What is up with this? I have to do this again?
Well…I've only done this once before so what am I supposed to say?
Anyway…It's finally time…I may have been knocked down before…but no more…
I refuse to lose to this guy again! Three years ago, he left me a mark that has always been with me…
…Till today…
He took my sister…
He took my duelist pride…
…and now…he's taken…he's taken…
Well, you were there!
But thanks to that bull headed fortuneteller, I'm back and better than ever!
Look out you red haired freak!
I'm coming for you!
/-/-/---/-//--/
Chapter 53
Transmuted Souls
/-/-/-/--//--/-/
Origin sighed as he watched the final move between Mustang and Entei through a small portal of darkness that was floating before him. With a quick wave of his hand, the portal just vanished into thin air. "Hmm…I should have figured the Majestic four wouldn't be enough…"
"Then why did you release them in the first place?" Big Boss asked not opening his eyes to talk to Origin. "The only reason I can see you doing that is for a distraction…nothing else…"
"Well, that is part of it…" Origin replied watching the top of the tube in front of him. "You see…believe it or not, but these duelists happened to be some of the best before. I just figured that if they were able to win, then I'd be able to use them as a little snack for my new body…"
"Oh not that again…" Big Boss sighed lowering his head. "I can remember the last time you had a feeding…didn't it ever occur to you that was the reason why you need to change bodies?"
"Hmm…perhaps you'd like to volunteer for my first meal?" Origin proposed with a demonic smile on his face. "After all…only a few more minutes till it's done…"
Big Boss just chuckled to himself, opening his eyes at the red haired duelist. "…Interesting…but you do realize that you've never been able to defeat me…right?"
"True, however with the cards you just provided me…" Origin commented lifting up the deck of cards. "I think I'd be able to win easily…"
"Don't flatter yourself, I know every card in that deck and know how to counteract each and everyone," Big Boss replied holding up an extremely large deck of cards. The deck looked to have at least seventy-five cards… "And besides…you wouldn't last against me with that strategy…"
"I see…but anyway," Origin said trying to change the subject. "How are finding new recruits going?"
"We're halfway done actually," Big Boss answered pocketing his large deck of cards. That's when he noticed the red light starting to flash on top of the container tube. "…and speaking of done…"
Origin turned around to see the red light completely up. A smile appeared on his face showing off the demonic teeth he had hid from everyone. "Ah…finally." Turning towards Big Boss, Origin held up his right arm. "Now then, sir, if you please. I'd like to get into my new body…"
"…Of course," Big Boss replied before walking away into the shadows.
/-//--/-//--/-//-//
"Now…Attack and finish this!" Goliath shouted before a powerful explosion blew away the shadow realm that had surrounded him and Hyoutei. (GLP: 2000) (HLP: 0)
Goliath closed his eyes as the last remnants of the shadow realm were finally being lifted from the now, extremely damaged room. When Goliath opened his eyes, he saw that his comrades were now standing (barely) looking over their knocked out opponents…
…except Tai who was just leaning against the side of the wall with a dazed Chitei a few fee away. "…Hmm…the shorty actually had a good idea…"
"Shorty?" Mustang questioned walking with Raitai and Goliath towards Tai. "Are you talking about Cain?"
"Yeah…so what of it?" Tai asked sitting down on the ground.
"But, Cain was unarmed at the time," Mustang joked around waiting for people laugh…not even the crickets chirped at his joke. "Aw come on people! I dare anyone to make a better joke!"
"I'll take ya up on that…" Raitai replied the two not noticing the blood vessel appearing on the back of Goliath's head. "Okay…here we go…"
"Not now!!" Goliath roared making the room shake violently. Raitai and Mustang stepped back with scared looks on their faces. "…That's better…now Tai, was it?"
Tai nodded.
"What did Mr. Sonryu come up with?" Goliath asked crossing his arms.
"Hmm…I guess I could tell ya," Tai replied lowering his head to have his hair cover his eyes. "…After you two headed in here, I came out and lent Cain a hand. Then, Cain asked me a favor…he owes me a lot of ramen noodles for this…he asked me to go down with him and duel with you guys.
"Raitai showing up I had seen coming so Cain told me to go out and make it even in the Shadow games. And while we were all dueling all over the place, Cain was sneaking through here to get Origin…"
It took a few seconds for that fact to register with Goliath, Mustang and Raitai…but when it did…
"WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!"
Goliath lifted Tai by the collar and held the fortuneteller off the ground by a few feet. "You went along with that plan!? Where is Cain right now!?"
"How do expect me to know that?" Tai retorted not really caring that he was being held up. "I don't know this place, and it was Cain's idea…"
"But, you're a fortuneteller…" Mustang pointed out trying to take Tai by surprise. "So…couldn't you just, like, I don't know read the future to see the path?"
"Urk!" Tai stuttered with an embarrassed look on his face. "Damn it…sometimes I wonder why I ever got into this business…"
"So, you guys take the fortune dude," Raitai stated walking over to the knocked out duelists. "And I'll look after these guys…"
"Right," Goliath stated slinging Tai over his shoulder. "You're coming with us Tai!"
"PUT ME DOWN YOU BEHEMOTH!" Tai shouted, although Goliath and Mustang just ignored him and continued running towards the next door.
"We can't hear you!" Mustang laughed leading the way, fingers in his ears.
/-//-//-/-/-///-///-/
"I swear, no matter how many times I see this," Big Boss admitted trying to turn away, yet it was almost impossible to do so when you're watching something like this. "…it never gets old…for some reason…"
"You could always turn away…"
"It's like reading playboy, you can't help but stare…" Big Boss chuckled but then stuck his tongue out. "Eww….why did I compare this to something good?"
"You said it…"
"Don't remind me," Big Boss sighed looking at the door. "Ya know…what's stopping people from entering here."
"…What?"
"The door…is it locked?" Big Boss asked turning away from what he was looking at.
"…Uh sir…do you mind?"
"Yeah, sure," Big Boss sighed walking towards the door.
All of sudden the door was sent flying towards the opposite wall by a powerful force, making Big Boss stare in amazement. "…Huh, didn't expect anything like that today…although, compared to what I was just watching, that's pretty normal…"
"ORIGIN!"
"I don't believe it…How could you be here shorty?"
"…Don't call me…Shorty!" Cain roared jumping into the room, his eyes flaring up.
Big Boss just raised an eyebrow at this little kid that was in front of him, the white hair and the height was strange enough…But with the baggy long right sleeved yellow jacket was just strange. "…Why'd you knock the door down?"
"I had to get in somehow," Cain replied not looking at Big Boss.
"…It wasn't even locked…" Big Boss pointed out as a large sweat drop appeared on the side of Cain's head.
"Why don't you…" Cain started out getting a look at Big Boss. "…who the hell are you?"
"Big Boss."
"…I doubt that…" Cain replied narrowing his eyes. "Where's Origin?"
"Oh…well, he's…" Big Boss started before a splashing sound got Cain and Big Boss's attention.
"Right here…" Origin laughed standing up with a wicked smile on his face…
Except it wasn't Origin, the person before the two was a young pale skin young man with a strong looking body, skin perfectly flawless and his wet, long blood red hair covered his eyes. But that's not what made Cain and Big Boss stare at the teen.
"Oh my god…" Big Boss gasped raising an eyebrow.
"Put some clothes on you sicko!" Cain roared looking away.
"Huh…whoops…" 'Origin' chuckled rubbing the back of his head.
"…Man he's out of proportion," Big Boss stated rubbing his chin.
/--/-/-//-/-/-///-/
After 'Origin' got dressed in his now baggy attire, his hair was still over his eyes, but he knew who was in the room. "Heh, didn't expect to know that the shorty was here…but I suppose it's good for right now…"
"So…what name did you choose this time Origin?" Big Boss asked with his eyes closed.
"Well…since this body is somewhat thanks to our arm-less friend here," 'Origin' chuckled cracking his neck. "I've decided to go with…Abel…"
"…Oh so this is Cain…" Big Boss stated looking at Cain. "But…I thought you said that you took his right arm…"
"…What in the world are you talking about?" Origin asked wiping the red hair from his eyes to get a look at Cain. "I did take…his…arm?"
Cain lifted his right arm to prove that it was right there on his body, covered by his long yellow baggy sleeve. "Then what's this thing on me?"
"What the hell did you do?" Abel asked narrowing his blood red eyes. "I know for a fact that monster of mine cut your bloody arm off!"
"Oh, were you talking about the ritual monster, Dark Master – Zorc?" Cain asked with a smirk on his face, then with a quick snap, Cain's duel disk activated. "Maybe you needed to check your eyes…now then…I may not know how you got that body Origin…"
"It's Abel."
"Whatever your name is you red haired freak!" Cain shouted throwing his arms to his sides. "Anyway, but I know you're not going to get away from me just cause you changed your face!"
"But Cain, haven't you noticed it yet?" Abel chuckled lifting a finger up, wagging it slowly. That's when Cain finally got a good look at Abel's face.
"…Your face…" Cain growled clenching his fist.
"…Almost a dead ringer, eh?" Abel asked placing a hand on his cheek, rubbing it slightly. "We could probably be considered brothers…if it wasn't for your height…"
"You really are asking for a smack in the eye aren't you?" Cain proposed slamming his fist into his hand.
"And ruin this new face?" Abel asked running his hand under his chin. "I don't think so…"
"How in the world do you look like me anyway?" Cain questioned starring at Abel.
"Your arm…" Abel replied pointing towards Cain's right arm. "Since I used it, I have your DNA in me…but I'm wondering what that is…"
"We still have something to finish…" Cain replied lifting up his duel disk up.
Abel just sighed loudly, shaking his head in disappointment. In the next few seconds, Abel had already slipped on his duel disk and snapped in a deck in the open slot. "…Very well, if you want to increase your suffering…who am I to stop you?"
"The only one suffering around here will be you!" Cain shouted as he began to shuffle his deck. "Now then…ready…"
"I hate to stop you," Abel laughed to himself as he held up a hand. "But, what say we make this more interesting?"
"Huh?" Cain questioned as Abel lifted up his duel disk as the life point counter began to flash on and off.
At last, the life point counter stopped, but was marked at eight thousand. "As you can see…I feel like this duel requires a new amount of life points…the full amount." (ALP: 8000)
In response, Cain just snapped his deck into the slot. "Four thousand…eight thousand…sixteen thousand…it doesn't matter how many life points you want this game to be at!" (CLP: 8000)
"I'll rip each and every life point from your freaky body!"
Abel laughed to himself slightly once more as he pulled his five cards from the top of his deck. "Don't knock it till you try it…"
"Shut the hell up Abel!" Big Boss shouted from the shadows, glaring daggers at the weird character. "Just get on with this duel!"
"R-right boss…" Abel chuckled rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
'O-okay…these guys are idiots…' Cain thought before drawing his sixth card. "…I'll summon Garnet Alchemist (200/2200) in defense mode!"
From the ground before Cain, a large garnet colored transmutation circle appeared before him before shattering into a large bulky man crouching down with a large garnet shield. The alchemist was covered in the same colored armor covering the monster's face and body. "And I'll end my turn with a face down."
"Heh…that was just pathetic," Abel laughed drawing his next card. At the sight of the card, a small smile appeared on the freak's face. "…While I on the other hand have this…I summon SOLDIER Brawler!"
The ground cracked open to allow a powerful surge of green liquid to surge out until it lowered to the ground showing that a weird person had appeared from the geyser. The monster glared his dark eyes at Cain while stretching his muscular body that was covered with a tight leather uniform with a silver gauntlet on his right arm. The man then cracked his neck allowing his wavy silver hair to flow in the air (2000/0).
"What in the world is that?" Cain asked before the Brawler appeared right in front of him with a sadistic smile on his face.
"This happens to be the first step to your defeat…" Abel snickered as a powerful green electricity began to surge through the SOLDIER Brawler's gauntlet. "Now, watch as my monster's effect activates! Sucker Punch!"
"…Sucker Punch?" Cain asked before the SOLIDER Brawler slammed his fist into Cain's stomach, sending a powerful jolt of electricity surge through Cain's little body. "GARHGHE!" (CLP: 6800)
"When my Brawler is summoned, he automatically inflicts three hundred points of damage to you for each card in your hand," Abel explained taking two more of his cards and sliding them into his duel disk. "Since he's not strong enough to take down that puny monster of yours, I'll take a break with these two face down cards."
"T-that was a cheap shot…" Cain spat out holding his side with his right hand before drawing his next card. "…I hope you enjoyed it…that's the last time you're going to get a shot like that off on me!"
"We'll see about that little guy…" Abel laughed throwing his head back. "After all…it's only been the first round!"
"Yeah…but that's what I needed to activate my face down card!" Cain announced throwing his hand over the face down. The card just shattered into pixels before it flipped up.
Abel and Big Boss looked confused as to what happened, however, before they had a chance to ask, a large crescent moon appeared behind the short white haired duelists with seven empty holes on it. "I know what you're thinking…what's this thing?"
"Yeah pretty much," Big Boss answered back, rubbing his chin.
"Well, it's called Emblem of the Crescent Moon! And every time a spell card is activated, it gets a counter on it!" Cain explained lifting his next card. "Like this one for example! Pot of Greed!"
In a matter of seconds, the green smiling pot appeared before Cain with a loud laugh. With a quick pull, Cain added the top cards from his deck to his hand. As the pot shattered into pixels, a large emerald appeared in the Emblem of the Crescent Moon's first hole. 'That's one…'
"Boring!" Abel patronized sticking his tongue out. "No matter what you got out on the field, it won't matter when you see what I got out!"
"I'm not done yet!" Cain shouted lifting his next card to his duel disk. "I summon Flame Alchemist (1600/1400)!"
In a great flame the handsome black haired alchemist jumped in front of Cain, snapping his glove covered hands, sending two powerful flames towards Abel's face down cards. Abel covered his eyes with his arm as his two cards were incinerated. "Remember my hot shot of a friend here? Well he'd like to say hello!"
"Nice try…" Abel sighed wagging his finger at Cain. He then lifted the two cards that were destroyed, both of them were trap cards with that had the same picture of a swordsman floating in a test tube. "But you fell into my traps, both of them called Scientific Experimentation. When these cards are destroyed I can take a spell card from my deck…"
As soon as Abel placed the two trap cards into his graveyard, two other cards flew from his deck into his hand. "…so that's two more spell cards added to my hand!"
"Damn it…" Cain muttered looking at his hand. "I'll set two spell or trap cards on the field, and call it a turn…"
"…To bad…" Abel sighed pulling his next card, giving him an even six. "All that tough talk and you couldn't even keep your word…That's just said little guy…"
"You're not that taller than me!" Cain shouted narrowing his eyes at the creepy red head. "So you don't get a right to call me that!"
"Perhaps my next move will prove that otherwise…" Abel replied slapping his next card onto his duel disk. "I summon SOLDIER Blade-Gunner!"
A second green geyser erupted from the ground allowing another silver haired man appear next to the first. Only this one was skinnier, with longer hair and held onto a gun-blade in each of his hands. The man smirked as he spun his weapons in his hands (1700/850). "Next up…I'll activate a continuous card of my own…I play the spell card, Soldier Production Factory!"
The ground began to rumble at a fast rate before opening up behind Abel to allow a futuristic machine rise up from the ground. The machine was a shiny metallic silver with a green tube with a thick, light green liquid in it surging about. Abel was laughing too loud to notice that another hole on the Crescent Moon Emblem was filled with a large topaz.
"And what is that?" Cain asked raising an eyebrow at the strange machine.
"You won't tell me what your trap card does…" Abel snickered crossing his arms. "So I don't see why I should tell you what this spell card does…"
"…Whatever…" Cain sighed shaking his head. "Anything else this turn?"
"Nope! I'd rather not try your face down card," Abel replied with a cocky smile. "I'm not a rookie ya know."
"Don't act so high and mighty!" Cain shouted stomping his foot on the ground. "What makes you think that you're superior to me?"
"Because I am!" Abel laughed pocketing his cards before crouching down to the ground. "Watch this shrimpy!"
With a great force, Abel slammed his hands into the ground clenching the ground before him with his fingers. Then as if it was nothing, the weird red haired duelist pulled up a large chunk of ground in front of him. "I'm sure you remember what an Evo-gen is…correct?"
"How could I forget?" Cain questioned readying his right hand, hopefully what Tai said was right or something might happen if this is going where he thinks it might be going.
"Well, the genes don't just give us an ability to heighten our basic senses…" Abel explained tossing the small boulder up and down in his right hand. "They also endow us with a slight superhuman trait…take a guess what I can do!"
"Strength? I was expecting something more…" Cain muttered to himself somewhat disappointed. "…diabolical…"
"Hey! I heard that!" Abel shouted loudly and clutched the stone tightly in his hand, causing a large crack to appear in the stone. "Allow me to demonstrate how a normal person will deal with a pissed off Evo-Gen!"
With a quick thrust of his arm, Abel quickly threw the rock towards Cain who just crouched to the ground…
/--//--/-/-/--//--//-
"Damn it! How much longer?" Goliath shouted running as fast as he could with Mustang barely keeping up with him.
"If you put me down then I would've been able to give a much easier prediction!" Tai shouted glaring daggers at Goliath who still had him
"How…long…have…we been…running?" Mustang panted while trying to keep up with the Colossal Kaiser.
"Do you see a watch?" Tai asked, sarcasm dripping from his tongue holding up his two wrists. "Just put me down!"
"No way!" Goliath replied stopping slightly in front of Mustang, making the smaller teen slam into his back and fly backwards.
Mustang was slammed back into the wall, but then jumped forward to glare at the now stopped Kaiser. "Damn it man! Why'd you stop?"
"Listen…" Goliath replied closing his eyes.
A small silence swept through the dark hallways before a powerful stone like explosion filled through the air so loud that it was almost rocking the entire ancient hallways. Goliath and Mustang nodded to each other making Tai really confused. "What're you two doing?"
With a great amount of speed, Goliath ran fast with Mustang tailing him at a quick speed towards the source of the sound.
/-/-/-///-/-//-/
"Was that really necessary Abel?" Big Boss asked turning his head away from the duel to look at the ceiling. "I thought you were going to make him your first meal…"
"That shorty couldn't even be a good appetizer," Abel chuckled shaking his hand from the dust that was floating around. "I just wanted to have some fun against this little dumb ass…"
"Who are you calling a dumb ass?"
As the debris began to fall to the ground, a familiar short person stood strong with the remains of what looked to be the remains of a small rock wall in front of him. "And why do you act like that you've won this thing?"
"W-what the heck!?!" Abel shouted confused, his eyes completely widened at the sight of Cain standing before him completely unharmed save for the small layer of dust over his body. "How in the world are you still standing!?!?!"
Cain didn't answer that with his voice; rather, he lifted up his duel disk and immediately slapped his next card onto his duel disk. "I summon, Wandering Alchemist (1500/1300)!"
In a bright transmutation circle, the powerful short alchemist appeared before Cain, his red overcoat flowing in the non-existent wind. A card then flew directly from Cain's dueling deck into his hand. "Now then…I play my next spell card, Alchemic Elixir!"
A beautiful sapphire appeared in the large crescent moon's third hole, creating a bright aura around the weird emblem. Just then a powerful red flame appeared around the Flame Alchemist's hands (1600/1400 + 700/0), making a large smirk appear on the alchemist's face. "Flame Alchemist! Torch that Brawler!"
With a quick nod, the Flame Alchemist quickly jumped into the air before snapping his fingers sending a powerful amount of flames exploding the dark warrior. The dark warrior screamed in pain before incinerating in the flames. (ALP: 7700)
"But I'm not done! From my hand, I play Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy the equip card on my Flame Alchemist!" Cain shouted while a topaz fitted itself into the Crescent Moon Emblem as a powerful gust of wind swallowed up the Flame Alchemist's hands (2300/1400 – 700/0).
With a swing of his arms, the Flame Alchemist threw the powerful gusts of wind down towards the Gun-Blader. The winds seemed to make the warrior shout out in pain before shattering into pixels. "When my equip card is destroyed…I can remove one monster card on the field!"
"B-but that means…" Abel stuttered taking a step back.
"That's what you get for getting overconfident Abel…" Big Boss sighed lowering his head in disappointment. "I'm more than willing to bet that face down card is nothing more than a bluff…"
"Now then, Wandering Alchemist! Attack directly!" Cain roared before getting a satisfied nod from his favorite monster.
Time seemed to slow down as the Wandering Alchemist began to charge towards Abel.
Goliath and Tai managed to jump in through the entrance…
Big Boss turned slightly to the right to see the two enter the room…
…Just as the Wandering Alchemist slammed his fist directly into Abel's cheek sending him flying backwards towards the tube tank to crash right into the machine…
"Hey what's happening?" Mustang asked trying to look past Goliath's giant body. "I can't see!"
After a powerful pressure was added to the tank, the glass shattered allowing the red liquid to flow to the ground next to everyone's feet. Cain just lifted up his hand up to form a victory sign. "Take that you damn bastard!" (ALP: 6200)
"W-what in the world?" Goliath questioned starring at was happening. Cain had his right arm, his monster just socked someone who looked almost like Cain and there was a strange green and black haired man at the entrance with a wicked smile watching the entire thing.
"…He's doing well so far…" Tai sighed lowering his head.
"Hey! Let me see!" Mustang protested…although it fell on deaf ears.
"…You two just joined the party…" Big Boss chuckled turning towards the broken tank with Abel lying amongst the broken glass. "Good thing too…it's about to get wild here…"
Mustang was able to hear all of that, yet still couldn't see a thing that was happening in the room. "Come on already! This is so stupid…I'm about to miss the best part…"
"Try to get up from that!" Cain challenged lift his right fist towards the broken tank.
A smile began to grow on Abel's face, giving him a powerful large amount of energy to stand up shakily. As soon as the evil being was up on his feet, he lifted his arms to his head and cracked his neck straight. "If you insist…I may have to step up my game once more…"
Cain's eyes widened at this as he watched Abel jump from the broken tank, pulling broken shards of glass from his body. 'He's been toying with me all this time?!?'
"Now then…it's time for you to face the true power of this deck!" Abel laughed out manically with a dark aura appearing around his body. "I may not have known how you did that little trick to block that rock…but it won't matter soon!"
"Bring…it…on…" Cain replied lifting his duel disk up. '…Hope I'm not pushing this too far…'
//--/-/--/-/-//-
Cain: I'm going to knock your teeth out you bastard! And then stuff them down your throat!
Abel: Try if you can little guy!
Cain: Stop…calling…me short!
Abel: There's no chance of you getting me to stop that!
Strategies clash, a dark power emerges, will a hero appear at the last minute? Find out in – Chapter 54: A Tortured Soul!
Cain: It's time I get this off my soul!
/---/-/-/-/-/-//-
And now…A special announcement from Mustang and Tai
Mustang: Greetings everyone!
Tai: …
Mustang: I bet you all are wondering what's going to happen next in this exciting duel with Cain and Abel…
Tai: …Speak of the bible…
Mustang: Yeah, but that's going to be old news! So on behalf of the current crew of ATD, me and Tai have been asked to present some great news!
Tai: …
Mustang: O-kay…it looks like I'm doing this alone…very well…3, 2, 1…
Attention everyone!
Ever wanted to ask a question to any of the characters of ATD? Well, your chance is coming soon! Just post your questions in your reviews, or in the Author's forum!
Mustang: Time is limited! So be sure to hurry up with those questions people! Oh and in case you all are wondering out there…these questions are going to be answered in an OoS chapter!
Tai: What the heck is an OoS chapter?
Mustang: It's short for 'Out of Story' chapter!
Tai: …You just made that up…
Mustang: And why would that matter to you? You're a fortuneteller…
Tai: …What's your point?
