CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: The Legion
My apologies. I just got 5D's Tag Force 5 and it's just too damn addictive :P I bought maybe 40 of the Dragon packs and pulled just ONE Blue-Eyes! ONE! It's a damn RARE card. I pulled like three or four Five God Dragons, Dragon's Mirror, and Prime Material Dragons, which are ULTRA rares for crying out loud! What gives?
Excuse the rant :P I think I'd better switch back to NBA 2K11
Dark Oynx: Hahaha, yeah, Sigma FTW! He's one of my favorite characters to write, both for dueling and in terms of character. Kickass guy.
Candyman123: Well, at least you won't have to wonder forever :P
Btw, congratulations candyman123 on being the 200th reviewer! It's a great milestone, considering I got 191 for Advent which had 47 chapters, and this will be the 36th chapter of Nightrise. Thank you to all my readers. Without you guys, us writers would be nothing.
The Overlord bowed as it entered the giant, dark room.
The terrifying, low, flat voice echoed from within it, orders were issued, in a language no human being would be able to understand.
"Send forth all forces."
The Overlord gargled a response, in a nightmarish, raspy voice, which sounded more like a series of hisses and growls.
"What of the Pharaoh?"
"I will break him."
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"I don't have a good feeling about this," mumbled David to no one in particular
Max replied sarcastically. "Jeez Dave…. Twenty-something giant, floating, alien war machines of death float out of the sky; if you could find one person on the planet who does have a good feeling about this, I'll eat every card in my deck."
Aaron rolled his eyes. Sometimes it was hard being the straight man on a team of wack jobs. He kept his eyes fixed on the TV screen, which depicted the unreal scenes in Time Square. Yet another green ray had been fired out of the colossal, hovering, battle station, and left a reptilian, barely humanoid individual standing in its wake as it vanished.
He tore his eyes away from the screen as his phone buzzed. A text message.
He checked the number, and slowly, a satisfied grin spread across his face. Without looking at the bickering pair of Max and David, he hollered out behind him.
"Boys, there is a possibility someone is going to be in need of our expertise."
He turned to face them.
"Just in case…. We're going to Moscow."
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Bakura, Deondre, and Rikuo were keeping one eye on the duel, and one on each other.
Deondre was first to it. "I'll take this punk."
Rikuo swore. "Of all the audacious dog demons…"
Bakura raised an eyebrow. "If I recall, you were given the opportunity to take down the Gatekeeper."
Rikuo snorted. "The Gatekeeper? That's like allowing someone a single French fry but denying him a Happy Meal."
Sarah snapped angrily at both of them. "Just shut it with the analogies would you! Jason isn't out of this duel yet."
Bakura raised an eyebrow. "He faces a deficit of nearly twenty five thousand life-points, and an army of monsters, one of which has over twenty thousand attack points. Mandarin also has a facedown card just in case he can pull something out, not that it looks very likely considering he will have only three cards in his hand, plus Clevonce, once he finally takes his draw phase."
The Thief King narrowed his eyes.
"Speaking of which, what the bloody hell is he waiting for?"
The two demons turned a glance to the field as well. Other then Mandarin's Impregnable Protector, Sentry, Base Guardian, and two Defenders bearing down on the lone Clevonce, Jason was standing with his head drooped, long black bangs covering his eyes.
"Take your move," demanded Mandarin.
He got no reaction as a response.
Sarah frowned, a little worried. "What is going on here…? Jason never lets his opponents intimidate him. Granted, it's a very tight spot, but reacting like this…. It's just not like him."
"What's the matter?" spat Mandarin. "The pride of Eagle! Eizan Nakamura's golden boy! You pull off a fancy opening move, and then what? All out of tricks? I should have chosen the Wolf Demon General or the Thief King has my opponent. At least then, I'd have had some sort of a damned challenge!"
He hurled out the last few words as loudly, bitterly and scornfully as possible, as if the mere words could cause Jason indescribable pain.
"How does he know so much about Jason?" thought Sarah furiously.
Silence reigned.
Rikuo spoke roughly. "The duel is over. Pick between me, Deondre and Bakura, Mandarin, there's no need to continue-…."
A chilling, hollow laugh echoed through the room.
"There is every need to continue, foolish demon. Somebody here hasn't gotten the pain he deserves."
Everyone looked at Mandarin, expecting to see him as the source. His lips were sealed, however.
Then their gaze turned to the true source. Jason.
"You've been a rather interesting opponent."
Rikuo froze. That was certainly not Becker's voice.
"However, you will have to excuse me while I disembowel you and your pathetic Stronghold Shadows in the next few minutes."
"Tough words, Jason, tough words, when all you have is one pathetic monster against my army, and a disadvantage of nearly twenty-five thousand life-points."
The Eagle agent tilted his hands upward. "Whoever said I was Jason?"
Sarah's hands flew up to her mouth.
"Call me Quinn."
His eyes were glowing a brilliant emerald.
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Stage one complete. Mandarin had served his purpose.
The face of Dartz spread into a wide smile.
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"So what now?" breathed the voice into the receiver which Reflect held to his ear.
The President of Paradias allowed himself a leisurely smile.
"Things are falling into place, my friend. Fitting together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle…"
"Enough with the theatrics, Reflect," came an impatient reply. "I've held up my end of the bargain. What about yours?"
"I can spot a certain flaw within that sentence."
He heard a snarl of frustration. "I did what you told me to, damnit. I'm warning you-…."
Reflect gave a shadowy laugh. "You? Warning me? I'm the most powerful man in the world's most powerful criminal organization. You're a cheap traitor to your comrades, who would kill you if they realized what you were up to, with no hesitation whatsoever."
"The original terms of our agreement-…"
"I have changed those terms," interrupted Reflect. "I want you in Moscow."
"Are you insane? In case you haven't noticed, aliensjust dropped out of the sky. I can't exactly hop on an American Airlines to Russia you know."
"Oh, be creative," replied Reflect impatiently.
"What do you expect me to do?" snapped the mole. "The seas are safe for now I suppose, but I'm not exactly in a position to hijack a damn submarine and get it across the Atlantic myself, and then hitchhike two and a half thousand miles from Lisbon. It'd take me three weeks. Your agent is good but under the circumstances I highly doubt that he'd be able to wait that long. If you really needed me there, couldn't you have planned this damn operation before these reptilian freaks dropped out of the sky?"
Reflect sighed. "It's precisely the fact that these 'reptilian freaks' dropped out of the sky that allowed me to organize this operation. I suppose we could spare a company jet. Hop to it, your flight will leave La Guardia in less then half an hour."
There was dead silence. "You're signing my death warrant."
"Our guests will not be too interested in the odd aircraft, at least not yet. Give it less than twelve hours, things will change."
"What about the return journey?"
"Let me worry about those arrangements. All you worry about is executing the contingency orders to the letter."
He heard a sigh. "Why me?"
"Frankly I would prefer Ms. Taylor, but she's a little too loyal to the old man, isn't she?"
There was a momentary silence. "Fine. I'm leaving. Give it a little more than a half hour, they cannot notice that I'm missing, and I'll also have to use these damn underground catacombs, those scaled miscreations will be busy wreaking merry hell on the streets."
"Thirty minutes. Not a second longer."
"You're hardly making things any easier for yourself with this kind of attitude!" was the snappish reply.
Reflect spoke in a dark voice. "And you, my friend, are hardly making things any easier for your imprisoned comrade by speaking to me in such a manner."
He got an answer in a sad, defeated tone. "Fine…. Just help him would you."
"Follow my orders, and you'll be helping him yourself."
With that, Reflect disconnected.
He paused momentarily, and made another call.
Diablo answered in his rough, deep voice. "Yes."
"The mole is on its way. When the job is finished, I want a bullet through somebody's brain. Or somebody's neck broken. Or a knife in somebody's gut. Or whatever the hell it is you feel like doing at that particular point in time."
Diablo privately wondered if the old coot was losing it. A mole in one's enemy organization was a rarity in these circles, and they should be preserved with all possible care. His, however, was not to question why. If he did, and Reflect turned out to be in a bad mood, he might send Sigma to pay Diablo a visit. Diablo was not afraid of a single man on the planet, but even so he wouldn't be as confident with his chances against Sigma as he would against someone else.
So, his reply was simple, short, and to the point.
"I get the idea. Consider it done."
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The vanguard of the creatures stared down at the humans gathered around the river, its serpentine tail lashing before hitting the ground with a heavy thud. From behind its gas mask it slit like pupils dilated as words began to flash across its visor in a strange, otherworldly language which none could read but the new arrival itself.
Species: Homo Sapiens
Capabilities: Limited technological warfare, substantial global population, possible phantasmagorical abilities present in key individuals, also classified as 'Shadow Games'.
The people continued to murmur in a mixture of fright, awe and even disgust. Meanwhile, words continued to appear on the creature's visor.
Current status: Mass psychological unrest, extreme levels of anxiety and agitation, limited coordination.
Threat Levels:
Duelist Capable: Moderate
Non Duelist: Nonexistent.
Suggested course of action: Begin full scale assault and force targeted individuals into open terrain exploiting mammalian desire to protect one's kin.
Execution: Imminent, permission to engage granted.
Suddenly the beast threw back its head and gave a roar that was answered by each and every one of the creatures still emerging from the vessel above.
"What the hell is that all about?" Yugi yelped putting his fingers in his ears, the collective sound of growing
thousands of the creatures was rising to an incredible pitch.
Ryu's eyes narrowed as something deep within his blood resonated in answer to the call. "Its a battle cry Yugi...this is an invasion force."
"Mr. Nakamura wants us to get back down now," reiterated Graham, an added note of urgency in his voice.
Forget Yugi, Tea, Kaiba and the demons. Not even the Eagle operatives present seemed to be in the mood to listen to him.
Their eyes remained transfixed on the television screen. It was focused on the unmoving… thing, that had touched down from the colossal, hovering craft. High definition ensured that every detail of the beast's unbelievable visage was visible to them.
"That stone…." trailed off Kaiba staring ahead. He continued to stare on ahead at the pulsating green rock, embedded deep within the monster's armor.
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Maximillion Pegasus dropped his glass of Italian wine to the ground. It shattered, allowing the expensive drink to soak his carpet. However, he barely noticed. He was too busy staring at the TV screen in his private chambers, which depicted the current scenes in Tokyo. Staring, specifically, at the battle station which was hovering above it.
His mind flashed back perhaps ten years.
"Can it be…?"
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The truck driver never really saw it coming.
He had heard about some kind of UFO on the radio, and the government warning everyone to stay at home, but who really gave a damn? Five thousand big ones if he made this delivery of time. He had even noticed the hovering station as he drew into New York, but a joint or two prior to the drive had made him completely immune to fear of any kind. So much so he had even run the hastily constructed roadblock the National Guard had placed across the tunnel leading into the city. A mass panic had resulted in tens of thousands of people jumping into their vehicles and making a run for it, resulting in the exits of the city at both the Washington Bride as well as the Tunnel being choked, what with accidents and breakdowns. The driver ignored it all.
He was so busy thinking about all the beer he could buy with the payment that he didn't notice the looming figure standing in the road until the very last minute.
He braked hard, and honked in fury. His vision was blurry, but he was still able to yell out angrily. "Watch it, damnit….!"
The figure turned to look at him. He could make out that it was tall and bipedal, perhaps nearly eight feet, and was wearing some sort of dark blue armor. Its scales were an ugly combination of gray as well as crimson. In one hand, it held some sort of blaster.
"What in the-…." he swore.
He didn't have the time to complete the sentence. The creature raised its weapon, and he got a slightly better look at it for a second. It was unlike any gun he had ever seen, and in his shady dealings, the driver had seen plenty. The barrel measured nearly four feet in length, and was equipped with a complicated scope which was so large that it was a wonder the figure was able to hold it up at all. However, before he was even able to process these thoughts, the figure had pulled a trigger he couldn't see. An emerald burst issued forth, and burned its way through the window. The driver endured exactly three and four tenths seconds of absolutely screaming agony before he, and the entire cabin of the truck, was incinerated.
Casualty number one. And plenty more where that came from.
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The transfixed expressions on the faces of those within the Eagle headquarters turned to horror as they continued to watch the screen.
Lives were being taken. Innocents, trying to escape the madness, who were taken without an inkling.
"Get down now," snapped one of the Eagle officials. "The trouble is brewing closer to Times Square, we'll have just enough time to seal the underground level before those things get here."
Kaiba turned to glare at him.
"Do you expect me, Seto Kaiba, to hide, cowering in a little hole in the ground while those sideshow freaks kill innocent people out there?"
There was a flash of the Millennium Puzzle and Yami's deep voice sounded out.
"Kaiba can you just act sensible for once? This is bigger than us, we never anticipated something like this. We may have dealt with all kinds of foes the Shadows threw at us but extraterrestrials, Kaiba, extraterrestrials…."
"If the goddamned Council thought we were capable of taking down Apocalypse I think a bunch of these disgusting reptiles shouldn't be much of a problem," spat Kaiba.
Ryu groaned. He raised a hand, and seemed all set to knock the CEO unconscious so that he could be dragged down if need be, when they were all stopped short by an absolutely bloodcurdling shriek. It was coming from beneath them.
Daniel widened his eyes.
"They're in the bunker."
Everybody paused, unable to speak with shock.
"THEY'RE IN THE BUNKER!"
"We have to get out of here, now," breathed Graham.
This time, nobody argued.
Yami took an involuntary step towards the elevator, but one of the Eagle officials stopped him impatiently.
"I don't know how the hell they got into the damn bunker, but the elevator shaft runs all the way down. You lot need to take the stairs. Get to the roof, we're getting a helicopter. We'll cover you."
Before the ancient Pharaoh could reply, the official silenced him.
"The chopper will have enough fuel to get you out of the city. Once you're in Jersey, head south. The trouble is here, as well as in Washington. Get to Florida, we have another garrison there. The agent-in-charge there will put you in touch with Mr. Nakamura. The Archangel will be coming with you, and what with your-….," he gestured vaguely, "abilities, you all may just make it out in time."
"What about those in the infirmary?" snapped Kaiba.
"They will be evacuated through alternative means," pressed the official.
Zerato swooped in out of nowhere, joining them.
"Mr. Kaiba, now."
"I'm not running, goddamnit!" spat the holder of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. "My brother as well as the woman I love are both down there; if you expect me to just make a dash for it, you are sorely mistaken."
"Kaiba is right," affirmed Ryu. "Two Demon Lords are down there. I'm not abandoning them."
As he spoke, his hair began to turn golden.
Another bloodthirsty howl was heard from the ground floor, along with frantic yells. Gunshots were fired.
"You do not know what is coming," put in Zerato.
"Oh, and you do?"
The Archangel met the hard stare of the CEO. "Yes, I do."
Kaiba swore. "Damn it all….!"
Before anyone could react, he was on his way down the stairs.
Zerato's eyes widened. "That fool."
"I don't care what it is that's down there, I will not let Joey Wheeler be taken by these monsters!" snapped Yami, and made to follow the CEO.
Zerato gave Ryu, Daniel and CJ an imploring stare.
"I will accompany the Pharaoh and Kaiba down, we will make it out. Please, don't do anything foolhardy."
Ryu was about to speak, but was cut off by the Archangel.
"If I cannot get the two of them out alive, the Demon Lords will be all that stand between Apocalypse and total destruction. Reunite with the rest of your party, and Zeruge will find you. The Council will know what to do. Go, now, I beg of you."
Reason seemed to work with the Grand Dragon General a little better.
"Kaiba and the Pharaoh should be enough to get Siegfried and the others out," he thought silently, and nodded to Daniel and CJ.
"Let's go."
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Kaiba was pressed against the wall, breathing heavily, Yami beside him. A ragtag bunch of Eagle agents had barricaded the door leading down to the bunker. Something was behind it; that was for certain. Something big, and something extremely dangerous.
One of the agents stared at the CEO and Yami in shock.
"What in the blazes are you two doing here?" he screamed. "We're risking our lives to get you out of here!"
His words were punctuated by a giant thud against the door.
"If we needed to be rescued by you guys I don't think we'd be worth rescuing," said Kaiba nastily. "Now, get the hell out of here and let us deal with whatever freakshow is behind that door."
Zerato had made his way down by now. He put a hand on the Eagle agent's shoulder and nodded.
"We'll take it from here. Get as many people as you can into helicopters, and make for Florida."
The Eagle agents seemed to be obey Zerato unquestioningly. They abandoned the posts they had taken up behind upturned desks and pillars, handguns held loosely as they stalked grimly up the stairs. They were looking at the trio of Yami, Kaiba and Zerato almost pityingly… As if they were the condemned ones.
Kaiba took a deep breath, and flattened himself against the wall next to the handle of the door: he didn't want to get hit by tens of kilograms of wood right in the face when whatever creature behind the door burst through.
The thuds continued, sounding out above the otherwise empty silence.
It was probably the last few seconds of peace they would experience. Not that they still really had the time to contemplate this new development. A final, extra loud bang was heard, and the wooden slab was thrown off its hinges.
Time seemed to freeze momentarily.
The abomination which stood in the doorway measured maybe nine feet in height, easily dwarfing the tallest of the three: Kaiba. Its skin was a deep shade of orange, and looked heavily mutated, with all kinds of scars and inflammations covering it. Unlike most of its other comrades, it wore no helmet, instead with a giant reptilian frill that bordered its head. Pieces of armor clinked together over its body, leaving its spider-like, knobbly hands free though. In one hand it clutched a writhing man by the neck, probably one of the many Eagle agents who had been unfortunate enough to remain trapped underground for the carnage. Extending out from its chest was a cannon-like blaster with three barrels. They glowed a deep green.
"What in Ra's name…." mumbled Yami.
It let out a horrifying screech, and mercilessly snapped the man's neck. Yami was broken out of his reverie, and snarled with indignant anger. Before he could do anything, however, the beast was hit with a sphere of white energy which left Zerato's smoking hand. It caught the blast directly on the chest, and was knocked away from the entrance, into one of the walls.
Kaiba and Yami both stared at it.
"What are you waiting for?" bellowed Zerato. "You think it's done for? I'll deal with it, go get your friends."
Deciding it was a good time to not argue, the two rivals hurried down the stairs into the vast bunker. The last thing they heard was a cry of exertion from Zerato and an infuriated shriek from the creature, before they were swept up in a mass panic of half-dead Eagle agents and a whole swarm of creatures.
Kaiba deftly ducked a wild slash of an energy sword from one of the invaders.
"This is madness!" he hollered. "We won't even make it halfway to the infirmary, let alone back!"
Yami was too busy letting out a burst of golden energy from his Puzzle into the chest of a slightly smaller attacker, this one in black armor.
Thankfully, a new wave of Eagle agents had entered the area from one of the tunnels. The singular advantage they had over the invaders was their knowledge of the underground complex; it was easier for them not to get lost.
A hail of bullets slammed into a multitude of creatures attacking the stragglers. The bullets didn't seem to do any real damage to the mutant like beasts, let alone kill them, rather, it was akin to a tap on the shoulder. If anything, it served to distract them from their injured prey. This gave Yami and Kaiba a chance to break left, toward the area they knew housed the infirmary.
"What monstrosities!" gasped Yami.
"Don't keep your hopes high," snarled Kaiba. "They seem to be pouring in from the east, and if they've already made it that far I don't think a bunch of guys with guns are going to be able to stop them."
"Who are they?"
"I don't know," said Kaiba flatly. "I don't think anyone does, other than Zerato… We'll get answers from him later."
They made their way swiftly to the infirmary. Inside, a bunch of doctors and nurses were huddled up together, trembling.
"Our timeframe to get to the infirmary, get Serenity, Wheeler, Mokuba and Siegfried out along with these people and back to the stairs is maybe three minutes," growled Kaiba from the side of his mouth. "We need to be quick about it."
Yami smiled reassuringly at the head doctor, despite not feeling the same way himself.
"Don't worry. Get the patients, we're getting out of here."
With transfixed expressions on their faces, the medical practitioners made to gather up the various injured or unconscious individuals lying on the beds. Some, like Siegfried and Joey, were okay to simply lift up and carry on one's shoulders. There were a couple of other Eagle agents who were a little too badly injured, and had to be rolled out on stretchers.
"Where's that damn angel…." thought Kaiba urgently.
It seemed too late. A hulking, quadruple form came into the view of those in the infirmary. It was almost identical to the very first, centaur-like creature the group had witnessed descending from the floating battle station, except this one wore black armor. It held the two same tubes, except for the fact that burning green energy blades were visible from the openings.
Yami was framed in the door, his muscles tensing has screams of terror sounded behind him.
The creature snarled and bounded forward, moving both blades in perfect synchronization. The Millennium Puzzle glowed slightly, and a translucent golden shield appeared in front of the ancient Pharaoh, blocking the blades.
Yami would never really have any idea as to whether or not he could have been able to match the creature offensively after that. Thankfully, this was the case because Zerato had decided to make a grand entrance, blasting it off its feet with another sphere of brilliant white energy. He had a bunch of injured, but armed Eagle agents at his heels.
Yami turned to the Archangel, who was panting. He carried numerous wounds from what seemed to have been a brief yet brutal battle from back at the entrance to the bunker.
"COME ON!"
The attendants at the infirmary frankly made their way through the door, abandoning all caution about perhaps injuring their patients. Kaiba followed, with Mokuba on one of his shoulders.
"I'll handle our friend here!" hollered Yami to the Archangel. "They'll need your help to make their way to the helipad.
Zerato didn't move, glancing hesitantly from the stirring beast to Yami.
"GO!"
There wasn't any more time to argue. The troop moved off to the right as fast as they could, leaving Yami alone with the centaur-like extraterrestrial in the empty corridor.
"Just you and me, my friend….. Just you and me," murmured Yami, as the creature slid upwards across the linoleum floor.
To his eternal shock and surprise, the creature spoke.
"You will feed the wrath of the Legion."
It wasn't really even speaking as such, it was more of a raspy gargle. It was echoing in the background of some kind of strange growling snarl which seemed to be leaving the same creature's mouth at the same time.
Yami stared on, unable to shake off his surprise. The creature seemed to be speaking into some kind of apparatus which covered its mouth and most of its face. Was it some kind of language translator? If so, that was eons ahead of Earth technologically.
As he gazed at the creature, taking in its horrific features, he thought back to Necropolis.
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Flashback
Belial drew calmly. "I summon my Legion Shocktrooper (1900/1400)!" Slithering out of the darkness of the garage was a large, reptilian, centaur-like creature. It resembled a fish to a certain extent, with scaly green skin and flipper-like projections on its feet. A long, thick tail flopped out behind it. However, equipped with advanced mechanical battle armor with a glowing green stone set into its chest. It holds two huge glowing energy broadswords a breathing apparatus fixed over its face.
End Flashback
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"Why are you here?" he asked, slightly flustered.
The creature's jaws curved upward, almost into a smile. This exposed numerous fang-like teeth the size of knives. It retracted its blades and pushed the tubes into a metallic belt which was clipped to its torso.
It retrieved another object from the same place, a kind of sphere. It split into two half spheres, which suddenly hovered into the air. Without warning, one of the half spheres flew out towards Yami, morphing itself into a kind of wristband as it went. He swore as it slammed onto his wrist, firmly attaching itself in place. The other band, meanwhile, was firmly attached to the creature's wrist.
Yami struggled to rip it off, but it seemed firmly fixed in place.
"Duel."
Once again, there was a background of a raspy growl as the creature spoke. Yami's eyes bulged out as a green Duel Disk clicked into place on the arm of the extraterrestrial beast. It resembled the Chaos Duel Disk used by Paradias operatives only to a certain extent…. It was just that the Shocktrooper's Duel Disk looked a whole lot more alive. The deckslot was a solid, emerald-like green, while the area where cards were to be placed resembled the fins of a fish, a lighter, more yellowish-green, like that of the scales of a reptile.
"Aliens dueling? And we thought we'd seen it all."
"You think this is going to work?" asked Yugi grimly, as his darker half slid his own DD2 on.
"We don't have an option. At the very least it'll draw attention from the other infiltrators and give the others time to escape. Anyway, we need to start being a little more proactive. I won't stop until we get to the bottom of this."
(Shocktrooper: 8000, Yami: 8000)
The extraterrestrial creature was barely able to hold its cards within its fin-like hands. Drawing its sixth, the raspy voice echoed across the empty corridor.
"Legion Warrior (1800/1400), offensive position, normal summon."
An almost mutant-like, silvery creature outfitted with black armor materialized from the shadows onto the Shocktrooper's field. It was roughly as big as a large rhinoceros, with disproportionately large hands and feet, each about as big as a desk. Its eyes were like a pair of deep, hollow black voids. A thorny frill framed its head, with green stones embedded in its chest cavity and each shoulder. Its claws had spinning laser edged teeth like futuristic chainsaws.
Then the Shocktrooper slid two cards into its magic and trap card zone, the nightmare voice sounding in Yami's ears again.
"Defensive maneuvers are set in place. The enemy is given an opportunity to organize tactics."
Yami drew silently.
"I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000) in attack mode!"
A mage with mostly maroon armor and a cape, with gold trim and some blue jewels, appeared onto the field. He had a hood over his head, which covered blue skin. In his hands were a sword and shield, showing he wasn't just a mage, but was also a warrior.
"Since I just normal summoned Breaker, his effect activates. He now gains a Spell Counter, granting him an additional 300 attack points (1600 + 300 = 1900/1000)."
A small crimson ring of energy materialized around the sword of Breaker.
"Breaker, attack his Legion Warrior!"
The spellcasting swordsman charged across the field, and brought its blade down onto the towering mutant. The sword cleaved through the armor like a hot knife through butter, splitting the creature in half. Momentarily, the pair of pieces hung around, before exploding. Breaker maintained the pose for a second before sheathing his sword and returning to Yami's field.
(Shocktrooper: 7900, Yami: 8000)
The Shocktrooper let out a small groan. Yami noticed an electric spark around the band on its wrist as its life-points fell slightly.
"Reinforcements are called."
To Yami's eternal surprise, a second monster appeared on the Shocktrooper's field, identical to the first, except that it was larger and more muscular (2000/1400).
"When Legion Warrior is killed, information concerning the enemy is relayed to reinforcements. FOR THE LEGION!"
The Shocktrooper yelled out the last three words much more loudly, startling Yami. From what he gathered of the creature's rants, when Legion Warrior was destroyed in battle, another one was special summoned from its owner's deck, with that monster's attack points set at the attack points of the destroyer plus one hundred.
"Very well," he growled. "I activate my quick-play spell, Magical Dimension! By sacrificing a spellcaster on my field, I can special summon another one from my hand, and destroy one monster on your field. I choose my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"
A golden statue held up by chains in four different directions appeared. The top half opened, sending out a beam of energy at the maroon mage. The mage vanished, and the beam returned to within the statue.
Opening once more, the statue shot out a new beam. Forming in front of the statue, a young woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a skimpy blue and pink mage's dress that showed her cleavage quite well with the dress barely covering her back side, a blue and pink mage's hat, and a staff in her right hand took to the field.
She fired out a small sphere in the direction of the Legion Warrior. Just as it was about to impact, the Shocktrooper reacted.
"Evasive action is taken."
One of the Shocktrooper's facedown cards flipped up to reveal Interdimensional Matter Transporter. Just as the Dark Magician Girl's attack was about to impact it, the creature of battle vanished into thin air.
Yami frowned. "He wants that monster to survive…"
"Dark Magician Girl, Dark Burning Attack!"
A pink, spear-shaped bolt of energy left the mage's staff, and slammed into the Shocktrooper. Without warning, the band on its wrist suddenly exploded with electricity, and its victim let out a demonic howl of agony.
Yami looked on, disconcerted. The electricity continued to wrack the body of the creature until its life-points stopped dropping.
(Shocktrooper: 5900, Yami: 8000)
"I think there's some kind of correlation between the damage done and the amount of electricity someone is zapped with if you're dueling while wearing one of these bands," muttered Yugi through their mental link.
Yami gritted his teeth.
"Well then I suppose I'll just have to try not to take damage then…"
"Then I set one card facedown and end my turn," declared Yami confidently.
The Shocktrooper drew.
"The need for evasive action has passed."
The Legion Warrior re-materialized on its field.
"Reorganization of forces…! Power Split, activate!"
The Shocktrooper began to dissolve into green sludge to Yami's disgust. The pile of sludge split into two further parts, which began to morph into two further shapes.
The first was a very advanced looking fighter jet. It was covered in heavy black armor exoskeleton, with the barrels of glowing cannons nestled at the back, glowing with emerald energy. The source of this was a green, glowing stone which sat between the two cannons. Its hull was very large, relative to the rest of its parts.
The other monster seemed to be made of the sludge itself, the only difference being that it was a deep shade of red. It was barely humanoid, with a bulbous head, tapering down to a thinner torso with spindly hands sticking out, and disappearing away into a barely visible tail. Two holes in the slime seemed to be its eyes.
"At the cost of a Legion-type monster, reorganization of forces occurs in the form of as many Legion-type monsters as possible from his hand, as long as the total strength of the reinforcements is equal to the strength of the dead soldier. Legion Armored Transport Craft (1000/2000) and Legion Plasma Titan (1000/1000)!"
Yami stared blankly at the Shocktrooper. "It's speech patterns… They're so…bizarre!"
"Legion Hunter, normal summon (1600/800)."
An amphibian like creature materialized onto the field of the Shocktrooper. It was bipedal, with turquoise skin. Its torso, shoulders, and half of its legs were covered in jet-black armor, with glowing green stones set in both its shoulders, as well as its chest. It held a crimson rifle in one hand, and glared down at the increasingly nervous Dark Magician Girl through the scope.
"Legion Hunter obeys commands unquestioningly. A monster-type is declared, and action will be taken in accordance with the suggested course. Spellcaster type is suggested."
A bolt of energy left the rifle and slammed into the Dark Magician Girl. She gave Yami a sad, pained smile, before her entire body dissolved away into nothingness.
"When a monster is destroyed outside of battle, Legion Armored Transport Craft grants four hundred life-points per fallen Legion-type field operative. Plasma Titan benefits, gaining an equal amount of strength as per the life-point increase."
(Shocktrooper: 6700, Yami: 8000)
Meanwhile, the Plasma Titan glowed with energy as its attack points took a turn up (1800/1000).
"Offensive, tactics, initiate. An assault is executed."
"This is going to hurt," thought Yami grimly.
It did. The Legion Hunter fired off a bolt of green energy at him from its rifle, while the Armored Transport Craft let lose twin beams of energy from its cannons. The Plasma Titan vibrated for a second, and a part of its body separated from it, flying in the direction of Yami. The three attacks impacted him simultaneously, but it was nothing compared to the electricity which shot up from his right hand just a few seconds later.
He fell to his knees, clutching his chest with one hand and just barely stifling a cry of pain as his life-points plummeted.
(Shocktrooper: 6700, Yami: 3600)
"The adversary will attempt reorganization of tactics," echoed the Shocktrooper.
"I've decided that I'm about sick of your prattling!" snapped Yami as he staggered upwards.
"Draw!"
He snapped the top card off his deck and looked at it. Allowing himself a faint smile, he thought, "The duel ends here."
"I activate Monster Reborn, to special summon my Dark Magician Girl (200/1700) once again!"
The female mage reappeared in front of Yami, as he continued. "Then comes my facedown Sage's Stone, to call upon the one who has served me loyally for millennia. Answer me call and bring defeat to my foes…! Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"
Appearing next to his apprentice was the stronger mage in purple armor with flowing purple robes. He wore a strange set of armor, with a strange mage's hat, and had a powerful green staff that was nearly as tall as his body. His long hair that could be seen hanging out of his hat was purple and his eyes were the color of lilac.
"Then I activate Dedication Through Light and Darkness! I sacrifice Dark Magician to special summon Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600) from my deck!"
The Dark Magician disappeared. A fiery pentagram formed on the field a slowly a mage in black tight fitting armor rose up through the flames. His blue skinned slightly gleamed in the flames, and his eyes were closed shut. He opened his eyes, to reveal flaming pupils. He then took his powerful staff in his hand and swung it out, making the flames on the field instantly disappear.
"When Dark Magician of Chaos is special summoned, I can add another magic card to my hand from my graveyard. I choose Monster Reborn, to once again call upon Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"
Completing the trinity of mages was Yami's favorite monster once again.
"I equip Dark Magician of Chaos with Diffusion Wave Motion! At the cost of one thousand life-points, he will now attack all your monsters one by one. Chaos Scepter Blast!"
The legendary Chaos Mage raised his staff triumphantly, and it began to glow with black, chaotic energy at the tip. He swept his staff downwards, and a sphere of it came away and sped towards the trio of monsters on the Legion Shocktrooper's field. It split into three further spheres, with each taking out one monster at a time.
(Shocktrooper: 2700, Yami: 2600)
"Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, end this duel now!"
The two spellcasters crossed their staffs, and the point where the two weapons met began to glow with purplish black energy. Teacher and pupil dropped their rapiers simultaneously, the sphere flowing out towards the Shocktrooper, who was still writhing from agony as a result of the electricity which was shooting through his body due to the attack of the Dark Magician of Chaos. He was blown off his feet completely by the twin blasts.
(Shocktrooper: 0, Yami: 8000)
The ancient Pharaoh glanced at his life-point counter.
"What's this?"
He was distracted, however, by the screams of pain from the Shocktrooper. He looked on in shock to see that the electricity from the band continued to wrack its body. It let out one final shriek before its flesh began to literally wither away into nothingness. All that was left was a lingering trace of a green gas, which seemed to get absorbed by the green stone which was originally set in the Shocktrooper's chest: as it were, the stone seemed immune to destruction by the electricity. Within seconds, the creature was completely incinerated. The band which seemed responsible for its destruction clanked to the ground, along with the stone.
A metallic clank was heard. Yami looked up, alarmed, to see another creature stepping forward to take the place of the one that Yami had just defeated. Stepping down, it took the band from the ground and slipped it on. The green stone lay there, continuing to glow intensely.
(Shocktrooper Two: 8000, Yami: 8000)
"Fallen troops are to be replaced. The enemy will continue with his chosen course of action."
Yami frowned. "So, a chain duel… As per the rules, my life-points get reset to eight thousand after my opponent loses. There is the risk of my decking out, but hopefully I'll have plowed through enough of these jokers by then to ensure things go the way I need them to."
Yami didn't have any cards left in his hand, but with his trinity of magicians in play, he wasn't worried.
"I end my turn."
The Shocktrooper drew, and its raspy voice echoed out.
"Legion Shocktrooper (1900/1400), summon."
A monster identical to its controller materialized onto its field.
"Effect, activate. Cards are discarded, an equal number of reinforcements are called upon. The enemy may not be engaged for the duration of the turn."
The freakish creature slid two cards into its graveyard, and a pair of Shocktrooper tokens (1900/1400) (x2) appeared next to the original.
"What's he playing at?" thought Yami.
"Double Summon, activate. One more normal summon may be conducted during this turn. Come, Legion Attack Craft (1200/800)."
A jet black space fighter appeared among the swarm on the Shocktrooper's field, its body smooth and shining, meaning it had very thin plating. The forward part of it was split down the middle as well, a few gun turrets visible in the space between the two halves. It was covered with advanced, extraterrestrial weaponry, and had a green stone set in between the two turrets.
"Effect, activate. Legion Attack Craft requires sacrifices in the form of Legion-type monsters. An equal number of cards belonging to the opponent will be terminated."
Yami gasped as the trio of Shocktroopers transformed into a trinity of green orbs, which were absorbed by the space fighter. There was a bit of a small groan as the machinery within it creeked, and the Attack Craft fired out three consecutive spheres of green energy in the direction of the three magicians on Yami's field. They merely smiled sadly at him as they were decimated, one by one.
"Turn end. The enemy may plot a course of action."
Yami drew angrily.
"I summon Rapid-Fire Magician (1600/1200)!"
A mage with long flowing purple hair, a black pair of leather pants, a short sleeved cloak with black flowing cloak, an odd black hat, and two black finger cut off gloves then appeared. In each hand he held a staff with bird like claws, which clutched small orbs. To top it all off, around nine different colored spheres formed an arch around him.
"Attack his Legion Attack Craft now!"
The mage let lose a sphere of black flames from the tip of its staff. The flames collided with the machine, which was almost instantly destroyed, leaving bare, scrap bits scattered around on the floor in front of it.
(Shocktrooper Two: 7600, Yami: 8000)
The Shocktrooper let out a slight screech as electricity racked its body from the band.
"I will end my turn," breathed Yami.
The Shocktrooper snapped the top card off its deck.
"The species of the opponent is prone to irrational and emotionally driven thinking," droned the nightmare voice.
"Pot of Greed, activate."
Looking over the three cards in its hand through the visor covering its primal yellow eyes, the Shocktrooper slid one into its magic and trap card zone.
"Tribute for Phalanx, activate. One Legion-type monster within the deck is terminated. One Legion-type monster with a level lower than the sent monster is added to the hand. Legion Plasma Titan (1000/1000), is terminated. Legion Grey (300/200), will be added, and normal summoned."
Yami grimaced as the familiar silhouette of the disgusting, sludge-like monster appeared on the Shocktrooper's field before vanishing in a flash once again.
A tall, thin mutant appeared on Belial's field, filling it up. It was roughly humanoid, and extremely slender. It had long limbs, blood red eyes, and a large green stone settled in its chest. From its hands spread out numerous, tentacle-like fingers. Its body seemed to be made of pieces of some jet-black material as it bent over at an unnatural angle, leering at Yami.
"Double Spell, activate. One card is discarded, a spell card is taken from the adversary's graveyard. Monster Reborn is chosen. Card, activate. Legion Plasma Titan (1000/1000), come."
The red slime began to form over the field of the Shocktrooper, taking the large, lumbering, humanoid shape.
"Legion Grey is tuned with Legion Plasma Titan. Synchro Summon, Legion Avatar – Brood Mother (2600/2000)."
The thin tuner monster once again evaporated into spheres of light, surrounding the living tower of slime which itself had turned into a glowing star. The trio began to spin around, disappearing into a large vortex of light, from which emerged a tall, screeching female fiend, covered in a black, armor like-hide, with a number of green stones set into the armor like lavish jewels. She had four, clawed arms, which were slashing wildly at thin air, which were attached to frilly spines on her shoulder, with a similar one framing her head.
"A Legion-type Synchro monster summoned with Legion Grey as a Synchro material is strengthened by four hundred for every terminated Legion Grey."
The Brood Mother (3000/2000) was hit by a stream of green energy from the Shocktrooper's graveyard.
"An offensive assault is initiated. Legion Avatar – Brood Mother will terminate Rapid-Fire Magician."
The screaming female general charged across the field. Two of her arms grabbed the mage on each side, pinning its arms to its side. The other two ripped its head off in a most gruesome fashion, spilling blood and body parts all over the place. It took all of Yami's discipline to not look away.
"It seems a traitor has been discovered within the ranks of the enemy."
To Yami's shock, the headless body of the late Rapid-Fire Magician reached down and picked up its own fallen head. Somehow, it jammed it back onto the remnant stump of its neck. The result was not pretty, but a green glow had entered its eyes as it trotted over to the Shocktrooper's field. A tentacle reached out from the Brood Mother's back, attaching itself to the point where the now dead magician's head was loosely connected to the rest of its body.
"Upon the termination of a monster by Legion Avatar – Brood Mother, a Brood Token with identical statistics and effects is special summoned to my field."
Yami grimaced as bolts of electricity shot up his arm. The pain was getting to him, as much as he tried to ignore it. Both the Brood Mother and the Brood Token (1600/1200) snarled at him.
(Shocktrooper Two: 7600, Yami: 6600)
"The enemy is given an opportunity to reorganize tactics."
Yami drew.
"Heart of the cards, now would be a good time to help me out…."
He looked at the card and exhaled.
"I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
The Shocktrooper drew.
"A course of action is decided upon. An attack is initiated. Brood Token targets the enemy's monster."
The magician, which was looking more and more disgusting by the second, raised its staff and a bolt of crimson energy lanced out towards Yami's field. The card image soon vanished to reveal a young mage in a kneeling position. The mage had blonde hair that stood up somewhat, a red bandanna that was somewhat long in the back, purple body armor that covered its body, except for its arms, and had a green staff positioned defensively in front of itself. The energy struck the mage, causing it to shatter almost immediatley.
"When Apprentice Magician (400/800) is destroyed, I may special summon one level two or lower spellcaster from my deck in facedown defense mode," declared Yami with a faint smile.
"Brood Mother will initiate the second stage of the assault," droned the Shocktrooper in its bizarre voice.
Yami didn't want to see it again. He looked down, averting the goings on upon his field from the line of sight. It was grotesque enough for his actions to be justifiable, as the card flipped up to reveal, predictably, another Apprentice Magician, which was decapitated by the nightmarish Brood Mother.
Slowly, it somehow put itself back together and trekked over to join the Shocktrooper's other monsters as a Brood Token (400/800). Another tentacle from the Brood Mother ensured it would remain there.
Yami slammed another card facedown on his deck, and exhaled.
"Turn end. The enemy may reorganize tactics."
Yami had to admit he was surprised. First off, he still hadn't been able to grasp the concept of Aliens dueling. Second, it was even more shocking that the Shocktrooper was aware that he had possibly used the second Apprentice Magician's effect to special summon a third one, which, with eight hundred defense points, would be too much for the four hundred of his Legion Brood token.
On Yami's part, it was a very good double bluff, as the Shocktrooper was about to find out. If his next draw panned out the way he wanted it to, the duel would end. If not, he still had a very good chance of getting back into the duel in any case.
"I activate Graceful Charity."
Yami snapped three cards off his deck, and held one up. Repayment of Losses. He slid it, and another card into his graveyard before drawing a further one.
He grinned as he looked at his next cards. Perfect.
"I activate Secrecy of the Magician! This works like Book of Moon, but for spellcaster type monsters. I can remove one monster in your graveyard from play, and special summon one spellcaster type monster from my removed from play pile, at the cost of a mere one thousand life-points!"
(Shocktrooper Two: 7600, Yami: 5600)
The word 'mere' didn't seem to quite fit the agony Yami endured as the dreaded shocks once again wracked his limbs. He ignored it as best he could:
The Legion Grey's silhouette flitted in and out of existence, as the Brood Mother let out a low groan while its attack points fell (2600/2000).
"Meanwhile, I'll special summon my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600) once again!"
The powerful chaos mage appeared on Yami's field once again, dressed in its black bodysuit, with its crimson staff pointed at the Legion Brood Mother.
"Then I activate its effect, allowing me to take a spell card from my graveyard. I choose Monster Reborn, which I activate immediately. Come to me again, Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"
Appearing without a moment's hesitation was the purple robed mage once more. He instantly crossed his arms with his staff in hand upon his reappearance.
"I flip my facedown Magician of Faith (300/400)."
The image of the brown backed card vanished, instantly revealing a young female mage with long pink hair up in a pony tail, wearing purple and pink robes with a yellow cord belt, holding a long golden staff with a crescent moon at the top of the staff.
"Then I use her effect, which allows me to return one spell card from my graveyard to my hand. I choose Monster Reborn again, and use it to special summon Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"
The blonde haired young woman with blue eyes, a revealing blue and pink mage's outfit, and a small golden staff formed in front of Yami.
"Then I tribute my Magician of Faith to call upon Cybernetic Magician (2400/1000)!"
A small flash appeared on the field as the young female mage vanished, and a new mage clad in white appeared. He had a small pointed hat, a white and silver trench coat/robes, blue pants, white boots that went up to his knees, and a small l-shaped rod that had a small bit past the corner of the L size. His hair was blonde, and his skin tone was light green.
He smirked at the Shocktrooper.
"I admit to a bit of a gamble on that last move. You could have attacked my Magician of Faith and flipped it a turn early, disrupting my strategy. You thought I was going to be predictable and choose to instead special summon my third Apprentice Magician (400/800). Just goes to show that wherever you've come from, intending to take our planet, you are not going to beat us at our own game."
Yami pointed a triumphant finger in the direction of the Brood Mother.
"Now, I use Cybernetic Magician's effect, discarding one card from my hand in order to reduce your Legion Avatar – Brood Mother's attack points down to two thousand!"
The white robed mage twirled his staff and let out a small white sphere, which struck the hideous, tentacle creature (2000/2000).
"The duel ends now! Dark Magician of Chaos, lead the charge and destroy Brood Mother. Chaos Scepter Blast!"
Yami's strongest magician fired off a sphere of black energy at the Synchro monster, scoring a direct hit. The blast exploded just as it touched its target, blowing the abomination's head off. As a result, a shockwave travelled down its spine and severed the tentacles attaching themselves to the pair of Brood Tokens, which exploded as well.
(Shocktrooper Two: 6800, Yami: 5600)
Yami smirked. "I guessed right. When the Brood Mother is destroyed, she takes all Brood Tokens with her. Now, Cybernetic Magician, Dark Magician, and Dark Magician Girl, attack his life-points directly!"
Three of the quarter of magicians raised their staffs as the fourth stood by and watch. A hail of energy waves, one purplish-black, one pink, and one a bright white, slammed into the Shocktrooper one after another, knocking him off his feet.
Yami grimaced. Would it happen again?
It did. Yami's second opponent thrashed in agony as thousands of volts continued to wrack its body. Within seconds, it too had been vaporized.
Yami had been so focused on the duel that he did not notice that he had acquired a small gathering of spectators: none of them human.
They hissed and roared as another Shocktrooper stepped forward and slid the band on. Now two stones lay glowing next to him.
(Shocktrooper Three: 8000, Yami: 8000)
"Sure you can continue, Yami?" asked Yugi, concerned, through their mental link.
Yami shrugged. "I hardly have a choice. This was the plan, it's best to stick with it."
The Shocktrooper drew.
"Defensive tactics, initiate. Two cards are set. Turn end."
Yami drew, and let a faint smile show.
"I activate Dark Magic Attack!"
As he spoke, the Dark Magician raised his free hand, and a sphere of purple energy began to form within it.
"When Dark Magician is in play, I can use it to destroy all magic and trap cards on your field!"
The sphere was released, and slammed into the images of the two brown-backed cards. They exploded, but not before they were shown to be Mirror Force and Hyper Refresh, respectively. The Shocktrooper's plan had not paid off.
Yami pointed at the Shocktrooper's field triumphantly.
"My magicians, attack his life-points directly!"
A hail of different colored attacks left the staffs of the quartet of spellcasters on Yami's field, slamming into the Shocktrooper. Before they even touched him, thousands of volts of energy shot through his body, drawing shrieks which none could hear but the surrounding, hissing spectators, and Yami himself.
For the third time, Yami's attacks had ended the life of one of the extraterrestrial invaders. To be honest, he didn't feel all that bad about it.
Another Shocktrooper approached the grizzly remains and slipped on the band.
Yami paled inwardly. "How many are there?"
(Shocktrooper Four: 8000, Yami: 8000)
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Sarah had fallen to her knees.
"NO!" she screeched. "Get the hell out!"
She was met by a piercing emerald gaze.
"Ah… Sarah. I seem to recall meeting you once. Unfortunately the moment you became aware that I had taken control you informed the guards present, which resulted in my subjection to another rather grueling session of therapy."
Rikuo, Bakura and Deondre continued to stare on in horror. What the hell was going on?
"I didn't really appreciate that… I will get appropriate revenge when necessary. At this point, however, it seems I will be Mandarin's tour guide on tonight's trip to hell."
The giant man seemed flustered. "Those are tough words, Jason, or whatever the hell it is you want to call yourself-…"
"The name," came the drawling retort, "is Quinn."
"SHUT UP!" screamed Sarah. "Fight him, Jason, please!"
Quinn's smile broadened.
"Him? Fight me? Maybe you should feature on Comedy Central, Sarah. You should have seen him. It was so pathetic."
He raised a hand absently, observing it.
"To think that disgusting, weak aberration actually controlled the power within this body….."
He gave a short, bark-like laugh.
"He cried, you know. Like a child. He cried, while begging me to help him-…"
His words were cut off because Sarah had bounded across the hallway and delivered an absolutely devastating punch to his jaw, before anybody could stop her. Despite her lithe frame, Sarah spent a considerable amount of time in the gym, and a single well aimed blow from her with the appropriate amount of power behind it could break anyone's neck.
Momentarily, Quinn's head hung back.
"Get back here, foolish girl!" snapped Bakura, taking a step forward.
Quinn's body was starting to glow. At first, it was just a gentle, lime green. Within seconds, the aura had exploded into a deep emerald which matched his eyes. Slowly, he craned his neck forward, forcing Sarah's fist back.
She stepped back in shock. One single muscle in his neck was strong enough to counter all the strength in her arm.
He flashed her a sadistic grin.
"My turn."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Eizan knew his worst nightmare had been realized.
The Jade Star had arrived. Its denizens were probably flooding all over the world at this point, wreaking havoc. Eagle would be a mess. The hunt for the Seals of Immortality would probably take a back seat as the Council debated what to do about this newest development. Most likely, they wouldn't offer much help due to their non-intervention policy. Then there was Paradias. God only knew what Reflect was up to. Eizan knew deep down that his rival had anticipated the arrival of the Jade Star just like he had. Whether he had been prepared for the sudden jumpstart of its arrival time was an unknown factor. There were still four Seals out there, one in the hands of a madman who was powerful enough to rule the City of the Dead, and the other three behind the infinite layers of protection that the Council had placed on them so long ago.
Eizan gripped his fist tightly as he tried to stare down into the mist from the cockpit window. Surely things could not get worse.
Within the next five seconds, he was proved wrong. Very, very wrong.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Bakura had just gotten to Sarah in time to generate a shield of energy using his Millennium Ring. Had he failed to do so, her fate would have been death, certainly.
The reason for this was that barely a second after Quinn had uttered those words, his entire body seemed to be eclipsed by an aura of shining green light. Another second or two later, and the energy had exploded outward. Basically, anything in its path had been destroyed. Destroyed was actually a bit of a mild word. Completely decimated, atomized, and obliterated would prove to be a more apt description of what happened.
The light was really too blinding for the demons, Sarah or Bakura to see anything behind the shield the latter had created. All that their sensory organs could pick up was the sound of crashing rocks from the ceiling and walls of Mandarin's gigantic palace. Most of them even clanged off the energy shield.
Even after the entire palace had more or less crumbled around them, vision was near zero due to the cloud of dust which had risen up.
Coughing and waving her hand to clear the air in front of her eyes, Sarah squinted to get a look at the dueling field, her heart beat through the roof, terror filling her senses.
Jason, no, Quinn, was standing in the exact same position, that same mild, terrifying smile gracing his features. Mandarin stood on the other end behind his army of monsters, a look of complete horror plastered across his face.
There they stood, in the open valley, Eizan's plane circling around. The mist had disappeared, presumably as a result of Quinn's outburst.
He laughed again, that same bark-like chuckle.
"Now, as for you, Mandarin…. Where were we?"
(Quinn: 200, Mandarin: 24800)
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HAHAHAHA I love cliffies :). If I switch to another game from Tag Force I can guarantee a very fast update. Enjoy :).