I haven't worked on I am Darkness in a while. I left it off in the middle of a game and it's taken me a while to get back into it. With the conclusion growing ever closer, hopefully this problem will diminish.


Dan: 740

Elizabeth: 668

"Well, that's not good…" Dan lamented as his partner landed at his feet. He picked up Drago, addressing him as he popped awake. "How you feelin', buddy?"

"Lousy. What in Vestroia just happened?"

"I think we got beat up."

"You don't say."

Dan returned Drago to his usual perch on his shoulder. "Don't worry. We've still got plenty of fight left in us!"

"I'll gladly relieve you of that now," Elizabeth called out, setting a Gate Card. "The next servant I call on is the Reflect Bounder! Stand!" A strange robot on a blue, bulbous stand appeared. It was red and had several mirrors covering its body.

Reflect Bounder: G-Power – 340

"Reflect Bounder?" Dan questioned, "I bet that's one of those Bakugan with the special powers. Darn. I may actually have to play carefully…" Dan set a Gate Card of his own. But just as everyone was convinced he was going through with being careful, he attacked head on anyway. "Griffon, Stand!" Dan's fiery winged lion appeared across from Reflect Bounder. Reflect Bounder had to be at least twelve feet tall, but it was still dwarfed by Griffon. Despite the difference in size and power, Elizabeth was eerily confident.

Griffon: G-Power – 380

Reflect Bounder: G-Power – 340

"Before I attack, I activate Oppressive Force!" Griffon belted out a roar that even impressed Drago. The roar rippled through the arena. It was loud enough to crack the mirrors on Reflect Bounder's body. "Dice him, Griffon!" The giant Bakugan obliged, raking its claws across the stunned Reflect Bounder and cutting it into five neat slices.

Dan: Life Points – 740

Elizabeth: Life Points – 628

"My Reflect Bounder! Why didn't it turn your attack against you?" Elizabeth gawked at her loss.

"Looks like I was right to be cautious," Dan smiled, "Oppressive Force cancels out the effect of an enemy Bakugan or card so long as my Bakugan is stronger!"

Elizabeth was slowly losing her ladylike grace as her ire mounted. "I am going to make you suffer for your insult…!" she sneered.

"Oh, come on," Dan dismissed, "That's just how the game is played. I get it's important and all, but-" Dan stopped when Drago cut him off.

"This is important, Daniel. You should take it a bit more seriously," Drago warned.

"Not you too."

"I remove two of my defeated Bakugan from the game to call out my Soul of Purity!" Two yellow spheres glowed and vanished into her chest over her heart. A glow built and formed into angle wings. A silhouette formed as the glow faded and a ghostly angel appeared on Dan's Gate Card.

Soul of Purity: G-Power – 400

Dan whistled. "That's a pretty good Bakugan. It's probably going to be tough to beat that. See what you can do, Griffon!"

The ghostly angle was barely taller than the two human opponents, but it was no dwarf in power. The silhouette raised her hand toward Griffon and it seemed to get weak-kneed. "Hey! What are you doing to Griffon?"

Soul of Purity: G-Power – 400

Griffon: G-Power – 320

"The Soul of Purity had the divine power to reduce my foe's strength by sixty points with her mere presence!"

"Well, we'll just have to do something about that. Firewall, activate!" A cyclone of flame burst up around Griffon, its shadow could be seen roaring behind it. "Firewall blocks your attempts to weaken my Bakugan and gives Griffon a boost!"

"Your simple tricks aren't worth my time! Punishment, activate!" The fire around Griffon vanished as quick as it had appeared, and it returned to its pathetic state. Meanwhile, as Griffon's strength faded, a bolt of light fell from the sky and struck Dan.

Dan: Life Points – 520 "Aaaargh!"

"Did you like that, you little child?" Elizabeth sneered, "Because your pain is just beginning!"

"Wow, that one hurt!" Dan almost complimented. He stretched a bit (to Drago's chagrin) before continuing. "Well, I guess it's a good thing I've got more than one Firewall card!"

"I activate Monument to Eternal Piety!" Elizabeth interrupted. A carved granite obelisk rose up behind her. At the top of the spire, was Elizabeth's Punishment card. "Now, Punishment's effect has become permanent! Every time one of us tries to use an Ability Card, we take two hundred damage and any G-Power boosts are reversed!" Once again, a fire cyclone rose and died around Griffon and Dan was blasted by light from above.

Elizabeth: Life Points – 628

Soul of Purity: G-Power – 400

Dan: Life Points – 320

Griffon: G-Power – 320

It took a second for Dan to catch his breath. "Okay, ouch. This is gonna be real tough if I can't boost my Bakugan's G-Power."

"It'll be impossible once I'm done with you. Soul of Purity, kill Griffon!" The angel's closed eyes snapped open unleashing a conical blast of light that enveloped both Dan and Griffon. Griffon was defeated instantly by the harsh attack and it took all Dan had not to get blown off his feet. "Have you had enough yet?"

Dan: Life Points – 240

To everyone's surprise, Dan smiled. "Had enough?" he chuckled, "Are you kidding? This is the best part! It's a close brawl like this that makes the game fun! And besides, your Ability Card doesn't block Gate Cards, right? Volcanic Resurrection, Open!" The Gate Card Soul of Purity stood on exploded into an erupting volcano. The angel was less than nonplused by the sudden volcanic activity, but Elizabeth was. Especially when two figures burst from the lava spewing crater; Drago and Griffon! "At the cost of half my Life Points, Volcanic Resurrection can bring up to two of my defeated Bakugan back into the fight!"

"Did he let me win that fight?!"

Dan: Life Points – 120

Dan's Army: G-Power – 850

Soul of Purity: G-Power – 400

"Remember me?" Drago growled at his opponents.

It took a second for Elizabeth to recover, but when she did, all her poise returned to her. "No. Hersey of the Sun, activate." The burst of light that kept hitting Dan so hard only seemed to empower Elizabeth, despite her reduced Life Points. "When my opponent resurrects a Bakugan, he takes two hundred points of damage."

"Come again?"

A giant red sun descended from the ceiling and smashed into Dan, throwing him onto his knees as Drago and Griffon looking on helplessly.

Elizabeth: Life Points – 428

Dan: Life Points – 0

There were looks of fear with Dan on his knees and all the injuries over the course of the tournament so far. A mad rush was about to begin when Dan threw his head back, "Awwwww man! And after I said I'd be seeing Yugi in the finals, too." He got up, Drago sulking on his shoulder. "I guess I'll have to work hard and win next time."

Elizabeth scoffed and looked away. "Just get off the battlefield. I have a finals match to win."

"Humph. Soar winner."

"The Semi-Final is over. The winner; Elizabeth Harrett!"


I'm really proud of this work. The prose is… okay, but I love the kind of strategies used and how I set up these characters (Elizabeth, Dan, and Drago). Also, I'm so tantalizingly close to the end of I am Darkness, I'm going to finish this before I work on anything else. I'll still keep my "by Friday at midnight" rule, but I am Darkness's end is on the horizon and I am going to claim that rising sun. (Sound Yu-Gi-Oh! enough?)