Author's Note: I apologize on the lateness of this chapter, but my computer was dealing with the aspects of a nasty virus. However, as an apology, as you read this chapter, I have done something awesome… For those of you have visited my Deviantart Account (FlairNightz), you have seen that I gave Hyde an excellent illustration…
During the time my computer was being fixed, I have drawn up several more characters from this very story. So, when you're done with this chapter, feel free to just check them out if you're interested.
On a final note, I would like to say that the deck concept for one of the character's decks in this chapter is based on the deck of a main character for a story that I recommend you all reading. If you like GAR, if you like the mold getting broken and if you liked GX, I suggest Duelist's Bushido by Comedy of Circumstances. Like many stories before it, I'ts been pushed to the side and deserves the limelight it has earned!
Enjoy!
There's a saying that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. Whoever said that was a pessimist, although to be honest, there have been a few times where this saying has hold water.
But that means saying holds true for everyone – Good, evil, or somewhere in between, there's always a monkey wrench that could be thrown into anyone's mix. So while this entire fiasco has been nothing more than a bunch of swings and misses, its time we did the same to our opposition.
This time, we're not pulling any punches, and I'm pretty sure that the other side isn't going to either.
Well… We're the best around! Nothing's ever going to take us do…
… Wait, what?
0-0-0-0-0
Draw 36
Cry Havoc!
0-0-0-0-0
Time: 7:31 a.m.
Barron wasn't much of a man for consequences, mainly because he didn't think too far into the future (except when it comes to his dates). However, when he as standing outside the hospital's fence this exceedingly cloudy morning, some-what devoid of sleep, he was thinking of nothing but consequences.
It was so nerve wracking that he had lit up one of the cigarettes he had stolen from Hyde's stash when no one was looking. 'I can see how Hyde can get rid of his stress this way at the very least…'
Now, what was the reason for Barron's stress this morning?
Barron shook his head, adjusting the cigarette in his mouth afterwards, 'I think I'm starting to go crazy, I'm almost hearing voices…'
"Barron…"
With his eyes snapping wide, Barron's face twisted into a look of anguish, "Oh man! I am hearing voices in my head!"
"Barron! Take that cigarette out!"
"… Why do the voices sound like that tomboy?" Barron asked nonchalantly with a raised eyebrow.
"Barron! Turn around!"
Slowly, the usually suave Shadowchaser spun on his heel to see Ace and Jack standing right behind him, both of them giving Barron a weird look. Realizing that they were looking at the cigarette, Barron snapped the stick of tobacco from his mouth and stomped it into the ground quite a few times before he laughed (although it sounded a little forced). "Hehehe! It's impossible for me to look uncool!"
"… Is he like this every morning?" Jack asked pushing up his hat in order to get a better look at Barron's laughing demeanor.
"To be honest, kind of," Ace replied with a sigh as Barron just continued his laughter.
"Haha!" Barron's laughter began to die down. "So seriously, what are you two doing here?"
"Faye wants to talk to you about something," Ace answered quickly turning towards the hospital. "She wants me and Jack to watch Hyde while you're talking to her and… Wait, why are you even out here?"
A nervous look appeared on Barron's face as he chuckled nervously once more, "W-Well… You see, I needed a smoke, I was getting ready to drop after watching Hyde's room all night… I just needed the boost of energy."
"Admitting the small crime to avoid the bigger one," Jack mused with a smirk on his face.
"W-What?" Barron yelped staggering back. "W-What crime? I'm completely innocent!"
It took a minute for Barron to actually gather his thoughts, "Wait… I'm not on trial."
"That still doesn't change the fact you're hiding something," Ace pointed out.
Barron couldn't help but break out into a cold sweat, "… Fine… You're going to find out anyway, you two might as well come back to the base with me anyway. We'll have a lot to talk about anyway…"
0-0-0-0-0
Time: 7:56 a.m.
Xue Yin clicked off her cell phone and handed it to Sieg who hid it in his sleeves, "Well, at the very least, we'll have another ally in our midst should those troublesome Shadowchasers reappear."
"Madame Xue Yin," Sieg stated as he followed his master through the lush halls of the casino. "I must ask, is this really necessary? With the plans that your employer has enacted…"
"I see your Shadowchasing ways are burned into your very soul," Xue Yin sighed with a shake of her head. "You need not worry; this is just as a precaution to make sure that this plan goes smoothly. The more aces you have up your sleeve, the better chance for victory…
"I see, of course Madame Xue Yin," Sieg replied with a slight bow as he followed his mistress.
"But what about you Sieg?" Xue Yin replied holding up her fan to her mouth. "I've been wondering if your memories have been returning… If things get too out of hand, I would rather not relinquish my favorite and most handsome Kyonshee I have created."
"Even if my memories were to return Madame," Sieg replied lifting his head up to look at his blue skinned mistress. "You have given me new life, and so long as that life courses through these veins as well has this talisman that hangs around my head remains, I shall be at your beck and call, willing to perform any duty you see fit."
"… Now that's music to my ears," Xue Yin snickered as she snapped her hand and stopped in front of a door. "Speaking of performing duties, please remain outside the door."
"Will you require any assistance, Madame Xue Yin?" Sieg asked folding his sleeves into each other.
"After that shower fiasco the other day," Xue Yin sighed with a blush on her face. "I do not think so."
"I was getting your towel," Sieg replied calmly. "And I delivered it to you at the perfect time…"
"Just as I was getting out of the shower," Xue Yin huffed pushing the door open. "Not the smartest, nor the best time. You're lucky that Volk was still asleep when that happened…"
As the door closed behind his mistress, Sieg sighed and leaned up against the wall, closing his eyes. Truth be told, even though he was completely loyal to the one who breathed new life into him, Sieg had not been completely honest. Kyonshi were a more advanced version of the living dead, and some would say that they were more tortured as well.
They had their conscious and their logical minds in tact when they were summoned, and would follow a curse that would plague them, making them slowly remember their past lives. The longer they remained in this world, the more memories would resurface…
Throw in the fact that ever since Sieg saw Faye at Shark Reef Lenders, the memories were coming back faster and were staining his mind at every waking moment of his returned life (and given the fact that he didn't need sleep to properly function, that was quite a pain).
Grabbing his head, Sieg slowly slumped to the ground and lowered his head, "… Why? Why can't I remove her face from my mind? From my soul? From my heart?
"What is our connection? Colleagues? Friends? Lovers? Maybe something more?"
Sieg slowly lifted his head up, revealing tears that were running down his face, "… I have to know… Nay, I need to know this truth… The only way to find out is to confront that lovely angel, Faye…"
0-0-0-0-0
Time: 8:24 p.m.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE HYDE IS?"
Barron ran from the living room as a demonic looking Faye chased after him, her eyes narrowed dangerously and her jaw completely clenched to show some fang like teeth. "BARRON!"
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" Barron yelped as he ran into his room and closed the door behind him, quickly locking it behind him just as several slams crashed into it.
Back in the living room…
"Seriously, is this how you Shadowchasers operate?" Jack asked tossing an apple up and down in his hands. "Cause in that organization, it seemed to operate a lot smoother… And with a lot less screaming and yelling…"
"Nah, this is just a special case," Ace sighed with a shake of her bottle of tomato juice. "Although, it's kind of rare to have Barron screw up this bad… Of course, I've only known the guy for a month…"
Ace would've continued, the but the sound of shattering wood scattered through the entire building, followed by a blood curdling scream, "OH DEAR HEAVENS! HELP ME!"
Both Ace and Jack turned towards the entrance of the kitchen to see Barron fly through the door and land on the hard on the ground, his eyes spinning about as he moaned loudly in pain. "Ugh…"
"Barron…"
Jack and Ace reeled back as Faye stomped into the room, her hands tightening into fists, "Of all the stupid things you've done in the past… This tops them all!"
"N-N-Now hold on a second!" Barron yelped as he jumped to his feet, waving his hands in front of him defensively. "Before you go all Armageddon on me, let me just say I've done my research and found that Hyde actually checked out on his own accord! And the nurse on duty said that he was alone!
"Who knows? Maybe Hyde went to get his D-Wheel and…"
Barron stopped short when one of his knives pierced the floor near his foot, "WATCH OUT! I've gotten used to having both of my feet!"
Faye sighed loudly as she held Barron's second knife in her hand, her eyes narrowed down behind her glasses. "Barron, it's bad enough that you let Hyde walk away when he was injured, but to keep it a secret until this morning? There's stupid, and then there's being the definition of stupid."
"Look, you can keep slamming on my stupid mistake," Barron chuckled nervously as he slowly stood up. "Or we can actually get to the point of why you sent the two over there to get me."
A few minutes later in the living room…
"Alright," Faye sighed crossing her arms as she held the television remote in her hands as she leaned up against the medium sized TV. "Barron, Ace… And Jack, I guess, as you three know, last night I called Jalal to get information pertaining to having some reinforcements to sent to aid us…
"Unfortunately, ever since last night, this has been going on."
With a quick click, Faye turned on the TV, although the volume was off. However, according to the text that was on the bottom of the screen, the TV was displaying the news, discussing a rather interesting and powerful dust storm that was sweeping all around Las Vegas, blocking all incoming and outgoing traffic. Even the camera crew that was stationed there was having a hard time maintaining their news report connection since there was a large amount of static on the screen. "As you can see, there's a huge sandstorm covering the entire city. Whatever's causing this weird weather pattern is also messing with the teleportation system… Too much interference.
"So to put in layman's terms, we're alone in this thing."
"Heh," Jack snickered. "Now do you guys believe me about that Avatar of Susannoo and his power? It's kinda obvious that he's behind this, that weird rainstorm and now this sandstorm…"
"I was speaking to Jalal about that as well," Faye sighed with a shake of her head. "He's looked into the subject… Needless to say, it's a little shaky on it."
"So, what's going to happen here?" Ace asked placing her bottle of tomato juice on the table. "We're down by one Shadowchaser and its looking like back up isn't going to come anytime soon…"
"This sandstorm seems to only be a diversion," Faye explained rubbing her chin. "No matter how powerful a person is, even if they used a spell with this much power, there's no way they could keep it going for a long time… So, this must just be a ploy to make sure we don't get any reinforcements."
"Kinda sounds like what the old gang would do," Jack sighed pulling down his hat. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't on the underdogs' side…"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Barron muttered looking up at Faye. "So… What's the game plan going to be then Faye? If this is a diversionary tactic, then it's a given that their plans are going to be done in the next few days."
"Do you guys just sit around doing nothing?" Jack asked standing from his seat. "Come on! You know where their base is! Why not storm in and stop them from doing their plan!"
"While going in guns blazing maybe good in the movies," Faye sighed waving her hand. "It's not the smartest thing to do. For one, there are innocent people inside that commercial. Two, we don't have our full team. And three, we don't know what exactly what we're up against… Unless you're willing to provide some intell…"
"Not like I know everyone in the business," Jack sighed with a shrug of his shoulders. "But I do know a few things, and a small secret that could help you guys out if you're interested…"
0-0-0-0-0
Meanwhile…
After finally getting kicked out of the Shadowchasers' base earlier this morning (he had used the weather as an excuse to spend the night since Kyon doesn't really have a car), Kyon was slowly walking back to his restaurant, the Mirage Oasis Café, his arms crossed and his pipe being held in his teeth… Of course, due to his outfit, he was getting several stares from the people he passed in the street.
Sighing loudly, Kyon pulled his pipe from his mouth, trying to look more serious than he usually did, 'I was going to use the weather to make an excuse… Oh well, two days is a good enough of a record for staying with Alice, I might want to try that again sometime…'
Kyon would've continued this line of thinking if it wasn't interrupted as someone large hadn't have bumped into him, making the were-ermine stagger backwards and drop his pipe from his mouth, "Oooof!"
"… My apologies," a deep, if not familiar voice stated as Kyon shook his head to get out of the confusion. "I was looking at something at the time…"
"Oh, don't worry, I was lost in my…" Kyon chuckled waving his hand in the air as he knelt down to pick up his pipe, realizing that there were a few duel monster cards scattered among his pipe. "These yours?"
"Why yes," The other replied, picking up the cards slowly. "Recently got them, and I think they fully represent my strength."
Kyon raised an eyebrow as he slowly lifted his head up to look at the man who had bumped into him, making him blink a few times, "Uh… Wait a minute, aren't you…"
Before Kyon could finish, the man swept up the cards from Kyon's hands and shuffled them into his jacket's pocket, "Sorry to have bothered you. I hope a man like you doesn't cry."
And just like that, the man began to walk past the were-ermine who wiped his smoke pipe a few times.
Watching the familiar man down the street, Kyon reached into his sleeve, at first to put away his pipe, and secondly to grab his cell phone. "Looks like I'll have to make a few phone calls…
"And I'll be able see Alice again quickly!"
0-0-0-0-0
Time: 8:59 a.m.
"And that's what I've got to say," Jack finished explaining with his arms crossed. "It's used for when we want to get out undetected, but it's very effective…"
Faye rubbed her chin in deep thought, mulling over the information that Jack had just stated, "… I see… Well, I don't know about that. Sounds a little too convenient to me, there might be more than…"
"Look, I'm not interested in trapping ya," Jack answered waving his hand a few times in front of his face. "But I can say this, I'm going to make sure that Mira is safe, and you guys are the best bet that I've got to do that. So, I'm willing to do anything I can do to help you as long as you help me."
"Still, if you know about it," Barron pointed out, wagging a finger at Jack. "Then it's more than possible that your former co-conspirators would know about it themselves… And they'd try to pull something to stop us."
"Maybe we could distract them," Ace stated. "I mean, if we were to break up into two groups, then one group could distract the enemy and…"
RINNNNNG!
The tension suddenly broke as the phone rang out, making everyone look towards the kitchen. With a sigh, Ace stood up, "I'll get it… But that doesn't make my opinion any less valid."
A few moments later, Ace lifted the phone from the receiver, "Yeah, this is Ace and…"
"Oh, my lovely Alice!" Ace pulled the phone from her ear when she heard Kyon's voice. "I know that there was a one in four chance that you'd answer, but I have to say that this is somewhat unprecedented! Now, I have to say that this is quite the joy and…"
CLICK!
Ace immediately hung up the phone with a loud sigh and lifted up her three fingers, and began to count down until…
RRRRRIIINNNNNNGGGG!
The moment that Ace pulled the phone off the receiver, the familiar voice of Kyon ringing out, "That was rude! Even for you Alice!"
"Kyon, we're kind of busy here," Ace sighed into the phone. "We're discussing plans, and without Hyde here we're kinda having a hard time to…"
"Well, that's why I'm calling Alice," Kyon answered with a slight chuckle in the corner of his voice. "You see, I kinda found Hyde…"
"I don't care why you called," Ace mumbled loudly before the thought began to sink in. "… Wait, what?"
"I. Know. Where. Hyde. Is," Kyon sounded off with a bit of a laugh. "But I don't think I'll tell you."
"WHAT?" Ace snarled, unaware that Barron and Jack were watching her from the hallway. "WHY NOT!"
"Well, you were rude to me," Kyon pouted over the phone. "However… If you were to agree to work an extra week in my café… I might just reconsider it."
"… Fine!" Ace snapped with a blush on her face. "Now, where the hell is he?"
"Ah, yes… He's at the Devil's Full House Casino…" Kyon stated. "I'm standing outside the place, but somehow Hyde managed to just waltzed in. Though, he seems to be acting… Uh oh."
"Kyon?" Ace questioned.
"I'm going to have to call you back…" Kyon said into the phone quietly…
And just like that, the phone line went dead.
"… That can't be good at all…" Ace mumbled before she turned to the side. "Although… Hey guys, I think I've got a plan…"
0-0-0-0-0-0
Time: 9:32 a.m.
While the streets in Las Vegas were hardly considered empty, there was some order to the busy streets, however, there seemed to be an eerie silence outside the Devil's Full House casino.
However, there was but one person who was calm amongst all the chaos, and just leaned up against the entrance of the large casino, merely adjusting the pipe in his mouth (although, he wasn't smoking at all) and people watching. Not even the bugbear guards that were slumped against the entrance were psyching him out…
Ever since the incident with Otso, Kyon wasn't all that particular to the goblin-related Shadowkind. Sides, he was more than certain that if they were working, then they wouldn't bug him if he didn't bug them.
"Hey! Kyon!"
With a smile on his face, the Were-Ermine clasped his hands together as he saw a familiar tomboy run towards him, "OH! Alice! Over here! Yoohoo!"
"Do you have to say that so loud?" Ace muttered as she looked around with her face slightly red.
"Aw, did you know you look so cute when you're flustered?" Kyon asked with a warm smile on his face.
"Kyon… If I find out that you used Hyde to get me to come over here," Ace growled with her fist lifted up.
"Ah, ah, ah," Kyon scolded with a wag of his finger. "I may be many things Alice – A were-ermine, a handsome man, a businessman and the list goes on and on… But I am not a liar. It was a few minutes ago that Hyde managed to enter the casino."
"What?" Ace questioned raising an eyebrow at the two guards. "How'd he get in?"
"Well, as far as I can tell," Kyon stated reaching into his sleeve once more, digging around. "Hyde showed the two something and they were more than happy to open the door to him. If I had to guess, it would have to be an invitation to inside."
"And how'd he get that?" Ace sighed with a flat look in her eyes as she reached into her jacket's pocket. "You're not really making any sense here, you know…"
'And that makes my plan totally a bust…'
"If you don't believe me," Kyon chuckled pulling his hand out to reveal a small envelope, waving it about in the air slightly. "Then I'll be more than willing to show you. Just wait here for a second."
Before Ace could get a word in, the were-ermine scurried towards the two bugbear guards, at first getting a few growls back from the beastly Shadowkind… Until Kyon lifted up what appeared to be a small envelope that had a weird symbol on it, making both of the Bugbears roll each of their four eyes at the smug Lycan.
A few seconds later, Kyon trotted back to Ace with a smirk on his face, "And we're in."
"… Huh?" Ace questioned with a perplexed look on her face as Kyon spun on his heel and turned back to the entrance.
"Hurry up Alice," Kyon sounded waving his hand up over his head. "You shouldn't be tardy to the party… Especially since getting into this casino isn't all that easy for anyone, especially for you Alice."
"… Wait a sec!" Ace snapped chasing Kyon into the casino…
However, as the tomboyish Shadowchaser walked into the air conditioned casino, she blinked a few times at the weird setting for the building. With a name like the Devil's Full House, one would think of an underworld theme…
… And yet, it was a lavish casino basked in a bright red rugs and curtains, with countless slot machines and game tables that were almost filled to capacity with people from the upper class. There was one thing that Ace did expect…
"That pervert Barron would probably think he was in heaven here," Ace sighed looking at the waitresses, all of them young women dressed in devilish outfits (complete with small horns, wings and forked tails). "Even though this was supposed to be designed after hell…"
"It might be a paradise to some," Kyon mused as he walked past some of the waitress, not even paying the slightest attention to them. "But one can easily see that these aren't the typical waitresses… They're working here against their wills, well most of them."
"Yeah, that's all well and good," Ace mumbled as she followed Kyon. "But you know that I'm seventeen, how the hell did you let those bugbears let me in… And how the hell did you get us in here the first place?"
"If you can believe that we can reach the blue sky," Kyon chuckled producing that same envelope that he had shown to the bugbears. "Then it's not so difficult to believe that I could get an invitation to enjoy a day of gambling at this establishment. After all, several local business owners would be invited as investors for this place.
"As for how I got you to come in… I was allowed to bring a guest with me, and as long as you don't gamble or drink any alcohol, then there won't be a problem. You're my responsibility after all, and I will make sure that you won't taint yourself with these sins, my lovely Alic…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ace grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "But if you could get us in here, then why didn't you tell us when we were talking about this? And don't you dare say…"
"You didn't ask," Kyon interrupted with a large smirk on his face as he adjusted the pipe in his mouth.
"Oh damn it!" Ace snarled.
While the two made their way through the casino, there was another location of interest in the casino was the indoor fountain that had its own share of slot machines resting around it. There was even an elevator that was located near the fountain, with quite a few guards (some human, others Shadowkind ranging from orcs and bugbears).
However, the Shadowkind guards seemed to be a little nervous as a familiar looking man began to walk towards the elevator. Their nervousness was due to the fact that the man had a certain mark on his rugged face, the mark of a Shadowchaser, the fact that his body was quite muscular and had his clothes cling to his muscles…
…Which was weird, since normally, this familiar Shadowchaser's outfit was usually baggy on his body. But then again, that wasn't the only odd thing about the man. His normally dark brown hair had several strands and streaks of blonde hair that zig-zagged backwards. He was a little bit taller due to his straightened out back, making him a little more daunting than normal.
For those who knew this man when he was normal, his name was Hyde Vayne… Although, at the moment, it was hard to tell who this man was, "… I shall say this again, please call down Miss Xue Yin Jien. I have some business with her."
"Uh, well, we can't really let you in sir," One of the bugbear guards stuttered rubbing the back of his messy head of hair.
"Then can you call her down?" 'Hyde' asked crossing his now muscular arms over his broad chest. "I'm in somewhat of a hurry."
"Uh, no offense sir," The same bugbear guard muttered holding his hand up. "Shadowchasers aren't really welcomed here. In fact we shouldn't be able to…"
Before the bugbear could finish, 'Hyde' lifted up an envelope that was similar to the one that Kyon had had, "I was given a letter to come here once I had acquired a suitable… uh, 'attire' and request to see that woman as soon as possible. So, unless you're willing to call her down here, then I'll just have to get her to come down here…"
DING!
Before 'Hyde' could continue, the elevator doors began to open up, unleashing a very cold gust of air to flow from the elevator. All of the guards shivered, yet 'Hyde' just stood there, looking at the pale skinned, blue haired man who stood inside, his white suit contrasting with the red interior of the elevator. The man had a calm look on his face, a smile plastered on his face.
Along with the weird man in the elevator was a pair of young women, both of whom were dressed rather indecently and showed a fair amount of skin.
"Oh my," the cold man chuckled rubbing his chin. "Looks like things are getting somewhat heated here."
The man looked at 'Hyde's face, taking note of the Shadowchaser badge, "Ah… And a Shadowchaser nonetheless, so, what seems to be the problem here?"
Nodding at the smaller man, 'Hyde' tilted his head forward slightly, "I am merely here to say one thing to Miss Xue Yin Jien, and then I shall be on my way."
"Oh?" the cold man mused. "Perhaps I could deliver the message for you sir… Ah, yes, where are my manners today? My name is Victor, a local businessman and currently performing a favor for Madame Jien. And you are…"
"For the time being," 'Hyde' growled before he popped his neck loudly, getting a few sickened looks from some the guards. "You may call me Tarous… And my message is simple – I refuse your offer."
"Apparently someone's never heard of a cell phone," Victor snickered, wagging a finger. "Seems like a waste of time and energy to deliver such a simple message, especially to a young beauty like Madame Jien. Still, if that is all you wished for me to do, then this conversation is…"
"Actually," Tarous interrupted holding his hand up. "I have another reason for being here… I came to stop this insidious plot that she's apart of…"
That turned Victor's smile into a slight frown, "Is that so? In that case, gentlemen, please remove this man from the premises."
The guards seemed a bit hesitant to move towards Tarous, but then one of the human guards stepped forward… Only to have Tarous grab the guard by the shoulder and lift him up off the ground, with a single arm!
And just like that, Tarous tossed the guard to the side as if he were nothing more than a paper doll, a loud crash and a few screams following afterwards. "My strength… Will make you cry! I suggest that you refrain from doing that again."
The rest of the guards looked at each other… Only to have a loud sigh to fill the air, "Fine…"
Stepping from the elevator, Victor snapped his fingers to make both of the women behind him hold their arms up, revealing a duel disk and four deck cases, each of a different color. "Its obvious to see that neither words or force will be able sway you to leave. I notice that you're armed with a duel disk… So, would you care to make a wager to continue your quest?"
"I'm no stranger to gambling," Tarous replied nodding a few times. "I surmise that one of your conditions is that if I prevail in this test of strength, then I would be able to continue?"
"You can even take this elevator if you wished," Victor offered as he fitted the duel disk on his arm, allowing him to look over the four deck cases. "However, should I win, then you'll have to leave of your own accord, I'll still deliver your message though. Does that sound fair to you, Tarous?"
"Indeed it does," Tarous answered holding up his own duel disk, revealing the deck of duel monster cards that was already loaded inside of the device. Taking a few steps backwards, Tarous stood right next to the fountain. "So, bring it on Victor… You'll cry at my strength!" (TLP: 8000)
"Honestly, it's not in good business to say such lines," Victor sighed loudly as he pulled off one of the deck cases from one of his lady accompaniments, taking the earthly colored one. "I'll give you that it's certainly an interesting line nonetheless…" (VLP: 8000)
Both duelists pulled off the top five cards of their decks, but Victor quickly took off another sixth card from his deck, "I hope you don't mind, but I feel that it would only be proper that I should go first. After all, you're the one who accepted the challenge…"
"It matters not," Tarous replied crossing his arms over his chest looking at the five cards in his hand. "You can go first or second, but it will not matter against this deck strategy. I have lost my previous one, but I trained and searched for the ultimate deck…"
"You could have king of games' cards for all I care," Victor chuckled as he gently placed a card onto his duel disk. "And honestly, I wouldn't mind getting a handful of his cards either… He had quite a few beauties in that deck of his… But I have my own class of beauties too.
"And although I'm not too fond of her element… This is one of them. Grace the field – Command Knight!"
A powerful flame erupted in front of Victor, making him sweat slightly, only to smirk as a beautiful young, female knight stepped onto the field, her crimson armor matching the red and gold theme of the casino. With a lovely smile, the young knight winked at Tarous before she drew her sword (1200/1900 + 400/0).
An yet, Tarous could only tap his borrowed bicep a few times in silence.
"Oh? Not really your type?" Victor mused as he slowly lifted up another card from his hand. "Then how about this spell card? It depicts a rather cute trait of girls… And it's aptly named as Mischief of the Time Goddess."
Several sparkles began to pop around Victor's body, allowing him to smirk as a cute, blue hair girl (done in two long pig tails) dressed in priestess robes to appear next to him, immediately wrapping her arms around his. "Now, this spell card is quite a rarity in and of itself… Mainly because of its insane power to bend the very rules of this game.
"Now, my turn ends… And then we skip yours, Tarous and go right into my second turn and right into my battle phase."
"Cheap tricks will not work against me," Tarous advised with his eyes closed as the young priestess disappeared from Victor's arm.
"Trick? Oh no, no, no, no, my friend," Victor chuckled as the Command Knight spun the blade in her hands. "This is no trick, this is just a simple bending of the rules… And this is my lovely Command Knight's attack!"
As the blade came down on Tarous, the dream traveler didn't even flinch as the blade struck his shoulder… But didn't even cut through the borrowed body. (TLP: 6400)
"Looks like you're made of tough stuff there, Tarous," Victor chuckled as he pulled another card from his hand. "True… But now you've given yourself away with that move. And I know exactly how to deal with your feathered fiends. I play the spell card, Reinforcement of the Army, now I can pull any level four or lower warrior from my deck and add it to my hand."
A single card popped out from Victor's deck, allowing him to immediately slap the card onto his duel disk, "And I should point out that since this is a new turn, I'm allowed to perform a new normal summon, so why wait to normal summon Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan!"
Unlike the Command Knight's entrance, Victor's newest monster leapt over his head and landed on the ground, her pink fighter's gi and azure ribbons flowing through the air as she threw a few punches through the air. And unlike the Command Knight, this cute warrior's demeanor was anger, highlighted by her crimson hair (1700/1000 + 400/0).
"Hmm… An interesting strategy you have," Tarous admitted raising an eyebrow as he crossed his arms. "If you have one…"
"Oh trust me," Victor chuckled fitting another card into his duel disk, making it appear behind his two lovely ladies. "You'll see my strategy soon enough, Tarous. For now though, it's your turn."
Tarous slowly drew, looking at the six cards he slowly lifted up a single card from his hand, "The cards that I have acquired are not what I could really use… But still, it is something I can use. I activate the effect of a monster card in my hand – Skull Conductor!"
Immediately fitting the card into his duel disk's graveyard, two ghostly flames appeared over the field both of the flames growing larger and larger, "When this card is discarded from my hand, I can special summon two zombies from my hand whose totaled attack are two thousand…"
The flames erupted, one of them forming into a blue skinned man dressed in blue armor with black, cape-like wings that wrapped around his body (2000/800), while the second one formed into a floating skeleton with long black hair, draped in a blue dress and carrying a small golden haired doll (0/0). "Curse of Vampire and Sleepy Beauty will be suited for this situation."
"The undead?" Victor mused rubbing his chin. "Not really something I was expecting, but it shouldn't pose much of a threat against my lovely ladies… And that Sleepy zombie doesn't the deserve the title of Beauty."
"Then I shall change that," Tarous replied slapping a card onto his duel disk. "I'll set a monster in defense mode… And end my turn."
"Tsk, tsk, is your hand that bad?" Victor asked pulling off another card from his deck. "Its about to get worse… Since I didn't attack with her last turn, my Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan gets to show off her technique, allowing her to become stronger. Three hundred points stronger that is…"
Throwing several kicks through the air, the cute martial artist slammed her foot into the ground, sending a loud echo through the casino (2100/1000 + 300/0)
"Then how about I help you? I play the spell card Spellbook in the Pot."
"That allows both of us to draw three cards from our decks," Tarous guessed rubbing his chin. "Are you sure that's a wise idea?"
"It matters not," Victor chuckled as he and Tarous pulled the top three cards from their decks. "Now then… You've met two of my lovely ladies, so it's only fair that I introduce you to another one. I summon Lady Ninja Yae in attack mode!"
Several pink cherry blossom petals began to flutter over the field, allowing the purple jumpsuit wearing kunoichi with long green hair that flew over her body (1100/200 + 400/0).
"Next," Victor chuckled fitting a card into his duel disk, making it appear behind his three fem fatales. "One set card… Now I go on the attack! Putting all of your monsters in defense mode may save your life points, but they're wide open! Yae! Slash that abomination of beauty!"
With a loud battle cry, the beautiful ninja leapt through the air and stabbed the knife she had hidden directly into the Sleepy Beauty's head, shattering the undead monster into millions of pixels.
Tarous didn't seem to care as he tapped his fingers on his large bicep.
"… That didn't get your attention?" Victor questioned as his lady ninja leapt back to his field. "Fine… Command Knight, slay that vampire!"
Running across the field, the Command Knight immediately slashed down on the armored vampire, making him shatter into millions of small black bats. One of the bats flew around Tarous' body before biting the Dream Traveler's borrowed neck. "… Since he was destroyed, I pay five hundred life points." (TLP: 5900)
'Heh, you can't fool me with that old trick,' Victor thought looking at his rather annoyed Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan. 'I know that your Curse of Vampire can revive itself… But it's that face down monster you've got that might make me worry. Most likely, that monster is Pyramid Turtle. Facing a Ryu Kokki would prove to be troublesome…'
"I think I'll leave my turn at that then."
Tarous quickly drew from his deck, allowing several bats to fly in front of him, reforming into the Curse of Vampire, its armor slightly covered with blood now (2000/800 + 500/0), "And since you destroyed my Curse of Vampire last turn, it comes back stroner…"
'Saw that a mile away,' Victor sighed in his head.
"Next, I'll summon Gozuki!" Tarous announced as the bull-headed Yokai slammed into the ground, snorting loudly as it lifted its hammer over its head (1700/800). "And use its effect immediately, allowing me to send one zombie monster from my deck to the graveyard…
"And I choose Plaguespreader Zombie!"
At the moment Tarous slid his selected card, the Dream Traveler lifted up another card from his hand and slid it atop of his deck, "Next, by returning a card from my hand to the top of my deck, I can special summon the Plaguespreader from my graveyard!"
A loud, grotesque roar blasted through the air, allowing the ground to pull back with a large blue skinned zombie made up of several animal body parts with a pained look on it's face as it stood up on its ram and gorilla legs (400/200). "Now… Since I performed this special summon, I have what I need to use one of my host's best cards…"
The Plaguespreader Zombie moaned in pain before it shattered into two dark rings of light that encircled the bull-headed demon, shattering it into four stars that transformed into a large pillar of light. A loud howl shattered the pillar, revealing a familiar ghostly dog that had a katana strapped to its back (2600/1250). "Inugami! And now, by removing the Gozuki from my graveyard, my Inugami can destroy any face-up monster on the field…
"And I choose your booster!"
Reaching into the jacket's pocket, Tarous lifted up what appeared to be a tissue and threw it through the air, "She can dry her tears with this…"
As the tissue began to float down to the ground, the Inugami roared loudly leaping through the air to catch the tissue. The Command Knight's eyes widened as the ghostly dog pounced on her and shattered her into millions of pixels.
"Seriously… You're using Yokai against an actual classified Yokai?" Victor questioned with a shake of his head. "This is either classic irony… Or some kind of coincidence."
Both the Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan (2400/1000 – 400/0) and Lady Ninja Yae (1600/200 – 400/0) gasped at the loss of their comrade.
"It is an evil to hurt women," Tarous sighed holding up more tissues that he threw through the air. "Wipe your tears with these ladies… For now it's your turn to feel my strength! Inugami attack Lady Ninja Yae!"
Turning its attention to its side, the ghostly dog drew its katana from its back, snarling loudly as it gripped the sword with its mouth. And just as the blade was about to slice down on the surprised ninja, a powerful vortex swept over the ninja girl, and sent the ghostly dog skidding back.
"I don't like it when my lovely ladies get threatened," Victor sighed holding up his trap card, Negate Attack. "And believe me, your mutt and Twilight reject are going to regret trying to harm my lovely ladies…"
"Then by all means, try your hardest," Tarous stated cracking his neck loudly, getting a few of the guards and Victor's two lady friends to cringe. "I enjoy seeing different forms of strength being performed… I wonder what a cold man like you can do…"
"So…" Victor chuckled as he slowly drew. "You know what I truly am… Then again, you are a Shadowchaser, so it should be easy to tell what I am…
"But, it matters not. Since my Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan didn't attack last turn, she becomes stronger once more."
Slamming her fists together, the Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan leered at Tarous, almost looking like she might just jump over his monsters and sock him upside his head (2000/1000 + 300/0). "But now, due to a monster effect in my hand, I can pay eight hundred life points to special summon my Young Swashbuckler." (VLP: 7200)
A large splash of water erupted in front of Victor, which immediately fell to the ground to reveal a young, spunky girl dressed in orange-red, baggy sleeveless robes with a matching pirate hat over her long brown hair, with a skull-and-crossbones on it. The girl smirked as she lifted her weapon easily over her shoulder – A large, black anchor (1600/1200).
Tarous blinked a few times, "… I honestly don't know what to say about that…"
"Then perhaps you'll know what to say when I play the spell card," Victor continued as the spell card emerged onto his field, creating a powerful green aura around all three of his fem fatales. "Solidarity is a spell card that can only activate when I have only one type of monster in my graveyard… Which thanks to you, I do. Now all warriors on my field gain eight hundred attack points!"
All three of Victor's warriors smirked – The Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan slamming her fist into the ground (2300/1000 + 800/0), Yae crossed her arms (1100/200 + 800/0), and the Young Swashbuckler spun the anchor over her head (1600/1200 + 800/0).
"Now, I still have my normal summon this turn," Victor chuckled as Yae disappeared in a cloud of cherry blossom leaves. "So, I'll do a trade up, by sacrificing Lady Ninja Yae to summon Penumbral Soldier Lady!"
The cherry blossom leaves clustered in front of Victor, only to slowly float away to reveal a new beautiful warrior, this one dressed in a black chest plate with a moon symbol on it, having long blond hair held out of her face by a headband and carrying a long sword in one hand and a shield in the other.
The woman took on look at Tarous before turning her head away from him, clearly not interested (2100/1400 + 800/0), "I don't know why you haven't played any spells or trap cards to defend yourself, but it doesn't matter to me… Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan! Destroy Inugami!"
Leaping high into the air, the remale Martial Artist quickly delivered a powerful kick down onto the Inugami's head, making the ghost dog wisp away into smoke. (TLP: 5400)
"Next, Penumbral Soldier Lady, slay that vampire!"
Merely running forward, the dark armored lady stabbed the vampire in the chest, making the undead monster gasp in surprise before he shattered into millions of bats once more, and one of them biting Tarous' neck. (TLP: 4500)
"Paying life points again are we?" Victor chuckled pushing some hair from the front of his eyes. "Fine by me… I not afraid of your face down monster or your Ryu Kokki… Young Swashbuckler!"
With a large grin, the pirate dressed young woman ran across the field and slammed the face down monster with her mighty anchor, crushing the monster that appeared for a few seconds – Resembling that of a decaying goblin (1100/1050).
"… That wasn't Pyramid Turtle?" Victor questioned as a card popped out of Tarous' deck and into his hand.
"Correct, that was Goblin Zombie," Tarous replied fitting the card with the rest of the cards in his hand. "Which allows me to add any zombie from my deck that has twelve hundred or less defense points. And Zombie Master will do the trick since he has no defense points at all."
'So, he's going to get an army out, eh?' Victor thought as he fitted a card into his duel disk, making it appear behind his three powerful female warriors. 'Fine with me. Mirror Force will blow them out of the water quite easily…'
As Victor waved his hand to show that his turn was over, the Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan sighed slightly as she fell to the ground to cross her legs (3100/1000 – 300/0). "Of course, after my lovely martial artist attacks, she loses one of her boosts… But it won't matter, she's still stronger than what you can pull out."
"… Do not underestimate the strength of this deck," Tarous warned as several bats flew in front of him, reforming into a rather annoyed Curse of Vampire (2000/800 + 500/0). "For now I summon my Zombie Master in attack mode!"
The ground began to shake slightly before it opened up, unleashing a ghostly young man dressed in a ragged cloaks with long dirtied hair. The ghastly man chuckled as he lifted his arms up into the air (1800/0). "Now, by discarding Mezuki from my hand… I can special summon the Goblin Zombie back to the field!"
Slamming his hands into the ground, the Zombie Master began to pull his hands up, along with the Goblin Zombie that snarled loudly (1100/1050).
"Then comes Mezuki's effect," Tarous continued as he pulled two cards from his graveyard. "By removing it, I can pull a zombie from my graveyard and special summon it… Return, Inugami!"
A loud howl blasted through the casino, allowing the ghostly dog to erupt from out of nowhere, already drawing its katana (2600/1250).
"Bringing back an army of the undead won't be able to help, you know," Victor sighed looking at his face down cards. "Why not play a spell or trap card, if you just play monsters, then this duel's going to get boring…"
"I would," Tarous sighed reaching into the borrowed pocket of his. "But I don't need them! I activate the effect of Inugami! By returning Mezuki and Gozuki back to my deck, I can return all spells and traps back to their owners' hands… But in this case, only you are affected."
Victor's eyes widened as all three of his spell and trap cards returned to his hand, making his Kung-Fun Nyan Nyan (2800/1000 – 800/0), Young Swashbuckler (2400/1200 – 800/0) and Penumbral Soldier Lady (2900/1400 – 800/0) gasp in surprise.
"My strength…" Tarous announced as all four of his monsters leapt through the air. "Will make you cry!"
Victor's eyes widened as he watched the Inugami bring its sword down on the Penumbral Soldier Lady, shattering her into millions of pixels. (VLP: 6700)
The Curse of Vampire appeared behind the Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan, surprising the young martial artist. But before she could react, the vampire sunk his teeth into her neck, pulling her into the shadows. (VLP: 6200)
That's when the Zombie Master created a flaming skull between his fingers, flinging it directly into the Young Swashbuckler's torso, sending her flying backwards and disappearing into the casino. (VLP: 6000)
And finally, the Goblin Zombie brought his sword down on the yuki-otoko, making him stagger backwards as he bit his lower lip, "URK! Lucky upstart…" (VLP: 4900)
"Now, thanks to his ability," Tarous added nodding his head. "You must discard the top card from your deck."
Victor barred his teeth as he slowly did so, not liking the fact that he had to send another lovely lady to the graveyard.
"I thought I told you my strength would make you cry," Tarous stated crossing his arms over his chest as all four of his monsters reappeared on his side of the field. "If not, then I'll be more than willing to try again next turn… For now, turn end!"
"The only one who'll cry… Is you Tarous," Victor growled dusting off his suit before he drew. "Anyone who harms my ladies is destined to fall to their knees… Watch as I'll prove it with the spell card – Swords of Revealing Light!"
Several swords of light crashed into the ground around Tarous' four monsters, making all of them seethe slightly from the light.
"That ought to keep you at bay for a while," Victor sighed with a shake of his head. "Now… I'll set one monster face down and one more set card on my field."
The two set cards appeared in front of Victor, allowing the snowman to rub his chin, "That's all I have in the works for now… Turn end."
Tarous simply drew his next card, and immediately pulled another card from his hand, "And for this turn, I set a monster face down… And switch Goblin Zombie and Zombie Master to defense mode as well. And since your monster is face down, Inugami's effect wouldn't work.
"Turn end."
As Victor drew from his deck, a small number of the swords began to disappear from the field, "You won't have to worry about your Inugami's effect now… I flip up my face down Mistress Kyonshee!"
The face down card on Victor's field flipped around, allowing another female monster to appear on the field, this one dressed in a blue Chinese fighter's gi with a hat on her long black hair with a weird talisman covering her face (1750/1000). The woman lifted her hands up and threw several punches into the air.
"Your theme in monsters certainly is entertaining to say the least," Tarous admitted rubbing his chin.
"I like my choice in cards like my choices in women," Victor replied holding up another card from his hand. "Beautiful and useful, although it pains me to use this one card – The Warrior Returning Alive, the art on this card is such an eyesore.
"But thanks to it, now I can take my Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan back from the graveyard and summon her!"
With a loud battle cry, the fiery martial artist reappeared on the field, throwing her fist forward (1700/1000).
"You must have a plan," Tarous stated. "Otherwise you probably would've taken back your Command Knight and replayed that Solidarity spell card of yours to boost your monsters' attacks by twelve hundred points."
"Just goes to prove you don't know anything about proper combos," Victor replied waving another card from his hand. "You see, now that I have these two monsters out, I can bring out one of the more dangerous monsters in this deck… Or normally is if you'd play any spells or trap cards…
"But I digress. You see, while on the field or in the graveyard, my Mistress Kyonshee is treated as Master Kyonshee… Allowing me to play the spell card – Luminous Cloud!"
Around the two female monsters on Victor's field, several clouds began surround them, all of them sparking with electricity. Both of the martial artist themed monsters on Victor's field nodded to each other before they slammed their fists together, exploding into fit of electricity. "Now, by releasing my two martial artists, I can special summon one of the most dangerous fem fatales in this game…
"The mighty Dragon Lady!"
All of the clouds flew from area, unleashing a new warrior, a beautiful (if not slightly cold) woman with fiery red and yellow hair dressed in brown samurai armor that had a dragon head helmet on her head and a yin-yang symbol on her chest. In both of the woman's hands were impressive curved blades that she effortlessly spun around several times (2500/2100).
"Next, I'll play a familiar spell," Victor announced fitting the spell card into his duel disk, creating a powerful green aura around the dragon themed warrior (2500/2100 + 800/0). "Solidarity, giving her the boost she so deserves!"
"… But isn't your Mistress Kyonshee a zombie?" Tarous questioned as he lifted up his duel disk. "I run a Master Kyonshee in this deck as well, and you said that your monster was treated as a Master Kyonshee…"
"That's only in name," Victor replied wagging a finger. "My Mistress is, unlike her male counterpart, a full time warrior. Now, Dragon Lady! Put down that mutt for good this time! Storm Blade!"
Lifting both of her swords into the air, the Dragon Lady cried out as a large amount of electricity surged around both of the curved blades. Then with two powerful slashes, the Dragon Lady launched a pair of electrical blades that sliced through the Inugami, electrifying it into nothing more than a cloud of smoke. (TLP: 3800)
"And with that out of the way," Victor chuckled snapping his fingers a few times. "My turn is done… And soon, this duel shall end the same way as well."
"This duel is still young, snow-man," Tarous replied as he quickly drew from his deck, looking at the card. "I set a monster face down… And I command Curse of Vampire to take a knee in defense mode."
Grumbling loudly, the blue skinned vampire quickly knelt down, allowing his wing like cape to cover his body as a face down monster appeared next to him. "Turn end."
"What happened to showing your strength?" Victor asked as he slowly drew from his deck, taking note that some more of his swords began to disappear. "Looks like you're just cowering away now…"
"A true warrior knows when to bide his time and wait," Tarous countered cracking his knuckles a little too loudly, making the guards and the two ladies nearby to wince. "Besides, it's not like I possess the ability to attack with those swords of yours out… But they are only a temporary shield to what strength is hidden within this deck."
"There are two things in this world that truly annoy me," Victor sighed waving his newly drawn card up. "The first is marriage, the second is men who get in the way between me and my lovely ladies… But now I think I may just have to add a third to that list. Tenacious idiots who don't know when they're beaten.
"So, I'll just summon X-Saber Anu Piranha in attack mode to illustrate that point!"
A ring of light appeared to the right of Victor, unleashing the red and black leathered dressed warrior lady with long, blonde hair flowing over her shoulders as she drew her whip like sword (1800/1100 + 800/0).
"Now… Dragon Lady, do the honors and remove that vampire, will you?" Victor requested holding his hand up slightly.
Roaring a powerful battle cry, the armored samurai woman leapt through the air and stabbed both of her swords directly into the chest of the vampire, making him shatter once more into millions of bats.
However, as the bats flew around Tarous, the Dream Traveler swatted the bats that flew towards his neck, "I choose not to use Curse of Vampire's effect again. He has fought valiantly, and I would rather not see him fall to your blades again."
"How noble," Victor chuckled as the Dragon Lady fell back to his side of the field. "Now then… I could destroy your Goblin Zombie, but you'd probably get back your Mezuki, and I don't need to deal with that Inugami again. But then again, knowing your deck, one or both of those face down monsters could be Pyramid Turtles. And as I said before, I don't want to deal with a Ryu Kokki…
"So, I'll wrap up this turn by slaying that Zombie Master of yours!"
Twisting around, the sexy X-Saber swung her whip-like sword around and sliced it right through the zombified young man's stomach, turning him into dust.
"… Truth be told…" Tarous chuckled nervously. "I forgot about him…"
Victor had to take a moment to allow his cold blood to freeze again, "… Are you blind or something?"
Tarous merely shook his head as he slowly pulled the top card from his deck, his eyebrow raising slightly, "… I… Pass…"
"Now that's just pathetic," Victor sighed with a shake of his head as he drew, not caring that the last of his Swords of Revealing Light shattered. "I guess that flame of your strength was just snuffed out… For now I have drawn what I needed to eliminate the threat of your Ryu Kokki, meet my Future Samurai!"
Another ring of light appeared in between the two female warriors on Victor's field, this time unleashing another Japanese styled warrior, this one a young woman dressed in cybernetic armor (complete with blue visor), a white kimono and wielding a silver blade (1600/1200 + 800/0) that she aimed towards Tarous.
"Now, allow me to explain what's going to happen next," Victor chuckled wagging a finger. "You see, my newest loveliest flower is what you would call a Gemini monster, so next turn I can second summon her… Giving her the effect of removing one monster from my graveyard to destroy one face-up monster on the field of my choice…
"So even if you do manage to bring out Ryu Kokki, and suicide it against any of my three lovely ladies, you'll leave yourself wide open… Now then…
"Time to clear this field of your disgusting abominations! Dragon Lady! Anu Piranha! Future Samurai! Attack and destroy his three monsters! Triple Sword Slash!"
All three of the beautiful warriors charged across the field, the Future Samurai stabbed her sword directly into the Goblin Zombie's forehead, shattering the monster into millions of pixels.
"I now can take a zombie from my deck," Tarous announced turning the card around. "And I choose Shutendoji."
A little confused with that selection, Victor merely smirked as he watched Anu Piranha whipped her sword on the face down monster on the left flipping it over to reveal…
"That was my second Goblin Zombie," Tarous stated pulling another card from his deck and into his hand. "This time, I choose Mezuki from my deck and place it into my hand."
"Please, the more cards you add to your hand, the more pathetic it is," Victor sighed with a shake of his head as the Dragon Lady stabbed both of her swords into the final face down monster. "Now, let's see what you've had hidden all this time…"
The Dragon Lady slowly pulled the blade back making the face down monster flip up into a large turtle that had a pyramid on its back, squealing loudly in pain before it shattered (1200/1400).
"And here it comes," Victor chuckled as Tarous pulled out his deck of monster cards. "Bring out that Ryu Kokki… I've already told you I'm ready for it…
'And even if he does try to suicide it, I still have my Mirror Force on the field to stop that attack from ever occurring…'
"… Let me say this," Tarous stated holding up his deck of cards, slowly fanning all the cards out. "I do not possess a Ryu Kokki in this deck… And to prove it, look for yourself…"
Turning the entire deck around, Tarous began to flip the cards in front of Victor, his eyes widening at the sight of all the cards in Tarous' deck, "You… You're just running…"
"I told you before," Tarous stated holding up his selected card from his deck before he snapped it back into his duel disk. "I don't need spells or traps… That's why I removed all of them from this deck!"
While not everyone is a master duelist, it was at least common knowledge to the guards and the two women callers that running a deck of nothing more than monsters wasn't the smartest thing to do.
And yet, here Tarous stood, standing his ground against Victor who was running a much more balanced (if not somewhat perverted) deck.
"You… You bastard, are you mocking me?" Victor seethed, narrowing his eyes.
"On the contrary," Tarous replied placing a card onto his duel disk, making a loud snort blast through the air, allowing a large dark furred ox demon to crash onto the field, slamming its fists into the ground (2200/400) in front of Tarous. "Me and Gyūki are fighting you to the best of our abilities…
"You see, the last time I dueled, I relied on a single trap card for my deck strategy. And while I was able to be somewhat successful, it was a crutch to me. I had discarded my monsters' effects, I disrespected them, therefore, when I decided to duel once more, I would rely on my monsters and their individual strengths…
"And… I shall continue to fight you with all my strength!"
"Yeah right," Victor muttered looking at the cards in his hand. 'Alright, he didn't play Ryu Kokki… Instead he played that other Yokai… Honestly, this is a slap to my face.
'So, I'll just have to try something a little different, just as a little reinsurance…'
Pulling up one of the few remaining cards in his hand, Victor slowly slid it into his duel disk, 'Enemy Controller will be able to put one of his monsters in defense mode should he bring out something that could annoying. The Magic Jammer in my hand is nothing more than wasted space if he's really not running spells or trap cards…'
Victor smiled as the face down card appeared behind all three of his lovely ladies, "That'll do for now then."
"Now," Tarous started, slowly clicking off the top card from his deck. "Its my…"
"Hyde?"
Tarous nearly dropped his cards when he heard that voice. Regaining his composure, Tarous, along with everyone apart of this duel, turned to the side to see Ace and Kyon standing to the side of the elevator. Ace had a look of pure rage painted on her face while the were-ermine merely snickered with his pipe bobbing up and down in his mouth.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ace snapped stomping up to Tarous, making the Dream Traveler stagger back slightly. "I thought you seriously hurt, and here we find you dueling against some blue haired freak… And speaking of hair, what the hell did you do to yours?"
A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Victor's head, 'My… What a vulgar tomboy, can't really work with anything like that…'
"Uh… Alice, right?" Tarous questioned crossing his arms over his chest. "If you could wait a few moments, I will explain everything after I win this duel."
"... Seriously, did that bolt of lightning screw up your head?" Ace questioned with a flat look on her face. "Even your voice sounds deeper than usual…"
Before Ace could continue, Kyon slowly pulled her back, wagging a finger at the youngest Shadowchaser in Las Vegas, "Alice… Don't you recognize anything about Hyde?"
"… Aside from his hair the fact that he doesn't have a cigarette in his mouth," Ace replied quickly. "No."
"Think back…" Kyon advised holding his hand out towards Hyde's currently possessed body. "Blonde hair… Deep voice… Slightly larger muscles… And quite possibly…"
"Now then," Tarous announced as he quickly drew. "My strength shall make you cry!"
That's all it took for Ace to slap her forehead in annoyance…
"That line is getting so old it's almost as obsolete as record players," Victor sighed as he shook his head.
Tarous remained silent as he reached for his duel disk, pulling off the Gyūki card, "Very well… Pain, anger, and vow, things that can create strength, but true strength is acquired when everything is put aside…
"This next card shows that very line! I sacrifice Gyūki… In order to normal summon Red Ogre!"
The bull demon roared loudly as a powerful flame washed over its body, burning the Yokai in several ashes. However, from those ashes, a familiar Yokai took it's place – The dual horned, blood skinned oni stood tall on the field, even taller than Tarous, its club seated in front of it…
Instead of arming itself with its weapon, the ogre pointed towards its chest with its right thumb and growled, "Ore…"
Then throwing its left arm forward and right arm back, the ogre roared loudly, "FUTATABI SANJOU!" (2800/2100)
"… Personally, I prefer the line," Tarous muttered loud as he lifted up five of the six remaining cards in his hand. "Nakeru de. That previous line reminds me too much of this other Dream Traveler I know of.
"Now hold on!" Victor hissed throwing his arm to the side. "That's a level seven monster, how in the world did you…"
"That's thanks to you actually," Tarous replied quickly as a ghostly spirit appeared behind him. "Way back, you destroyed my Sleepy Beauty, and so long as she rests in peace, all Zombies are considered to have one level less while in my hand, making my level seven Red Ogre into a level six in order to summon it with one tribute.
"But now, since my Red Ogre was normal summoned, I can discard as many cards from my hand, I can return as many cards from the field back to its owner's hands.
"Now, I'll return all three of your monsters, and your two set cards!"
Grabbing its spiked bat, the Ogre slammed the weapon into the ground, creating a powerful earthquake that rumbled over the entire casino, making all three of the sword wielding women, and the two set cards on Victor's field shake violently.
"I… I don't think so!" Victor announced as one of his face down cards flipped up, allowing a game controller to materialize in front of him. "I chain with your monster's summoning, and Enemy Controller will switch your Red Ogre to defense mode!"
The end of the game controller popped forward, connecting to the chest of the Red Ogre, making the oni blink a few times in confusion before it began to crouch down.
"Boo!" Ace shouted from the sidelines. "You need to use the Konami Code when you use Enemy Controller!"
Victor rolled his eyes as all the remaining cards on his field, save for Solidarity appeared back in his hand, "Since when is that a rule? And as for you Tarous… You realize that now your last ditch effort, while did cripple my strategy, didn't stop it. Next turn I can summon another monster and cleave that Red Ogre in two."
"I said I would end this," Tarous stated as his graveyard slot began to glow brightly, allowing two cards to pop out from his graveyard. "And you forgot about my Mezuki card… So by removing Mezuki from the graveyard, I can special summon Zombie Master back from my graveyard!"
Once more, the ground began to pull apart, unleashing the ragged man back onto the field, his cloak completely covered with dirt and grime (1800/0).
"Now, I'll discard the last monster in my hand," Tarous announced as he turned the card around, revealing it to be a second Pyramid Turtle, only to fit the card back into his graveyard slot. "I can bring back one of the monsters that I discarded with Red Ogre's effect… Momotarosword."
With a large grin on his face, the Zombie Master slammed his hand into the ground, immediately pulling his hand back to reveal a long curved saber that had several red and black runic symbols on its blade, while at the hilt was a demonic face that seemed to resemble the Red Ogre's head, complete with two horns (800/0).
"Far be it from me to question your taste in monsters," Victor chuckled with a shake of his head. "But still… You could've brought back that Shutendoji of yours and drawn another card… Or even brought back Inugami with your Mezuki."
"I have another idea in mind," Tarous stated as the Momotarosword spun in front of the Red Ogre, making him stand up, throw his club over Ace and Kyon's head and pull the sword up. "You see, my newest monster is a Union monster. And I equip it to Red Ogre, and when equipped to a monster, that monster automatically moves to attack position!"
Victor stepped back slightly at the sight of the Ogre, but then stepped forward, "Heh, that's not so scary. Even if you do attack with both of them, I won't lose. And I'll have enough life points to come up with a counter attack next turn…"
"I said would end this," Tarous replied throwing his hand towards the Zombie Master, allowing a powerful flame to erupt over the undead reviver, making him laugh loudly through the air. "And I shall! I activate the effect of Gyūki, allowing me to release my Zombie Master to summon him back to the field!"
The flames scattered, unleashing the dark furred Yokai to crash onto the ground, snorting loudly (2200/400), making Victor cover his mouth slightly, "Ugh… I have to say that smell is more terrible than any of the monsters you've summoned…"
"Joke all you want," Tarous stated as the Gyūki leapt through the air, pulling its fist back. "But that won't change the fact that…"
The Yokai's fist collided with Victor's stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and sending him skidding backwards into the closed elevator doors. (VLP: 2700)
"This duel…" Tarous continued as the Red Ogre ran across the field, pulling its sword back and thrusting it forward.
Victor's eyes widened as the curved blade stabbed right through his stomach, making him cough out loudly. "GAK!" (VLP: 0)
"… Dynamically Done…" Tarous stated cracking his neck loudly as the holograms began to disappear from the field.
"He says it after the duel?" Ace questioned with a raised eyebrow. "That's weird."
"Now that I am victorious," Tarous announced crossing his arms. "I assume that you'll keep your word… If not, then I can quickly turn this into a battle of strength."
Slowly pushing himself from the elevator, Victor sighed as he dusted off his suit, "Not really… I'm a man of my word. And thanks to you, I have provided enough of a service to Madame Jien… So now, I'm free to leave and you're free to use the elevator as you wish.
"Although, I have to warn you, it only goes up to a certain floor…"
With a snap of his fingers, the two women that were with Victor walked up to him and removed the deck and duel disk from his person, "Now if you excuse me. I have some paperwork to attend to back at the office. Have a nice day."
And just like that, Victor and his lady company just walked past the slightly stupefied guards, leaving Tarous to shuffle the deck of borrowed cards and snap them back into his duel disk. Silently, he began to walk towards the elevator…
"Hey!"
And then stopped as Ace skidded in front of him, Kyon just standing over at the side. Tarous merely blinked a few times at the younger Shadowchaser, "… Yes?"
"You kind of owe us a few explanations here!" Ace stated poking Tarous in the chest a few times. "Like what the hell are you doing in Hyde's body? I thought you Dream Travelers disappeared after three days when you didn't have a body? And what the hell are you doing here?"
"… Enter the elevator and all will be explained," Tarous offered holding his arm out towards the entrance. "I promise."
Before Ace could say anything, Kyon slowly drifted into the elevator with Tarous entering immediately after, "You better hurry Alice, the elevator's going to close."
"Hey! Just wait for me!" Alice yelped before she jumped into the elevator, just before the doors closed behind her.
The guards slowly looked at each other for a few seconds until one of the human guards finally spoke up, "… Um… What the hell just happened here?"
TBC
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Card Stats
Mischief of the Time Goddess / Normal Spell / Effect: End the current turn, and skip directly to your next Battle Phase.
Image: A cute priestess with long blue hair done in pig tails blowing a kiss
This card was used by Siegfried VonSchroder in the original Anime.
Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan / Earth / LV. 4 / ATK: 1700 / DEF: 1000 / Warrior/Effect: If this face-up Attack Position card did not attack during your Battle Phase, it gains 300 ATK during your next Standby Phase. If this card attacks after gaining ATK this way, it loses 300 ATK during the End Phase.
Description: A cute martial artist dressed in a pink fighter's gi with tied up red hair
Dragon Lady / Light / LV. 7 / ATK: 2500 / DEF: 2100 / Warrior/Effect: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned with 'Luminous Cloud'. Once per turn, you can select and destroy 1 Spell or Trap card on the field. If you do, this card cannot declare an attack this turn.
Description: A deathly beautiful woman dressed in brown samurai armor with a dragon like helmet atop of her red and yellow hair. In her hands is a pair of curved swords.
Luminous Cloud / Normal Spell / Effect: Tribute 1 'Master Kyonshee' and 1 'Kung-Fu Nyan Nyan'. Special summon 1 'Dragon Lady' from your hand or Deck. You cannot Special Summon other monsters this turn.
Image: Clouds gleaming light in between several plateaus
The preceding three cards were used by Vivian Wong in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime.
Mistress Kyonshee / Earth / LV. 4 / ATK: 1750 / DEF: 1000 / Warrior/Effect: While this card is face up on the field or in the graveyard, treat its name as 'Master Kyonshee'.
Description: A coldly beautiful woman dressed in a blue Chinese fighter's gi with a hat on her long black hair with a weird talisman covering her face
Young Swashbuckler / Water / LV. 4 / ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1200 / Warrior/Effect: By paying 800 life points, you may special summon this card from your hand. If this effect is used, this card cannot be used as a tribute during the turn this effect is used. This effect cannot be used if you have a face up 'Young Swashbuckler' on your side of the field.
Description: a young, spunky girl dressed in orange-red, baggy sleeveless robes with a matching pirate hat over her long brown hair, with a skull-and-crossbones on it, and over her shoulder is a large, black anchor
Momotarosword / Fire / LV. 3 / ATK: 800 / DEF: 0 / Zombie/Union: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to a face up Zombie or Warrior-Type monster as an equip card, or unequip the Union Equipment and special summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a monster by this card's effect, the equipped monster is switched to attack position and cannot change its battle position. When the equipped monster destroys a monster as a result of battle, inflict damage to your opponent's life points equal to half of the destroyed monster's ATK. (A monster can only be equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)
Description: a long curved saber that had several red and black runic symbols on its blade, while at the hilt was a demonic face that seemed to resemble the Red Ogre's head, complete with two horns
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Tarous: That duel has made you cry!
Ace: Seriously… Why are you in Hyde's body? And didn't you disappear?
Tarous: … Should that really matter?
Ace: YES!
Kyon: … Speaking of questions, Alice, where are your friends? And that rude fellow?
Ace: Ah, well, you see…
Next time, questions get answered!
So tune in to…
Draw 37
Dual Gate
Ace: … That's a weird name…