Hey again everyone!
Sure you're all anxious to get to the story without all-too much talking, but as usual, credit is given when credit is due. Most of the meat of this chapter is 7th Librarian's work, while Persona and I provided the "cutscenes".
We're in the home stretch now, so enjoy!
TTTT
Chapter 37: Ojamuscle
A wail of agonized pain ripped down the corridor, ending as a weak gurgle of blood and the hiss of melting flesh as the unfortunate demon collapsed against the ice-coated wall.
"They aren't very smart, are they?" Himura watched the demon's body melt away in the green acid. Even as he spoke, two more charged up behind him, only to have Tiamat's red and blue heads lash like vipers to rip their throats out. "If throwing thirty guys at me didn't kill me, how is throwing a few stragglers going to?"
Demons like this are meant to be expendable, not smart. Tiamat's five voices whispered in ear. Now hurry - I can feel Levistus close by. We must kill him and steal his power before he regains his strength!
"You know, you could have been eating the power of all the demons we've been killing on the way here." Himura rolled his eyes as one of the heads curled around to give him a glower before jerking his head towards the blood and corpse spattered length of hallway behind them. "Just saying, numbers can count for a lot."
I would have to eat a million of this trash to even glimpse the power of an archdevil. Tiamat hissed. Now stop wasting time!
"Hey, you're the boss. I'm just the delivery boy." Himura shrugged and sauntered farther along the grand hall, skipping up the steps as he whistled a jaunty tune. Upon seeing the massive double doors frosted shut and emblazoned with what he assumed was Levistus' personal sigil, he stroked his chin. "I guess old Jack Frost doesn't want any visitors while he's licking his wounds."
My power could open the door. Tiamat's heads all reared back, glancing the structure up and down. But with how limited it is at the moment, it would take too long.
"Huh. Never thought you 'conquer-the-world'-types could be humble enough to admit there are things you can't do."
If my power is weak, it is because your frail mortal body cannot handle the strain! The dragon queen hissed, a couple of the heads snapping near his face.
"Fair enough. But my frail mortal body can do more than lug you around. I am a spellcaster, after all." Himura rolled up his sleeves, rubbed his hands together briskly. Power lit around him, a phantasmal aura waxing between blue and white. "And I've got a few tricks I can do."
Flames will not melt this ice, mortal.
"I know. I'm going to try the Bardic Knock spell."
All five heads lifted away to give him curious looks. I have never heard of such a spell.
"Real useful. Doesn't always work, but you'd be surprised at how often it does." Himura held up a hand, his power igniting around it as he clenched it into a fist. "Just watch and learn."
He strode up to the massive door, took a deep breath...and slammed his fist repeatedly against it. "Hey! Knock-knock! Open up!"
It was difficult to discern Tiamat's emotions given all five heads were dragons and phantasmal, but there was a distinct impression that all five of them wanted to do nothing more than face-palm.
Himura waited until the echoes of his banging started to fade, then knocked again. "You guys deaf in there or what?"
Mortal, if you do not cease with being stupid, I will take great pleasure in sinking my fangs into your flesh and ripping out - Tiamat's ranting paused as there was a heavy groaning, cracking noise and the door began grind open.
"Told you it'd work." Himura stepped through the gap, cocking an eyebrow at the figure standing in front of the dais that leads towards the ice-coated throne. "Lemme guess - Insector Haga after a bender and a fall down ten flights of stairs?"
"You should try being in this body instead of just looking at it." Short, with too-blue veins criss-crossing his face and actual ice weaving through his hair, the only thing really imposing about the figure how their voice brought to mind images of ice cracking underfoot before one plunged helplessly to the icy depths below. "But no, I'm not Insector Haga. Though I seem to have possessed the body of his number one fanboy."
"Well, you look the part, at least - small, squashable and silly glasses." Himura crossed his arms. "So who am I talking to?"
"I am Goratch. Sage of Stygia and Chief Advisor to Archduke Levistus, currently functioning as the master's bodyguard."
"I see, I see. Any reason you opened the door so nice-like for me? I mean, Levistus-on-ice and all is impressive, but he's pretty exposed and someone might take that as an opportunity to-" Himura didn't bother to finish his sentence as Tiamat's red and blue heads reared up and unleashed combined blasts of flame and lightning towards the figure on the throne.
Goratch didn't blink as the attack shot over his shoulder, colliding with something in midair. It didn't explode, instead lightning up a grid-work of lines and odd runes in the air behind the demon for a few minutes.
Himura tilted his head. "Barrier? Shield? Invisible wall?"
"It's a net." Goratch didn't blink as this time, a combined blast of acid and darkness shot over his head and slammed into the net. Only to expend itself as before and briefly light up the rest of the structure.
The blue-haired duelist slowly nodded in understanding. "I get it. It absorbs the blunt force of any attack on it by stretching inwards, then scatters the magical strength of it along the runes."
"Yes. And because the net is tied to my master's power, it will remain as long as he does." Goratch cracked a small smile as the heads of Tiamat all paused in charging up their next round of blasts. "I'm not so stupid as to create a defensive structure that relies on me to exist. I'm a bit too expendable."
"That's a pretty humble thing for a bigshot devil like yourself to be saying. You sure you are one?"
"Quite. It's just that unlike Catch, who wants to satiate his own perversions or Teplotaxl, who just never could stop harping on his IQ score, or Snazzlepop, who sees everything as fun and games, I'm very aware of how things work. My master makes a plan, he enacts it and calls upon us to ensure its success…" Goratch rolled his eyes. "And then the Celestial armies step in and flips the table before the winning move."
"Hey, I can sympathize with that. No one likes a deus ex machina." Himura rolled his shoulders and tilted his neck, cracking it a bit. "Alright then, mister friendly devil bug, how do you wanna handle this? Because I've got a dragon goddess wanting your boss's heart on a platter and you're in my way."
"Oh, is that what those extra heads you're sporting are? And here I thought you just wanted someone to listen to you who could never leave out of boredom." Gortach snickered as all five heads hissed at him and then he turned on his heel, marched over to where there was a lawn chair set up and threw himself on it. "Well, far be it from me to stop you and your totally original, unique goal of 'kill something so I can get stronger.'"
Himura blinked. "Really? You're just going to sit there and let me attack the barrier, break through and kill your boss?"
"That's if you break through, human, and that 'if' is mighty big." Goratch rolled over onto his back, yanking a book off a nearby table. "Tell you what - I challenge you to do whatever you want to the barrier. When you keel over from exhaustion, maybe I'll have finished my book."
Himura exchanged glances with the Tiamat heads, but they seemed just as confused as he did. "You realize that you aren't protected by the net, right?"
"Mmhmm. And I'm aware you can probably kill me, too. And then because I'm a devil, I'd be judged unworthy and suffer being cast into Hell - oh wait." Goratch lowered the book enough to give Himura a glower. "I respawn there every time I die. So you can kill me if you want. Makes no difference."
"You...you…" Himura was pointing at Goratch as he spoke, clearly searching for the words. "You're a strange one."
"Says the man with six heads."
TTTTTT
"Is it me," asked Terone, "or did this whole place suddenly get even colder?"
"It isn't you," said a voice that only Ember was familiar with.
She lifted her disk slightly, and Jetta appeared in front of her, Terone, and Nichole, but with her back to them. Terone was, to say the least, shocked at the goddess' sudden appearance, but the warmth she generated seemed very welcome.
"Levistus' curse is a different type of cold, one of raw, supernatural evil."
"Chill of death, right," said Nichole.
"More than that, Nichole, you see -"
"Kind of like how it was in The Exorcist, right?"
Everyone turned to him; he was trying to warm his hands the way one would over a fire, but was reaching out towards Jetta instead. "What? You know, like how the demon made the place cold, and -"
"That's actually very accurate, Terone. But Levistus isn't projecting this cold via a possessed victim. He's here personally, and his wicked influence is spreading at an astounding rate.
"I'm not going to lie, simply by being here, Levistus is a dire threat to life. If a storm of this much intensity spreads too much further beyond Duelist Kingdom, the whole natural order will be disrupted. Entire grain belts will die, whole species will go extinct-"
"Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!" Terone finished.
"The end of the world, right," said Ember.
"Within a few hours, yes. Stay close."
TTTTTT
"The cold is growing stronger," Kyon said with a shiver. He sniffed the air and made a face. "And I smell Stygian ice in its purest form."
Rebecca gave Kyon a funny look as they advanced down the corridor. "How is that different from regular ice?"
"Hard to describe," Kyon said. "It smells like hopelessness and eternity, and bitter longing for revenge. And armpit. Definitely some armpit in there. Kind of like a YMCA locker room, but without the chlorine."
Bruno stayed by their side in silence, rolling his eyes. Ever since they'd bound Teplotaxl in a hexagram, he hadn't said a word. The answer to his question had given him a lot to think about. And so had how he'd seen Rebecca and Kyon. The way the were-ermine averted his gaze whenever he made eye contact with Rebecca, the way Rebecca pulled back whenever she touched Kyon...it didn't take a genius to see. If he didn't have so much else to worry about, Bruno might be furious, or inconsolable, or just in complete denial. But with the world at stake, who had the time? So he'd stayed quiet as Rebecca chuckled at Kyon's comments, stood guard over him as he took point, and avoided even looking at Bruno.
The tension affected Pegasus and Alice differently. They became all-too chatty.
"Have you thought about how you'll use that new card?" Alice asked. "Because it looks like your deck lacks a necessary element."
"Yes, you must prepare, Bruno-boy," Pegasus warned. "I hate to put this on your shoulders, but the world is depending on you and your friends. And so am I. Once this is over, Alice and I will still need your help to move on."
Bruno ignored them, just moving forward. His training had taught him to let go of all negative emotion. So no, he didn't feel boiling jealousy, bone-chilling regret, or pants-shitting anxiety. No. He would confront Levistus, win, help Pegasus, and deal with it all as it came. Happily ever after, right?
TTTTTT
"Will you stop making everything explode!?" Himura peeled himself off of the wall gingerly. Bits of him were smoldering or hissing.
I do not see you offering a solution, mortal! Tiamat snapped. The five phantasmal heads were wavering, rippling in an unseen wind.
"I could think of one if you'd just stop exploding things! Combing all five of your heads didn't work the first time, so why would it work the second?!" Himura brushed some debris from his shoulder, sighing as the sleeve of his shirt came with it.
I told you, my power is limited through your mortal body! Breath weapons are all I can do! Tiamat hissed, her eyes flashing. But if you wanted to offer yourself to me, I could manifest in full…
"Nope. I'm partnering with you, not worshipping." Himura took a few unsteady steps towards the barrier, leaning heavily on his staff. "Hey, Goratch. Will you tell me how to take the net down?"
"Nope." The devil was sipping something and gave Himura a look. "Did you really think asking me that would work?"
"You opened the door when I knocked."
Perhaps we should just torture him for the information we desire. Tiamat said, her heads coiling and weaving to glare at the devil. I do so hunger…
"You can try, but I'll kill myself before you get very far. Which would put me safe in Stygia and you stuck outside the net." Goratch said absent-mindedly as he returned to his book.
Himura chuckled. "Well, that's if your soul gets back to Stygia-"
"Even if you could stop that from happening, the Shadowchasers are probably charging their way here to deal with my master." There was a horrendous crack of lightning, then the whole castle seemed to rumble as the thunder caught up. "And thanks to the giant, self-sustaining storm outside that is threatening the entire planet, the forces of Heaven will be down here to do the same."
Himura threw up his hands. "What kind of devil are you!? I thought you'd at least gloat about how clever your little defense is or challenge me to some kind of contest because you're bored!"
"The fact you and Tiamat can't get through my defense means its cleverness is self-evident and I'm not bored." Goratch waggled his reading material. "I have my book."
Himura grunted in annoyance and turned to regard the net, arms folded. If Tiamat and I had enough power, we could probably just blow the thing wide open. But that level of power would either kill me or just drop the whole building on our heads.
And he had to admit Goratch was right about him being on a time limit. The Shadowchasers were most definitely on their way here, the armies of Heaven were probably not far behind and failing that, Levistus would regain his full power. And not even with Tiamat backing him would he stand a chance against that.
I will not be denied! The dragon hissed in his ear. Not when we are so close!
"Well, we're kind of short of on options. We can't break the net, there's no key to unlock it and while I'm a darn good spellcaster, my magic is mostly for fighting."
The power you stole from that spirit woman. You have yet to use that. Tiamat reminded him, one of her heads jabbing itself at the staff strapped across Himura's back. It is not normal magic.
Himura paused, then unslung the staff from his back to eye it warily. The metal staff was dull, even in the bright lighting of the throne room and the shadows that played across almost seemed oily. "I have used it. I created copies of myself, and that wasn't easy to do. And I'm not attuned to it, either. So I can't access its full potential."
I am not hearing a reason not to use it and all reasons you should, greatest of which is that my patience is not infinite!
"If I use it without being attuned, there's a risk that my 'data', as it were, could become corrupted." Himura ran his hands over the staff, a small smile touching his face. "I can feel Kenshin on this thing...she must have used it all the time…"
Himura…!
"Alright, alright, I'll give it a go. Not that I can do much with it anyway. I don't know how she transforms...but…" He smirked as he noticed something still slotted into the top of the staff. "She left a transformation pre-loaded. That, I can use."
He tapped a few of the staff's buttons and held it front of him. It began to glow, then broke apart into a sphere of light that surrounded him. It cleared a moment later, the staff gone and Himura clad in a flowing blue longcoat, spiked back white hair and a sheathed katana in his head. "Ohhh, yes! I'm Vergil!"
How does this help!?
Himura could see Goratch watching him with a bored expression, even as he yanked the katana from its sheath. "Vergil wields the Yamato, which is a sword that is specially made to cut things that swords don't normally cut."
He launched forwards, bringing the blade down in a two-handed swing. It crashed into the net, which merely bowed inwards for a few moments before launching him back. Himura landed deftly on his feet, skidding to a halt and regripping his weapon. "Things like one spirit from another, demon gates and of course-"
The ground behind him exploded as he rocketed forwards, driving Yamato towards the barrier in a thrust that would have surely broken the blade or the net if either made contact.
But that did not happen as he stopped dead in his tracks - Goratch was suddenly in front of him, a death grip on the human's wrist. Despite his petite size, the devil was clearly stronger than he looked. And at the same time, he was struggling. Himura's forward momentum had shoved him back along the ground for nearly two yards and the Yamato was quivering, sharpness audible as it cut the air.
And at the tip of the blade was a tiny, finger-sized rent in the air that the tip vanished into. And there was another equally tiny, finger-sized hole that the sword was piercing. Right in front of Levistus' frozen face.
"It cuts dimensions." Himura finished, flashing Goratch a cocky grin. "Your net doesn't mean anything if I go around it."
Goratch sighed and then hurled Himura way, throwing aside his book as the human twisted in the air to land gracefully on the ceiling. "I bet that power-up doesn't last forever, Himura."
"I bet you can't stop me from hacking your master apart like confetti from a distance before it does away, Goratch." Himura retorted as he flipped back down to the floor, sword at the ready. To prove his point, he lashed out with a flurry of slashes. Each one rent the air, the follow-up attacks lashing through the portals to get to Levistus.
Only Gortach was faster than he looked because the moment Himura had started to move, he was in front of the human. He seemed uncaring as blood sprayed as the Yamato cut open his shoulder and he caught the blade on Himura's backswing. "Katanas only have an edge on the front side."
"Crap, played as Dante too long-" Himura caught Goratch's fist with his face and went skidding backwards again. Then he laughed as flames and lighting erupted from Tiamat's heads, the devil vaulting backwards to avoid the blasts. "Now whose stalemated?"
"It's still you, Himura." Goratch kicked his book up into the air, watching it explode into wisps as it caught an attack meant for his face. Then he thrust a hand up into the air. "Let the Darkness Game commence!"
"Darkness Game-?" Himura swore under his breath as the shadows around them shot skywards, twining together to trap them both in a pulsing dome of black and purple. "You can't call a Darkness Game! I didn't agree to that!"
"Sure you did. You agreed to my challenge about the net, which specified 'anything'." Goratch held up his arm. The darkness next to him bulged, warping before spewing out a ooze-coated bug. It scuttled up his body and moved to his arm. Coiling its legs around the limb, the bug gave of a odd crunching noise and let out a death rattle as it unfolded into a Duel Disk. "And this is anything."
Himura stared at him, then threw back his head and erupted into laughter. "I don't believe it! The infinite expanse of the Nine Hells filled with countless devils and I get the one practical one!"
"I didn't earn my position by scheming and plotting and backstabbing, mortal." Goratch pulled off his glasses, revealing eyes with a white pupil, red color and black filling in the rest. "I got it by being competent."
"Color me impressed - and excited!" Himura's Vergil appearance vanished and he held out his arm. Tiamat's heads coiled down the length of it and melded together into a draconic-themed Duel Disk of his own. "This is going to be a great match! I can't what to see what you have in store for me!"
He slammed his deck into the slot, energy sparking around him as he yanked off his opening hand. "Show me what you got, devil!"
Goratch held up a hand, then fumbled into his pocket for something. After a moment of searching, he pulled it out and held it between thumb and forefinger to reveal it was a coin. "Heads? Or Tails?"
TTTTTTT
"Huh?"
Nichole had been ready to go for her weapon, only to stop when she realized that the fiends in the hallway they had yet to transverse were already dead. Not to mention the hallway itself demolished to the point where no furnishings were even recognizable.
"Think they were fighting each other?" asked Ember.
"Possibly," said Jetta, "but whoever ultimately won had magic very different from Levistus'." She pointed ahead, where a thick, solid sheet of ice blocked the hallway off. "We should find the answers behind that."
She concentrated, flames spewing at the barrier - which they suspected, correctly, separated them from Levistus - and starting to melt it. Nichole's hand went to her sword again...
TTTTTTT
The coin landed with a solid noise, kicking up a small swirl of shadows that cleared to reveal the gleaming Eye of Horus glinting in the false light surrounding them.
"Heads, so that means I'll be taking the first turn." Himura drew a sixth card. "I summon Ojama White in attack mode."
The monster lived up to its name - it was entirely white, wearing only a badly-designed speedo and had the privilege of possessing ears so oversized it could hide itself in them. "When I summon this monster, I can summon another Ojama from my deck in defense mode." (0/1000)
Ojama White gave off a stupid laugh and then reached into the ground, cartoonishly pulling out a blue Ojama with a tiny body and square head. "And it's Ojama Blue." (0/1000)
The two Ojamas struck what were supposed to be dynamic poses, but were comical given their proportions. Himura rolled his eyes and grabbed another card from his hand. "I'll set this little number face-down and call it a turn."
He watched the card appear in front of him and then folded his arms expectantly. "I'm hoping for a lot from you, Goratch. A practical mind should have a practical deck, right? So what it is? Gain/Drain? Darklords? HATricks? Maybe even - dare I say it - Gadget Monarchs?"
Goratch didn't respond right away as he pulled a card from his deck. Studying the cards, he carefully selected one from the center and placed it onto his disk. A loud whistle echoed from the darkness as a train rolled out onto the playing field. Colored in bright reds, blues and yellows, the only thing that stuck out more was the cartoonish and goofy grin on on the front. "I summon Toy Train in attack mode." (800/800)
"...'kay." Himura conceded after a moment. "That is indeed a train and it is a toy."
"When Toy Train is summoned, it can summon one Toy Railcar from any location in defense." In a soft flash of light, a brightly colored passenger car appeared alongside the train. Catching sight of the Train, both of them lifted a wheel in awkward wave. (800/800)
Goratch pulled another card from his hand. "I activate Toy Town." Around them, the darkness shifted and stirred, morphing into a colorful version of a city that looked to be made entirely out of painted, carved wooden blocks. Even the happily smiling sun above Goratch. "Then my Toy Train attacks Ojama White and when it does so, Toy Town adds the attack of all Toys on my field with less than a thousand to it."
The train blew its whistle again and vented steam as it revved up its wheels and shot forwards like a rocket. (800-1600)
"I activate Shift!" The trap card lifted and Ojama Blue yelped in panic as White suddenly switched places with it, the train charging like a steamroller and flattening the blue monster like he was a pancake. "Now your attack goes to Blue and when he dies, I get to add two Ojama cards from my deck to my hand. Like Ojamagic and Ojamatching."
"Of course you do. Because the former lets you discard the latter, fetch two more cards and then you get the three Ojama brothers to do some more shenanigans with." Goratch shrugged and plugged two cards into his disk. "I set these face-down and end my turn."
"Draw!" Himura snapped up the card, pausing as Toy Train blew its whistle again. "Now what?"
"During your Standby Phase, Toy Train summons out another Railcar." A second car appeared alongside the first and once again, the toys all waved.
"That's nice." Himura held up one of his cards. "I activate Ojamatching! Just like you said, I discard Ojamagic to add the card Ojamassilation and Armed Dragon LV5 from my deck to my hand!"
His deck spat out two cards and then it whirred, sliding three more free. "And since Ojamagic was discarded, the three original Ojamas go to my hand!"
Ojama White vanished, replaced by a large orange-tan dragon littered with spikes. "The other effect of Ojamatching allows me to normal summon the searched monster, so here's Armed Dragon LV5!" (2400/1700)
The blue-haired duelist held up another spell card and three cards from his hand winked out of existence. "Ojamassimilation banishes Ojamas Yellow, Green and Black to summon three materials for a light attribute machine fusion in my Extra deck! So say hello to X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank."
Goratch watched with bland interest as a yellow robot with shoulder cannons, a slender red metal dragon and a flat caterpillar tank with an eye on the front appeared on the field (1800/1500) (1500/1600) (1500/1300). "And now you banish all three of them to fusion summon. Because it's not like your monsters are unions and could be used for something else…"
"If it isn't broke, don't fix it!" Himura pointed in the air and the three machines all stacked themselves atop one another, becoming a hovercraft bristling with laser weapon. "XYZ-Dragon Cannon!" (2800/2600)
The darkness above his head rippled and then there were twin cracks of thunder as lightning lanced down and pierced both of his monsters. They crackled and then exploded like cheap glass. Himura stared at the space where they had been. "...what just happened?"
"I activated my trap card - Escalation of the Monarchs." Goratch pointed at the now face-up card, then at the massive, burly warrior on his field wielding a titanic broadsword in one hand. "It lets me Tribute Summon on your turn, so I sacrificed my three Toys to summon Gilford the Lightning. And when he's tribute summoned with three monsters, all of yours are destroyed." (2800/1000)
Himura starred, then clapped his hands with a laugh. "You know, I don't know whether to be impressed or annoyed by how straight forwards that move is! I thought you'd have a practical deck, but this takes the cake!"
Two cards fell out of his graveyard, while in a flash of light Ojama Blue reappeared in defense mode in front of him. "I banish Ojama White to summon Ojama Blue again and banish Ojamatching to shuffle the brothers back into my deck and draw one card." He did so, offering Goratch a smile. "And that ends my turn."
"During your End Phase, I activate my trap." The card lifted and purple mist spilled out of it, resolving into Toy Train. "Call of the Haunted revives Toy Train and that, in turn, revives a Railcar."
Goratch drew for his own turn and a new Railcar appeared on his field. "Did I mention that my Toy Train works on both Standby Phases?"
"Good stuff, good stuff." Himura was nodding in agreement, a curious look in his eyes. "But that's a pretty powerful auto-summon monster. What's the catch?"
"I can't use Toy Train or its cars to perform a more advanced summon, but as you've seen, my deck doesn't need to." One of the Railcars vanished, replaced by a classical toy soldier astride a horse, brandishing his cavalry saber dramatically. "I sacrifice a Railcar for Toy Emperor. (2300/800)
The toy town sun began to glow, its painted smile growing. "Since I tribute summoned a Toy, I can shuffle the tributed monster back into my deck and then draw a number of cards dependant on the level of the summoned monster. Level 6 means one card."
The devil did so and then gestured across the playing field. "Toy Emperor attacks!" The toy kicked his horse and the mount shot forwards, a single slash of his saber carving Ojama Blue into two pieces. "Since Toy Emperor killed a monster, I can add a trap card from my deck to my hand."
"And I'll use Ojama Blue's effect again, adding Ojamagic and Ojama Ride to my hand." Himura held up the two spell cards in question.
"Neither of them are going to save you from my direct attacks! Toy Train and the remaining Railcar both attack you directly!" The two toys shot forwards, Himura sliding backwards with a pained grunt as they hit him like the trains they were. (HLP: 8000-7200-6400)
"Gilford! Thunderbolt Cut!" The warrior's heavy blade slammed into HImura's shoulder, driving the spirit down to one knee. (HLP: 6400-3600)
"Yeah, I'm starting to see why you like simple, practical things, Goratch." Himura got back to his feet, clutching his shoulder. "That really stung…"
"It's only going to worse from here, I promise you." Goratch swept a card into his disk. "I set this, ending my turn."
"Draw!" Himura did so, watching as the Toy Train blew its whistle and summoned another Railcar. Then he blinked as Goratch's trap lifted up as well. "Using it already?"
"It's not a defense trap - it is Prayers To The Mighty." The devil's deck churned and then spat out a card. "It lets me add a level eight or higher monster from my deck to my hand."
"Meaning it's probably another three-tribute monster." Himura smirked. "Funny, my deck works best in threes, too. So let's see who plays the magic number better! I activate Dark World Dealings, so we both draw one card and discard one!"
They did so, Himura holding up the three Ojama Brothers as his deck spat them out. "Of course, I discard Ojamagic."
He flipped around another card. "Ojama Ride lets me discard then, then summon three Union monsters from my deck! So here's A-Assault Core, B-Buster Drake and C-Crush Wyvern!"
This time, the monsters were a orange scorpion-like hovercraft, a dragon machine with cannons in place of its wings and a blue machine that was more wings than serpent. (1900/200) (1500/1800) (1200/2000)
"And once again, I activate Escalation of the Monarchs." Goratch's three toys vanished, revealing a second Gilford the Lightning. He hefted his sword, letting out a bellow as lightning surged above him. "Raigeki Blade!"
Himura tutted as the lightning shot down and blew all three of his monsters to scrap. "These machines are different than the others - they all have graveyard effect, to start with! So Buster Drake lets me add my L - Leo Barrage from my deck to my hand while Crush Wyvern allows me to summon M - Macross Turtle from my hand." (0/2200)
His new machine was indeed turtle shaped, the shell segments unfolding to reveal various missile batteries in them. But Himura didn't seem that interested in it as he held up his Duel Disk, his graveyard glowing. "Oh and by the way, I can just banish the ABC monsters to summon their fusion, so say hello to ABC - Buster Dragon!"
Buster Drake landed attop Assault Core, Crush Wyvern landing atop them both and sparks flew as all three unfolded and folded back together to become a dragon-shaped hovercraft bristling with two large cannons instead of arms. (3000/2000)
Goratch frowned at the monster, his free hand clenching into a fist.
"You look kind of put out that your simple strategy got outplayed, so why don't I rub some salt in that wound? Buster Dragon lets me discard a card to banish one of your monsters!" Himura discarded a card, one of the Gilfords gasping in panic as a laser blast struck him in the chest and sent him vanishing away into sparkles.
Cards slid out of his graveyard and the blue-haired duelist held them up. "I discarded Ojamagain, adding the brothers from my graveyard to my hand. Though I can't really do anything with them there, so my Magical Mallet will send all three back to my deck and give me new cards!"
Shuffling and drawing, he tossed down a card. With a heavy roar, a massive lion machine lumbered out onto his field. It would have looked real enough if not for its mane being a gatling gun. "I summon my Leo Barrage in attack mode and union my Turtle with it." (1800/1500)
The turtle broke apart into pieces that zipped through the air and latched onto the lion like armor. "Sadly, it doesn't boost my monster's scores any, so I'll just have Buster Dragon blow your remaining Gilford away! Mega Destruction!"
Twin booms echoed as the fusion opened fire and Gilford had two new holes in his chest before he shattered into pixels. "Then I set one card face-down and call it a turn." (GLP: 8000-7800)
Goratch drew slowly, then held up a different card. "Pot of Avarice shuffles all three Railcars, Toy Train and a Gilford back into my deck to allow me to draw twice."
He complied with the effect, then slid one of the drawn cards into his disk. "I activate the continuous spell Precious Cards from Beyond. Now whenever I tribute summon successfully, I draw twice."
A metallic toybox appeared in front of him. "And by discarding a card, my Toy Robot Box lets me summon three Robot Tokens in defense mode." Three identical boxy robots appeared in front of him, kneeling. (0/0x3)
"Hey, it's Dyna-Dude!" Himura crowed in delight. "I loved watching that show! I didn't know there were cards based on him! How cool!"
"'Cool' is the right word, because I sacrifice my three tokens to summon Daiguren Hyorinmaru!" The darkness behind Goratch froze in flash. A grinding sound echoed as the mass shifted, uncoiling to revealing itself to be a snake-like rugged ice dragon with glowing yellow eyes. (3000/2000)
Himura whistled in appreciation. "Damn, you're bringing out all the nostalgia tonight! I love Bleach, too." He grabbed a card from his hand and dropped it in the graveyard. "But I love winning this even more, so Buster Dragon is going to melt that dragon into a puddle!"
Goratch just smiled as Hyorinmaru roared, the darkness echoing with the power in it as Buster Dragon frosted over to become a popsicle. "My dragon prevents all of your monsters form activating their effects."
"Oh really? How about my Buster Dragon's second effect? I have to tribute it to activate it-" Himura pointed and the machine vanished, leaving its empty ice shell to collapse in on itself. "And then the effect goes off in the graveyard, summoning the three materials I banished to summon it!" Flashes of light lit his field as the three small machines appeared in front of him defensively.
Goratch drew two cards for the effect of his Precious Cards From Beyond. "Clever, clever, but it won't matter in the long run. I activate Toy Box! Normally, this card adds a Toy from my deck to my hand. But since I have a high level Toy in play, I can summon it instead!" Toy Train trundled out of the darkness and with a blast of its whistle, so did a Railcar. (800/800x2)
He held up another card. "Quick Summons allows me to Normal Summon again, so I tribute Toy Emperor, Train and Railcar to summon Toy Deluxe!"
This new toy - a propellor plane - had the same aesthetic as the others- hand carved, hand-painted, love and care and attention to detail. But then it began to shift and click, transforming into a sleek-bodied jet fighter. (900/1200)
"A low-power tribute monster…" Himura bit his lip. "Well, crap."
"Some assembly required for this one. First, Toy Deluxe lets me summon two more Toys alongside it. So I summon Toy Soldier and Toy Train." The Train reappeared, pulling out a Railcar and was joined by a nutcracker-like soldier armed with a musket. (800/800) (800/300)
The devil reached for his deck. "Precious Cards also activates, giving me two more draws and then Toy Town not only shuffles the tributed monsters back into my deck, but lets me draw twice more because Toy Deluxe is level eight."
Toy Soldier suddenly saluted and then raised his musket, taking aim at Himura's Leo Barrage. "Toy Town adds all of the attack of my weak toys together." (800-1600-2400-3300)
"Okay, so he's got attack points worth talking about." Himura gestured with his fingers. "What else you got?"
"Did I mention Toy Deluxe has the same effect as Toy Town?" Goratch gave a wicked grin as Himura's face fell and his Toy's attack points rose again. (3300-4100-4900-5700) "Fire!"
The musket ball, despite its marble-like size, blew Leo Barrage appart like it was a popped balloon. But the shrapnel never reached Himur as a rainbow barrier sprang up between him and it. "I activate Rainbow Life, converting the life point damage to gain!" (HLP: 3600-7300)
Goratch scowled in annoyance, the emotion growing darker as Himura held up three cards. "And you discarded your last Ojamagic, I see."
"Oh, that's not at all!" Himura pointed and Leo Barrage reformed in front of him. "My equipped turtle is destroyed instead of Leo Barrage and when it goes to the graveyard, I can change the battle position of one your monsters! So Hyorinmaru goes to defense mode!"
A sigh escaped the devil as the ice dragon coiled up on itself. "Very well. I'll defeat you later rather than sooner. I set this card and end my turn."
Himura yanked the top card off his deck, ignoring the fact Toy Train summoned another Railcar to Goratch's field. "I activate Triple-Triples! Since I have three level four light machines in play, I can-"
Whatever he hoped to say next was drowned out by a titanic roar that shook the darkness around them. He covered his ears, though it did little good and gaped as the shockwaves slammed into his four machines and shredded them like tissue paper into so many nuts and bolts.
"I used Escalation of the Monarchs, by the way." Goratch chuckled and gestured to the new, leonine centaur beast that had replaced Toy Train and its two Railcars. "Beast King Barbaros destroys all cards you control when tribute summoned."
He plucked two cards from his deck thanks to Precious Cards and nodded to Himura. "Now, your spell does something when you control what again?"
Himura clenched his fist as the spell card faded out of sight. Clever bastard. Triple-Triples requires me to target the three monsters of the same Level, Type and Attribute to complete the draw three effect. But since he chained Escalation to it's activation, Barbaros blew up my monsters before I could!
He held up his Duel Disk. "Since Buster Drake is in the graveyard, Hyorinmaru can't negate its effect! I add N - Nega Serpent from my deck to my hand! Then I activate another Dark World Dealings!"
Both of them drew and discarded, cards falling out of Himura's graveyard. "I banish Leo Barrage, Megaton Turtle and Nega Serpent to fusion summon LMN - Launcher Turtle from my extra deck!" The lion and the turtle machines reappeared, joined by segmented frilled-neck serpent whose body crackled with raw energy. All three broke apart, sparks flying as the recombined. When it was finished, the resulting monster was best described 'floating missile battery'. (2400/3200)
"I'm not done yet!" Himura held up three more cards and in a flash of light, a second ABC Buster Dragon was in front of him as well.
"Very nice machines. But they're lacking their effects." Goratch gestured to his field, Hyorinmaru and Barbaros both roaring challenges. "You're welcome to attack, if you like…"
"Don't think you've got me locked down! A real gamer knows how to find loopholes! Like the fact Hyorinmaru can't negate costs!" Himura pointed at his artillery. "I tribute my Launcher Turtle!"
Goratch watched as the fusion monster vanished into sparkles, replaced by a second XYZ-Dragon Cannon. "So you can tribute it to bring out another of your machines. So what?"
"This is what! I banish ABC and XYZ from my field!" Instead of winking away, the two machines began to combine. The new combination twisted and connected until it had formed centaur-like tank that towered over the playing field. Laser cannons were loaded for bear, jutting out of every available space. "Fusion Summon A-To-Z Dragon Buster Cannon!" (4000/4000)
"Oh." Goratch took a step back as the monster's weapons began to warm up, the fact that there was so many of them meant the hum was already obnoxiously loud and growing. "That's what."
"Blow his ice dragon into ice cubes! Omega Destruction!" The conjoined laser blast was so blinding, it felt even the darkness around them was shielding its face from the glare. But when it was gone, there wasn't even a wisp of Hyorinmaru left. "And I'm not even close to done- Dragon Buster Cannon, de-fuse!"
The machine glowed, seperating into spheres of light that resolved into its component fusions. "And now that I have effects back, I discard a second Ojamagain to banish your Toy Deluxe!"
Himura grinned as he picked up the Ojama Brothers again while Goratch's advanced-looking toy faded away. "Let's keep the hits coming! Buster Dragon, bust up that Toy Soldier!"
"That's not happening! Activate trap card!" Goratch snapped his fingers, his set card lifted as Buster Dragon opened fire. But the laser shots caromed off the suddenly shiny Toy Soldier to scatter uselessly in the darkness. "Toy Guard is a continuous trap that prevents you from destroying my Toys in battle and reduces the battle damage to zero!"
"Tch…" Himura huffed and glanced down at the Ojamas in his hand. Thanks to Ojamagain, I can't discard these guys for XYZ-Dragon Cannon's effect. "I end my turn!"
"My move!" The devil yanked the card free and jabbed a finger to Toy Soldier. "During my Standby Phase, Toy Soldier summons out another one from my deck!"
"How about I banish it instead?" Himura discarded a card and Buster Dragon opened fire, only for the shots to bounce off Toy Soldier. "Now what?"
"During my turn, Toy Guard has a different effect. You can't target my 'Toy' cards with card effects." Goratch chuckled as Himura snarled under his breath, but his amusement died off abruptly as his Precious Card from Beyond card gained two smoking holes it. Then it blew apart. "...touche."
A third Toy Soldier had joined the other two on the field and the devil was already pulling a card free from his hand. "I sacrifice all three of my monsters to summon The Tripper Mercury!" (2000/2000)
Water gushed up from the ground in a fountain to erode the Toy Soldiers away. Once that was done, it spiraled higher to transform into a blue-figure in full plate armor wielding two heavy broadswords. "And when this monster is summoned with three tributes, all of your monsters have their attack set to zero!"
Himura grimaced as water splashed up against his machines, causing them to spark pathetically and begin to rust over. (0x2)
"Barbaros attacks! Spiral Shaver!" Barbaros roared and galloped forwards, his lance skewering XYZ-Dragon Cannon down the middle. The machine whined in protest, then blew apart in smoke and flames. (HLP: 7300-4300)
"Well, crap…!" The blue-haired duelist shielded his face from brightness of the explosion, but could still see the blue form of Mercury charge with blades crossed for his remaining monster. "Don't think it's that easy! I tribute Buster Dragon to summon its materials once again!"
Buster Dragon exploded, though in a far more controlled fashion than its counterpart had a moment ago. In seconds, it had gone from one single massive machine to three smaller ones all huddled in defense mode.
"That won't stop my monster! Mercury can attack twice during the battle phase!" Goratch smirked as the warrior slashed Crush Wyvern and Assault Core into scrap with a few swift slices of his weapon. "Then I activate Quick Summon, tributing Barbaros for Toy Emperor!"
Hooves sounded as the regal toy charged out from the darkness, shooting past Goratch and heading straight towards B-Buster Drake. Without slowing, Toy Emperor drove his cavalry saber right into the machine and hurled it skywards. Buster Drake sparked, shuddered, then joined its brethren in a fiery death.
Goratch's disk beeped and his deck slid out a card. "And when Toy Emperor destroys a monster, I can add a trap from my deck to my hand! And I pick the trap Toy Parade Formation!"
"Then why don't I activate one from my graveyard?" Himura caught the card his graveyard slid out and held it up. "Ojamarking! When you destroy one of my monsters, I can banish this card to summon an Ojama from my graveyard!"
The trap vanished, becoming sparkles that drifted over his field and became the cowering form of Ojama White. The ugly monster hugged its ears to itself and then reached into the ground, yanking out an equally-cowering Ojama Black as well. (0/1000x2)
Goratch bit his lip, but his only response to the move was to slam a card into his disk. "If I add Toy Parade Formation from my deck to my hand via the effect of a Toy monster, I can activate it right away!"
Toy Emperor sheathed his sword and produced a bugle. He blew a rallying cry on it, even as he himself faded away. "I shuffle a high level Toy back into the deck, then summon three smaller ones from the graveyard!"
Two Toy Soldiers appeared in front of him, an all-too familiar whistle causing Himura to frown as Toy Train trundled out onto the field. A moment later, it was followed by a Toy Railcar. (800/800x3) (800/300)
"I've got one more card, the quick-play Fife and Drum Corps! This doubles the attack my toys with less than a thousand attack points!" Energy surrounded the toys as their scores all rose at once. "Now let's take care of business!" (1600x4)
Musketballs from the Soldiers blew the OJamas apart without even trying and then Himura staggered as the Train and Rail Car slammed into his legs yet again. (HLP: 4300-1100)
Goratch rolled his shoulders as his opponent limped back to his spot. "I hope this is still fun for you, human, because it isn't going to last much longer. That's the thing about being practical - you're efficient. End turn."
Himura laughed. "So what? Where's the fun in that, devil? You don't play games to be efficient, you play games to have fun! And I'm having the time of my life!" He snapped up the next card on his deck.
He held it up immediately. "I activate Hand Collapse! Now we both discard two cards and draw replacements!" He dropped the two remaining Ojamas into his graveyard and drew again, once more holding one of them to reveal a magic card. "My Pot of Avarice!"
Images of the five machine fusions -XYZ, two ABCs, LMN and A-To-Z all appeared behind him as he returned them to his Extra Deck and then drew twice more. "Ojamandala! I pay one thousand life points and revive the Ojama Brothers!" (HLP: 1100-100)
In bursts of light, the three Ojamas appeared and immediately huddled together at sight of Mercury. Goratch waitched, but when Himura didn't play anymore cards, he lifted an eyebrow. "No Hurricane? Delta Thunder? Another Ojamassilation? Or have you finally run out of machines?"
"Little of Column A, little of Column B." Himura chuckled. "But how about all of Column C?"
The Ojamas vanished as he slapped down his next card, the darkness behind beginning to shift and ripple. One by one, titanic heads attop towering necks the size of redwoods became visible in the shadows. Accompanied by the scrape of scales on scales, they circled each other and five sets of glowing white eyes became visible in the gloom. "I summon Tiamat the Dragon Queen!" (5000/5000)
Goratch's eyes widened at the sight of the massive goddess. Then his expression tightened and he relaxed his clenched fists. "So what if you defeat me with her? I've done my duty. And once I'm back in Stygia, I'll be ready to do it again."
"Heh. I like you, Goratch. You're a real sport. Props to you, man. You earn an A+." Himura saluted briefly, even as one dragon head lifted away from the others to come forwards. The darkness peeled away like cheap wrapping paper, revealing the burnished crismon of Tiamat's redhead. "Thanks for the fun duel! Tiamat attacks all of your monsters! Hell Meteor!"
The fireball didn't just explode like a bomb, the sheer heat and force from the blast evaporated Goratch's field a cheap mirage. Himura stared into the flames, unbothered by the heat or the light. Around him, the Darkness Game began to ripple and shudder, burning away under the force of Tiamat's raw power. (GLP: 0)
When it was all said and done, the space they had been dueling in had become a circle of scorched stone whose only occupants were Himura and a human-shaped lump of charcoal that looked like Goratch.
"Bit of a shame. He had a really cool deck." Himura shrugged to himself and strolled up to the statue thing. Cocking his head, he reached out and finger-flicked the demon's face, chuckling as the little action blew a disproportionate canyon of black debris out of Goratch's whole body - the demon had become an statue of ash under the fury of the goddess of dragons. "I wonder if he died instantly…?"
"You will not be so fortunate."
Ice erupted out of the air, even as Himura threw himself backwards. But not fast enough - the ice solidified around the leg he'd pushed off with and encased it up to the thigh. He swore, crashing at a painful angle to the ground. Stars flicked in his vision as his head hit the brickwork and then he shook it, clearing it in time to see the source of his problems. "Hey, look at you, Levistus. You actually look the part of 'intimidating Archduke of Hell' instead of 'evil businessman with a bad goatee'!"
"I don't know whether to find your constant chatter annoying or brave in the face of my power." Levistus replied. He was still sitting on his throne and held human proportions, but that was now the only thing human about him. Clear hair flowed down to his shoulders, refracting light as he shifted his head and the way it clinked against itself was due to the fact it was, for all intents and purposes, liquid icicles.
His skin was pure white as new-fallen snow, the subtle shifts of very pale blue over its surface giving the impression of endless, sprawling snowy tundra. Fingers, long and suppel to the point they were almost icicles in their own right, drummed against the throne and each time they struck, ice formed, then was shattered. Even his clothing had gotten in on the act, though it was anyone's guess if they were actual material or an extension of his will. Despite looking to be just another black suit, albeit one professionally tailored, the depth of its blackness was unearthly. It was not a black that was absence of color, but a black that was despite color. The cold and the dark before the fires of creation were lit.
And the eyes - normal, cold blue eyes. But the kind of blue that had no bottom and the kind of cold that was numbness. Stare too long into them and every warm thing about you would freeze away.
They were fixed squarely on Himura. "But I will let you live long enough so I can say 'thank you'."
"Oh, sure, why not? All we did was try to murder each other and fight over who gets to take over the world. And I laughed in your face about your screw-ups." Himura had managed to right himself and magic danced over his fingers to shatter the ice. Then he sighed as it promptly refroze before he could move. "You have a terrible way of showing thanks."
"I said I'd let you live long enough to hear it, not that you'd get any gratitude." Levistus chided him with a raised finger, a cruel smirk spreading pale lips. "If you were not here, I'd not have realized the flaw in my plan. And the Shadowchasers would have killed my avatar when I ran out of my power. And then I would be back in my original body, still trapped under a continent of ice. At full power, yet unable to move."
"Sounds like something Old Scratch would get a kick out of." Himura nodded in agreement.
"Quite. So yes, 'thank you'." Levistus smiled as Himura screamed in sudden agony, icicles erupting out of the human's body like he was trying to become a porcupine. "Hmmm, you were right again. I am terrible at giving thanks."
Himura's response was to open his mouth, gurgle and spew blood.
"In case you were wondering, I froze the water in your body. It does make up sixty percent of a human's body, after all. Though in your case, I suppose it has to be less than that. You do have quite an ego, Himura."
The blue-haired man somehow managed to straighten, lifting one arm. Light flickered in in his clenched fingers and the limb wobbled forwards in an effort at something akin to a throw.
Levistus watched the thrown object bounce and clatter across the frost-covered stone, arching an eyebrow in honest confusion when he realized what the object was. "A die? You wasted your last chance on throwing a die at me?"
He lifted his gaze to Himura, but the human was slumped over, blood freezing to his body even as it poured from his wounds like tiny red rivers. But his lips were moving and Levistus strained to make out the less-than-whisper noises. "What...I...get?"
"You got a three." Levistus' eyebrow arched again as he saw Himura's lips quiver into a bloody smirk. "Is there a reason you brings you happiness when you're about to die?"
In response, Himura's arm lifted shakily to reveal his Duel Disk, still locked into active position and glowing.
"You want to duel your way out of this? Really?" Levistus snorted. "You must have gone mad from the pain."
But Himura's lips were still moving and once more, Levistus strained to listen.
"Three...is...the...poison head."
"Poison head-" Levistus' eyes shot wide as he saw that Tiamat's card was still in place on the disk. And it was shimmering.
Green fumes coiled at the edge of his vision.
He shot to his feet, ice erupting around him from all directions to form a protective shell. But even at instantaneous speed, it wasn't fast enough. The darkness behind his throne had become deep and endless and erupting out of that darkness like a serpent darting out for prey, was a impossibly huge green-scaled dragon head.
Fumes billowed across the room as acid splattered everywhere, Tiamat's head engulfing Levistus and his throne in one massive bite. The whole castle seemed to shake as cracks erupted from the impact in a thousand different directions and patterns.
Then everything settled, the last few tinkling of shattering ice fading away almost mournfully.
There was a cracking noise, then a snapping noise, then Tiamat's head began to jerk, muscles in her cheeks and neck twitching in unhealthy ways. Green-black blood pooled from her nostrils, spilling out onto the icy floor and eating into like a hot knife through butter.
The air hummed with power and with an ear-splitting shriek accompanying the force of a small bomb, ice explode out of Tiamat's head. Dragon skin and scales could not protect her from the inside and the green head retreated with a bellowing gurgle of agony and sporting more than a dozen new piercings from meter-thick jagged icicles from everywhere.
Tiamat retreated into the darkness, letting the wall reappear but Levistus was in no shape to chase after her. Taking the full force of her toxic breath hadn't done wonders for him. Or his complexion. Or his throne. Both he and it had melted, bits of them sloughing off as he heaved for agonized breath. Everything was already refreezing, his power coiling out from the wounds and injuries to heal him. But not fast enough to combat the acid still clinging to his body, melting him, his clothing and throne together like a badly-shaped popsicle.
And he couldn't move. His own power and essence were imprisoning him - he could feel bits of his being woven into the metal beneath him, the ice trying to repair his 'body'.
"Gotcha…"
Levistus' head snapped up, his power responding as ice formed a lance out of thin air and launched it towards Himura. It pierced the human's forehead, but shattered after the impact. "No…"
Himura grinned. "Yes."
This his body erupted into smoke, revealing nothing but metallic, arcane staff that snapped in half and clattered to the ground. But Himura kept talking, his voice coming from all directions at once. "Sorry about that. But I wasn't going to come stalking into your turf like an idiot. You'd crush me in a straight-up fight."
"You seem to have done much to even the odds…" Levistus ground out, trying not to let the pain bleed into his words. "Why not have a go and show me how tough you are?"
"Naw, I'm good, thanks. Dueling Goratch was a lot more effort than I thought and I got some serious level grinding to do if I want to take you on. Even half-dead, you're all monster." Himura chuckled mockingly. "Besides, why risk my own neck when the Shadowchasers are going to do the heavy lifting? And oh look, the first one up to bat is that Ember girl. Now which element is super-effective against ice again?"
Levistus scowled as he felt Himura's presence receding and a new one taking its place. A presence that was nothing but heat and flame to his mind's eye.
The door to the throne room - long since refrozen after Himura's entrance- was giving way to that presence. Ice was sloughing off in sheets, steam and molten metal bleeding from the wounds like it was a living animal, the floor almost boiling from the heat it was be subjected to.
With a shuddering, thunderous roar, the door yielded. The stone around it cracked apart as the metal, now cherry-red, folded like taffy upon itself. For a few moments, the ice and heat warred as the Stygian cold began to crawl back up the metal in an attempt to forge a new door - then it all blew apart.
Even in the swirling heat and snowflakes, Levistus didn't bother to wait to see who was paying him a visit. He didn't need to as tens of hundreds of icicles formed in front of him and fired at once in a deadly rain.
Red hair was briefly visible in the fog, then it was gone as a whirling flash of fire ignited around her like tornado. The fog evaporated like a mirage, the icicles following shortly afterwards. It was almost poetic the way Ember emerged from the wall of fire, the phantasmal form of Jetta behind her.
"How expected of you, Ember." Levistus rasped darkly. "Champion of her generation, leading the charge. Here to set a new record and go three-for-three on saving the world?"
"I thought you were smart enough not to ask questions you already knew the answer for, Levistus." Ember fired back, already raising her Duel Disk.
"Well, if that's your attitude, I won't bore you with speeches about how you're rushing to your death. I'll just savor the look on your face when you realize I've defeated you." Levistus' eyes shifted, catching sight of Nichole lingering in the doorway. And behind her, Terone. "But I will spare you the humiliation of having an audience to witness your death."
His eyes flashed and Terone didn't even have time to yell as he was hurled off his feet and thrown bodily into a pillar. He crashed off, hitting the floor face-first and moaning. Nichole whirled, but didn't even make it a step before she bounced off something invisible.
"Don't be rude now, Shadowchasers. I'm just being a good host." Though Levistus' expression couldn't change, the soul-numbing chill in the air left no doubt he was smiling in the worst way. "You Shadowchaser finalists didn't get to finish this little tournament, did you? So let's call this an 'exhibition match'. You fools come running in to challenge me...and I'll send you all to your graves."
"Don't bet on it. In case you forget, Fire beats Ice!" Ember stabbed a damming finger at him, Jetta's presence growing more solid behind her. "Especially when that fire is the Fire of Creation itself!"
"I existed long before that fire ignited. And I will exist long after it has been snuffed out." Levistus smiled as the darkness began to creep into deep shadows around them and five, glowing, larger-than-life cards appeared in front of him. "Long after I reduce it to nothing but a smouldering Ember…"
TTTTT
CREATED CARDS:
Himura:
Ojama White
LIGHT
2 stars
Beast/Effect
0/1000
Effect: When this card is Summoned, you can Special Summon one 'Ojama' monster from your Hand or Deck in face-up Defense Position except 'Ojama White'. If this card is in the Graveyard (except the turn it was sent there), you can banish this card; Special Summon one 'Ojama' monster from your Graveyard except 'Ojama White'. During the turn you activate this card's effect, you can only summon Fusion Monsters from the Extra Deck.
L- Leo Barrage
LIGHT
4 stars
Machine/Union/Effect
1800/1600
Effect: Once per turn, you can target one LIGHT Machine-type monster you control; equip this card to it. OR Unequip this card and Special Summon it. A monster equipped with this card can attack all of your opponent's monsters once each, also if the equipped monster would be destroyed as a result of battle or card effect, you can send this card to the Graveyard instead. When this card is sent to the Graveyard from the field, you can Special Summon one LIGHT Machine-type Union monster from your Graveyard except 'L-Leo Barrage'.
M - Megaton Turtle
LIGHT
4 stars
Machine/Union/Effect
0/2200
Effect: Once per turn, you can target one LIGHT Machine-type monster you control; equip this card to it. OR Unequip this card and Special Summon it. A monster equipped with this card cannot be targeted your opponent's card effects, also if the equipped monster would be destroyed as a result of battle or card effect, you can send this card to the Graveyard instead. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, you can select one face-up monster on the field; change the target's Battle Position.
N - NegaSerpent
LIGHT
4 stars
Machine/Union/Effect
1700/1400
Effect: Once per turn, you can target one LIGHT Machine-type monster you control; equip this card to it. OR Unequip this card and Special Summon it. A monster equipped with this card deals piercing damage, also if the equipped monster would be destroyed as a result of battle or card effect, you can send this card to the Graveyard instead. WHen this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, you can target one monster on the field; you take no battle damage from battles involving the targeted monster.
LMN - Launcher Turtle
LIGHT
8 stars
Machine/Fusion/Effect
2400/3200
Effect: L - Leo Barrage + M- MegaTon Turtle + N- NegaSerpent.
Must first be Special Summoned (From your Extra Deck) by banishing the above monsters that you control or from your Graveyard. (You do not use 'Polymerization.) Once per turn, (Quick Effect), you can tribute this card, Special Summon one LIGHT Machine-type Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck that lists three differently named Fusion Materials, ignoring its Summoning COnditions. The monster summoned by this effect has its effects negated and is banished during the End PHase. During your Main Phase, you can discard a card, Special Summon one LIGHT Machine-type Union monster your Graveyard or Deck. You can only use this effect of 'LMN -Launcher Turtle' once per turn.
Goratch
Toy Train
EARTH
4 stars
Machine/Effect
800/800
Effect: WHen this card is Summoned, you can Special Summon one 'Toy Railcar' from your Hand, Deck or Graveyard. During either player's Standby Phase, you can Special Summon one 'Toy Railcar' from your Hand, Deck or Graveyard. This card may not be used as material for a Fusion, Xyz or Synchro Summon.
Toy Railcar
EARTH
4 stars
Machine/Effect
800/300
Effect: This card may not be used as material for a Fusion, Xyz or Synchro Summon.
Daiguren Hyorinmaru
LIGHT
8 stars
Dragon/Effect
3000/2000
Effect: When this card attacks an opponent's monster, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects. You can Tribute Summon this card with 3 Tributes. If you do, apply the following effect: The effects of all your opponent's face-up monsters are negated.
Toy Deluxe
EARTH
8 stars
Machine/Effect
900/1200
Effect: You can Tribute Summon this card with 3 Tributes. If you do, and all the monsters you tributed were 'Toy' monsters, you can Special Summon 3 'Toy' monsters from your Graveyard. Once per turn, (Quick Effect), when a 'Toy' monster battles, you can increase the ATK of the battling 'Toy' monster by the combined ATK of all face-up 'Toy' monsters with 1000 or less ATK points.
Toy Town
Field Spell Card
Effect: Once per turn, when a 'Toy' monster you control attacks, you can increase the ATK of the battling 'Toy' monster by the combined ATK of all face-up 'Toy' monsters with 1000 or less ATK points.
When you Tribute Summon a 'Toy' monster by tributing 'Toy' monsters, you can shuffle the Tributed monsters back into your Deck, then apply the following effect depending on the level of the tribute summoned monster:
5 or 6: Draw 1 card.
7 or higher: Draw 2 cards
Toy Box
Normal Spell Card
Effect: Add one 'Toy' monster from your Deck or Graveyard to your Hand. If you control a level 5 or higher 'Toy' monster, than you Special Summon the selected monster instead.
Toy Guard
Continuous Trap Card
Effect: During your opponent's turn, face-up Attack Position 'Toy' monsters you control cannot be destroyed as a result of battle and you take no damage from 'Toy' monsters battling. During your turn, face-up 'Toy' cards you control cannot be targeted or destroyed by your opponent's card effects.
Toy Parade Formation
Trap Card
Effect: If you added this card to your hand via the effect of a 'Toy' monster, you can activate it from your Hand this turn. Tribute one Level 5 or higher 'Toy' monster you control, then Special Summon 3 Level 4 or lower 'Toy' monsters in your Graveyard in face-up Attack Position. The monsters summoned by this effect cannot change their Battle Position except by card effect.
Prayers To The Mighty
Normal Trap Card
Effect: Add one Level 8 or higher monster from your Deck to your Hand.
All created cards are the work of 7th Librarian.
Next:
Levistus: For untold eons, I have been trapped, unable to move, unable to function as a proper ruler of the realm I held dominance over. A warrior prince renowned for his skill with the rapier, cursed with an immobile, frozen state. A cruel joke.
Now, however, like a frigid phoenix rising from deathly cold ashes, I am reborn. The one obstacle now is these duelists. Annoying, but up to now, useful. That use has ended. Time to dispose of this last loose end.
And once that is done, I can finally take my proper place as ruler of Stygia and then the Hells themselves, a fitting way to show that Revenge is a dish best served cold…
"Stygian Dirge" is coming soon.