Chapter Eight: Endless Decay Part 1

40 minutes earlier...

Jake was standing still, frozen in place as he stared at the monster that was standing above his sister's empty grave. Almost as soon as he saw it, the graves around the cemetery started to shift around the place and they grew to colossal sizes, completely blocking off any hope of escape. The monster raised its head, revealing itself as 'Endless Decay', Jake's sister's favourite card. His sister's name was Jane, and she was the only one who had kept Jake sane through all the pressure and all the failure. Now, she was standing in front of him as an unsettling monster, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for Jake not to scream. However, the monster appeared to be just as confused as Jake was. It began to speak, its voice deep and menacing.

"What's going on? I was promised a normal body, just like everybody else! How did I end up taking control of a corpse?!" Endless Decay took a deep breath and sighed. "There isn't much I can do about it now. It's taking a lot of energy to keep this corpse animated, and I'm going to die soon because of it. Before I die, I'm going to find somebody to duel, make sure I win, and that way I can be sure at least one other person won't have to suffer the same fate as me."

The monster looked around her and quickly assessed the situation. "I see, so I've already subconsciously started a World Duel. Before we begin our duel, may I ask for your name?"

"M-me?" Jake stammered, completely overwhelmed by everything that was happening to him. "I'm Jake, and that's my sister's body! Give it back!"

"It's nice to meet you Jake. I'm sorry that I've taken control of your sister's corpse, but I didn't exactly want this to happen either. Well, let's cut to the chase. I haven't got much time left, so we're going to have a duel. If you win, you get your sister back, but if I win, your body becomes a vessel for one of my friends. Got it? Let's start."

"Wait, if you're going to die anyway, can't I just sit here and wait?" Jake asked, realising how cruel that sounded only after he had said.

However, Endless Decay was unfazed. "That's not a bad idea, but unfortunately for you I can force you into a duel. If you decide not to play, then you will instantly lose after 5 minutes of doing nothing."

"What? You have that kind of power? Fine, I accept your challenge then!"

The bandages around Endless Decay's arm grew and formed an interesting duel disk. The bandages also grew to form fingers to make dueling easier. Jake ended up with the same type of fleshy duel disk as Jasmine had used in her duel against Dark Rabbit. Even though Jake couldn't comprehend what was going on around him, he still had one important goal he could hang on to: getting his sister's corpse back.

"This is my World Duel, so I'm choosing for you to go first. Since this was your sister, I'm going to assume you already know what kind of deck she liked to use."

Jake nodded, and he couldn't deny that it fit perfectly into this type of environment. His sister always did have a fascination with zombies and monsters. Suddenly, he had a thought. "Wait, how do you have her deck?"

"Whenever my kind are brought into your world, we can always transform into their favourite card. Then, wherever their deck is in the world, it is instantly transported to us. If you want to argue about not everybody having a favourite card, just forget about that as well. If the vessel didn't have a favourite card, the card they used most frequently in every duel in their life is chosen instead. Same thing happens with decks. If they didn't have a favourite deck, their most frequently used deck is chosen. In the rare case that it's a draw, it is chosen at random. It's not a great life for us, but it's certainly better than having to live in the abhorrent place we used to live in. Do you really think we want to transform ourselves into monsters and duel people over their bodies? I feel sorry for you humans, but in this war, only the strongest will survive."

Jake widened his eyes as he took in all this information. He couldn't believe this was actually happening and that there was currently a silent war going on around the world. How many humans were now secretly monsters? He wanted to talk it out, but he had been forced into a duel, so it was too late now. He had no choice but to play.

Jake (Superheavy Samurai) 8000 LP VS. Endless Decay [Jane] (Vendread) 8000 LP

Turn 1 - Jake - 8000 LP - 5 cards in hand - 0 monsters on field - 0 spells/traps on field

"Fine, I'll start off by normal summoning 'Superheavy Samurai Kabuto' (Lv4 ATK 1000/DEF 2000). Then, I end my turn."

Turn 2 - Endless Decay - 8000 LP - 5 cards in hand - 0 monsters on field - 0 spells/traps on field

"Starting off simple, are we? That's fine with me. I draw! First off, I activate the field spell 'Vendread Nights'. Its effect allows me to discard my 'Vendread Anima' (Lv1 ATK 0/DEF 0) to add 'Vendread Striges' (Lv2 ATK 500/DEF 2000) to my hand. Next, I normal summon 'Vendread Revenants' (Lv4 ATK 1800/DEF 200). Then, I activate the ritual spell 'Revendread Origins' to tribute 'Vendread Houndhorde' (Lv3 ATK 0/DEF 2100) and 'Vendread Revenants' to ritual summon 'Vendread Battlelord' (Lv7 ATK 2700/DEF 0)! Since Revenants was on the field when it was used as ritual material, Battlelord gains the ability to target and banish 1 special summoned monster you control once per turn as a quick effect."

"Impressive, but my Kabuto isn't a special summoned monster. Furthermore, when you special summon a monster, I can change it into defense position, and it gains 500 DEF (DEF 2000 — 2500). That's not all, because by discarding 'Superheavy Samurai Soulfire Suit' (Lv2 ATK 800/DEF 800), I can target a defense position monster I control, and it cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects until the end of the turn!"

Jake had faced his sister's Vendread deck many times, and his wins and losses against her were pretty even. Sometimes, he wondered if she was letting him win because she was being kind to him. If that was the case, then Endless Decay definitely wasn't going to show any mercy.

Endless Decay chuckled. "A very solid defence. I can't get through it this turn, so I'll end my turn. However, before I do that, I should tell you about my World Rule. As you can see, my 'Vendread Battlelord' no longer has 2700 ATK (ATK 2700 — 3300/DEF 0 — 600) and even your Kabuto has changed (ATK 1000 — 1200/DEF 2500 — 2700). This is because my rule gives every monster you control gains 200 ATK/DEF for every monster in your graveyard. I currently have Revenants, Anima and Houndhorde there. That gives my Battlelord an extra 600 ATK and DEF. You only have Soulfire Suit there, so you're only getting 200 ATK and DEF. Your monsters will become more and more motivated to fight as more of their comrades fall. I guess you could say they are driven by revenge."

Endless Decay's World Rule |Rotting Corpses|: Every monster you control gains 200 ATK/DEF for every monster in your graveyard.

"Now, before I pass back over to you, I have a question. I'm currently inhabiting the corpse of your sister, but you still look quite young. That means something ended the life of your sister prematurely. I don't have much time left anyway, so if it's not too personal, could you please tell me how your sister died?"