Sdrive: I don't own it.
A/N: Sorry for the excessively long update everyone. This chapter just never seemed to be completed right and then school got in the way and then I just started writing ahead to make everything work. Plus I wanted Peace to review lol. Anyway, here we go.
It was late at night the day before midterms. Mia had long since gone to bed and Sonomi and Kokuro were just finishing up studying. Sonomi took off her glasses and looked at Kokuro, "you ready?" she asked him.
He nodded, "yeah."
"Ok, the midterms are a bit different than the Quarterly Exams," she said. "Not different for the Ra's though. We're still dueling Obelisks however certain Ra's who are happy where they are in the Academy go on to duel the Osiris'."
"Is that how it works?" Kokuro asked.
"Yeah. I feel sorry for the poor fool that gets to duel Mia," Sonomi said chuckling.
They glanced over at her bed and then Kokuro looked over at her, "So she's dueling a Red huh?"
"Yeah, but I'm dueling the Blues." Kokuro raised his eyebrow slightly and she chuckled, "I like beating them. It's fun for me."
"You're scary sometimes," Kokuro told her.
"Aren't I?" she asked grinning.
Kokuro rolled his eyes and chuckled, "We should probably get to sleep."
"Probably," she said. "We're waking up early tomorrow anyway after all."
"Alright," he said nodding. They changed and got into their beds resting up for the next day.
"Are things proceeding as you wish?" Seirei asked Kaiba.
"They're getting there," Kaiba said. "But I'm still worried that not everything will go the way I want them too. This new project of ours has to be perfect."
"Then how about changing the rules?" Denkiteki asked looking at him.
"What do you mean?" Kaiba asked.
"Take a trip down memory lane and use some Battle City ideas. Especially with the Life Points."
Kaiba thought about it for a moment and then grinned, "I like it. With fewer Life Points, it will be harder for the students and they'll have to be extra cautious when dueling, and so they'll want to pack their decks with even more heavy hitters."
"Also," Denkiteki continued,
"Offer a prize. How about, their deck if they win?""I'm not sure if that's such a good idea," Kazuki said interjecting. "The amount of cards that will be lost…"
"Everyone else will have to return them, but the winner gets to keep whatever they picked out."
"It is tempting," Kaiba said. He wrote it down on his board and looked at it, "I need more ideas, anyone."
"You should have at least two duelists that know about it ahead of time," Seirei suggested. "And maybe force them to be paired up against those that might cause more trouble than others."
"I've already got my two picked out," Kaiba grinned.
The next morning Kokuro was up bright and early. He gathered his things together and put them in his backpack. He sat at the computer and played games for a while until Sonomi woke up. She mumbled a good morning and then went into the bathroom to get ready.
She came out a while later fully dressed and ready to go. "We need to wake up Mia," she said looking over at Mia's bed.
"I fail at waking up Mia," Kokuro said sadly.
Sonomi walked over to Mia and nudged her gently, "Are you going to wake up for midterms or not?"
"Ok," Mia said immediately jumping out of bed. She turned to look at Kokuro who was rather annoyed. "Sorry, better luck next time," she said smiling happily.
"Uh huh," he said grumbling.
They all left and prepared to go their separate ways for their individual classes. Sonomi and Kokuro entered Professor Hikari's class and sat down at their seats. "Good luck," Sonomi whispered to him.
They waited until Professor Hikari handed out the tests, Sonomi put on her glasses and they began. Kokuro looked at the first question on the test.
Name five out of the eight cards in the game that are considered Archfiends, though they don't have Archfiend in their name.
Kokuro glanced at the paper and was stunned, 'What kind of question is this?' he asked. He concentrated for a moment and then recalled a discussion that he and Domid had earlier in the year. 'Beast of Talwar, Axe of Despair, Black Skull Dragon, Summoned Skull, Shadow Tamer.' He then turned to the next question.
Earlier in a duel you used Exchange to take your opponent's Horus The Black Flame Dragon Lv8. You activate Reload. What happens to your Opponent's card?
'The card gets shuffled back into your opponent's deck.'
Kokuro stretched as his main exams finished. It had been a tiring morning and he was glad it was over. Lunch was up next and then the Duel Exams would begin. He left the academy and went down towards the dorm. He heard the dorms were doing special meals for the exams. As he was walking he heard a lot of commotion on his right. He headed over to see what was going on and saw Sonomi and another Yellow dueling in front of the card shop. Sonomi had her Flame Ruler out and a card under the table. Her opponent had a Twin Headed Behemoth on the field, and a defense position Spear Dragon, and two cards under the table.
"Flame Ruler, attack his Spear Dragon," she commanded.
"Holy Life Barrier says otherwise," the Yellow said dropping a card from his hand.
"Fine, my turn is over," Sonomi grumbled.
"Now it's my turn," he said drawing. "And now you're in trouble, I sacrifice my two dragons to summon Tyrant Dragon!" he announced as the large dragon appeared on the field taking up most of the space. (2900/2500) "Attack her Flame Ruler."
"I don't agree with that," Sonomi said as her Draining Shield reversed. The fire that Tyrant Dragon spit out turned into blue energy which surrounded Sonomi. So: (6850)
"Fine," the boy said. "But next round you won't be so lucky."
Sonomi drew and looked at her card, "I'll set two cards under the table and put Flame Ruler on guard and one other monster. Go."
"Then it's my move," he said laughing. "First I'll knock out your Flame Ruler!" he announced as Flame Ruler was incinerated. "Then I'll attack your on guard monster."
"You destroyed UFO Turtle," she said smirking as the turtle was destroyed.
"I don't care," he said. "You don't have any more Solar Flare Dragons and even if you did, you couldn't save it from Tyrant Dragon."
"That's why I'm choosing Ultimate Baseball Kid," she announced as her small Baseball Kid appeared on the field. (1500/1000) "And then I'll activate Inferno Reckless Summoning," she called out as her other card lifted. "Now I can summon two more Baseball Kids," she said snickering, "Oh, and if you have any other Tyrant Dragons, you can summon them, but I doubt you do." The two other Baseball Kids appeared on the field. (4500/1000 x3)
"No…It can't be," he muttered.
"Oh it be," Sonomi said drawing. "Baseball Kid one, take out his dragon." In one Grand Slam the Tyrant Dragon was blow to pieces. "The other two will finish you off," she said smirking as they both swung their bats into him knocking him to the ground. Ra: (0)
"And I believe that wins me those final two packs," she said looking over at Setsuna.
"Sure did," Setsuna said handing her two packs.
"See ya around," she said walking off. She spotted Kokuro and walked over to him, "How'd you like it?" she asked.
"I caught the ending," he admitted. "But that was pretty impressive."
"I got the last two promotional packs that they give out during Midterms. That's why we were dueling."
"Lucky," Kokuro said smiling at her. She opened them and looked at the Pot of Avarice she pulled and sighed a little. "What's wrong?" he asked her.
"It's a rare card but I have no use for it," she sighed.
"Sure you do," he said.
"Me and my spell unfriendly deck," she said.
"It's one card," Kokuro said looking at her. "Well, technically it's three copies of one card, but you get the idea," he was obviously indicating Curse of Darkness.
"I suppose," she said as they walked into the dorm. When they got into their room they saw Mia brushing her hair and talking on the phone.
"Can't you please try to get him to come," she said whimpering. They looked at each other and then back at her. "I know his schedule is a huge problem, but I want to see him." There was a pause before she sighed, "Alright," she said quietly. "I'll have to find someone else to take," she sighed. "It's alright, it's not your fault…Love you too mom, bye." She hung up the phone and finished brushing her hair. She turned around and saw Kokuro and Sonomi staring at her. "Oh, hi guy's," she said forcing a smile.
"What was that all about?" Sonomi asked her.
Mia looked down, "I wanted my boyfriend, Takashi, to try to come to Parent's Night and see me, but his schedule is interfering."
"He can't take a day off to come see you?" Kokuro asked skeptically.
"He's already taken off too many days because he had a nasty virus, and he works nights. It's looking like he won't be able to come."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Kokuro said.
"Thanks," she said. "There's still a small chance. He's going to talk to his bosses tonight. I'll know by tomorrow."
"I hope it works out for you," Sonomi said walking over to her and handing her a card.
"What's this?" she asked looking at it. "Pot of Avarice?"
"You can use it more than I can," she said winking at her. "Now come on, we're already late for lunch, let's not be late for our duels."
"Right," Mia nodded.
After lunch the gang separated to wait for their exams to begin. Kokuro was lead into the arena by a teacher and was taken into his field. There was an Obelisk Blue Female standing there looking across at Kokuro as he arrived. She had black hair with purple highlights and bangs; she was wearing a lot of odd, black jewelry.
"So, you're the Ra everyone's been hearing about," she said to him.
"I guess so," Kokuro said shrugging.
"So, here you are, on the verge of rising even farther in rank," she said almost giving him a smile.
"I'm surprised I'm not facing Kazuki," Kokuro admitted.
"You never face the same person you faced in the quarterly exams," she said pulling her deck out of the deck box she had strapped around her leg. She shuffled and inserted it into her Duel Disk causing it to unfold. Kokuro grabbed his and put it into his own disk.
"Let the Midterm Duel begin," the teacher said. "Akuma will begin," he said pointing at the obelisk.
"So your name's Akuma," Kokuro said grinning. "Good luck."
"You too," she said pulling six cards. She looked over her hand before saying, "I'll begin by summoning Archfiend Soldier," she announced as a purple demon in a cape with a long sword appeared on the field. (1900/1500)
"I remember my days of using that card," Kokuro grinned.
"I had heard you used these once," she said taking another card from her hand. "I'll equip Archfiend Soldier with Axe of Despair." The demon put his sword away as an axe appeared in his hand. (2900/1500) "My turn is over."
"Then let's begin mine shall we?" he asked drawing. "I summon Skilled Black Magician," he called out as his black robed magician appeared on the field. (1900/1700) "Next I'll activate Spell Absorption." The spell card appeared and Kokuro thought of Selaya for a brief moment as Skilled Black Magician began to glow. "Now I activate Riryoku," he said as the spell appeared on the field. Skilled Black Magician began to glow again as it gained half of Archfiend Soldier's attack and the demon lost half of its attack. Ko: (8500)
"Well, that's unfortunate," she said looking at him.
"Attack Archfiend Soldier!" Kokuro called out. The magician shot magic at the demon eradicating it. Ak: (6100) "That's a wrap," he smiled.
Akuma drew and grinned, "Sorry Kokuro, I want you to advance, but I'm not going to let you win."
"Why are you so interested in me?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You keep talking about how you want me to advance, but I don't know anything about you." He stopped for a moment and then gasped, "Do you know Ami!"
"Who's Ami?" she asked.
Kokuro face faulted and then stood back up, "never mind."
"You're original question was why I wanted you to advance," she said thinking for a second. She finally shrugged, "You're a good duelist."
"That's it?" he asked.
"Not Kazuki level, but you're quite good. I just want to see you advance," she smiled.
"Oh…" he said. "So, you don't want anything from me?"
"Why would I?" she asked confused.
"I'm…not sure," he admitted. Then he laughed, "Sorry, I guess I'm just a little paranoid."
Akuma laughed, "It happens to all of us sometimes, don't fret about it. I'm sure it has a lot to do with my appearance."
"I guess that doesn't help my judgements," Kokuro said chuckling a little.
"Now then, to continue with our duel, I'll activate Revive Dead, this allows me to bring back Archfiend Soldier," she said as her demon appeared on the field again. Ko: (9000) "Now I sacrifice Archfiend Soldier to summon Archfiend of Gilfer," she announced as a black demon with wings and large claws appeared on the field. (2200/2500)
"This could be bad," Kokuro said worried.
"Gilfer, destroy Skilled Black Magician!" Gilfer created a fire ball in its hand which it flung at Skilled Black Magician destroying it. Ko: (8700) "That's my move."
'I could have summoned my Black Magician,' Kokuro sighed. He drew his card and looked at it, "I set one card under the table and one on guard. That's all I can do."
"I'm sorry to hear that," she said a little less than sympathetically as she pulled the top card off her deck. "I activate Pot of Greed," she said as she drew an additional two cards. Ko: (9200) 'This will allow me to bring out my field…but first,' she took the other card and slid it into her disk, "I activate Heavy Storm." A hurricane blew throughout the field and Kokuro's Shadow Spell trap was torn to pieces and the Spell Absorption shattered. Ko: (9700)
"So much for that plan," he thought. 'Luckily I have a back up,' he grinned.
Akuma looked at his grin and then seemed to be concentrating intently, "I activate Tribute to the Doomed!" she announced. She took a card from her hand and slid it into the graveyard. Kokuro's Old Magician appeared only to be wrapped in bandages and dragged into the ground. "Had you succeeded with that plan you could have gotten rid of Gilfer. Too bad I was two steps ahead of you. Gilfer, attack the player!" Gilfer shot a fire ball at Kokuro knocking him backwards. Ko: (7500) "That's all for this turn."
'Good grief,' he thought sweating a little. 'She's good. I expected a decent challenge, but not this.' He drew his card and looked at it. 'If she can get past this, I don't know how I'll stop her.' He took a monster and set it, and slid another card into his disk, "One on guard and one under, go."
She drew her card and slid it into her disk, "One under, Gilfer attack!" Gilfer's fireball blasted Spirit of the Harp (800/2000) to dust before returning to Akuma's side of the field. "I'm done."
Kokuro drew, "Pot of Greed," he announced drawing twice more. He sighed, "I set one on guard, your turn." He sighed and looked across at her, "Pretty high paced duel," he said smiling.
"It is, I'm enjoying it," she picked up her next card and summoned it to the field, "I summon Vilepawn Archfiend," she announced as a demon without skin appeared on the field. One of its hands was actually a large sword. (1200/200)
"Here we go," Kokuro announced as his trap reversed itself, "Go Torrential Tribute. This will wash away every monster on the field, causing us to start with a clean slate."
A large tsunami appeared behind Kokuro washing away his White Magician Pikeru and her Vilepawn Archfiend. "I end my turn then," she said. As Kokuro was about to draw a large machine appeared in front of Akuma and shot out a beam of light making Archfiend of Gilfer reappear on the field.
'No way,' he thought. "An Interdimensional Matter Transporter?"
"Yup," she said smiling. "Too bad for you, but Gilfer isn't that easy to kill."
Kokuro stared in shock at the girl he was facing, 'this is crazy. She's so strong. I'm sure she could even give Sonomi and Mia a run for their money. The worst part is, she seems as nice as Mia.'
"What's wrong?" she asked him.
"You use some of the scariest looking monsters I've seen, and you seem like an excellent duelist…and yet you're as nice as my one of my best friends."
"There's a story behind my monsters," Akuma said. "But I don't think now is the best time to tell it."
"Why not?" Kokuro asked.
"It's not the nicest of stories," Akuma said looking at him.
"It can't be too bad," Kokuro said laughing.
She paused for a minute before looking at him, "I was kidnapped as a child, and abused by my abductor."
Kokuro's laughing stopped immediately, "That's horrible," Kokuro said awestruck. "I'm…I'm sorry."
"It gets worse. As you might assume, people who kidnap small girls, tend to do things to them. I won't go into details, but it finally drove me to the point where I thought I was going insane. I started hearing voices."
"Voices?" Kokuro asked.
"This isn't story time," the teacher said interrupting.
"Sorry Sensei," Akuma said. "I forgot; you've already heard this tale." She turned to Kokuro, "Please continue with your move."
"I…I don't think I can," he said feeling weak in his knees. "I'm…I'm not sure I can. I have so many questions, and not only that; I don't think I can win."
"You have to try," Akuma said almost harshly. "If you never try to get out of a tough situation, you'll never survive. Trust me, I know."
Kokuro felt shivers running down his spine, 'I don't think I can keep going,' he thought to himself. 'I was spared from having to face a torment similar to hers…I…I don't know. A part of me wants to keep asking her, to find out, what might of happened to…' As if knowing that he needed comforting, Kuriboh appeared on his shoulder and let out a cry. He looked over at Kuriboh, and thought of his friends, pushing their strength into him. 'I can't think about that right now,' he realized. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and drew the top card of his deck. He looked at it and his eyes narrowed, "I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior," he said taking the only card from his hand and putting it on the field.
The red robed magical swordsman appeared on the field, sword glowing and ready. (1900/1000) "Then I activate the card I drew, Mage Power!" he called out as his monster began to glow with golden light. (2400/1500) "Breaker, wipe out Gilfer!" he announced. Breaker brought his sword down onto Gilfer which shattered into pieces, causing Akuma to flinch. Ak: (5900) She straightened up and smirked.
"Sorry, but like I said, it's not easy to kill Gilfer." Gilfer reappeared on the field, but this time it looked more like a spirit. It flew into Breaker causing the spellcaster to back up coughing. (1900/1500)
"What's going on?" Kokuro asked.
"Whenever Gilfer goes to the graveyard, it comes back onto the field and attaches itself as an Equip Spell Card to one monster, and that monster loses 500 attack points."
"Then I'll just have to re-destroy it, Breaker, use your ability to destroy Gilfer!" Breaker's sword began to glow and Gilfer's spirit was flung from Breaker, who sliced him in half again.
"What part of, when he's sent to the graveyard, did you not understand?" Akuma asked.
"What do you mean?" Kokuro asked as Gilfer once again reappeared and entered Breaker once more. (1600/1500) "You mean even when it's destroyed as an equip it returns," Kokuro asked stunned.
"That's right," she said grinning. She smiled as she looked at Gilfer and slid it into one of her spell and trap zones.
"I have to end my turn," Kokuro said upset.
"I'm sorry," she said to him.
He looked up at her surprised, "for what?" he asked.
"I know this duel is hard, and watching your Breaker suffer, it's probably not easy."
"No it's fine," Kokuro said a little shaken. "It is a duel after all."
"True, but I shouldn't have brought up my past," she said. "It's only distracting you."
"I'll be fine," he thought as Kuriboh landed on his shoulder and let out a small cry. "I've got my friends looking out for me."
Akuma's eyes raised slightly but she shrugged it off, "Very well, it's my move," she said drawing a card. "Now, I summon Shadowknight Archfiend," she announced as a demon much like Vilepawn appeared on the field. However this ones sword and claws were red rather than blue, it also had two black wings and blue hair. (2000/1600) "Now I activate the spell card Terraforming," she said as she slid the card into her disk.
"And what does that do?" Kokuro asked.
"This allows me to search for one field spell card in my deck and add it to my hand. So I take this," she said showing it to him. "Pandemonium, which I activate now!" Suddenly the field around them began to change. Bones began to litter the entire field and huge pillars began to rise up all around them. "Now, if you know the rulings for Archfiends, you would know that I normally have to pay Life Points to use my Archfiends, but Pandemonium negates that cost, so I don't have to pay anything."
"Lucky for you," Kokuro said slightly annoyed.
"Now then, Shadowknight, destroy Breaker!" Shadowknight slashed Breaker across his chest destroying him. Ko: (7300) "In case you're wondering, when Shadowknight inflicts damage, that damage is cut in half."
"Well that's good at least," Kokuro said. He watched the spirit of Gilfer appear and enter into Shadowknight. (1500/1600) "And that's even better," he grinned.
"My turn is done."
Kokuro drew his card and looked down at it, "I summon Skilled White Magician," he announced as the white robed magician appeared twirling his staff. (1700/1900) "Since it would harm me more to attack with Skilled White, I'm ending my turn here."
"Very well," Akuma said drawing. "I set one card under the table and end."
"My move again," Kokuro said drawing another card. "I'll also set one card under the table and end."
Akuma drew her card and played it instantly, "I activate Card of Sanctity. Now we each draw until we're holding six cards," she said as they each drew. "However, I'm afraid that half of your cards are going away," her face down reversed and it showed a man undergoing intense pain with the image of an Archfiend behind him. "Archfiends Curse is a special trap card. Whenever you draw cards outside of the draw phase, you must dump half of them."
Kokuro growled worriedly and looked over his hand, he slid Pikeru's Circle, Sage's Stone, and Black Magic Attack into the graveyard. "There you go," he said.
"Now, I sacrifice my Shadowknight for my Skull Archfiend of Lightning," she announced as her monster vanished and a monster that looked like Summoned Skull only darker appeared on the field. (2500/1200) "Gilfer then goes to Skilled White," she said as Gilfer appeared and possessed the magician. (1200/1900) "Skull Archfiend, attack with Lightning Strike!" The monster caused a rainstorm of lightning to fall down onto the magician destroying it. Ko: (6000) Gilfer appeared and took over the Skull Archfiend. (2000/1200) "It's your move."
Kokuro looked at the newer Archfiend and sighed, 'I never gave Archfiends much credit because I felt there were too many of them and I thought they're effects relied too much on luck. I guess I was wrong.' Akuma stared at Kokuro and sighed; Kokuro noticed and looked up, "What's wrong?" he asked.
"From what I heard, you usually duel for fun."
"I do," he said.
"It's just troublesome to watch you struggle so much," she said. "Normally I don't care what my opponent is feeling in a duel, but this can't be too fun for you."
"I'll be fine," Kokuro reassured her.
She closed her eyes and looked at him, "When I was in the hands of my captor, he taught me how to play Duel Monsters," she said.
Kokuro looked up surprised, "Why did he do that?"
"He enjoyed attacking me with his monsters, but he couldn't do that unless I had a deck. So he would lock me up, and then go out and buy cards for me. He wouldn't let me have any strong ones, just an assortment of randomly strewn about cards that usually couldn't be summoned without a sacrifice."
"That's so horrible," Kokuro said.
"With all the beatings that he gave out personally, among other things, and getting attacked, I thought I had gone insane. I was hearing voices, and soon enough, those voices took on a form." She pulled Archfiend of Gilfer out of her Duel Disk and showed it to Kokuro. "The very monsters he used to beat me with were talking to me."
"He used Archfiends!" Kokuro gasped.
"In all honesty, this is his deck," Akuma said.
"Why in the world would you use cards that were used to abuse you?" Kokuro nearly shouted. The proctor wanted the match to continue but he could tell that it was too late, Kokuro was too curious.
"At first I thought I was going to die," Akuma said. "And at one point I escaped. I found my way out of his hideout and ran, with him hot on my trail. I reached a bridge and the voices were telling me to jump. They told me that anything was better than the hell I was already living in."
"I was about to kill myself when he found me and forced me into his car, taking me back. I was beat severely that night," she said as a small tear fell from her eye. "As time went on, the voices continued, but instead of urging me to kill myself, it helped me figure out a way to kill him."
"You mean…"
"One night, when he was drunk, I found my way free and I rid myself of him forever, I won't go into details." Kokuro could barely talk. "When I finally got home, I told my parents all about the voices, and how they saved me. I was sent to countless amounts of therapists, thinking that the stress of being kidnapped and tortured had messed me up, but none ever did the trick. I was even sent to a few hypnotists, and none of them could break the spell over me."
"One day, while with my therapist, he asked me if I was familiar with Duel Monsters. I told him about my past with the game and he asked me if I might be comfortable with a duel. He promised me it would be tabletop, and nothing would really attack me. That was when I first used the Archfiend deck. I had seen it used countless amounts of times, I knew how to run it. And as we dueled, I could hear the voices, they were cheering me on."
"Once the duel ended, he gave me a book which he told me I had to keep secret from my parents. He advised me to read it over night, and that it would be our last visit. He also told me that while I was tortured, I had been given a gift, and that I should use it wisely. When I got home, I read the book. It was all about Duel Spirits."
"Duel Spirits?" Kokuro asked remembering when Yugi had mentioned them.
"They are the spirits of Duel Monsters. Only a few people can see them, and only certain spirits show themselves to humans. The book suggested that the spirits choose who could see them, and for their own reasons. I came to realize that the Archfiends, mainly Gilfer, were my Duel Spirits. Even though they're demons, and quite evil ones at that, they didn't like the fact that they were being used for such things as tormenting a little girl. So they decided to protect me. From that day on, I called myself Akuma. It means Demon, and I felt that it suited me. I haven't gone back to my old name, and I've even forced my parent's to call me so."
"I'm so sorry for you," was all Kokuro could respond with. 'Could this have been her fate had I not rescued her…?' Kokuro thought to himself.
"Don't," she said smiling a little. "The multiple therapy sessions, while they didn't make the voices go away, they made me come to terms with what had happened. My two years being captive are something I've come to accept. However I don't define myself as a kidnapped girl, I define myself by my ability to hear my Archfiends. And I've sworn that for as long as I live, no Archfiends will be used for anything other than Duel Monsters games meant to be fun."
Kokuro looked at her unable to think of anything to say, "I don't know how to continue this duel."
"You're not giving up are you?" she asked.
"This is just too much," he said shaking.
"If you remember correctly, I said that Archfiends won't be used for anything other than games that are meant to be fun, so why aren't you having any fun?"
"Your past…"
"I told you, I don't define myself by what happened to me, I define myself by what came out of what happened to me. I'm fine now, all my wounds have long since healed, and the Archfiends protect me. Just like your magicians protect you."
Kokuro looked at the cards in his hand and then looked at the Archfiend of Gilfer that she was sliding back into her disk, and then off to the side where Kuriboh was, 'and just like my friends and Kuriboh…' "If that's what you want," Kokuro said placing his hand towards his deck. "Then I don't want to disappoint you!" he called out drawing. "If you truly want those cards to be used for fun, who am I to stop you?" he asked smiling.
"That's the spirit," she said.
"I'll set a monster on guard and two cards under the table," he announced as the three cards appeared on the field. "I'm going to win," he told her. "And I'm going to have fun doing it. Besides, how can I hold a grudge against cards you've long since forgiven?"
"Exactly," she said smiling.
"I end my turn," he said.
"Then it's time for me to follow it up," she said drawing. "I summon Terrorking Archfiend," she announced as another Archfiend appeared. This one had black wings like the Shadowknight, but he also wore a long red robe, a crown, and wielded a huge double sided axe. (2000/1500) "Terrorking, attack his face down monster!"
Terrorking flung its axe which began spinning and heading right for the face down card. "Reverse Magic Cylinder!" Kokuro called out.
"Now comes the fun part; does it work?" she asked. She produced a die from her pocket and flung it across the field. "If it lands on a two or a five, your trap is negated and destroyed." They watched in suspense as it slowly stopped and landed on a three. The axe flew through one cylinder and came out the other smashing into Akuma. Ak: (3900) Terrorking looked back at Akuma who slowly stood up shook it off, "It's fine," she reassured it. It grabbed its axe and looked back towards Kokuro. "Yes…yes it worked," she said shaking her head before glancing up at Kokuro, "Fine, Skull Archfiend, Lightning Strike!"
The Skull blasted a series of lightning bolts at an Old Vindictive Magician that appeared. It began to power its attack and fired it at the skull. "Luckily I keep two," Akuma said as she pulled out another die and flung it across the room as well. "If it lands on a one, three, or six, it will be safe and your Old Mage will have an unhappy ending." The die came to a stop on one. The lightning pushed the magic of the old mage back onto its caster and then blasted the magician itself. "No, it doesn't work," she grinned.
Kokuro covered himself from the wind that picked up, "well, that could have gone better," he sighed.
"I'm done," she said.
Kokuro drew and looked at the Fusion he drew, "I have to pass," he sighed.
"Very well," she said as she drew her next card. "I summon Infernalqueen Archfiend." Yet another archfiend appeared and this one, like most others, had black wings. She also had a purple robe, and long purple hair, on top of her head was a crown. (900/1500) "Now, my three Archfiends, attack the player."
"Not if I can help it," he called out as his Sleepy Sheep revealed themselves. Four sheep appeared on the field in time to get blasted. "I've saved myself," Kokuro grinned.
"It would seem so," she said. "I end my turn."
"My move," he said drawing.
"I activate the ability of my Infernalqueen, during each standby phase she can raise the power of one archfiend on the field by 1000, and who better than herself?" she asked. (1900/1500)
"Fine," he said, "But I'm going to help us both out now," he said flipping over his Double Spell. "I'm activating the Double Spell I drew, dropping the Fusion in my hand, and copying the Card of Sanctity in your graveyard, so that we can each draw until we're holding six." They refreshed their hands and Kokuro looked at the new assortment of cards he was holding.
"Find something you need?" she asked.
"Actually I did," he grinned. "First off I activate Cost Down, and I'll discard my Black Magician of Chaos to use it," he said as he discarded the card. "Now I'll summon Chaos Command Magician without a sacrifice," he announced as the green robed magician appeared on the field. (2400/1900)
"Not bad for a one sacrifice monster," she nodded, impressed.
"Next, I'll activate Premature Burial, this may cost 800 Life Points, but it also gives me my Black Magician of Chaos back." Ko: (5200) Black Magician of Chaos appeared on the field glowing with a bright blue light. "And his ability will allow me to retrieve the Mage Power I lost earlier in the duel."
"This isn't good," she said worriedly, and then she smiled, "Yet, I must say I'm truly impressed."
'Interesting,' the exam proctor thought.
"Mage Power goes onto my Black Magician of Chaos, along with another card under the table." (4800/4600) "Now I'll attack your Infernal Queen with my Black Magician of Chaos!" he called out. A magical ball of electricity formed at the tip of his magician's staff before being fired at the Archfiend destroying it.
Akuma shielded herself as a heavy wind picked up, "My Infernalqueen," she growled. Ak: (1000)
"Chaos Command Magician, attack Terrorking!" Chaos Command Magician attacked with a ruby colored beam of magic which blasted Terrorking destroying him. Ak: (600)
"I discard Desrook Archfiend from my hand in order to activate its ability, allowing me to return Terrorking to the field."
"I wasn't expecting that," Kokuro admitted. "But it's not a problem, I end my turn."
Akuma drew her card and chuckled, "I activate Pot of Avarice," she said taking five monsters out of her graveyard, combining them with her deck and then drawing two cards. "And now I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your Premature Burial." The magical wind picked up blowing the spell card to pieces. Mage Power and Black Magician of Chaos vanished. "And now, I'll summon the Warrior of Zera," he announced as a muscular man with green armor, blue pants, and a long sword with the handle of a blue dragon appeared on the field. (1600/1600) "Now it's time for my most powerful monster," Akuma said. "I can sacrifice Warrior of Zera to special summon Mazera DeVille!"
Pandemonium began to shake as a large demon appeared. It resembled Warrior of Zera's uniform, only now it was much more muscular, had large claws, and giant green demon wings. (2800/2300) It slashed at Kokuro's hand forcing the rest of his cards to go to the Graveyard.
"Mazera can only be special summoned when Pandemonium is on the field, and only by offering Warrior of Zera. When it does that, it can take out three cards from your hand and discard them," Akuma explained. "And now, Mazera, wipe out his Chaos Command Magician!" Mazera roared loudly and blasted a black beam of power at the magician destroying it. Ko: (4800) "The worst is yet to come, Terrorking, wipe out his last goat!" Terrorking flung its axe at the sheep destroying it. "Now Skull Archfiend, Lightning Strike!" Showers of lightning bolts rained down on Kokuro causing him to yell out as he was hit. Ko: (2800) "My turn is over, and soon, this duel will be too."
"We'll see," Kokuro said as he pulled the top card on his deck. "I remove Old Vindictive Magician and Spirit of the Harp to special summon Chaos Sorcerer," he announced as his purple spellcaster appeared on the field.
"Not that!" she exclaimed shocked.
"Chaos Sorcerer, remove Mazera from the game!" Kokuro called out. The sorcerer cast a spell causing Mazera to vanish from the field. "That's my turn."
Akuma sweat a bit as she drew her card, "I'll set a monster on guard, and switch Terrorking and Skull Archfiend. Go."
Kokuro drew and smirked, "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Pandemonium!" A large electrical wind blew through the field and they were instantly transported back to the exam room. "Now, Chaos Sorcerer, destroy Terrorking!" The sorcerer shot a ball of magic at Terrorking destroying it. "Your move."
Akuma growled as she drew, "With Pandemonium gone, I have to pay 500 Life Points to keep my Skull Archfiend," she said as a blast of electricity struck her. Ak: (100) "I have to end."
Kokuro drew his card and smirked, "Its over," he said as he summoned Spear Dragon to the field in attack mode. (1900/0) "Attack Skull Archfiend, end this duel!" A vortex of wind erupted from the dragon's mouth. It blasted through the archfiend and connected with Akuma. Ak: (0)
"The winner of the exam duel is Kokuro Samé," the exam proctor announced. The holograms vanished and Kokuro let out a breath of relief.
"It was a well played duel," Akuma said walking over to Kokuro and extended her hand.
"It was an emotional battle," Kokuro said taking her hand and shaking. "Do you do that to all of your opponents?" he asked.
"Very few know about my past," she said winking. "They just think I'm some kind of Goth or Emo girl."
"I'm glad, it's not something everyone should know," Kokuro said smiling a bit.
"I felt that you earned the right to know," she said. "However, it seemed that something other than my past was bothering you?" she asked curiously.
"Let's just say I almost had to face a situation much like yours," he said in a low, angrier voice. "I was able to stop it before it got out of control though."
"We all have some sort of skeletons in our closet," Akuma nodded understanding. Then she gave a small smile, "Now go claim your prize," she said as she turned and walked off.
"My prize?" Kokuro wondered.
The exam proctor walked up to Kokuro, "If you would follow me please," he said. He started to head off and Kokuro followed, wondering what this 'prize,' was she had mentioned.
Created Cards:
Archfiend's Curse: Counter Trap. Picture: a man undergoing intense pain with the image of an Archfiend behind him. Effec: If your opponent draws outside of the Draw Phase, they must discard half the cards they drew rounded up to the nearest one.