Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh GX.
Author's Note: The end of the Second Semester Arc approaches.
The Infinity Chronicles; Second Semester Arc
Chapter 36: Infinity Awakening (Part 1)
Right eye twitching, Ichigo let a low growl escape and he bared his fangs. "So it's you, is it? Very well…" He pulled his revenge deck out of his pocket and inserted it into his disk. "This deck was created to crush the Travelers, but I'll be more than glad to use it and crush you as well!"
The sound of sneakers on cement echoed across the arena as a white tarp with legs stepped into view of those in the stands. Whoever the mystery challenger was, they had wrapped themselves up a white tarp normally used to cover holes in buildings to protect them from the weather during storms and such. The only parts of the challenger that could be seen besides that was their shadowed face, a duel disk attached to an otherwise covered arm, and a pair of tennis sneakers.
Adriel scratched the top of his head. "Is that supposed to be a disguise?"
Nikolai made a curious noise and sat back. ("This should be interesting.")
Eri's nose twitched and she tilted her head to the side, making the same noise that Nikolai did. ("This smells really familiar.")
Ichigo glared at the mystery figure. "This will determine it all between us! I will become the Blood Wolf of Duelist Academy, and you will be nothing! Duel!"
The figure lifted up their arm. "Duel." The duel that came from the tarp was scrambled, like it was being spoken through a Voice Changer.
Ichigo- 4000
Figure- 4000
Off to the side, Rysel narrowed his eyes slightly. ("There is energy in the air around this individual. It's a powerful energy that not of this world.")
"I begin!" Ichigo plucked the top card from his hand quickly and switched it out with another card from his hand, desiring to get this duel started as soon as possible. "Come out now, Proto Cyber Dragon!" (1100/800) A grey mechanical snake-dragon appeared on his field and hissed. "Also, I place one card face-down and end my turn."
"Draw." The Figure's crackling voice left chills running down the spines of everyone who listened to it, excluding Rysel and Nikolai. "I summon Infinity Traveler Inferno Brawler in attack mode." A humanoid being made of fire formed on the field. (/100)
"That's impossible!" Despite his injuries, Resshin leapt to his feet and glared down at the Figure. "How do you have such a card? I never gave you my power!"
Ignoring the Traveler's protests, the Figure pointed at their monster as it let off an orange glow. "For every monster you have in play, the original attack power of Inferno Brawler increases by 1000 points." (1000/100) The Figure held up another card from their hand. "Now I activate the magic card Infinity Heart." A purple energy flowed out of the card and into his monster's body. "This card increases the attack of one monster on my field by 500." (1500/100) "Inferno Brawler, attack Proto Cyber Dragon with Flames of Wrath!" Their monster charged up a ball of fire and hurled it across the field at the prototype Cyber Dragon.
"Reverse card open!" Ichigo's face-down card flipped up and his monster shattered. "Attack Redirection Mirror special summons Cyber Barrier Dragon!" (800/2800) A reflective dragon appeared on his field. "This monster can, once per turn, negate one attack while in attack mode!" Then his dragon howled in pain as it was burned away instantly from the fires of the Infinity Traveler. "What?"
"The monster powered up by Infinity Heart also cannot have its attack negated." The Figure pointed at the half demon. "Therefore, your defense was wasted."
Ichigo- 3200
Figure- 4000
"Since there are no monsters on your field my Inferno Brawler's attack drops down to 500." The Figure inserted a card into their disk. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."
"So far I'd say that our mystery duelist gets points for effort, if nothing else." Adriel sat down next to Nikolai. "But how do they have an Infinity Traveler card? And it's of Resshin too, when he just said that he never created a bond with anyone."
"Who knows?" Nikolai stretched his arms behind his back. "However, I'm sure we'll find out before this duel ends."
"Don't get cocky, you bastard! Draw!" Ichigo tossed a card onto his disk. "I special summon Cyber Dragon from my hand to the field!" The original mechanical snake-dragon appeared in play and roared. (2100/1600) "Attack that traitor monster now! Evolution Burst!" The dragon opened its jaws and shot out a blast of blue fire that hurtled towards the Figure's monster. "Take this!"
"Not very tact, are you?" The Figure chided. "Reverse card open." Their face-down card flipped up to reveal a glowing barrier of light. "Negation Blockade stops your attack and ends your battle phase. Also, I add one Infinity Traveler Null Entity from my deck to my hand." A card left their deck and they added it to their hand.
"They have Erian's power as well?" Eri sat down and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. "There's something about this person that seems strange. How do they have these Infinity Traveler cards?"
Ichigo inserted a card into his disk, a larger card appearing face-down on his field behind his Cyber Dragon. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."
"Draw." The Figure tossed a card onto their disk. "I summon Infinity Traveler Amplification Maiden in defense mode!" (0/0) A silver-bodied female humanoid appeared on the field.
Ambience blinked widely at the monster. "That's me!"
Adriel snickered slightly. "Therefore its effect is just what its name says…"
The Figure motioned to their Inferno Brawler. "Amplification Maiden cannot attack. However, she can double the original attack of one monster on my field when it attacks once per turn!" They pointed at Cyber Dragon. "Go now!" (2500/100) The flaming alien launched into the air and bathed the metallic dragon in fire, destroying it instantly.
Ichigo- 2800
Figure- 4000
The Figure inserted another card into their disk. "I place one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
"Amazing…they're doing amazing." Griff couldn't believe it. "Is this the power of the Infinity Travelers in card form?"
Resshin snarled down at the Figure in anger. "Damn you, how dare you use my power without my permission!"
"Shut up Resshin!" Eri glared at the Traveler and then looked down at the Figure. ("Whoever they are, they have the ability to access the powers of the Travelers without the permission of those Travelers.")
Ichigo's right eye twitched a couple of times and he drew. "I hate you! How dare you act so calm while facing down my revenge!" Holding up the drawn card, he sneered. "I activate Pot of Greed, drawing two cards!" Then he threw a card onto his disk and an angel wearing a simple white robe appeared on his field. "I summon Shining Angel in attack mode!" (1400/700) "Attack Amplification Maiden now!"
"Reverse card open." The Figure's set card flipped up and Inferno Brawler leapt in front of the Maiden. "Maiden Guard is a continuous trap card that lets me redirect any attack against Amplification Maiden to another monster on the field. Also, that monster gains a 500 attack point boost during the damage step!" (2000/100) "Counter-attack!" Their monster unleashed a blaze of fire that slammed into the body of the angel and flash-fried it.
Ichigo- 2200
Figure- 4000
Ichigo smiled smugly. "I was going to do this on your turn, but since you insist on defeating my Shining Angel so quickly, thank you!" His graveyard slot released a golden light when it took in the angel card. "When Shining Angel is destroyed as a result of battle and sent to the graveyard I can special summon one light attribute monster with 1500 or less attack points from my deck to the field!" Another Proto Cyber Dragon appeared and hissed. (1100/800)
"That was a rather silly way to get a Cyber Dragon copy, don't you think?" The Figure shrugged their shoulders slightly, this being shown by the movements of the tarp.
"That's not quite why I wanted it, actually." The half demon held up a magic card. "When Proto Cyber Dragon is special summoned, I activate the quickplay magic card Inferno Reckless Summon!" He snickered, showing off his fangs. "First you get to select a monster on your field and special summon as many copies of it from your deck, hand, and graveyard. However I'm betting you only have one copy of each of those treacherous Travelers in your deck!"
"You would be correct in assuming that." The Figure's voice was still emotionless, though it didn't sound as relaxed as it did at the start of the duel.
"After you have chosen your monster and that effect has resolved, I special summon as many copies of the special summoned monster from my deck, hand, and graveyard to the field!" Ichigo started laughing venomously. "When Proto Cyber Dragon is face-up on the field, it is considered to be Cyber Dragon. Therefore, I special summon my three Cyber Dragons in attack mode!" Three Cyber Dragons appeared on his field, all of them snarling angrily. (2100/1600)x3
"So this is the end for them, eh?" Nikolai sighed. "And the revenge of the self-declared Kaiser of Duelist Academy comes down as the winner once more."
"This can't be the end!" Ambience leapt to her feet. "You have to win! I don't know how you have those cards, but please…win for all our sakes!"
The Figure looked up at Ambience for a few moments before nodding slightly and turning to face Ichigo. "The effect of Inferno Brawler powers up his original attack to 4000." (4500/100)
"So what?" Ichigo held up a card. "I activate Limiter Removal." Steam rose from the lines in the plating on the Cyber Dragons' bodies. (4200/1600)x3 (2200/800) "Also my face-down Altar for Tribute activates, sacrificing my Proto Cyber Dragon to increase my life points by its attack!"
Ichigo- 4400
Figure- 4000
"Now it really is over." Krieger sounded utterly depressed. "With one less monster on Ichigo's field that person's Inferno Brawler won't have enough attack to last against those Cyber Dragons."
"We shouldn't have expected anything different. This is Ichigo we're talking about. His skill is as close to pro level as you can get without being a pro." Griff sighed and rested his chin against the back of the chair in front of him. "Still…"
"This is the end!" Ichigo pointed at the Infinity Traveler monsters. "Clear those mistakes from the planet! Cyber Dragons, attack with triple Evolution Burst!" He snickered at the Figure.
"Mistakes?" The Figure sighed. "You really are a jackass, aren't you?"
"Shut up!" Ichigo's first Cyber Dragon unleashed its breath, blasting Inferno Brawler and stifling the flame being out of existence. (3500/100)
Ichigo- 4400
Figure- 3300
"I won't tolerate them anymore!" Ichigo's second Cyber Dragon snarled down at the very scared-looking Amplification Maiden, right before it unleashed its attack and blew her apart.
"And finally, I won't tolerate those who help them either!" The half demon pointed at the Figure's empty field. "Disappear forever, and show them the way to oblivion!" His third Cyber Dragon released its attack, striking the Figure's field and creating a huge explosion. "I've won!"
"Not quite." The smoke cleared to reveal the Figure unharmed. "From my hand I discard Null Entity to make your battle damage from that Cyber Dragon's attack zero."
Ichigo let out a frustrated scream and punched the metal of the ring beneath him, leaving a slight dent in the steel. "You're an annoyance waiting to be smitten! Why won't you die already?"
"Because I refuse to let you carry this act any farther forward." They tilted their head up to look at the stands and at the three Travelers who were there. "Those three are afraid and lost in a world they don't understand. You're being a selfish brat who can't get it through his skull that they are scared."
"From my hand I activate Magic Purge!" Ichigo slammed one of his two remaining cards into his disk and the steam coming from his three Cyber Dragons was stifled. "All floating effects disappear, so the monster destruction downside of Limiter Removal is negated. I place one card face-down and end my turn."
"I see you don't intend to listen to reason." The Figure drew. "Then I'll smack some logic into your head!" Looking at the card, they nodded. "Here we go!" They threw the drawn card onto their disk and a metallic humanoid made of smooth flowing metal appeared on their field. "I summon Infinity Traveler Forward Runner!" (500/400) "Its special ability allows me to draw up to five cards, but I have to skip that many draw phases in the upcoming turns!" They drew five cards. "And now I activate the magic card Turning the Hands of Time! If there is a Forward Runner or Reverse Runner on my field I can either destroy all monsters on your field or special summon two monsters from my graveyard, depending on whoever the field monster might be!"
Ichigo watched as his three Cyber Dragons shattered. "And the downside to this?"
"I must shuffle three cards in my hand back into my deck if I chose the special summon effect. If I chose the monster destruction effect I must randomly remove two cards from my hand per monster I destroy. Therefore six cards from my hand must be removed for the effect to succeed." Their whole hand disappeared. "At this time the effect of the trap card in my hand triggers! Mimic Magic, when removed from the game, copies the effect of the top magic card in your graveyard! Therefore Magic Purge removes the need for me to skip my next five draw phases!"
Ichigo suddenly started laughing.
"What's so funny?" The Figure was a little surprised that the half demon would be laughing about this.
"Reverse card open!" Ichigo's face-down card flipped up. "Call of the Haunted revives my Cyber Dragon!" (2100/1600) One of his metal dragons reappeared and roared loudly. "With no cards in your hand, you can no longer escape my wrath!"
"End turn." The Figure dropped their arms to their sides.
"Draw!" Ichigo looked at his drawn card and snickered. "I place one card face-down on my field and attack your time-piece! Evolution Burst!" He started laughing again while his machine unleashed a blue blast of flame that destroyed the Infinity Traveler. "Another of the traitors is destroyed!"
Ichigo- 4400
Figure- 1700
"At this time the effect of Forward Runner triggers!" The Figure held up their hand and a pair of cards appeared in their grasp. "When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle two random cards that are removed from the game come to my hand."
Ichigo shrugged that off. "End turn. I already know you cannot defeat me, as I intend to win this duel. With that win I will cement my way to the very top!"
The Figure sweat-dropped and then drew. "You're really being a bit of a jerk about this." Then they inserted three cards into their duel disk. "I place three cards face-down and end my turn." A trio of cards appeared on the field in a row in front of them.
Ichigo snapped the top card off of his deck and pointed at the Figure. "Cyber Dragon, end this. Evolution Bu…" His Cyber Dragon disappeared. "What?"
"Reverse card open." The Figure pointed at one of their face-up cards. "Dust Tornado destroys your Call of the Haunted, therefore taking your Cyber Dragon with it."
"End turn." Ichigo looked at the card he was holding coldly, his rage temporarily cooled.
The Figure drew and nodded to the half demon. "End turn."
"Draw!" Ichigo drew and nodded as well. "End turn."
The Figure drew again, their shadowed face grimacing slightly. "End turn again."
"I draw!" Ichigo snarled at the useless card he had drawn. ("What is wrong with my Revenge Deck? Where are my draws?") "End turn!"
The Figure drew a third time. ("This will come in handy.") "I place two cards face-down and end my turn." A pair of cards appeared alongside their earlier set cards.
Ichigo closed his eyes and drew. When he opened his eyes a dark smile crossed his face. "This will be interesting. I activate the magic card Draw Battle! We both pick up cards from our decks until we come to a monster. Afterwards those monsters are special summoned to our field in attack mode and they battle!" Pulling off the top card of his deck, he licked his lips while a grey mechanical snake-dragon appeared on his field. "Proto Cyber Dragon is summoned!" (1100/800)
The Figure picked up cards from their deck, stopping at the fourth. ("This monster…") They looked up at the stands and those who watching them. ("This will give away my identity.") "Reverse card open." One of their face-down cards flipped up. "Dimensional Selection activates when a monster is selected for an effect. I can negate that selection and change the target to a monster in my removed from play pile!"
A blast of dark blue light filled their field and a suit of dark blue power armor appeared on their field. "Final Shadow Infinity Chaser (2000/1000) is special summoned." They shuffled the four cards they had taken from their deck back into the stack of cards. ("That was a close one.")
"The effect of Draw Battle says that whoever summoned the stronger monster is considered to be the attacker, so Infinity Chaser attacks Proto Cyber Dragon!" Ichigo slammed one of his hand cards into his duel disk. "I activate the quickplay magic card Magnetic Recovery, special summoning one machine or rock type monster from my graveyard to the field in defense mode!"
One of his Cyber Dragons appeared and his face-down card flipped up. "Go Covering Fire! This trap activates when a monster on my field is attacked. I may add the attack of one monster on my field to the attack of my Proto Cyber Dragon!" (3200/800)
"That means…" Ambience and Eri both bit their lower lips at the same time.
Adriel growled under his breath. "Why are we even surprised that he wouldn't be caught off guard like that?"
"Now come, Infinity Chaser, and meet your doom!" Ichigo was about to laugh. Then he realized something. The Figure had beaten him to the laughing. "What are you laughing for? Your monster is about to kill itself!"
"Take another look." The Figure's monster was glowing brightly. (4000/1000)
"How…" Ichigo gasped as he realized that for some reason Limiter Removal was face-up on his field. "That can't be! I didn't activate another Limiter Removal!"
The Figure motioned to one of their face-up traps. "Mechanical Magic Mirror lets me use a magic card from your graveyard! My choice is Limiter Removal! Battle now, Infinity Chaser!" Their power armor monster flew across the field and punched straight through the Proto Cyber Dragon like it was made of aluminum.
Ichigo- 3600
Figure- 1700
Ichigo growled in frustration again and inserted a card into his disk. "I place one card face-down! Now your Infinity Chaser is destroyed! End turn!" The suit of power armor exploded, but so did his Cyber Dragon. "What?"
"I activate my face-down Michizure trap card." The Figure shrugged their shoulders again. "When my monster goes to the graveyard, Michizure destroys a monster on your field. Sorry that this deck is a little bit random. I had to assemble it from some spare cards I had lying around."
"You mean…" Ichigo's breathing picked up. "You're dueling me with a deck made up of some random cards you splashed together?"
"Of course." The Figure spoke plainly, which was very strange since with the Voice Changer they sounded a bit like Darth Vader. "I didn't have enough Infinity Traveler type cards for a full deck, so I had to improvise."
Ichigo looked like he was getting angrier and angrier. "I hate you just as much as I hate them! I will crush you with my ultimate tool of revenge!"
The Figure drew. "Wait; let me take my turn first." They held up Pot of Greed and drew two cards. "I place two cards face-down on the field and end my turn there."
Ichigo drew and flipped the card up. "I activate Card of Sanctity!" Both of them drew five cards. "And now I activate the magic card Pot of Avarice." Five cards were spat out of his graveyard. "This card lets me shuffle five monsters from my graveyard back into my deck. I choose two Proto Cyber Dragons and three Cyber Dragons." Removing his deck from the slot, he shuffled those cards back into place slowly. "Do you know what this means?"
"You've got your dragons back, I get it." They huffed. "You need to stop being so smug."
Returning his deck to place, the half demon drew two cards. "After the effect of Pot of Avarice resolves I draw two cards. And now I play the equipment magic card Future Fusion!"
Nikolai frowned. "That lets him send monsters from his deck to the graveyard to special summon a fusion monster. He intends to create Cyber End Dragon."
"The Russian pain in the ass is correct." Ichigo held up all three Cyber Dragon cards. "I send these three to my graveyard." A powerful wind erupted behind him. "Cyber End Dragon is special summoned!" Within that windstorm a giant three-headed metal dragon appeared in play and roared loudly. (4000/2800) "This will be the end for you!"
"Reverse card open!" The Figure already knew what Ichigo's next card was, and they were ready. "Deck Blocker requires a card from my hand as a cost." They discarded a card from their hand into the graveyard. "During this turn I can negate any attacks at the cost of the top two cards of my deck."
"You won't stop me! Go De-Fusion!" Ichigo's Cyber End Dragon disappeared and was replaced by the three Cyber Dragons it was made up of. (2100/1600)x3 "Triple Evolution Burst!" All three of the dragons launched forward, unleashing three blasts of blue energy at once.
"Deck Blocker's effect activates now!" The Figure discarded the top six cards of their deck and six holographic cards appeared on the field, each pair blocking one of the blasts and creating a mighty explosion that shook the field and kicked up a cloud of dust. "You're wasting your time."
"Is that so?" Ichigo held up another quickplay magic card. "Go Instant Fusion!" His three Cyber Dragons disappeared and were replaced by Cyber End Dragon. (4000/2800) "This card lets me send fusion material monsters from my field to my graveyard to special summon a fusion monster! Cyber End Dragon, attack their life points directly! Etoile Evolution Burst!" All three of the fusion's heads unleashed their attacks.
"Deck Blocker activates now!" The Figure discarded the top two cards of their deck and a pair of cards appeared to block the killing attack, increasing the destruction and chaotic storm on the field.
"The storm isn't quite over yet." Ichigo smiled darkly. "I count eight cards left on your deck. Therefore, I activate De-Fusion!"
Up in the stands, everyone but Nikolai was aghast.
"He's going to deck that person out with a freaking beatdown deck!" Griff somehow managed to lean in closer. "Incredible!"
Ichigo's fusion disappeared and was replaced by the three Cyber Dragons once more. (2100/1600)x3 "Triple Evolution Burst!" All three of the monsters fired their attacks once more.
"I have no choice! I activate Deck Blocker three more times!" The Figure's voice was breaking, as the sheer force that was assaulting the field was like being in the middle of a tornado.
"And now I strike the last blow! With this power…" Ichigo held up another of his hand cards. "I say farewell to you! I activate the quickplay magic card Photon Generator Unit, sacrificing two of my Cyber Dragons to summon Cyber Laser Dragon!" A larger metal dragon with a laser attached to its tail appeared on his field. (2400/1800) "Direct attack! Laser Evolution Burst!" The Cyber Laser Dragon opened its jaws and released a condensed blast of energy that shot into the cloud and then exploded. "With that your deck is at zero! End turn!"
"That's the end." Nikolai sighed melodramatically. "With that strike, Ichigo has won yet again. Whoever they were, they didn't have enough power to stand against your self-declared Kaiser's strength."
Ichigo sneered. "I am Ichigo Pilkington, the true Kaiser of Duelist Academy! Let all those who stand against me be crushed by my power!" He turned to look at Rysel. "And with your help, I will clear the Travelers off of this planet."
"God, shut up already!" A no longer scrambled voice yelled out from within the massive smoke cloud that covered the Figure's field. "You keep going on and on about the same things like some kind of parrot!"
Ichigo glanced at the cloud. "I don't care about you, as you've lost."
"Wrong." The smoke cleared to reveal the tarp-covered Figure, the cover shaken up enough that it only covered their eyes now. "Or did you not realize something?" They held up their duel disk to reveal they had cards left.
"That can't be!" Ichigo glared at his opponent. "How? My calculations weren't wrong!" The smoke cleared to reveal the Figure's face-up trap card. "Miracle Magician? No, it can't be!"
"That's right." The Figure pointed at their trap card. "Miracle Magician lets me activate a magic card from my hand. And that card was Pot of Avarice, so just like you I shuffled five monsters from my graveyard into my deck and then drew two cards." They ran a finger through the three cards remaining in their deck. "Sorry, but I'm not beaten yet. But it's a bit late to take back the fact that you ended your turn, isn't it now?"
Now that he could hear that voice clearly, the half demon narrowed his eyes dangerously. "You're not who I thought it was, are you? You bastard, who are you?"
"Heh, you wanna see?" They grasped the tarp and pulled back the part of it that was covering their head, letting a headful of dark blue hair drop down around their shoulders. A pair of similarly colored eyes smirked cheerfully.
Ichigo's right eye started twitching again, and he bared his fangs. "A…girl?"
"That's right, you get a cookie." The female duelist ran a hand through her hair slowly and smiled slightly, revealing a pair of elongated canine teeth. "Now then, 'Ichigo', I think the rain of the Blood Wolf is on the verge of ending right now."
To be continued…