In the distant future, the culmination of mankind's malice known as the "Shadow Realm" has bled into our world, casting it in darkness for centuries to come. All technology has been rendered useless, as those of a weak will all succumb to the darkness. Then came the beasts native to the realm, collapsing civilization in the span of days. The only way to kill these dark beasts is to defeat them in a "Shadow Game", a duel that puts both player's lives on the line. With mankind on the verge of collapse, the world has been turned into a Duelist's Wasteland.
In the vast desert wasteland of what used to be Domino City, a formerly thriving metropolis that's said to be the birth place of the world's most popular and successful trading card games, Duel Monsters, a young boy stood on top of one of the tallest highrises and stared down at town square. A grey, worn-out cloak shielded him from the harsh winds and the clouds of dust and ash that is brought with them. In his right hand, an old and rusted Duel Disk rested, as if welded onto his forearm. Sliding down the abandoned building he stood on, he made his way to the town square. He's heard stories of the old days, when kids his age would come here to pit their newly built decks against one another, when dueling was mainly done as a sport and not out of nescessity.
Exploring the barren plaza, a shiny glimmer caught his eye, as he made his way towards what appeared to be briefcase buried in the rubble. Pulling it out from the debris, the boy's eyes were filled with joy, as cards came flooding out, sprawling across the floor. The briefcase must've belonged to a collector, as some of the cards he found would be worth a fortune. Suddenly, the rubbling sound of engines could be heard from a distance, as a cloud of dust in the distance seemed to be approaching his location.
The boy's teeth clenched, as he tried grab the metal suitcase and make a run for it. Too heavy, too cumbersome, such a large piece of junk would only slow him down. He didn't have enough time to pick out which cards seemed the most valuable either. Quickly grabbing a handful and stuffing them into a rustic leather pouch, the boy made a mad dash for his horse, which he had left leashed near a rundown caffe. By the time the dust cloud had arrived to where he left his bounty, he was long gone.
The arriving group consisted of around 25 people, all adorned with spiky belts, colorful tattoos and minimal cloths that barely pass as tank tops or crop tops. The leader of the group, a burly man standing at a whooping 8 foot 2, descended from his vehicle, an old and heavy modified Harley model Motorcyle decked out with spiked metal bars, and scanned the surrounding.
"Alright men!" He ordered in a booming voice, "Raze this place clean! Grab all the weapons, food and equipment you can! And if you find any cards, you get double ration!"
His band let out a cheer in response, as they begun picking the place clean like ants at work. As the bandits were looting, one of the newer members came across what appeared to be a laptop. Confused as to what he was looking at, he picked up the old piece of technology, fiddling with it and trying to figure out how it worked.
"Don't bother with it new guy!" An older member called out, startling him, "That gizmo came from an older time, technology that advanced doesn't work anymore. Whatever that thing used to do, it's worth less than scrap metal now."
Hearing this, the looter dropped the aforementioned scrap metal with a disappointed look on his face.
"Hey Jozy." The looter then called out to an older member of the group, an elderly man who's muscles are far more toned than his, "You were alive before 'The Dark Flood' happened, weren't you? what was it like?"
The Jozy that looter mentioned looked at him with the eyes of a battle hardened veteran, as he took out a cigar and lit it.
"A hell of a lot better than this I tell ya." He replied, "That's all you need to know."
As all the members of the bandit group reunited at the town plaza, the leader began a tally of their day's work.
"Let's see here, we not 2 crates full of canned food, some guns from an old security storage, water, fuel and a 9 spare tires." Counted the leader.
Suddenly, he slammed his fist onto a nearby lampost, knocking it down.
"That's it!?" He exclaimed, throwing one of the canned goods at his lower ranking lackeys, "What the crap were you people doing in there!? The center square of what used to be the center of the world and all you can find are some canned beans!?"
"Sir, with all due respect, Domino City was most well known for it's cutting edge technology and Duel Monsters tournaments. Most of that technology's been rendered useless by the 'Darkness'."
"Don't give me that crap!" Exclaimed the leader, "It was here that Duel Monsters exploded in popularity and you people can't even give me a single card to show for it!"
"Sir, you might want to take a look at this!" Exclaimed Jozy, cutting him off.
"What is it Jozy!?" Yelled the leader, walking up to his second in command.
The old man pointed at a suitcase. Partially looted, but still bustling with cards. A look of glee drew on the man's face, as he picked up a bunch of the cards, examining them with great interest.
"These cards... it can't be..." Uttered the man, flipping the suitcase over to reveal a faded "KC" engraved onto its side, "This suitcase once belonged to Seto Kaiba himself!"
Scrounging through the cards, the man panted with excitement.
"Which means that his most valuable cards are still in here! Crush Card Virus, Vorse Raider, Enemy Controller..." he said with excitement, "And the most powerful of them all, the Blue Eyes White Dragon..."
His look of excitement turned to shock.
"... Is missing!?" He exclaimed, "No, that can't be! There's got to be some explanation behind this! Maybe a secret compartment, a hidden code, maybe..."
His eyes shifted to a trail of footprints that lead away from the suitcase.
"Someone got to it before us!" Exclaimed the leader.
"Oh boy." Jozy murmured, knowing what this meant.
"Pack up boys! We got a thief to track down and, most probably, another town to burn down!" Exclaimed the leader as he lead his band off, following the trails the boy took off to.
After about a 3 day journey, the young boy finally made it back to his hometown, Deaconsvil, a small village built on scrap metal and crude masonry. The population's around 400, which is actually considered pretty small for settlement standards. About 150 miles to the West of the town, for example, lies Deus Sen, one of the largest human settlements still standing, with a population of around 100 000. After his long journey, the young boy stopped by the town's pawnshop, to see if anything he found has any sort of value. As the doors swung open, the shopkeeper welcomed him with a warm smile.
"Yumio! Good morning!" Greeted the old man.
"G'morning Tom." Replied Yumio in a passive but still happy tone, as he threw his bag onto the countertop, "So, how's the town been doing since I was gone?"
"It's been doing quite well. We just expanded our farms after those eggplant seeds Danas found during his last expedition and Sheila's now pregnant with her second child." Replied Tom, the shopkeeper.
"No way, that's so great to hear." Replied Yumio with enthusiasm, "I'm glad she's doing alright, considering what happened to Luke. God rest his poor soul."
"I'm glad to see you still have that glint of happiness in your eyes." Said Tom, "I was beginning to worry you wouldn't make it back this time, considering how you almost never loot within our town's safe zones."
"Oh don't worry about me, I've learned my lesson. Always loot in junkyards and avoid cities." Replied Yumio, "Speaking of which, I got a good haul today, I swear those junkyards must be magically refilling themselves cause they never seem to run out."
Tom however looked at him with an air of skepticism.
"The junkyard? You're sure you got all this stuff from looting the junkyard?" He asked.
"Um... yeah!" Yumio feighed honesty.
"Then, pray tell, why are you trying to sell me 'Kaiba Corp' brand water canteens?" Asked Tom, "The kind that's mostly only found in Domino City?"
"Uh... I have to go." Yumio replied, trying to run away with haste, only for Tom to reach out and grab his right hand, revealing his duel disk.
"As I thought, you're trying to go out there and hunt those 'Dark Apostles', aren't you?!" Exclaimed Tom.
"Let go of me!" Yumio yelled out, tearing away Tom's grip.
"Yumio, you have to listen to me! You're 14 now! You're almost fully grown! You have to throw these childish dreams aside. I know there used to be a better world before this but you have to face reality, there's no going back." Pleaded Tom, "Our town may not have much, but we are much better off than some other people in the world right now, isn't that enough?"
Yumio stood in silence for a bit.
"It wasn't enough for my big brother." He replied.
Tom froze, as a look of sadness washed over him.
"Speaking of which, is he back yet?" Asked Yumio with a saddened tone.
"No, still no word of him." Replied Tom.
"Yeah." Said Yumio, Throwing his empty bag over his shoulder, "I thought so."
It has been almost 4 years since Yumio's big brother, Yuffie, set out to defeat the Darkness, the source of the Shadow Realm's grip over the human world. Stories like his are not uncommon, as it is common knowledge as to where the Darkness resides, but of the countless duelists that tried defeat the darkness, none have returned alive, and the dark purple clouds that completely cover the sky, making the sun but a faint star is proof that to this day, the Darkness remains undefeated.
"Well, that really soured the mood." Yumio said to himself, "I guess I need a little pick me up."
Walking down the busy streets, well, as busy as a town of 400 population could get, Yumio made his way to the nearest bar. From what he's heard from an old drunkyard that often frequent the place, back in his days, kids his age were prohibited from entering bars. Such concept seemed strange to Yumio, who wasn't alive when the world was ll sane, as when he walked into the bar, most of the attendants saw him as they would anyone walking into a bar, just another customer.
"The usual, and make it double." Yumio ordered from the bartender, as he pulled out from his pouch the cards he looted from that suitcase earlier. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he saw what card he was holding in his hand.
"A Blue-Eyes White Dragon!?" Exclaimed Yumio out loud.
His shock and amazement were so great, he didn't even notice as the doors swung over, revealing a man with long messy black hair, a conic strawhat and a scarf that covered most of his face. The other attendants looked at him in awe, showing that he wasn't from town and was an outsider. Sitting down next to Yumio, who just received his two pints of ale, he ordered in a raspy and rough voice.
"Just water will do..."
The bartender, intimidated by his appearance, urged to serve him his order, as one of the attendants walked up to him.
"Hey, outsider, what's your story?" Asked the man.
No response.
"Hey, I'm talking to ya!" Said the man, sitting down next to him.
Still no response.
"Oi, you know it's rude to not answer someone who's asking you a question, right?"
Silence.
"Can I at least get a name out of ya, stranger?"
"Nobody." The man replied in a raspy voice.
"Yeesh, talk about rude." Said the attendant, before spilling one of Yumio's drinks out of spite.
"Hey! Watch it jerk!" Exclaimed Yumio, "You almost got my cards wet!"
However, upon hearing that, the man turned to Yumio with a look of scorn on his face.
"Excuse me?" Asked the man, "Did you just say 'card'?"
"Oh crap." Thought Yumio, unintentionally revealing what he's been hiding from the rest of the townsfolk.
Tearing open Yumio's cloak, a stack of cards fell to the ground, sprawling across the floor for everyone to see. Upon seeing this, the bar erupted into laughter.
"Oh dear, and here I thought I've seen it all! Little Yumio wants to go out there and take on the 'big bad Darkness', Puahahahaha!" Cackled the attendants.
"Didn't his older brother try it like a few years back? How did that turn out?" Laughed another one.
The man then stomped on one of the cards Yumio tried to pick up, looking at him with a look of disgust.
"Listen kid, it's time you woke up and smelled the coffee, this is the world you live in now. Now let go of that stupid pipe dream of being a hero and live life like a normal person, alright kid?" He said in a fully serious face.
"This is 'normal to you'?" Grunted Yumio, clenching his fist, before standing up to the man, "This is 'normal' to you!? This town is starving despite our best efforts to keep it alive! Almost all kids I know either become looters or farmers! Haven't any of you imagined what it would be like to all eat your fill? To have your kids go to these places they once called 'schools' and socialize? We once lived in such an era, is it wrong to long for such a time again?"
In response, the man picked Yumio up by the collar, glaring at him with angry eyes.
"Stop dreaming kid." He said in a pissed off tone, "That world you dream of might as well be a fairy tale at this point."
Suddenly, the sound of a glass pint slamming hard against the counter startled everyone, leaving the room in silence as the stranger finished his drink, leaving behind a rusty silver coin for the bartender before heading for the exit while murmuring something.
"It's close." Yumio heard as the man left the bar without saying another word.
"What's the deal with him?" Asked one of the attendants.
"Heh, hell if I know." replied another.
However, shortly after, a loud rumbling shook the bar to its core, as everyone ran outside to see what the ruckus was all about, their eyes widened as they were greeted with a band of motorcylists clad in spiked leather and metal plating. As the group's leader descended, he called out with a booming voice.
"Greeting you hamlet dwelling peons! I am the Warden and these are my merry band of misfits! Sadly, you are the unfortunate few that will be robbed and pillaged by us this lovely afternoon. Now, we can make this easy, if you would just hand in all of your precious belongings and supplies to us, or..." The Warden smiled, brandishing a wristmounted crossbow, "We can make it fun."
"Hey screw you man! Leave our town alone you damn looters!" The bar attendants from before yelled out, only to receive a bolt through the head, sending panic through the crowd.
"Anyone else want to be a hero?" Laughed the Warden.
As the other townsfolk shook in fear, ready to comply however, Yumio ran into the crowd, brandishing his Duel Disk. Seeing this, the warden let out a chuckle.
"Seriously, a duel? You're willing to bet this town's fate on a duel?" Laughed the Warden.
"If I win, you leave this town immediately." Yumio declared, revealing his newly acquired ace monster, "But if I lose, please have this card instead of my town."
The warden's eyes widened.
"Blue Eyes... so you're the bastard that took it." The Warden murmured.
"Well, what will it be?" Yumio smiled with confidence.
Suddenly, another crossbow bolt flew in, hitting Yumio in the shoulder.
"How dumb are ya kid? We ain't like the Darkness's lackeys kid, if we can take something by force, we will." Said Warden, walking over to Yumio, who was clutching his bleeding shoulder, "Now, let's see what goodies you're hiding in your deck.
"N-No, get away..." Uttered Yumio.
But it was no use. Grabbing Yumio's pouch, the boy watched helplessly as the cards he worked so hard to find were taken from him.
"Damn it..."
However, before the Warden can leave, the same mysterious figure showed up, seemingly out of nowhere between the two of them.
"What the... who are you?" Asked the Warden.
"It's you..." Uttered Yumio, "The stranger from the bar."
"You shouldn't have refused." Said the stranger.
"Oi! Who the hell are you?!" Asked the Warden.
"When a shadow game begins, they would generally leave, respecting the participant's bravery and committement to the game." Continued the stranger.
"Alright then, funny guy, if you're just going to talk about cryptic shit, then how about you wash down all that shakespeare with a crossbow bolt?" The Warden exclaimed.
Suddenly, a cold presence was felt behind the Warden, as a dark shadow appeared among his men's ranks.
"I smell something... wicked..." Said the silhouette in a raspy voice.
"B-Boss... it's..." His men uttered, before the silhouette grabbed him, as the man's body shriveled and decayed into dust.
"An 'Apostle of Darkness'..." Uttered the Warden.
"Gyaa! Stay away!" His men panicked, firing their weapons at it, to no effect.
"You idiots, these apostles can't be harmed by any physical means!" Exclaimed the Warden, pulling out his own Duel Disk, "The only way to kill one is in a 'Shadow Game'."
"Boss..." His men uttered out.
"Don't worry men, now you will see why we prioritize looting cards above all else! It's to defend ourselves from monsters like these!" He said, pointing at a monster, "Hey ugly! I challenge you!"
The apostle smiled with glee, as his full form had been revealed, a mangled collection of dead tree branches and flesh and somehow form human shame, as well as what can vaguely be described as a face.
"Then I am obliged to accept."
The the dark cloud swirled around them, the townsfolk who were initially fearful of the newly arrived bikers now drew all their attention to the Warden and the Apostle, as their duel would essentially decide all their fates.
"I am Crook, the Apostle of Decay, and your death will be my nourishment."
"We'll see about that you overgrown fern." Replied the Warden.
"Duel!"
Turn 1.
Warden LP: 4000 Hand: 5
Crook LP: 4000 Hand: 5
"I'll start things off." Said the Warden, " I draw!"
Looking at his hand, a smile drew across the warden's face.
"I'll activate Card Destruction! Now, by we must both discard our entire hand and draw an equal number of cards."
Dumping his entire hand to the grave, Warden drew 5 new cards from his deck. Looking at his new hand, a smile drew on his face.
"Everything's in place."
"I now activate Soul Release! I target all 5 of the monsters I discarded and remove them from play!" Exclaimed the Warden.
"What the hell is he doing?" Thought Yumio, "None of his plays make any sense! Does he even know how to play this game?"
The stranger, however, had a completely different take to his approach.
"He's not half bad."
"From my hand, I will activate Dimension Fusion! Now, by paying half my life points, I can summon all monsters I have removed from play! Come forth my mighty dragons!"
From the sky, accompanied by a chorus of wing beats descended monsters from the world beyond. Onto the field, Spirit Ryu, Hyozanryu, Hunter Dragon, Different Dimension Dragon and Mirage Dragon were summoned.
"Finally, I activate Polymerization! Fusing all 5 of my dragons together, I summon the Five Headed Dragon!"
The 5 dragons flew into the air, as a massive five headed goliath came back down. The Five Headed Dragon (5000 ATK/ 5000 DEF) has been summoned.
"That's not all! I now boost his attack with this card, Megamorph!"
Five Headed Dragon's attack rose from 5000 to 10 000.
"Megamorph can double a monster's attack as long as the controller's life points are lower than their opponents..." Muttered Yumio, reminiscing to the Warden's earlier play, "That's why he used Dimension Fusion! Not only did it give him access to the fusion materials he needed, but it also made his life points low enough for megamorph to work!"
"Yeah! Way to go boss! look at that pipsqueak! He's shaking in his boots!" the Warden's goons cheered on.
"I can see that you were looking down on me chump!" The Warden taunted Crook, "Little did you know, I used to be Ward Wellington, 2 times national champion at Duel Monsters!"
Crook remained silent.
"Scared, aren't you? Bet you've only been hunting down weak willed simpletons who haven't even played this game! I'm different my friend, I own this game! I'll set one card facedown and end my turn."
Turn 2.
Warden LP: 2000 Hand: 0
Crook LP: 4000 Hand: 5
"Well? What say you, monster?" The Warden taunted again.
"So this is the kind of plays I should be expecting from a master?" Asked Crook, drawing his card, "How pitiful. I activate Monster Reborn, reviving Hunter Dragon."
The Hunter Dragon that was sent to the graveyard returned to the field, but this time on Crook's side.
"Whatever, have him, that puny monster's no match for my beast!" Said Warden.
"You're right, he is no match." Replied Crook, "So here, have him back."
As he said that, he activated Shien's Spy, giving Hunter Dragon back to Ward for a turn.
"He wasted a monster reborn to give me back a monster?" Thought Ward, "What in the world's going on!? Wait... why's it suddenly gettins hot?"
Suddenly, from below his feet, pillars of lava erupted, burning both of his dragons alive.
"H-Hey! What gives!?" Asked Ward, as he suddenly found himself in a cage, being lifted high into the air.
"Simple, I summoned the Lava Golem." Replied Crook, "However, he's not like most monsters. I can only summon him to my opponent's side of the field, however, he requires two tributes to do so. Hence, I sacrificed your two monsters. But don't get too excited, at the start of your every turn, you will be taking 1000 points of damage."
"So that's why he gave me back hunter dragon, it's so he can give me enough monsters for this tribute summon!" Thought Ward.
"So what? This monster has 3000 attack! All I need is to draw a monster and you won't even survive one turn!" Exclaimed Ward.
"You're right." Replied Crook, "That pet is far too troublesome in the wrong hands. Thus, I'll just have to retrieve it. I activate the spell card, Owner's Seal! This card returns all monsters on the field back to their original owners!"
Suddenly Lava Golem shifted to Crook's side of the field, leaving Ward's field completely exposed.
"What!? No way!" Exclaimed Ward, "If this attack goes through, I'm toast!"
"It's been fun, mister champion, but now, you will die like the rest of them." Said Crook, "Lava Golem, Attack with Golem Volcano!"
Ward clenched his fist, as he waved his hand in a dramatic motion.
"As if I'd let you! I activate Negate Attack!" Exclaimed Ward, "Now your Golem's attack will be nullified! And at the start of next turn, you will be the one to take 1000 damage!"
"You're right, I will" Said Crook, "But he won't be sticking around for my next turn. I activate Mystic Wok. Now, I can tribute my Lava Golem and gian life points equal to his attack."
Crook's LP: 7000.
"Y-You can't be serious..." Uttered out Ward.
"I commend you for living even a single turn against me." Said Crook, "Not many of my other foes have managed. I lay one card facedown and end my turn."
Turn 3.
Warden LP: 2000 Hand: 0
Crook LP: 7000 Hand: 0
"His field is clear." Thought Ward, "This next draw needs to be a monster!"
"I draw!" Exclaimed Ward, looking at his hand, "I summon Spear Dragon (1900 ATK/ 0 DEF) in attack mode! Attack with Spear Sonic!"
The dragon opened its gaping maw, blasting Crook with a windstorm.
Crook's LP: 5100.
However, as soon as Spear Dragon's attack ended, he was suddenly destroyed.
"What? Spear Dragon!" Exclaimed Ward, "What did you do!?"
"It is true that in normal cases, your spear dragon would go to defense position after attacking." Explained Crook, "However, after he attacked, I activated the trap card Tragedy, which destroys all of your defense position monsters when one of your monsters is switched to defense mode."
"This guy's toying with me..." Thought Ward, hyperventilating, "Me... a former champion... how could this be!?"
Turn 4.
Warden LP: 2000 Hand: 0
Crook LP: 5100 Hand: 0
"My turn, I draw." Said Crook, "I summon Newdoria (1200 ATK/ 800 DEF) in attack mode. Shred him!"
A sharp pain tore into Ward, as he collapsed to the floor, panting.
Ward's LP: 800.
"With that, I'll end."
Turn 5.
Warden LP: 800 Hand: 0
Crook LP: 5100 Hand: 0
"Won't... lose" Panted Ward, "I'm not dying here!"
He drew his card.
"I summon the Twin Headed Behemoth (1500 ATK/ 1200 DEF) in attack mode!" He yelled out, "Destroy Newdoria!"
The monster doused the fiend in black flames.
Crook's LP: 4800
"Now your Twin Headed Behemoth will perish by my Newdoria's effect." Declared Crook.
"It doesn't matter." Said the Warden, "Because during my end phase, Twin Headed Behemoth will automatically revive himself if he was destroyed this turn!"
From the grave, Twin Headed Behemoth returned, with both his attack and defense at a flat 1000.
Turn 6.
Warden LP: 800 Hand: 0
Crook LP: 4800 Hand: 0
"He's hanging in there for longer than I thought." Said the stranger.
"This isn't good though, that apostle's got him on the ropes." Said Yumio.
"Not quite." Replied the stranger, "Look at his expression."
Despite the desperation in his eyes, a certain composed aura still emanated off of them.
"He hasn't given up yet." Said the stranger, "He still has an ace up his sleeve."
"I draw." Said Crook, looking at his hand, "I summon Slate Warrior (1900 ATK/ 400 DEF) in attack mode! Break his monster!"
With a swing of his arm, the behemoth met his final fate.
"I'll end right here."
Turn 7.
Warden LP: 800 Hand: 0
Crook LP: 4800 Hand: 0
"I just modified this deck of mine with Kaiba's cards, if I can pull the right one, I can turn this entire duel around!" Thought Ward.
"I draw!" He exclaimed.
Upon looking at his hand, a smile drew upon his face.
"Looks like there is still a god after all." Grinned Ward.
"Oh? Looks like this might get interesting for once." Smiled Crook.
"I activate Card of Demise! Now I can draw until I have 5 cards in hand, at the cost of discarding my entire hand during my 5th turn after using this card." Exclaimed Ward, "Next, I will set one monster facedown! Now, I can active Book of Taiyou, to flip the monster I just set face up!"
Crook's eyes widened upon seeing what monster Ward had just set.
"Cyber jar!" He exclaimed.
"Indeed! Now, Cyber Jar's effect Activates, I can now destroy all monsters on the field. Then, we can draw 5 cards from our deck and summon all level 4 or lower monsters among them! I summon Vorse Raider, Lord of D, X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Wing, and Z-metal tank!" Exclaimed the Warden.
"But your Cyber Jar will also apply for me! I summon Necro Gardna, Treeborn Frog and Neko Mane King, in facedown defense mode." Replied Crook.
"It doesn't matter! Because I will now fuse my three machines into XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800 ATK/ 2600 DEF)!" Declared Ward, "Furthermore, I will activate my Flute of Summoning Dragons, to summon 2 Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000 ATK/ 2500 DEF) onto the field!"
"So many monsters..." Uttered Yumio, "That's it, he's won!"
"Humph." Grunted the stranger.
"Finally, I will activate my XYZ Dragon Cannon's effect! Discarding all 3 of my cards, I can destroy all 3 of the monsters you just summoned." Exclaimed Ward.
The cannon mounted on the mechanical dragon's back fired three times, destroying all of Crook's monsters.
"It's over!" Exclaimed Ward.
"Yes, for you." Replied Crook, "When Neko Mane King is destroyed by card effect, then your turn will immediately end."
"What!?" Exclaimed Ward.
"He got cocky." Said the stranger, "Had he not activated his dragon's effect and attacked normally, he might have had a shot at winning."
"What are you talking about? Doesn't he still have the lead?" Asked Yumio.
The stranger shook his head.
"He just lost that small window he had."
Turn 7.
Warden LP: 800 Hand: 0
Crook LP: 4800 Hand: 2
"It doesn't matter, you'll never get past my monsters!" Exclaimed Ward.
"Oh, don't be so sure." Said Crook, "I draw! And now, since my field is clear, I can special summon Treeborn Frog from my graveyard. Next, since you control over two more monsters than I do, I can special summon the Fiend Megacyber to my side of the field. Finally, I will activate Premature Burial, paying 800 Life Points to bring back Necro Gardna."
Suddenly, Ward's body shook in terror.
"No... it can't be..." Uttered Ward.
"So you've finally realized." Grinned Crook, "I sacrifice all three of my monsters, and summon, the Wicked Eraser! (? ATK/ ? DEF).
Descending onto the field, the serpent like creature stared down upon Ward, trembling in fear.
"So this is... an evil god..." Uttered Ward.
"The Wicked Erase gains 1000 attack for every card you control." Explained Crook, "And from the looks of it, I count 5. Which means..."
"5000 attack points!?" Ward screamed out.
"This is the end" Declared Crook, "Goodbye, loser. Erase him!"
On command, the wicked god spewed out a pitch black liquid, engulfing all of Ward's monsters.
Turn 7.
Warden LP: 0 Hand: 0
Crook LP: 4000 Hand: 0 Winner!
"I... lost..." Uttered out Ward.
Suddenly, he started to cough profuously, as blood came pouring out of his eyes and mouth.
"N-No... not like this..."
Then, like an electric shock coursing through his body, he was met with unimaginable pain, letting out a blood burdling scream, before his body collapsed, lifeless.
"Now..." Said Crook, "With that out of the way, it is time to return to what I came here for."
Hearing this, the townfolk and bandits fell back in fear, begging for mercy as some ran for their lives. Yumio looked with a horrified expression on his face.
"So this is it..." Thought Yumio in what he thought were his final moments, "Despair..."
As the Dark Apostle marched closer, Yumio prepared for the worst. However, the apostle ignored him, instead marching to the stranger, who was the only one that seemed calm.
"You must be the one." Said Crook.
"I'm no one." Replied the stranger.
"I am aware." Replied Crook, "The Nameless Wanderer, I believe they call you."
"Nameless... Wanderer?" Thought Yumio.
"What is it you want with me?" Asked the Wanderer.
Pulling out his duel disk once more, Crook pointed at him with a challenging glare.
"You, Nameless Wanderer, will be brought down by me, Crook, Apostle of Decay!" Declared the inhuman beast.
"Many have tried." Said the Wanderer, taking off his ragged cloak to reveal countless deckboxes, filled with cards, each of them with the blood-stained emblem of an apostle imprinted onto them, "And many more will come after you. I accept your challenge."
"Well said!" Exclaimed Crook, activating his Duel Disk, and revealing the Wicked Eraser "Let us duel!"
"After this duel, your God will fall." Replied the Wanderer, flipping over a card of his own "Before mine!"
Obelisk the Tormentor rested in his hands.
"DUEL!"
To Be Continued...