeared on the field. He held a jagged sword. (200/500)
"When he's flip summoned, he can destroy one monster on the field!" The assailant threw the sword at Y-Dragon Head, causing it to explode.
"I summon Archfiend's Soldier!" A fiendish monster appeared on the field. It looked like a smaller version of Summoned Skull, and it wore a long purple cape. (1900/1500)
"Attack!" They ganged up on Blake, more than halving his Life Points in one fell swoop.
"I end my turn."
(1900/4000-4000/4000)
Blake drew a card, wondering how to even up the field. He had drawn Z-Metal Tank.
"I set a monster on the field and end my turn."
(1900/4000-4000/4000)
Russel drew his next card. "I'll set a card and have Card Guard attack Crusher directly!"
Card Guard attacked, but was quickly repelled by an invisible barrier and was thrown at Russel.
Russel pushed the fiend off and got up. "What the hell was that!" he demanded.
"I activated my trap card. Magic Cylinder reflects your attack right back at you!" Crusher explained.
Russel growled and ended his turn.
(1900/4000-4000/2400)
Crusher drew Gene-Warped Warwolf.
"I summon my Gene-Warped Warwolf in attack mode!" His Gene-Warped Warwolf appeared on the field with a large appetite. He was ready to attack whatever monster he could. (2000/100)
"Attack Night Assailant!" The warwolf grabbed the assailant with two of its four hands and then tore it to shreds.
"I end my turn."
(1900/4000-2200/2400)
Needless to say, Simone wasn't happy with this.
"I'll set a card and summon Grave Squirmer in defense mode!" A large hulking mummy appeared on the field, defending himself with his arms. (0/0)
"Archfiend Soldier, attack Blake's monster!" Archfiend Soldier fired off a bolt of lightning at the monster, causing it to explode. It was DUCKER Mobile Cannon, and it allowed Blake to choose a level four monster from his graveyard and add it to his hand. He chose, of course, Y-Dragon Head.
"I end my turn."
(1900/4000-2200/2400)
Blake drew his next card, Frontline Base.
"I activate the continuous spell, Frontline Base. With this, I can special summon a level four or lower Union monster from my hand once per turn. Come back out, Y-Dragon Head!" Y-Dragon Head appeared on the field again, staring at its opponents. (1500/1600)
"Next, I'll summon Z-Metal Tank, and also equip him to Y-Dragon Head!" Z-Metal Tank appeared on the field, and quickly combined with Y-Dragon Head. (1500/1300)
This caused Y-Dragon Head's attack points to increase to 2100.
"Y-Dragon Head, destroy her Archfiend Soldier!" The machine fired a laser from its mouth, leaving no trace of Archfiend Soldier.
"That's all for this turn."
(1900/4000-2000/2400)
Russel began his turn.
"I'll begin by moving my monster's Card Counter onto Simone's Grave Squirmer. Then, I'll activate the spell card, Creature Swap! This allows us to choose a monster and switch it with our opponent's monster. Since you only have your Y-Dragon Head, and I only have Card Guard, those are the only ones we can choose." The monsters switched controllers, Y-Dragon Head becoming Russel's monster while Card Guard became his monster.
"Now I activate the ritual spell card, End of the World! I'll sacrifice your monster, and the Doomsday Horror I hold in my hand, to summon Demise, King of Armageddon!"
Y-Dragon Head, equipped with Z-Metal Tank, was sucked into a swirling portal.
A large blue beam rose out of the ground with a mighty speed, causing the ground itself to shake. Out of the beam came out a large fiendish creature. It was a big, hulking, undead skeleton wearing heavy, thick armor. He was wielding a large, two-sided axe in his hands. (2400/2000)
"Attack his Card Guard!"
Demise sliced the creature in half with his axe, leaving a small impact crater on the ground beneath.
"That's it for now."
(1300/4000-2000/2400)
Crusher drew Forbidden Chalice.
"I sacrifice Warwolf to summon Great Maju Garzett!" Warwolf was replaced by the hideous beast known as Great Maju Garzett. (0/0)-(4000/0)
Blake remembered Garzett. Crusher had pulled off this same move at the WRGP, obtaining Team Enigmatic's first victory.
"I've always hated that monster..." muttered Simone. She had some experience when it came to dueling Crusher.
"Attack Demise!" As strong as Demise was, even he was no match for the crushing force that was exerted from Garzett's fist.
"Your turn, Simone."
(1300/4000-2000/400)
"I summon Phantom Skyblaster in defense mode." A fiendish green demon appeared on the field. It was hunched, had two rotted wings, and a pair of cannons on its back. (1100/800)
"His effect allows me to summon a skyblaster token for each monster that you control!" A small fiend appeared on the field. It was green and blue, like its summoner, but it was mostly a ball with two small wings. (500/900)
"I end my turn."
(1300/4000-2000/400)
Blake drew Nanobreaker next. 'Just what I needed!' he thought.
"I use the effect of Frontline Base to special summon a Union monster from my hand. Come on out, Trigon!" A flaming dragon emerged onto the field. (500/1700)
"Now I summon Nanobreaker!" Nanobreaker appeared on the field, gripping her sword tightly. She was ready for battle, as she knew Blake was. (1600/1800)
"I equip Nanobreaker with Trigon!" Trigon ran head first into Nanobreaker's sword, fusing with it. Now she held a flaming katana, a sort of tribute to Salamandra.
"Nanobreaker, destroy Phantom Skyblaster!" She swung her sword, releasing a fireball that flew rapidly toward its target.
"I activate the trap card, Hate Buster!" shouted Simone, her trap card revealing itself. "When you attack one of my Fiend-Type monsters, this card stops your attack, destroys your monster, and you take damage equal to that monster's attack!"
The fireball was reflected back, and Nanobreaker remained on the field.
"Why are you still alive?" she asked.
"Because." He pointed to one of his activated trap cards. "Fusion Guard can be activated when I'm going to take effect damage. At the cost of a random fusion monster being sent to my graveyard, I can negate your trap's activation and effect, and then destroy it!"
With that cleared up, Nanobreaker attacked once more. This time, she was able to destroy Phantom Skyblaster.
"Trigon's effect now activates, allowing me to special summon a level four Light attribute monster from my graveyard." Y-Dragon Head appeared on the field, shielding itself with its wings. (1500/1600)
"My turn is done."
(1300/4000-2000/400)
Russel began with his turn, and after the defeat of his strongest monster, he was looking for some payback.
"I activate the spell card, Allure of Darkness! I get to draw two cards. Then I discard one Dark monster from my hand. If I don't have a monster to discard, then I lose my whole hand." He drew twice, and then discarded one card from his hand.
"Now I summon, Mad Archfiend!" A new monster appeared on the field. It looked like a very eccentric shaman, though it also looked to be undead. (1800/0)
"Next, I activate the spell card, Creature Swap! Trading in my Archfiend for Garzett!" The two monsters switched sides, Garzett now staring down at his former master.
"Garzett, attack!" Garzett threw a punch, and Crushed braced himself for impact. Nothing had happened. Mad Archfiend was gone, but his Life Points were still alright.
"What happened!" he exclaimed.
"You fucking moron!" shouted Simone. "Mad Archfiend goes into defense mode when he's attacked! You just wasted a perfectly good turn!"
"Like you can do better!" he replied. They were about to continue with their little sibling rivalry, but they were quickly interrupted by Blake, who cleared his throat and motioned for Russel to finish his turn.
"I end my turn."
(1300/4000-2000/0)
Crusher began his turn, knowing full well that losing Garzett was not the end of the world. Gigantes.
"I remove the Gene-Warped Warwolf from play to special summon Gigantes!" A large, red ogre appeared on the field. He wielded a long tree trunk as a club, and wore a thick, cemented breastplate and skirt. (1900/1300)
"I activate the quickplay spell, Forbidden Chalice! At the cost of a monster's effect, this can gives that monster 700 extra attack points! I'm using it on Garzett!" Garzett's attack points were due to its effect. Since its effect was negated, its attack points reverted back to zero, before rising up to 700.
"Gigantes, destroy Garzett!" Gigantes swung the tree trunk with all his strength, causing Garzett to shatter into pieces upon impact.
Russel had been defeated, and now it was up to Simone to try and beat both Blake and Crusher at the same time.
"Well, that's all I can do for this turn."
(1300/4000-2000/0)
"I'll make you guys pay for defeating my idiot brother!" she stated. She was always defending her brother, while insulting him at the same time.
"I activate the spell card, End of the World!" Once again, a huge beam of blue energy shot out from the ground. She discarded two of the cards in her hand, and from the beam walked out the new monster.
She was a fairy. Her body was slender, and she herself was tall. Taller than her summoner, at the very least. She looked much like a spellcaster, using a similar robe, though hers was tighter than it would normally be. She also held a weapon much like Demise's axe, though the blades were smaller and were close enough to each other for her weapon to be considered a spear. (2300/2000)
"Meet Ruin, Queen of Oblivion!"
End of Chapter 26.
Simone's summoned Ruin, Demise's counterpart. Blake and Crusher seem to have an advantage, but they'll soon see why she's stronger than her brother. Don't miss: Kings and Queens.
A/N: I'm still accepting OC's, and would like to see a couple to add to my story. Get to thinking, people. ;D Anyway, this story still has quite a way to go, but you'll soon start to see things heating up. Keep reading, and don't forget to review.