Mark 054: Like a Father Scorned

"Ah.." Callisto, who had been quiet sitting at the table along with the others, suddenly smashed her glass aside. "Sister!" Jason was shocked, though he sounded outraged rather then worried. "What is wrong, are you in pain?" Sarah was more concerned in fact. "No.. no." The girl reached for her eyes. "But it is still cute that you care." She looked at her father, who just sighed. "You had another vision, didn't you my dear?" He was used to 'attacks' like these. "Yes father. Callisto sees something... Callisto will see a death." The girl opened her eyes again, it seemed to be over now. "A death?" Now her brother did sound slightly alarmed. "Not here. But soon, maybe it already happened." She said calmly and sat down again as if nothing had happened. "Then who is it?" Ansoni was afraid to even ask. "There was a soul who heard nothing but gods, now she will never hear again." That sounded familiar. "No. It can't be. Are you talking about..Ramirez?" Sarah and Ansoni knew only one duelist that fit that description.

"Ramirez? I went easy on her and now she winded up dead anyway?" Jason said, wondering why he even bothered with her back then. "Gg. How certain can these visions be." Ansoni got up again. "Settle down Helion, do not make a scene here. My daughter has had these visions ever since the day she was born. Unless we interfere directly, they will always come to pass. And even so, you are too far away to make a difference." Malcean spoke with an almost compassionate tone. "Father is right, that girl will die. That fate is written down in stone, nobody can go against it." Callisto added with a far colder tone. "But how did it.. how will it happen? Is she really.. gone?" Sarah made the question with the hope that the daughter was just talking about another soul harvesting. "God killed her, but god was too wounded to eat her. And she had been living on borrowed time either way. It feels.. what is the word? Oh, right. It feels funny. Callisto did not know there was someone like her out there, and now she is dead."

"Like you? Why do you think that?" Ansoni could not ignore that sentence. "Only in the way of the sense, Ansoni. She could hear one future as intended by the gods, yet had to give up hearing of the present. Like Callisto, she was an error that the dead creator could not fix." She laughed softly. "An error, like psychic powers in general? Since when has the Castillo family had that trait?" The signers noticed that so far Malcean showed no talents while his two children did. "Oh that is right isn't it? You two have not developed any powers." Jason said as he visualized a random morphtronic monster with a mere thought. "It is because of the family tradition. Father had the mark, mother came from a long line of diviners and latent psychics. The men and women choose only the finest in heirs, people whose past is linked with the original signers in some way. Moreso than your lineages, our blood has the highest concentration of god's heritage." He chuckled and took another sip from his glass. "Then, the very origin of ESP, is linked with the gods as well?" Not even the academy was able to tell Ansoni where those abilities came from. "Who knows? But now you know why it has to be us. The ceremony father will initiate today can only be survived by the truly special ones."

...

Back at the coastal town, the duelists were still shaken up by the loss of one of their own. Nathan tended to her body, Urizen was speechless from the experience and only one immortal lingered. "Heh. What is your goal here? To avenge that foolish girl?" Uru still inhabited the body of a young boy, the symbol of the spider shone in the background. "She can not be saved anymore. But those that you have devoured still can!" Gaunt had recovered from his possession as well, and seemed ready to pick up where he left off. "People like that innocent child you are using right now. Since you still hold on to it, it must mean that it was you and not Ccarayhua who stole his being." The kid flashed a nasty grin. "Child huh? There is that bond only a mortal can create again. This body must remind you of your own son from many years ago. Does it not?" Uru said this because he had seen Gaunts memories, he knew what Urizen looked like when he was ten years old. "It will take more than mindgames to make me hesitate, god." Gaunt took a pack of cards from his deck. "Sir, are you.." Kein took this as a sign that he would be the one to challenge Uru. "Hand me a dueldisk, Schiver. You have already done enough for me today, I will not let others fight for me anymore."

The Ace simply nodded and gave his boss his dueldisk. "This is rich. You could not even defeat my younger brother, and now you intend to take me on. You would have more luck coming at me all at once." The kid summoned his own deck. "Maybe we will!" Urizen snapped at him. "No, Urizen. That is just what he wants, his deck works too well against multiple opponents." Gaunt also thought it would give him too many natural two-on-one advantages like boosted lifepoints or doubled hand sizes. "Then again it does not matter, does it? Each one of you here has been a part of us. We know how you think now, we know how you duel. There are no surprises left." He drew six cards, signalling that he would take the first turn. "Same to you, spider god. I have seen Ansoni's report and heard about your duel with the Ranger trio. Your insect deck will not catch me off guard either." Gaunt drew five cards. "Prove that to me. Prove to me that you deserve the mark of god." Uru placed one monster and one trap card and ended his turn.

Gaunts LP: 8000 Uru's LP: 8000

"I do not answer to you, Uru. I answer to the creator who bound you." Gaunt activated two spell cards. "Shiens Dojo and Temple of the Six!" The dojo was a continuous spell, which in turn was a part of the larger temple field spell. Thw two duelists and their observes were surrounded from all sides by a large japanese residence. "Both these spells gain Bushido counters every time a Samurai is summoned!" He demonstrated this by special summoning a level 3 samurai from his hand. "When I control no monsters and my opponent does, Elder of the Six Samurai appears." A masked man(400/0) riding a mechanical carriage appeared. "1 counter is added to both spells. Temple of the Six weakens your monsters by 100 points for each counter it holds." He then normal summoned a samurai as well, a level 2 veteran samurai(400/1800). "Kagemusha of the Six Samurai. This one is a tuner, so you know what is to come!" He tuned the two together to synchro summon a level 5 warrior from his deck. "Shi En of the Legendary Six!"

A warlord in red armor(2500/1400) walked out of the dojo doors. "Once a turn, he can negate a spell or trap effect!" He explained before sending it out to do battle. "Be gone, face down!" Shi Ens sword cleaved through a set insect with ease. "Heh. I wanted tou yo kill that thing, my Danipon spirit." Danipon(600/600) was a spider-like monster that allowed his controller to add another insect to his hand, as long as it had less then 1000 defense points. "I claim the Dark Spider." Uru added a spider with no defense or attackpoints. "Very well. It is your turn." By now both Gaunts spells had three Bushido counters. Though the Temple's effect did not need to influence the Dark Spider(0/0) which was soon normal summoned. "Dark Spider's ability let's me add to its level." The spider increased its level from 1 to 3. "And then the spell Grave Wave Tuning. An insect in my cemetery is banished, to let an insect on my field become a tuner monster." The Spider became a tuner as well. "He is going for synchro summons too?" Nathan gasped.

Grave Wave Tuning, Normal Spell
This card's activation and effect can not be negated. Banish 1 Monster in your Graveyard.
Select 1 monster you control that has the same type as the banished monster. It is treated as a Tuner monster while it is face-up on the field.

"Of all cards he had one of the few I can not negate." Gaunt realized, after he read the cards text, why Shi en could not block that spell. "Now, since no monsters rest in my cemetery, and I control monsters as well, Mirror Ladybug can be special summoned." Uru called forth a silver-coated ladybug(0/0), whose wings reflected three stars. "It assumes the level of all other monsters on the field." The bug became a level 3 bug. "And now what you call, Synchro summon!" The two level 3 insects became one level 6 halfwoman/halfspider. "Underground Arachnid, queen of the depths." She(2100/1200) was weakened by the Temple of the Six. "I know why you placed a field before I could. You want me to summon my true self, so you can free what I have claimed. However.." The Arachnid used her effect, webbing up Shi En to take control of him. "You have not shown me that I need to go to such lengths to crush you." Gaunt was wide open. "Direct attack." The spider queen fired a barrage of webs at Gaunt. "Tsk. This is just starting.."

Gaunts LP: 5900

His turn started up again and he drew a card. "By sending the Dojo to the cemetery I can revive a Samurai whose level is equal to or lower than the number of counters it held." There were three, so he was allowed to special summon the level 2 Kagemusha from the cemetery. "Then I shall activate Maxx C." But Uru suddenly discarded an insect from his hand as well. "Every time you special summon during a turn in which I discarded this card, I will draw." Uru already drew once, when the tuner came back. "I will not be deterred from my path!" Gaunt continued his turn and summoned the Legendary Samurai Kageki(200/2000). "When Kageki is normal summoned, a Samurai is special summoned from my hand." After the four armed wind swordsman, the water warrior Shinai(1500/1500) appeared from the Temple of the Six. "I will synchro summon again!" Kagemusha tuned itself with the level 3 Kageki to form a second Shi En Samurai(2500/1400). And by now the Arachnid(1700/1200) was a lot weaker thanks to all seven counters on the Temple card. "Destroy her!" The warlord unsheathed his sword and jumped towards the spider. "You are overlooking someone, signer Gaunt." However the first webbed up Shi En was brought up to take the blow for her. "What?"

Uru's LP: 7200

"Arachnid can sacrifice the monsters she ensnares, letting them die in her place." The second Shi En cut through the first, at the very least the battle damage was not negated. "And you special summoned two more times." The kid added two more cards to his hand. "My turn." He saw gaunt do nothing else and proceeded to draw. "This one shall become my spirit as well." The Underground queen sent her web to take control of the synchro monster, setting it aside and leaving Shinai on his own. "You always do that, don't you? Taking what is not yours." Kein sneered, seeing the spider gods attitude reflected in his playing style. "If I created it in the first place, does it not rightfully belong here?" He retorted before he let his synchro spider kill the water samurai. "Can you really say that if you have left it alone for so long?" Nate spoke to it as well. "A thousand years is a very long time. You have not done anything for us, we had to grow on our own." A nap of three millennium sounded appealing but unacceptable at the same time.

Gaunts LP: 5700

"You are speaking as if you no longer need god. But you do, your kind has been corrupted too much. How many times do you need to be punished this in a lifetime, before you understand? Take away the rain and you flee to the rivers, take away the sun and you create your own. You never learn." Uru cursed as he ended his turn. "And even so. When we return to our realm, we will start all anew. However you have evolved in our absence has no bearing on the new perfect earth we will create. You may not even call that mankind anymore." Gaunt then drew a card, and at last it was the key card he needed. "Enough of your words, spider god. We already know we will never see eye to eye. We are too different." So he activated it, a blue symbol started to glow on the gate of the temple. "Gateway of the six! I can take bushido counters from the field to add any samurai from my deck to my hand!" He removed four of the Temple's seven counters and took Enishi from his deck.

"I summon Enishi, and use his effect!" The green armored swordsman(1700/700) banished two samurais in the grave, absorbing the spirits of Kagemusha and the Elder. "Enishi can return one monster on the field to the hand, and in your case it will be returned to the extra deck." The arachnid was pushed out of the temple, and the Shi En synchro he controlled was sent to the cemetery. "Then since I summoned a samurai, my spells gained counters again." The Temple had four, the Gateway had two. "I remove four more from the Temple to add Kizan to my hand. This samurai can be special summoned when I control another samurai." The holy swordsman was joined by his earthen comrade(1800/500). The two boosted each other with their abilities as well. "Direct atatck!" Enishi(2200/1200) and Kizan(2100/800) ran towards the kid and slashed his body with their swords. "I will not hold back, spider god, no matter what body you are possessing. In the end that child too will be saved, saved from your presence!"

Uru's LP: 3200

Macbeth looked down and aw him, his friend. "I don't think you can hear me Richard. I do not know if you are even still in there. But.." He spoke to him, even as his brain was slowly dying. It would all be over soon. "If you can come back, I have to keep the place tidy and accessible. And I can only think of one way to stop the decay." Richard lied on a stretcher, as another slowly carted him away from the ambulance. "Are you sure you want to do this sir. Should we not test it on someone else first?" The aid sounded hesitant on what they were about to do. "I am sure. He would not want to put any other lives ahead of his. If we have to test this, he would choose himself too." Macbeth put the talisman around his neck. "So do it." He held the mans shoulder as he pushed the stretcher further.. into the orange light of the hummingbird god. "Forgive me Richard, for letting you leave, and if this fails, for letting you stay gone." And Richards body was instantly consumed by Aslaa Piscu. "But at least.. his body is safer inside god."

(To be Continued in Mark 055: Lord of Spiders)

New Cards used by Gaunt Artani
Elder of the Six Samurai
Kagemusha of the Six Samurai
Legendary Six Samurai Shi - En

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Shiens Dojo
Temple of the Six

New Cards used by Uru
Danipon
Mirror Ladybug
Underground Arachnid
Maxx C

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Grave-Wave Tuning