As Anthony and company wandered through the forest on their way to Gi, the silence was slowly getting to the sole male of the group. Occasionally there was the call of an animal, and at one point they passed a small stream, but for the most part it was dead quiet, with nobody having spoken for a good while. Eventually, out of sheer boredom, Anthony began to whistle to himself, and Choryo heard it, and she slowly walked up to him as he continued whistling, unaware of the listener creeping up behind him.
"Whatcha whistling?"
Anthony yelped in surprise, and caught the attention of the twins, who turned to look behind them, and his face turned red. "Um, Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears. It's pretty quiet out here, so I just started whistling, I guess."
"Ya know, the girls and I are right here. You can talk to us at any time."
"Sorry. It's just that usually, I'm not the one who starts the conversation."
"Well, you're in one now," said Choryo, as Kakoton and Kakoen turned back around. "So, what do ya wanna talk about?"
"Uh, I was just wondering something. You don't like Shadow Games because of the severe consequences, right?"
"Damn straight. Duels should be for fun, so if they're too easy, or if my opponent doesn't play fair, then I can't stand it. And having a game where the players can lose their souls is definitely not fun or fair."
"But what if you have to participate in a Shadow Game?"
Choryo cocked an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean?"
"Well, when I swore off Shadow Games if I could, I still ended up dueling Tanoshi and Shunran in Shadow Games. Yeah, I didn't like it, but I didn't have a choice, you know?"
Choryo began to think over these words, and a small pit began to form in the pit of her stomach. Earlier, she had called out Anthony for this behavior, but was it okay when she did it, claiming her morals? Or was she just a hypocrite? Anthony immediately noticed this and began to shake her arm.
"Shia, Shia! Are you okay?"
"Wha…what?"
"You totally spaced for a second! What happened?"
Choryo was about to say "nothing," but then she realized that doing so would be just as bad, and she sighed. "Am I a hypocrite?"
Caught off guard by the question, feeling blunt and out of nowhere, Anthony shook his head and waved his hands in front of him. "What, no, no no no! Where did you get that idea?"
"Because I've been avoiding Shadow Games too! For instance, when I dueled Shunran, I never even started a Shadow Game!"
"That's not cowardly," said Kakoton, inserting herself into the conversation, "that's noble. You could have attempted to send me to a world of darkness and despair and make me suffer for the duration of the duel, but you refused. If I was the one who initiated the Shadow Game, your refusal would be cowardice, but you had a choice, and chose the favorable outcome."
"And I'm assuming that you still have the power to create Shadow Games," said Kakoen. "But you didn't use it when you dueled General Kan'u."
"Yeah, I guess so…" said Choryo, not really knowing where they were going with this.
"The times that you refused a Shadow Game were times where there was a choice in the matter," said Anthony. "But when you have no other options, will you fight back?"
Choryo clenched her fists and grinned. "You bet your ass I will. I ain't gonna let my friends down."
"A logical conclusion."
Everyone froze, and out of the thicket stepped Hakeru, his Chaos Duel Disk unfolded. "Tell me, were you four the ones who defeated Yokai? Or am I mistaken, and there are more of you."
"I took down Yokai," said Anthony, jerking his thumb in his direction. "And I'm willing to bet that you're either Hakeru or Ukitsu."
"Ah, you have been informed. Another logical conclusion, seeing as your three companions are former members of the Gi court, and would know our names, and our decks, since Ukitsu revealed them all."
"You'll be the third high-ranking member of the White Clothes that I'll have beaten," said Anthony as his deck was automatically shuffled.
"Now hold on, I never said that I would duel you," said Hakeru. "I believe that I have a right to choose my opponent."
"What right is that?" said Kakoton, annoyed by the excuse, as Choryo stepped forward.
"He's just lying, trying to figure out who he'll have the easiest time beating, and then wham! Well you know what? I'll duel you, and I won't take no for an answer, dickweed!"
"If you so insist," said Hakeru as he shuffled his cards.
"And here I thought that you didn't duel former allies," said Kakoen.
"This guy is no friend of mine," retorted Choryo, as a purple aura soon surrounded them, and the arena was transformed. The five of them were soon surrounded by a purple fog. Anthony and the Kako sisters were on a floating bench, and both duelists stood on floating stone platforms that looked rather unstable, and as both duelists drew their five cards, the platforms began to shake, and a few shards of stone fell into a black abyss below.
"Sheesh, talk about don't look down," said Anthony as he peered into the blackness. "Shia said this guy uses a mill deck, which means that he focuses on destroying the opponent's deck, rather than their life points, so that they'll have a Deck Out."
"A Deck Out?" asked Kakoton, never having heard that term before now.
"When a player has to draw, but there are no cards left in their deck, then they lose," said Kakoen. "It's much harder to accomplish, but also hard to counter."
"In that case, you can go first!" said Choryo, but Hakeru shook his head.
"I don't think so. I insist, you make the first move."
Choryo sighed. "Fine, I'll go first. I can still take you down!"
"We will see."
(Choryo: 4000 LP, 35)(Hakeru: 4000 LP, 35)
"I draw!" said Choryo (Choryo: 34), as the platform she was on began to crumble, but she maintained a straight face. "And let's see…I set one monster, and three other cards. I think that should be good for now!"
"I draw," said Hakeru (Hakeru: 34), as he carefully looked over his cards. "And I shall set one monster, and two cards. Then I play my Gravekeeper's Servant, which will force you to send one card from the top of your deck every time that you declare an attack!"
"Oh dear," said Kakoen as a Continuous Spell appeared, showing a graveyard at night, with a winged fiend wielding a scythe flying in front of the full moon.
"That shall conclude my turn."
"Then I draw!" declares Choryo (Choryo: 33). "And I summon my Blade Knight to the field!"
Her monster landed on one knee and rose to its full height, blade pointed forward (LV 4: ATK 1600), when Hakeru activated a Trap Card that displayed Warrior Lady of the Wasteland and Warrior Dai Grepher in a draw, their swords being knocked out of each other's hands.
"I play my Simultaneous Loss, forcing both of us to send the card on top of our decks to the Graveyard!"
As both of them sent a card to the Graveyard, Choryo sending Hayabusa Knight (Choryo: 32) and Hakeru sending Crush Card Virus (Hakeru: 33).
"This isn't good. While things are pretty even now, eventually, Shia will have way less cards in her deck, and Hakeru will slowly break her down," said Anthony.
"Not necessarily. Shia just has to beat him before he gets the chance," said Kakoen as Choryo played a few more cards.
"I Flip Summon my Familiar Knight! And then I equip him with Legendary Sword and Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade!"
Her card flipped up to show the dragon-armored knight, (LV 3: ATK 1200), and it put away its sword and shield, as it soon wielded the two gleaming blades (ATK 1200-1800).
"And since I have less than two cards in my hand, my Blade Knight gains an extra four hundred attack points!"
As the power of her knight went up (ATK 1600-2000), Choryo then pointed at the face-down monster.
"Familiar Knight, take down that face-down monster! And just in case, I play my Inspiration, to boost his power by an extra seven hundred!"
Choryo flipped her card up, showing a group of charging knights with a man in golden Spartan armor leading them, as her monster became even stronger (ATK 1800-2500). She then sent her Valkyrian Knight to the Graveyard (Choryo: 31), as Familiar Knight swung his swords at the face-down monster, which turned out to be Needle Worm (LV 2: DEF 600), as it fired five needles that struck the ground, which had slowly began to crack as more cards went to Choryo's Graveyard, and huge chunks broke off and fell into the abyss as Choryo was forced to send five cards from her deck to the Graveyard, frowning as she parted with Strike Slash, Command Knight, Gearfried the Swordmaster, Gaia the Fierce Knight, and Sakuretsu Armor (Choryo: 26), as the Flip Monster was cut in half.
"Well, I attack with my Blade Knight! And I send a card from the top of my deck to the Graveyard to have the attack land, as well as play my Collected Power, equipping him with all Equip Cards on the field!"
The swords of Familiar Knight began to glow yellow as they were ripped from his hands (ATK 2500-1900), as Blade Knight cast aside his own weapons and jumped in the air, spinning around as he caught the blades (ATK 2000-2600), and then slashed at Hakeru as Choryo got rid of her Marauding Captain (Choryo: 25)(Hakeru: 4000-1400 LP).
"And I'll end my turn with that." (ATK 1900-1200).
"Alright, Shia! You're doing awesome out there!" cheered Anthony.
"This man doesn't stand a chance!" said Kakoton with a grin as she crossed her arms.
"I must say, I'm rather impressed," said Kakoen.
"Aw, thanks, guys!" said Choryo, her cheeks becoming red as she scratched the back of her head.
"How illogical. You may have dealt more damage, but now your Familiar Knight is wide open, and unable to make use of its effect. Don't be damned by a fool's praise. I draw, and I play my Dark Hole, destroying every monster on the field." (Hakeru: 32)
Both of Choryo's monsters started to be pulled into the immense gravitational pull of the black hole, when Choryo played her third and final face-down card, both of her Equip Spells being destroyed (ATK 2600-2000)(Choryo: 4000-6000 LP).
"I activate my Emergency Provisions, letting me destroy any number of other Spell and Trap Cards I've got, pickin' up a thousand life points for each card I sacrifice!" explained Choryo as her monsters were crushed into oblivion.
"Very well. I summon Goblin Zombie."
Out of the ground burst the Zombie-type, brandishing its sword (LV 4: ATK 1100).
"Goblin Zombie, attack directly."
His monster did exactly that, slashing at Choryo (Choryo: 6000-4900 LP), as she was forced to send the top card of her deck to the Graveyard, parting with her Reinforcements (Choryo: 24).
"And I end my turn with a face-down."
"Okay, I draw! And since it's the only card in my hand, I summon my Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight!" (Choryo: 23)
Her mighty cavalier sprung forth, the war horse neighing as the knight reigned it in (LV 7: ATK 2300).
"And it's about to get even better! I banish my Gearfried the Swordmaster and my Familiar Knight from my Graveyard, letting me bring back my Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade, and then I'll use it to make my Gaia even stronger, enough to wipe your ass out!"
The altar appeared as the horse that Gaia rode upon galloped up the steps, with Gaia grabbing the sword and leaping from the altar (ATK 2300-2600).
"Now I'll have my monster wipe you out!" shouted Choryo as she sent her Shield Spear to the Graveyard (Choryo: 22), but instead, her opponent flipped up a card that depicted a blue orb being restrained by a green energy net, as both monsters had the same net cover them.
"I play a Continuous Trap known as Gravity Bind, which shall prevent all level four or higher monsters from attacking," said Hakeru.
"Oh crap!" shouted Choryo, as the others stiffened.
"If she can't attack," said Anthony, "then she can't win, unless she has ways of dealing direct damage. She has to get rid of that card, and fast!"
"I…end my turn."
"Good idea." Hakeru then drew (Hakeru: 31), and he set a monster before he ended his turn, prompting Choryo to draw (Choryo: 21).
"Okay, I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!"
Her monster jumped onto the field and let out a loud cry before it was pulled down by the Gravity Bind (LV 4: ATK 1800), as Choryo ended her turn, and Anthony grimaced. This was beginning to get ugly, and as Hakeru drew (Hakeru: 30), he had a feeling it would only get worse.
"I Flip Summon my Hiro's Shadow Scout."
His monster stood up, revealing a blue cyclops with no mouth, green hair in a crew cut, and two small horns (LV 2: ATK 650).
"And when it's flipped, you draw three cards, and reveal them to me."
Choryo growled as she did so with the field continuing to crumble (Choryo: 18), and three cards appeared on the field, with Hiro Shadow's Scout looking at each of them, with the cards being shown as though being lit by a searchlight whenever they were passed by the huge eye, revealing to Hakeru that the cards were Lightning Blade, Cost Down, and Reinforcement of the Army.
"It seems like they were all Spell Cards, which is unfortunate, because due to the effect of my monster, you have to discard them all now." And sure enough, the cards gained a red tint, as Choryo sent all of them to the Graveyard, as Kakoen frowned.
"This is almost depressing. At least two of those cards would have allowed her to fight back, and possibly win, but now they're gone."
"You said it," said Anthony, as Hakeru placed another card onto his Duel Disk.
"I summon my Malice Ascendant!"
The new monster looked rather intimidating, having a skull for a face with long white hair, wearing a tattered cloak with a green orb in its empty rib cage, with bandages all over its bony arms, and a white grass skirt, with the monster standing on very thin legs, and holding two scythes with blue serrated blades (LV 4: ATK 700). The monster immediately became ensnared in the Gravity Bind, as Hakeru ended his turn, and Choryo drew (Choryo: 17).
"I summon another Gearfried!"
To the surprise of the bystanders, a second of the iron knights appeared before getting pulled down by the net of gravity (LV 4: ATK 1800).
"She has two of them?" asked Kakoton in surprise.
"Why wouldn't I? It's my favorite monster, after all! And since I still can't attack, I end my turn!"
"Then I draw, and I summon my own duplicate monster. Malice Ascendant!" (Hakeru: 29)
Another of the zombies appeared (LV 4: ATK 700), and out came a large blue high-tech cannon with six legs and five red eyes, making it look like some sort of robotic beetle.
"Okay, can I say that looks pretty fucking awesome?" said Anthony, pointing to the Virus Cannon. "Because it is, even if it means bad news for Shia."
"What sort of bad news?" said Kakoen.
"He is referring to my Virus Cannon, which lets me tribute any number of monsters that I control, sans tokens, in order to have my opponent send an equal amount of Spell Cards from their deck to the Graveyard! And I select all of my monsters to go to the Graveyard!"
All four of the White Clothes admin's monsters soon transformed into blue energy that swirled into the Virus Cannon before it fired a huge blast of energy at the platform that Choryo stood on, blasting a large amount of rock that sent Choryo onto her back. As she got up, she started grumbling to herself as she sent Release Restraint, Raregold Armor, Metalsilver Armor, and Shield & Sword to her Graveyard (Choryo: 13).
"Shia!" screamed Anthony and Kakoton as Kakoen kept them from jumping to her dwindling platform.
"Ya know, it wouldn't kill ya to aim your damn weapon, you fuuuuuuuck that is deep," said Choryo, trailing off as she peered into the abyss. "Guess that's what happens if I lose?"
"To suggest that you have a chance of victory at this rate is foolish, but yes, that is what shall happen. And the less cards in your deck, the more that your platform will dwindle."
Choryo's face of shock was replaced with one of anger as she snarled. "You son of…that ain't fair! The rules of the Shadow Game are totally stacked in your favor!"
"With such high stakes, there is no logical reason for fair play. And by my calculations, which are always correct, you have only thirteen cards left in your deck, whereas I have 29. More than double the amount that you have, and that gap shall only widen as the duel continues. And considering the likelihood of my success, to call off the Shadow Game is an illogical and downright idiotic idea, neither of which I have, so the best course of action would be surrender. I add one Zombie-type monster with 1200 or less defense points from my deck to my hand by the effect of Goblin Zombie, and end my turn." (Hakeru: 28)
"Fuck you! I ain't gonna give up shit, you lifeless piece of crap! I draw! And I summon my Dark Blade!" (Choryo: 12)
Her knight in black armor appeared, twirling his swords in his hands (LV 4: ATK 1800).
"And that's it for now."
"Come on, fight back!" shouted Kakoton.
"She cannot," droned Hakeru as he drew, face still emotionless, although it did manage to change temporarily, as the Millennium Symbol briefly flashed on his forehead (Hakeru: 27). "And that's why she shall lose. Her strength has won her duels in the past, but this is a game of wits, one that she can't win. I summon my third Malice Ascendant!"
One more of the zombies appeared, although this one seemed a bit more vengeful than the two previous ones (LV 4: ATK 700).
"And that will do."
"I draw!" shouted Choryo (Choryo: 11), when suddenly, Malice Ascendant sliced at her platform with its scythes, cutting off small chunks which fell into the abyss.
"And during your Standby Phase, my Malice Ascendant sends one card from the top of your deck to the Graveyard for each Malice Ascendant in my Graveyard."
Choryo sighed, as she sent her Rope of Life and Absolute Crusader from her deck to her Graveyard (Choryo: 9).
"This is too cruel," said Kakoen. "It's hardly a fair fight at this point."
"I play my Banner of Courage, which'll make my monsters even bigger and badder during my Battle Phase! And that'll do, so bring it!"
"Hmph, you asked, and you shall receive. I draw, and I set one card to end my turn." (Hakeru: 26). Choryo could only smirk: she had a good feeling about that card, for whatever reason.
"It looks like Shia has a plan," said Anthony.
"If she doesn't, she's going to the Shadow Realm," said Kakoen, "so we just have to believe in her."
"Then I draw!" shouted Choryo (Choryo: 8), before her platform was cut even smaller by the Malice Ascendant, and she had to get rid of her Lucky Iron Axe and her Mirror Mail (Choryo: 6). "And I play The Warrior Returning Alive!"
"Actually, you don't. I play my Dark Bribe, which negates the effect of your card and destroys it, while you draw one card."
A card showing a man slipping money into the sleeve of somebody of royalty flipped up, and as Choryo drew (Choryo: 5), her card was destroyed, but as soon as she saw what she picked up, she knew that she had won, as she slipped it into her Graveyard.
"Real quick, did those effects resolve at the same time?"
"Yes, why?"
"Good, so now I win! When you negate the activation of one of my spells or traps, I can send my Tatakawa Knight from my hand to my Graveyard to deal 1500 points of damage!"
Suddenly, the Warrior-type appeared, and threw his trident into the air, before it landed in the platform of Hakeru, which began to crack (Hakeru: 1400-0 LP)(Winner: Choryo).
"This is...unprecedented," were Hakeru's final words as his platform broke apart, and he plunged into the Shadow Realm, with not another sound escaping from his mouth, not even a scream. With the Shadow Game over, the four remaining duelists soon found themselves back in the forest, with Choryo being blindsided by a hug from Anthony.
"Holy shit, Shia, that was way too close! Are you okay?"
"Don't worry," said Choryo with a blush on her face, "I'm fine. You can stop hugging me now, or don't if you prefer." Anthony's face began to match his jacket as he released his grip, reminding himself that he had a girlfriend and that Choryo was just a friend, as Kakoen chuckled.
"Those two are so similar to each other, aren't they? They're perfect for each other."
"Very cute, I guess," said Kakoton unconvincingly. "Now let's keep moving!" The others quickly caught up with her, with Choryo not only relieved that she had won her first Shadow Game, but proud.
Edit 12/30/2018: added the effect of Goblin Zombie. Starpion out!
Edit 7/4/2019: fixed a rather stupid mistake where apparently, Shia lost one of the cards in her hand.
