You do not truly know yourself unless you confront yourself in the darkness of three in the morning…
You cannot hide from it, the truth will always search for you should you discard it to the side… I should know, I've averted my eyes from the truth for years upon years in order to adapt to society.
But then I acquired this small statue of a crow, and then my eyes slowly began to open to the truth the longer that I spent with the others.
Now, here I am, facing against my 'other half' in a duel that would determine – Well, you'll see soon enough…
For now, the time for words have passed, now is the time for…
… Action…
0-0-0
Draw 29
Mystic Plasma Zone
0-0-0-0
Solo slowly pushed himself off of the carpeted floor, a small amount of smoke rolling across the floor in front of him.
His head was spinning.
In the room where he was held, Solo pushed himself up against nearby wall, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. The last thing he remembered before the gas seeped through the lavish walls, was arguing with Hyatt over something with that Leo character reading one of the magazines in the corner.
But now, Solo could easily see that Leo was asleep in his chair, the magazine covering his face. And the loud-mouth was knocked out, partially skewed on and off the bed with his body twisted up…
'… That's right, before we were knocked out,' Solo thought running a hand through his hair. 'I sucker punched the blabber-mouth right in the kisser.'
Solo didn't remember why he was fighting with the idiot, but he knew that it pissed him off royally.
But something else caught Solo's eyes.
There were more people in the room, one of them standing directly across from Solo with a gas-mask covering his face while his messy hair fell over his shoulders and dressed in a large black overcoat that covered his body, almost like that Psycho Mantis character from a game that Solo once played a long time ago.
The other was a bleached blonde young man dressed in a hospital gown with several black pieces of clothing covering his back – Quite possibly his street clothes if Solo had to guess…
"Heh…" The gas masked man cackled, gathering Solo's attention. "So… You're the one who woke up first… Congratulations…"
"… Wh… Who in the world are you, you freak?" Solo growled.
"I would like to say your executioner," Psycho Mantis sighed with his arms crossed at Solo. "However, I was ordered to only bring you to your proper execution…"
"So… You creeps intend to kill us then?" Solo spat out, trying to summon all of his strength to at least stand… But it was all for naught. He could barely breathe, let alone keep his eyes open at the masked freak.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Psycho Mantis chuckled cracking his neck before he walked towards Solo. "In fact, you will know in a little bit… I'll just need you to go back asleep now before you do…"
Solo's visible eye widened as Psycho Mantis slowly brought his hand up to Solo's face, a dark aura pouring out of the gloved hand that was in his face. That's when Solo's realized that his eyelids were starting to get heavier…
And then, darkness surrounded him once more…
0-0-0
"Then what about those two who are standing behind the door?" Rei asked throwing her thumb behind her shoulder towards the door. "I heard them talking when we were walking down the stairs."
"… That means they were on the roof…" Kinjou muttered narrowing his eyes. "And you were standing near the door. I would think you would've noticed them walking past you to get to the door. Besides, they were watching our duel.
"But, if you don't believe me… Misawa! Odoroki!"
'Misawa?' Rei thought as the door opened up.
Slowly Odoroki and Misawa walked into the room, Odoroki with his eyes closed and Misawa with a smile on his face.
"Allow me to introduce," Kinjou chuckled holding his hand up to the two duelists. "Odoroki Ryusei and Daichi Misawa…"
Rei slowly stepped back…
"MISAWA!"
The scientific duelist's eyes widened as Rei ran into his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso. Although a little surprised, Misawa couldn't help but smile and hug the young pro duelist back.
… Making Odoroki and Kinjou blink a few times in confusion.
"Well… I wasn't expecting that kind of response…" Kinjou admitted with a large sweatdrop rolling down the side of his head.
"What were you expecting?" Odoroki asked walking up to Kinjou.
"To tell the truth," Kinjou said. "I was expecting her to be a little bit more shocked…"
A few seconds later, Misawa was leaning against the wall with Rei standing at his side while Kinjou and Odoroki didn't really move.
"So, I hear that you're doing well in the pro leagues," Misawa commented.
"Well, I'm no Edo, but still…" Rei said rubbing the back of her head. "But, you saw how I've been able to hold myself – How come you're with that blue dyed freak over there?"
"HEY! This is my natural hair color!"
"I ask myself that question every once in a while," Misawa responded crossing his arms. "But, I do have my reasons."
"And those are?" Rei questioned.
"… And those will reveal themselves to you eventually," Misawa answered.
Prompting Rei to tilt her head back slightly.
"Oy, he's being confusing again," Kinjou sighed loudly.
"Alright then, who's the guy with the horns for hair?" Rei asked pointing at Odoroki.
"I have a name you know," Odoroki growled rolling his eyes. "It's Ryusei Odoroki – the cough-former-cough Emperor of the Underground Dueling League!"
"Not really something you want to flaunt," Kinjou pointed out.
"And you're one to talk," Odoroki mumbled.
"I… I see," Rei muttered. "So… Are you like Ryo-sama?"
Odoroki turned his head to the side, "… Hell Kaiser? I would guess so, I'm one of his predecessors."
'And I'm not the only one who can make that claim in this room too…'
Kinjou tapped his foot against the floor a few times, "Yeah, boy meets girl, girl meets emperor of the underworld – All the while, Kanji's probably long gone by now!"
0-0-0-0
How right Kinjou was will always be a mystery to him.
Kanji remained asleep in the room the Psycho Mantis had dropped him off, and was apparent to the group of four who were watching Psycho Mantis throw an unconscious Solo over his shoulder.
"Heh, well now," Faust cackled rolling his eyes slightly. "Looks like the rookie gets first dibs for the first duel… You ready Dorkus?"
"Damn it! For the last time!" Ducas snarled pulling his greasy black hair. "My name isn't Dorkus! It's Ducas! D-U-C-A-S!"
"… Can you say obsessed much?" Aka giggled, placing her hands together at the finger tips.
"I don't think it's too much trouble for you guys to at least know my proper name," Ducas growled picking up a black duel disk from one of the nearby tables, and slowly fitting the device on his left arm. "I learned all of yours… Well, save for those Fang and Surf characters'."
"Well, you can't learn if no one teaches you," King admitted sniffing the blue rose he held between his fingers.
"Then the same can be said about my name," Ducas pointed out. "You've all learned my name because I technically taught you… How hard is it to learn five simple letters?"
"We've got so much going on," Aka pouted walking up behind Ducas, pushing the crow duelist towards the door. "And so do you! You better hurry up to the designated arena, we wouldn't want you to be late Dorkus!"
"Yeah, yeah," Ducas grumbled as the door slid open. 'If you're asking for a favor, at least get my name right…'
0-0-0-0-0
Spirit of darkness…
Full of torture and pain…
Awaken…
Solo's eyes snapped open.
But then he squinted taking note that he was right underneath a bright light, prompting Solo to push himself off the cold steel ground.
Getting to his feet, Solo realized that there was a pitch black duel disk strapped to his left arm already loaded with a deck of cards. Curiosity getting the better of him, and Solo pulled the deck from the slot and fanned it in front of him…
'Solo Swordsman, Style Change, Burst Limit…' Solo read the cards off in his head before he snapped the deck back into the disk. 'Yeah, it's definitely my deck…'
However, Solo couldn't help but notice that he wasn't in the lavish hotel-like room sweet – Rather he was standing in what appeared to be a shadow covered arena that seemed to float around in the darkness with a single light pouring over the solo duelist.
But, in the little light that was around him, Solo was able to spy that there were four figures at the large, rectangle steel platform. All of them depicting what appeared to be large crow statues made of some ebony material with emerald eyes – All of them seemingly glaring at him.
"… Some décor," Solo mused turning around to leer back at the statues that he had his back to originally. "I'd rather not meet the guy who actually likes this sort of thing…"
"Too bad."
Solo spun on his heel just as a second light popped over the steel platform, revealing Ducas standing across from the duelist, his black duel disk glowing brightly on the duel monster card zones. "I happen to like crows…"
"First a white haired samurai freak," Solo growled narrowing his eyes. "Next some Psycho Mantis wannabe… What should I refer you to as?"
"Hmm, you're the first to actually ask me that," Ducas said, muttering under his breath about how sad that really was. "But what you can call me is Ducas – Simply Ducas."
"Fine," Solo scoffed. "Well then Simply Ducas – Maybe you can shed some light on what I'm doing in this place?"
"Maybe…" Ducas cackled wagging his finger slightly. "But then again, maybe I don't."
"… You're just wasting my time," Solo growled with an icy glare. "And when someone wastes my time, well, let's just say, they just can't play a game controller any more."
"Can the threats, Solo," Ducas sighed rubbing his greasy black hair slightly. "You know as well as I do you can't back up your threats – At least not in this situation."
Solo raised an eyebrow.
Other than that, he kept his glare focused on Ducas.
"… That's it?" Ducas questioned blinking a few times. "Just a cocked eyebrow? No surprising gasp? No questions about how I know your name? No verbal insults?"
"You're wasting my time again," Solo snarled.
"Great, I get the impatient one," Ducas sighed again.
"Get to the point," Solo muttered, rolling his revealed eye. "If you have one that is…"
0-0-0
"Ha, ha, ha!" Faust laughed loudly looking at the screen. "Looks like Ducas can't intimidate for crap!"
"True, true," Aka and King both agreed, nodding in the process.
0-0
Ducas sneezed.
"Ugh…" he moaned rubbing his nose. "I gotta stop taking cold showers…"
Throwing his hand to the side, Ducas armed his fiercest look…
Making Solo gag in disgust.
"A-Anyway," Ducas growled with his voice a little deeper in an attempt to sound stronger. "You're trapped here… And you're not going to take a step out of here until you…"
"Until I agree to duel against you," Solo sighed pushing a button on the black duel disk, activating the device. "I can figure that's what you want by the fact that you've got a duel disk strapped to your arm that's already activated."
"Uh, r-right," Ducas mumbled under his breath as his duel disk hummed to shuffle his deck. "So, enough talk…"
"It's time…" Solo continued pulling his five card hand from the deck.
"To duel!"
"I'll star…" Ducas began to announce… (DLP: 8000)
… Until Solo snapped his sixth card, "My draw!" (SLP: 8000)
'Talk about manners…' Ducas thought.
Solo narrowed his eyes at the six cards in his hand.
"I set one card face down," Solo announced as the card appeared in front of him. "Turn end."
Ducas's eyes widened at the field.
And then his mouth began to curl into a smirk. "What's the matter, Solo?" Ducas questioned drawing off his sixth card. "Didn't get a good hand?"
Solo didn't bother to answer.
"Well, it's quite the opposite for me!" Ducas announced slowly pulling a card from his hand. "I've got a hand that can't be beat!
"And to show, I'll start by summoning Tengu Oni – Archer!"
Countless feathers shot out from Ducas's duel disk, the feathers clumping together until they formed into a large crow like demon dressed in silver Japanese armor, it's wings flapping wildly to keep it afloat in mid-air. Like it's name suggested, this demon held onto a small bow with a quiver of arrows around its waist (1000/1300).
"Next, I'll play a spell card!" Ducas announced as the card appeared behind his Tengu Oni, forcing the demon to screech out loudly. "But not just any spell card – One known as Tengu Illusion Formation!"
That's when a shadow erupted from the ground with a carbon copy of the Tengu Oni – Archer, screeching with the first one (1000/1300).
Solo only raised an eyebrow.
"Speechless?" Ducas questioned as his two crow demons floated over his shoulders. "I don't blame you. After all, I've gotten two monsters out, and all you've got is that set card…
"So, my tengu! Both of you strike down that gray haired freak!"
Just as the two Tengu fired the two arrows through the air, Solo snapped his hands up into the air, and grabbed both of the arrows with his gloved hands. "Don't think it's going to be…"
Solo's eye widened as two spurts of blood erupted in front of his eyes, the source coming from his legs, "Oh… N-Not again." (SLP: 4000)
Laughing loudly, Ducas commanded his two Tengu Oni lower their bows, "Ah, ha, ha! What's wrong?" he cackled holding his hand up. "Didn't you know about my Tengu Oni abilities? During the battle phase, both of my archers can attack twice.
"So in turn one, I managed to seriously cripple you…"
Ducas snickered a bit louder as Solo pulled the arrows from his legs.
"Quite literally actually! HA, HA, HA, HA!"
Solo clenched his teeth tightly as he knelt down to the ground.
Somehow, despite his injuries in his duel with Vergil, Solo seemed to have recovered miraculously. But still, the burning sensation in his legs wasn't going to disappear any time soon – Especially since they were struck with arrows…
Again.
"Why… Why is it always the legs?" Solo snarled struggling to get back to his feet.
"I think it would be obvious," Ducas stated pulling a card from his hand and fitting it into his duel disk, making it appear at his feet. "Going for the legs is an old tactic used by all sorts of pursuers – I should know, I pursue people for a living. And since legs are the main how for people to escape…
"Its only common sense to take them out so they can't run away."
"Oh, I have no intention of running," Solo growled, placing his fingers onto his deck. "Especially since…"
He drew.
"It's my turn!"
"Go ahead… Summon your Solo monster," Ducas cackled holding his duel disk up. "Do you honestly think I wasn't prepared for…"
"I summon Power Invader!"
Ducas's eyes widened as an overly muscular demon crashed into the steel dueling platform, the several steel bands wrapping around its muscles bending as the demon flexed its muscles (2200/0).
"W-W-What the?!" Ducas shouted taking a step back along with his two tengu. "That's not a Solo monster?!"
"Did you think I ran monsters that only influenced my name?" Solo questioned throwing his hand up. "Even that's a dumb idea… I know there are only a few set amount of Solo monsters – At most, ten types exist. And even then, there are only thirteen copies of each of the cards.
"And sure, I might like the cards, but I only managed to get my hands on seven of the ten types. So, I had to rely on my deck with other cards, like monsters that can be summoned quite easily.
"But this is just a waste of breath – Power Invader! Attack one of the tengu! Your choice!"
Cracking its knuckles, the large monster leapt into the air, slamming its large fist directly into the first Tengu that was summoned, shattering it into millions of feathers. (DLP: 6800)
"Urk! W-Well, not that it matters!" Ducas announced as his face down card flipped up, forming into a large black twister. "That won't stop me from activating my trap card – Revenge of the Dark Storm!"
The twister danced over the platform before it crashed into the Power Invader, shattering the monster into millions of pixels.
"And incase you were wondering," Ducas cackled holding up the trap card. "My trap card gets revenge for you destroying one of the dark monsters on my field. For every one thousand attack points on the monster that was destroyed, I can destroy one card you control…
"And what better target than the only monster you've been able to summon this entire duel?"
"Cocky son-va," Solo growled fitting another card from his hand into his duel disk, making the card appear next to the other one. "Turn end!"
Ducas slowly drew his next card and nodded to himself. "Ya know… I think its time we ended this… Four turns are more than enough to last a duelist."
"Unless your strategy is to bore me to death," Solo growled crossing his arms over his chest. "Then all you've done is just waste some precious air."
"Heh, we'll see how you'll feel after this!" Ducas announced as a he set a card into his duel disk. "First I'll place a card face down card – Then I'll activate a familiar spell card – Tengu Illusion Formation!"
"Great…" Solo growled as the first tengu began to waver slightly.
"But wait! I activate the quick-play spell – Serial Spell!" Ducas announced fitting the last card in his hand into his duel disk. "Now, by discarding my Tengu Oni Suzaku from my hand, I can copy the effect of my normal spell card – So now I get two more Tengu for the price of none!"
Two black blurs flew from behind the Tengu Oni – Archer, immediately forming into two familiar tengu, only these two were unarmed save for their talons (1400/1300 x2), eliciting all three of the tengu to screech loudly. "So, why not have the original come out? Especially since they increase the attack of all dark monsters by three hundred points each!"
Once more, the two similar tengu screeched out loudly, sending a dark aura to flush over the field, covering all three of the crow demons (1400/1300 + 600/0 x2) (1000/1300 + 600/0). "But now… Sadly, its time we say adieu, adieu, to you…
"All my tengu!
"CLAW SOLO OUT!"
All three of the tengu flew through the air, the Archer discarding its bow, joining its brothers in order to use its talons to claw Solo's eyes out.
All Solo did was calmly push the two buttons on his duel disk…
0-0-0
"Wow, who knew Crow had it in him?" Aka questioned rubbing the side of her head.
"I must say, with those dancing feathers," King mused before he lifted up his cup of tea. "It would appear that Ducas does know how to win a duel with style and grace… Albeit, he does need to work on his choice of words."
"… I wouldn't compliment Dorkus just yet," Faust stated walking towards the door.
"Huh?" Aka questioned, blinking at Faust.
"And just where are you going?" King asked keeping his eyes on the screen.
"I got texted," Faust replied waving his phone up. "We got two special guests…
"Fang and Surf are ready…"
0-0-0
The feathers began to fly around the darkened arena, making Ducas laugh loudly through the air as his Tengu continued to feast on Solo, seeming ripping and tearing the duelist to shreds.
"Ha, ha, ha!" he cackled holding his hands up. "I… I actually won! I won the duel! Ha! In your face Faust! In your face Detective Wolfgainer! In your face everyone who insulted me!"
Ducas would've continued to laugh…
But that's when he noticed that one of his Tengu was shot through the air just past his shoulder, "Huh?"
That's when the other two Tengu were slammed into the ground at his feet, making Ducas slowly peer at Solo who's jacket was now in tatters and his body was covered with cuts and scratches.
"I'm so pissed off…" Solo snarled ripping off the remains of his jacket and throwing them into the air. "I'm getting tired of people always trying to rip me to shreds… So, I'll going to tear you in half!" (SLP: 4800)
"W-What the?!" Ducas gasped taking a few steps back as his Tengu pushed themselves up off of the ground. "But… But… How in the…"
"It's called a combo," Solo answered holding up the two cards he had set on the ground. "First, when you declared a direct attack when my life points were lower than all of your monsters' combined attack points – I'm able to activate Hyper Refresh to double my life points.
"Then there's my trap card – Nutrient Z. When I'm about to take two thousand or more points of damage in one instance, I can increase my life points by four thousand. So my points were padded enough to take your three tengu attacks."
"G… Grrr…" Ducas snarled realizing that his three tengu were just flying in circles.
"And unless you wanna use that face down card you just set," Solo stated flicking off another card from his hand, giving him five cards to work with. "It's my turn!"
'My face down card won't help me…' Ducas thought in his head. 'At least not yet…'
"I activate the spell card – Roll of Fate!" Solo announced as a large white die began to fly over Solo's head. "Now, I get to roll a six-sided die. And I can draw that many cards from my deck just so long as it remove that many cards from my deck afterwards."
The die fell to the ground, bouncing a few times until it began to spin on the steel platform…
Rolling up to show a four.
"Not bad," Solo growled flicking off four cards from his deck, than pulled off another four that went into his pocket. "But now, I activate the spell card – The Cheerful Coffin! Now, I can discard up to three monster cards from my hand to the graveyard…"
'Huh? Why would he have that card in his deck?' Ducas questioned as Solo plucked three of the remaining seven cards from his hand and turned them around…
Revealing Solo Swordsman, Solo Romancer and Necro Gardna.
All three of the cards being fitted into Solo's graveyard slot, "Now… I was going to save this next card for someone more deserving…" He announced holding one more card up. "But, you've pissed me off so bad that I'm going to slam you into the ground!
"I remove Solo Swordsman and Solo Romancer from the game!"
Countless bats shot out from Solo's graveyard allowing the solo monster duelist to leap into the air, allowing the bats to crash into his body, creating a powerful dark aura that made Solo cross his arms and legs, trying to focus the dark energy that began to engulf him.
"W-What is this?!" Ducas shouted holding his arm up before his eyes in a defensive manner at the orb of darkness that had eclipsed Solo.
From the orb of darkness, a familiar voice roared out, "I activate the equip spell cards Dual Blades – Dark Caliburs and Mirage Blade!"
That's when three blades fell from the darkness, one of them being the chain blade while the other two were a pair of familiar swords, only one was white and the other black.
"W-What did you summon?!" Ducas commanded. "You… You…"
The orb of darkness exploded in a hell fire fury, unleashing a blood red blur that had several black bats following it, but failing to keep up with the mysterious form.
SQUAWK!
Ducas's eyes widened as he turned towards the Tengu Oni – Archer, a gasp leaving his mouth as he saw that a glowing red being was choking the Japanese demon with a single hand, grasping the feathered fiend's neck from behind.
And with a sickening crack, the Tengu's body went limp. (DLP: 5700)
With the dead tengu falling to the ground, Ducas's eyes widened at the sight before him…
… It was Solo!
But, whatever monster he had summoned for him to become, it definitely wasn't a Solo monster – Instead, this demonic warrior's long white hair flew over his shoulders and face, his blood stained dark crimson and silver trinket adorned overcoat completely covered his sleek, yet muscular body. While at his hands where a pair of red jewels that seemed to pulse with dark energy (1500/1500 + 600/0 + 600/0).
"W-What are you?" Ducas gasped taking a step back as his two remaining Tengu flew in front of him to defend him.
"… I am the blade of darkness…" Solo said turning his attention towards Ducas as the dark aura at his hands began to glow brighter (2700/1500 + 300/0). "I am the devil's advocate. I am the Wandering Reaper!"
Ducas stumbled backwards, just as if the very glare from Solo's blood red eyes were staring into his very soul. (DLP: 5200)
And then, Solo began to step towards Ducas. "Each time the Wandering Reaper destroys a monster," he explained. "I increase my own strength by three hundred points and you lose five hundred life points…"
"A-Ah! K-Keep him away from me!" Ducas commanded as his two Tengu lifted their talons up.
"… Foolish…" Solo stated placing his right hand over his left before the two Tengu flew towards him.
It only took a second, but that was when the first attacking Tengu Oni was sliced in two, erupting in a spurt of black liquid from its body. The cause was the large blood crested scythe that now rested in Solo's hands (3000/1500 + 300/0 – 300/0), "I'll show you why I'm called the Reaper."
Ducas gulped as his remaining Tengu Oni (2000/1300 – 300/0) began to float away, not wanting to fall under the same fate as its companions. (DLP: 3700)
However…
As the scythe's blade appeared at the Tengu's neck…
It's fate was sealed before the blood-stained steel was pulled towards him, ripping through the feathered neck. (DLP: 1900)
Prompting the Wandering Reaper snap his scythe to the side, making the blood fly off of the weapon (3000/1500 + 300/0 – 300/0) before he walked back to his side of the field with the weapons that were stabbed into the ground. "I set the last card in my hand face down… And end my turn."
"Such… Such power…" Ducas mumbled as Solo stabbed the scythe into the steel platform, crossing his arms in the process. 'And in one turn to boot…'
Ducas drew his next card. "But, you're not the only one with power! I activate my face down spell card – Spider Web!"
Holding his hand out, a long silver thread shot out from Ducas's fingertips that flew directly into Solo's graveyard slot, allowing him to pull a single card out from the card slot. "This card allows me to take a spell card you used last turn and use it as my own! So, your Roll of Fate will give me a chance to rewrite this duel's fate!"
This time a black die popped over Ducas's head, sending the small die bouncing over the field until it rolled to reveal a five on the top of the die.
"Heh, looks like my luck's better than yours," Ducas cackled pulling five cards from the top of his deck, giving himself six cards to do. But then he pulled off the five cards from his deck.
"You think luck matters to me?" Solo growled crossing his arms.
"Oh, we'll soon see if you do," Ducas stated fitted one of the cards from his hand into his duel disk. "Because, first off – I play Swords of Revealing Light!"
Solo could only scoff as countless swords of pure light began to rain around his Wandering Reaper form, making him growl in annoyance, "Do you have anything that's worth a breath?"
"Humph, I'm just getting started!" Ducas announced. "I'll then set two cards face down, and set a monster in defense mode!"
The three cards popped out from Ducas, allowing him to survey the last two cards in his hand. "And that's all."
Solo merely drew his next card, keeping his eyes closed. "I pass."
And with that mere word, many of the swords began to dissolve around Solo's body.
"Well, that was useless," Ducas muttered pulling another card from his deck. "I set another monster card…"
The face down monster appeared in front of Ducas.
"And then, I flip up my face down monster," Ducas announced as several black feathers erupted from the set card, forming into a large ebony colored egg that was in a nest (0/2000). "Tengu Oni Egg!"
"… That supposed to scare me?" Solo asked raising an eyebrow at the weird monster.
"Not yet," Ducas replied hold up another card from his hand. "But to end my turn, I activate the spell card – Graceful Charity!"
Several feathers of light began to fall from the ceiling, lofting into the stack of cards that was Ducas's deck. "So, I draw three times…"
Looking over the four cards left in his hand, Ducas immediately turned two of the four cards around to reveal two monster cards – Pack of Tengu Oni and Tengu Oni Buseio. "But then, I discard two times…"
The moment that the two cards were fitted into his duel disk's graveyard slot, two cracks erupted on the egg's shell. "And that is the end of my turn!"
Raising an eyebrow, Solo looked at the weird cracks that ran around the egg's shell… Something was up with those cracks…
… .And Solo didn't like it one bit.
"I pass once more," he announced with his arms crossed, more and more swords disappearing this time.
"Then, it's my turn once more," Ducas announced holding three cards in his hand now. "And, I'll start by activating my face down spell card, Card Destruction!"
Solo raised an eyebrow as he fitted the two cards into his duel disk's graveyard and Ducas did the same for his three cards. But just as he pulled out his two cards, Solo blinked a few times to see that there were three more cracks spiraling around the egg's shell.
"You better keep your head in the game," Ducas advised looking at his next three cards. "I'll set one card face down… And end my turn."
'… Whatever plan you've hatched,' Solo thought pulling a third card from his deck into his hand. 'I'll be sure to match…'
"I'll just set one card face down," He announced as the set card appeared beside the other one. "And I'll end my turn, thus giving me complete freedom from your swords of revealing light!"
The last of the swords shattered into millions of pieces.
"… As if I really needed those any more," Ducas cackled as he pulled his next card. "You see… I intend on doing this – I activate my trap card, Limit Reverse!"
The face down card lifted up, unleashing several black feathers into the air, allowing a small pack of tengu chicks to gather onto the field (200/200), all of them screeching loudly. "This trap allows me to special summon a monster from my graveyard with one thousand or less attack points… And my Pack of Tengu Oni certainly qualifies. To make things better, when I special summon it, I can special summon the other two from my hand or deck!"
In two bursts of black feathers, several more tengu appeared, all of them screeching loudly… Making Solo and even Ducas hold their ears in pain (200/200 x2).
"How annoying," Solo spat as the three Packs of Tengu Oni transformed into three orbs of darkness.
"Oh, don't worry, you won't have to worry about them squawking for too long," Ducas replied as the three orbs of darkness began to spin over his head. "You see, I'm tributing all three of them in order to summon…"
The orbs of darkness spun at a fast rate, forming into a large spiraling twister that swept around the platform until it shattered into millions of feathers – Revealing a muscular black clothed ninja with pale skin, wild white hair streaming from behind his horned red mask that billowed as he flew through the darkness. On the right side of his back was a large white wing and his left arm were many black feathers that make his arm resemble that of a wing. On the back of his black belt was a sheathe to a small katana that was immediately drawn with a loud screech (2800/2000).
"Rai Tengu Shinobi!"
"… It's a few points too short," Solo stated holding his hand up. "But I know better than that. Your monster probably has a powerful effect to becoming a three tribute monster…"
"You're right, but I was more interested in sending those three tengu to the graveyard," Ducas cackled even louder as countless cracks erupted over the Tengu Oni Egg. "You see, each time a winged-beast monster was sent to the graveyard, my Egg gained a counter to it.
"And by destroying my egg when it has eight counters on it, I can summon from my hand or graveyard one certain monster card – And it's the most dangerous beast this deck of mine holds! Hatch yourself my beast!"
The egg exploded, countless shards of shell and feathers flew through the air as a dark energy seemed to cultivate where the egg once stood, pulsing greatly as it grew larger and larger for each second. The darkness melded into what appeared to be a large black and purple feathered phoenix that was armed with countless chains and black flames around its body.
The enlarged crow demon screeched loudly (2500/2500), making all four of the crow statues gleam brightly.
"Meet – Tengu Oni Suzaku!"
Solo mere lowered his head slightly, completely bored with what was transpiring before him.
"Next, I flip up my face down monster!" Ducas announced.
Several feathers erupted from underneath the set card, forming into the original Tengu Oni (1400/1300 + 300/0), screeching loudly to increase the other DARK monsters on the field (2800/2000 + 300/0) (2500/2500 + 300/0), including Solo's Wandering Reaper form (3000/1500 + 300/0).
"But this is all moot…" Ducas continued as he pumped his fist into the air. "Because now, I activate the effect of my Rai Tengu Shinobi! By cutting his original attack points, I can return any card on the field back to it's owner's hand!
"And while you maybe the duelist – That form of yours is definitely a card!"
The Rai Tengu Shinobi began to spin around greatly (3100/2000 – 1400/0), forming into a large powerful black tornado that whipped around the ground. Solo's eyes widened as the twister crashed into him, shattering the Wandering Reaper form on his body.
"Urk," Solo gagged as he stepped backwards.
Lifting his head up, Solo looked at the three crow demons in front of him. Even if one of them was weakened due to its effect, the monsters themselves were enough to defeat him this turn…
But he just kept his leer aimed at Ducas… Knowing that the end would soon come…
A few moments passed, but no attack ever came.
Prompting Solo to blink in confusion, "Well?"
"Well what?" Ducas questioned with his arms crossed.
"Aren't you going to attack and end this?" Solo asked in confusion.
"I would…" Ducas retorted holding up his duel disk as he fitted the last card into his duel disk. "However, thanks to the effect of my Pack of Tengu Oni, during the turn they are special summoned, a battle phase cannot be conducted.
"So my turn is over."
Solo couldn't help but smirk.
"Thanks," He said pulling his next card, giving him four cards to work with. "You just gave me what I needed in order to win."
"W-What?!" Ducas shouted. "B-But, your field…"
The dark energy slowly began to flow over Solo's body, "Will be back up to par. In my previous hand were two more Solo monsters… And thanks to your Card Destruction, they're right back in the graveyard, allowing me to remove both of them from play in order to normal summon the Wandering Reaper!"
The darkness gave way to several flames, wrapping around Solo's body to reform into the Wandering Reaper, scythe already formed into the ground behind him (1500/1500 + 300/0). "And next, I activate the equip card Fusion Sword Mursame Blade!"
The clatter of a bulky weapon echoed through the chamber, revealing that behind Solo was the melding/electrifying sword, completely ignored by the Wandering Reaper, but still having an effect on the dark warrior (1800/1500 + 800/0).
"And now…" Solo stated spinning the scythe behind him several times against the steel platform, sending countless sparks flying through the air. "I attack your Rai Tengu Shinobi!"
In a blood red blur, the powerful reaper flew through the air towards the surprised crow ninja, the scythe raised up into the air behind Solo…
"Ha! You think I wasn't prepared for that?!" Ducas laughed pushing a button on his duel disk. "I activate the trap card – Mirror Force! Now, your own attack will just blow up in your face!"
That's when a powerful wall of shimmering light erupted in front of the Tengu Shinobi, catching the scythe within its grasp, and began to crack.
"HA! I WIN!" Ducas cackled loudly…
Until the wall shattered like glass and fell to the ground, allowing the scythe to slice right through the Rai Tengu Shinobi, shattering the monster into millions of feathers that flew back into Ducas, making him scream in pain as the feathers seemed to become as strong as steel. "AAAAAH!!!" (DLP: 500)
"B-But… How!?" Ducas demanded as Solo leapt backwards to get back to his side of the field.
Solo merely gestured towards his side, revealing that one of his face down cards was now flipped up near his Wandering Reaper form (2600/1500 + 300/0), revealing a Swiss Army Knife with several extra and useless tools attached to it. (SLP: 3800)
"S-Seven Tools of the Bandit?!" Ducas sputtered.
Solo only nodded.
"Turn end."
Ducas slowly pushed himself off the ground, ignoring the burning pain that was pulsing through his arms and legs. "Don't… Don't think that you've clipped my wings! This crow can still soar high into the sky!"
"… And here I was hoping we'd get through the entire duel without making a bird reference…" Solo sighed running a hand through his hair.
"Too bad!" Ducas spat as his graveyard slot began to glow. "I'll ruffle your feathers before I take you down!"
"… Now you're doing that on purpose," Solo growled.
"I activate Suzaku's ability!" Ducas announced as three cards popped out of his graveyard slot. "Once per turn, I'm allowed to select one monster, one spell and one trap card from my graveyard, and you get to choose one at random. And depending on which one you choose, I get to activate one of Suzaku's effects…
"So, take your choice…"
Solo eyed all three of the card backs in front of him, raising an eyebrow at each of them, until slowly he lifted his hand up and pointed at the cards, "The one on the far right."
Ducas smirked as he turned the card over, revealing the Tengu Oni – Archer card. "Good choice!" he announced fitting the three cards into his graveyard before he pulled out another card. "You see, by selecting a monster card, I can select another monster card in my graveyard and remove it from play!"
The large demonic crow screeched loudly as the flames around its body began to grow larger, making its feathers rise up, making the beast look much bigger than it originally did (2800/2500 + 1150/0), "And by doing so, it gains half of the attack points of the removed Tengu! And I removed Tengu Oni Buseio – So that tips my monster over the scale of yours!"
"… If you're so confident," Solo replied holding his hand up, curving his fingers towards him. "Then by all means… Attack me…"
"Oh, I have every intention…" Ducas stated turning around the card he just drew. "After I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! So, we're getting rid of that face down card!"
Solo held his arms in front of his face as the powerful storm crashed into his face down Scrap-Iron Scarecrow shattering the trap card into millions of pixels. 'So much for that…'
"Now then…" Ducas shouted throwing his hand forward. "We can actually end this duel!
"Suzaku! End this charade! Tengu Flame!"
Raising it's mighty wings into the air, the large crow screeched so loudly that it shook the very foundation of the steel platform. The flames at its wings grew more intense until the beast threw its wings forward, casting the flames through the air and crashing into Solo's body with an explosion following afterwards.
Slowly, Ducas began to snicker, lowering his head…
Then he broke out into true maniacal laughter, throwing his head over his shoulders, "HA! I did it!" Ducas laughed out with his arms raised up. "In your face Faust!"
"… You sure you should be celebrating?"
Ducas's eyes widened as the smoke began to drift away, seeing Solo standing across from him – Still garbed in his Wandering Reaper form (2900/1500).
"But… But… It's not possible!" Ducas gasped taking several steps backwards.
Solo merely pulled a card from his graveyard…
Necro Gardna.
"No… No!" Ducas roared holding his head and shaking it wildly.
Solo merely drew, taking note that the Tengu Oni Suzaku was weakening back to it's original strength (2800/2500). "… Let's end this…"
Tossing the cards into his pocket, Solo pulled the scythe from the ground, spinning the weapon behind him before he disappeared in the blood blur…
… Only to reappear on Suzaku's ebony beak. The scythe resting on his shoulder before he ran forward and spun around…
"DIE!"
Ducas fell to his knees as countless feathers and spurts of black blood began to fall all around him. Sure, from the battle itself, he only took one hundred points of damage, but from the Wandering Reaper's effect, he took five hundred points extra…
… It was all it needed in order to lower his life points to zero.
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"Well, that was a bust," Faust sighed turning off the screen. "I guess once a loser, always a loser."
"Aw, don't be like that, Thriller," Aka cooed with her arms crossed. "Dorkus was our newest member, so it would've stand to reason that he would've lost."
"Don't call me Thriller!" Faust growled.
"Quite so," King added, taking a whiff of his rose. "But alas, is Fang prepared?"
"Of course," Faust replied with a nod. "Now we just need to wait for our next duel to come up…"
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Unknown to the three, if they had kept the footage rolling…
Solo landed on the ground, his Wandering Reaper form disappearing as well as the other remains on the field. "I won… So you going to keep your word, or do I have to beat it out of you?"
Ducas didn't answer.
He just kept his eyes glued to the ground, not noticing that the thread around his neck that held the crow statue was beginning to break…
… And just like that, the crow statue fell to the ground, echoing off of the steel platform.
Each time the sound rung through the arena, Ducas and Solo held their heads, gritting in pain as the other four large crow statues screeched loudly into the air.
"AAAAAH!" Both duelists screamed, both completely unaware of the dark pools that were oozing beneath their feet…
Allowing countless hands made entirely of shadows to crawl around their pain inflicted bodies, dragging them into the deep puddles of darkness.
All the while, the two just winced in pain from the screeching crow statues.
Soon, even their heads were dragged under.
Allowing the shadows to crawl towards the small statue that Ducas had around his neck, and merge with the statue into one entity…
And then, it all just stopped.
The shadows…
The screeching statues…
The only thing that sounded through the arena were the steps of a certain glasses wearing otaku…
Who could only smirk as he snatched up the small crow statue.
"… One down… Five to go…"
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Card Stats
Hyper Refresh / Instant Spell / Effect: Activate only when your opponent declares a direct attack and the combined ATK of your opponent's monsters are higher than your Life Points. Double your Life Points before damage calculation.
Image: A shadowed muscular man holding up an energy drink.
This card was used by Jonouchi in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Series in episode 191.
Roll of Fate / Spell / Effect: Roll 1 six-sided die. Draw the same number of cards from your Deck as your result, and send to the Graveyard an equal number of cards from the top of your Deck.
Image: A large white die falling between a gray armored knight and a beautiful blonde maiden
This card was used by Jonouchi in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Series in episode 171
Power Invader / Dark / LV. 5 / ATK: 2200 / DEF: 0 / Fiend/Effect: If your opponent controls 2 or more monsters, you can Normal Summon this card without Tributing.
Description: A large purple bodied muscular demon with several silver bands around its body with a deep violet helmet.
This card was used by Jack Atlus in Yugioh 5D's episode 69.
Tengu Oni – Archer / Dark / LV. 4 / ATK: 1000 / DEF: 1300 / Winged-Beast/Effect: This card may attack twice during the battle phase.
Description: A large black crow demon with silver armor with a bow in its talons
Revenge of the Dark Storm / Trap / Effect: You can only activate this card when a DARK monster you control is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. For every 1000 ATK points of the destroyed monster, destroy 1 card your opponent controls.
Image: A black typhoon crashing into a town.
Wandering Reaper / Dark / LV. 8 / ATK: 1500 / DEF: 1500 / Warrior/Effect: This card cannot be special summoned. If there are two or more monster cards in your graveyard with 'Solo' in their name, you may remove those two cards from play to normal summon this card from your hand. When this card is the only monster on your side of the field, this card gains the following effects:
This card is considered to have 'Solo' in its name.
When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, increase this monster's attack points by 300 points.
When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent's life points.
Description: A demonic warrior's long white hair flew over his shoulders and face, his blood stained dark crimson and silver trinket adorned overcoat completely covered his sleek, yet muscular body. While at his hands where a pair of red jewels that seemed to pulse with dark energy
Dual Blades – Dark Caliburs / Equip Spell / Effect: This card can only be equipped to a Warrior-Type monster. Increase the equipped monster's attack by 300 points. When the equipped monster attacks, your opponent cannot chain trap cards.
Image: The Arms Lord spinning a pair of blades, one white and one black in his hands.
Tengu Oni Egg / Dark / LV. 4 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 2000 / Winged-Beast/Effect: This card cannot be destroyed by a monster with level 5 or higher. Each time a Winged-Beast is sent to the graveyard, place one counter on this card. When this card has eight or more counters, send this card to the graveyard to special summon on 'Tengu Oni Suzaku' from your hand or graveyard.
Description: A large ebony colored egg with a fiery aura around it.
Tengu Oni Suzaku / Dark / LV. 8 / ATK: 2500 / DEF: 2500 / Winged-Beast/Effect: This card cannot be normal summoned or set. This card cannot be special summoned except by the effect of 'Tengu Oni Egg'. Once per turn, you may select one spell, trap and monster card from your graveyard. Your opponent randomly selects one of the three cards, and from that selection, this card gains the following effect.
- Monster: Once per turn, you can remove from play one 'Tengu Oni' from your graveyard. This card gains ATK equal to half of the removed monster until the end of your turn.
- Spell: This card can attack twice in the battle phase.
- Trap: Once per turn, you may destroy all spell and trap cards on your opponent's side of the field. When this effect is used, you must skip your next battle phase.
Description: A very large crow demon with many wings and black flame chains around its body.
Pack of Tengu Oni / Dark / LV. 2 / ATK: 200 / DEF: 200 / Winged-Beast/Effect: When this card is special summoned, you may special summon all copies of 'Pack of Tengu Oni' from your hand or deck. During the turn this card's effect is used, the battle phase cannot be conducted.
Description: Several small tengu flying around
Rai Tengu Shinobi / Dark / LV. 7 / ATK: 2800 / DEF: 2000 / Winged-Beast /Effect: This card is considered to have 'Ninja' in its name. This card can be tribute summoned by releasing three monsters. If this card is summoned this way, once per turn you may return one face up card on the field to its owner's hand by cutting this card's original attack in half.
Description: A muscular black clothed ninja with pale skin, his wild white hair streaming from behind his horned red mask. On the right side of his back is a large white wing and on his left arm are many black feathers that make his arm resemble that of a wing. On the back of his black belt is a sheathe to a small katana.
0-0-0-0
Solo and Ducas both disappearing?!
Fang's identity finally being exposed?
And what of the Kinjou group?
Odoroki: … Since when were we named that?
Find all the answers for these questions and many more next chapter!
Draw 30: Gaia Power
