Yu-Gi-Oh: Duelist's Wasteland

by The Mysterious Banana

The shadow realm has bled into earth, covering the world in its dark mist. The Darkness and his apostles, natives from the shadow realm had collapsed civilization in the span of days, as humanity was brought to the brink of extinction. The only way to defeat the Darkness was to win in its own games, the Shadow Games. The fate of mankind now rests in the hands of duelists.

2. Chapter 2

Turn 1.

Wanderer LP: 4000

Crook LP: 4000

The air was stiff, as the two sides drew their cards. Wanderer took the initiative, drawing for turn as the apostle eyed him down, ready for him to make his move.

"I pass." He suddenly said anticlimactically.

"What!?" Exclaimed Crook.

"Excuse me!? That guy didn't even make a single play!?" The crowd exclaimed.

"Yes, now go, it's your turn." Replied the Wanderer.

"Rrrrgh, why you, fine!" Said Crook.

Turn 2.

Wanderer LP: 4000 Hand: 6

Crook LP: 4000 Hand: 5

"I draw my card!" Exclaime Crook, "And I'll start things off by summoning the almighty Goblin Attack Force (2300 ATK/ 0 DEF) to the field!"

"Hm, not bad." The nameless Wanderer said calmly.

"I'll equip him with Axe of Despair, bumping his attack to 3300!" Exclaimed Crook, "Now rip him apart!"

The attack force of goblins ran through the Wanderer, immediately striking a fearsome blow onto the Wanderer, bringing his lifepoints down to 700. The aforementioned Wanderer dropped to one knee, reeling in pain.

"Ahahaha! Serves you right!" Laughed the apostle, "And to think you killed so many of my kin!"

"Are you done chitchatting?" Asked the Wanderer, "Because, as you should know, your attack force will be hitting the grave once your turn's done."

"Indeed." Replied Crook, "It is true that Goblin attack force is forced to defense position after conducting an attack, making him defenseless. However, I am well aware that he has outlived his use! So now he will be relinquished of his duty! Activating Mystic Wok! Sacrificing him to gain his attack points worth of lifepoints!"

Goblin Attack force begins to dissipate, turning into life energy to fuel Crook.

"But that's not all! Chaining Sebek's Blessing! Now the damage Goblin Attack Force inflicted onto you will ALSO be added onto my Life points." Cackled Crook.

"3300 twice!? But that would mean..." Yumio uttered.

"10600 Life points." Wanderer finished.

"Fufufu~ indeed!" Crooked laughed, "My field is now open! Come on now, attack all you want!"

"So that's this man's strategy, he runs a ton of high power monsters who's massive power comes with great drawbacks, but then converts those powers into lifepoints before they can become a detriment! Thus, he damages the opposition while gaining so much lifepoints that even direct attacking doesn't matter anymore to him!" Thought Yumio, "How fearsome... so this is an apostle."

"Next up, I will set two cards facedown, your move!" said Crook, Ending his turn.

Turn 3.

Wanderer LP: 700 Hand: 6

Crook LP: 10600 Hand: 0

"I draw!" Said Wanderer drawing his card, "I'll activate Painful Choice! I assume you already know that this card does."

"No need to remind me." Replied Crook, "Now, show me your five cards."

Revealing his 5 cards to him, Crook saw Shining Angel, Mystic Tomato, Morphing Jar, Magician of Faith and Mask of Darkness.

"Huh, two recruiters, three flip monsters." Thought Crook, "Obviously, I'll have to go with Morphing Jar. With my hand empty, I could use the extra 5 cards."

"I'll pick Morphing Jar." Said Crook.

"Then the rest are sent to the graveyard." Replied Wanderer.

"Ah, guess the guy hasn't given up yet." The bystanders watched.

"Yeah! Take that apostle down!" Some of them cheered.

"Now then, are you ready!? I'll banish the two light monsters and two dark monsters from my grave to summon both Chaos Sorcerer (2300 ATK/ 2000 DEF) and Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning (3000 ATK/ 2500 DEF)!" The Wanderer exclaimed.

"Oh!" The crowd cheered, "What a play!"

"Huh, so you've got some skill in you after all!" Said Crook.

"Furthermore, I will summon Morphing Jar (700 ATK/ 600 DEF) in attack mode!" Said the Wanderer.

"In attack mode!? are you that desperate to get out as much damage on me as possible!?" Laughed Crook.

"Go my monsters, attack directly!" Wanderer called out.

"You think I'd let that happen!? (OC Card incoming), Activate Draining Mirror Force!" Crook retorted.

All of a sudden, both of the Wanderer's monsters attacks were absorbed by some sort of force field, as they then collapsed, weakened to the core.

"You fell for it fool!" Crook cackled, "Thanks to the effect of my draining mirror force, all attack points of all attack position monsters you control are added to my lifepoints!"

As he said that, his lifepoints rose to 16600.

"And that's not all! The attack of all your attack position monsters are then reduces to a flat 0!"

"I will set 1 card facedown and end my turn." the Wandered said, bringing his turn to an end.

"No... this is bad... at this rate, he will lose for sure!" Yumio said, worried for that man's life after witnessing what had happened to Ward, "And yet, how is he so composed?"

Turn 4.

Wanderer LP: 700 Hand: 4

Crook LP: 16600 Hand: 0

"This is the end for you, Nameless Wanderer!" Laughed Crook, "I will draw!"

Looking at the card he drew, a smile drew on his twisted face.

"I'll activate Pot of Greed!"

"What does that card do?" Asked Yumio out loud.

"It allows me to draw 2 cards from my deck." He said, drawing his aforementioned two cards, "Next, I activate my other set card, Reckless Greed! Skipping my next two draw phases for two more cards!"

Like with what happened with Ward's two monsters, the Wanderer's chaos monsters suddenly burst into flames, revealing the same monster that got rid of the 10 000 attack five headed dragon.

"Lava Golem, come forth!" Crook called out, "And now, come back to me! I activate Owner's seal! Now you are mine again!"

The Lava Golem now returns to his rightful owner.

"I hope that set card can save you, my poor friend, because soon, you will experience hell like you have never imagined! Ahahahaha!" Laughed Crook, sure of his victory.

"I activate Gift Card, giving you 3000 more life points." The Wanderer said nonchalantly.

"Gift Card!? Have you gone mad!?" Exclaimed Crook.

"What is that guy thinking?!" The other exclaimed as well.

"Pathetic, and I expected so much more from the one who had defeated so many of my apostle brothers, Lava Golem! Finish him off!"

The Golem attacked, splattering the wanderer with molten lava.

"Ahahaha! It's over!"

As Yumio watched in awe, the man who seemed to have so much confidence was engulfe like nothing. Then again, maybe the man was just overcome with despair and wanted this, it was common in this world. However, to his and everyone's awe, when the smoke cleared, the man stood tall, unfazed by the attack.

"What!? That attack should have ended you! How are you still alive!?" Asked Crook.

Suddenly, the apostle noticed a golden ball standing in front of him, heavily burned and fading away.

"Sphere Kuriboh!? You had a Sphere Kuriboh in hand!?" Exclaimed Crook.

"He used it to force my monster into defense mode before my attack hit his morphing jar." He thought looking back.

"It's over apostle, you have lost." Said the Wanderer.

"Excuse me!? don't you see the dire situation you're in!? How can you possible hope to defeat me!?" Asked Crook.

"Haven't you heard Crook?" Asked the nameless Wanderer, "There's this little something called the Heart of the Cards."

"Oh don't get me started with that!" Said Crook.

"Don't worry, I don't believe in it either." The Wanderer cut in, "Besides, in this hand, I already have the means of defeating you!"

"You what!?"

"Is he serious!?" People in the crowd began mumbling

"Rrggh, I'll activate my second Mystic Wok! Now my lifepoints are 22600! And for good measure, I'll stack a Dian Keto, the cure master on that! For an additional 1000 Life Points!" Exclaimed Crook, "Let's see you defeat me now! I end my turn!"

Turn 5.

Wanderer LP: 700 Hand: 3

Crook LP: 23600 Hand: 0

"I draw!" The Wanderer exclaimed, the sound of his card leaving the duel disk reverberating across the field, "Are you ready!?"

"Tsk, bring it!" Crook sneered.

"I activate Monster Reborn! Now I can revive Chaos Sorcerer to my field! I will now tribute him, to summon Raiza, the storm monarch!"

The monarch of storms roared to life, descending onto the field.

"So what!? That measly monster will never be able to defeat me!?"

Suddenly, as sudden as his arrival, the monarch unleashed a gust of wind, blowing Morphing jar back into its owner's deck.

"What did you do!?" Crook uttered out in shock.

"Simple, I used his effect to return morphing jar back to the top of my deck." The Wanderer smiled.

"What!? Why would he do that!?" The crowd exclaimed, "Is he stupid!?"

"What in the world are you playing at!?" Asked Crook, dumbfounded by the plays made by the Wanderer.

"Simple, I now activate my last card." He said with confidence.

"Your... last card?" Asked Crook.

"Activating Reversal Quiz!" Exclaimed the Wanderer.

"Reversal... Quiz?" Asked Crook.

"With the effect of reversal quiz in play, I will send all cards in my hand and field to the graveyard and will then have to guess the top card of my deck! If I guess right, our lifepoints will be switched!" Explained the Wanderer.

"What!?" Crook exclaimed in shock.

"And since I just returned a monster to the top of my deck, I think I will call... Morphing Jar!" Wanderer exclaimed.

Revealing the top card of his deck, the card called was, unsuprisingly, morphing jar.

"But that means..." Crook suddenly realized his situation, "All of my lifepoints..."

Crook LP: 700

"Belong to me now." Wandered finished.

Wanderer LP: 23600

"No! This can't be happening!" Crook panicked.

"This is the end for you! I'll end for now." Said the Wanderer with a satisfied grin.

The crowd cheered in awe, silenced by what they are seeing: an Apostle of Darkness, the same beings who brought an end to human civilization, panicking and on its knees, cowering before this man. It was as if heaven had sent down an angel to rescue them at last.

Turn 6.

Wanderer LP: 23600 Hand: 0

Crook LP: 700 Hand: 0

"I'll draw! I have to draw something that will save me! Argh!" Crook said in a panicked tone, as a jolt of electricity ran down his arm as soon as he touched his card, paralyzing it briefly, "Fuck! Why can't I draw!?"

"Did you forget? You activated Reckless Greed the turn before, your draw phase is skipped!" Said Wanderer.

"No! No no no! This can't be happening!" Crook screamed out.

"Got nothing? Very well, my turn then." Said Wanderer.

Turn 7.

Wanderer LP: 23600 Hand: 0

Crook LP: 700 Hand: 0

"I think we both know what card I'm gonna draw next." Said the Wanderer, "I'll summon Morphing Jar (700 ATK/600 DEF)! in Attack mode!"

"Morphing Jar in attack mode!?" Crook exclaimed, "Wait a minute..."

"When I attacked him in the beginning of the duel, I dropped his life points to 700! That number... that's the exact amount of attack Morphing Jar has... don't tell me..."

He recalled to earlier in the duel when the Wanderer passed turn and let an attack go through.

"He let me attack him on purpose!?"

Looking further back, all of the Wanderer's odd plays became clear.

"Then, he let me waste my hand, so that I would choose the monster for its ability to replenish both players hands, hoping to get a brand new hand of 5 cards, a monster with the exact amount of attack to end what amount of lifepoints he had!"

"Morphing Jar! Attack him directly!" Exclaimed the Wanderer.

"He planned that far ahead!?"

"It's over Crook, you lost." Said the Wanderer.

"NOOOOOO!"

The last thing Crook saw before the duel ending was his own life points dropping to Zero.

Turn 8.

Wanderer LP: 23600 Hand: 0 Winner!

Crook LP: 0 Hand: 0

"This... This can't be happening..." Crook uttered out, his body beginning to wither.

"It's as I said before." Said the Wanderer, walking up to him, "Your god will fall, before mine."

"You... do you really think you alone can defeat the darkness!?" Exclaimed Crook, "We apostles are numerous! You... You will be hunted down till your dying breath!"

"I'm used to it." Replied the Wanderer, taking the apostle's deck box and walking off.

"Wait! Come back! I'm not done with you! I... I demand a rematch!" Said Crook, limping towards him.

"I have no more business with you." Replied Wanderer, "Besides... you're already dead."

"Why you... Arrrrrggghhhh!"

With that, black smoke erupts out of the apostle's body, as the being shrivels up, twisting in ways no human would. In the end, the crowd ran up, gathering around the apostle's body.

"So this is why an apostle looks like upon death?" said of the the bystanders

"What the hell, our world was conquered by these!?" Another chimed in.

Before them, a single dead willow tree stood where a inhuman beast once was, it's leaves dry and withered, and it's bark white as snow.

As the wanderer trails off however, he notices someone following him.

"Wait up!" Yumio called out.

"What are you doing kid?" Asked the Wanderer.

"Please... take me with you!" Yumio exclaimed.

"Huh?" The Wanderer stammered, confused.

"I'm fed up living in this settlement." Said Yumio, "Seeing you duel, it brought me hope. If it's with you then I'm sure, I'm sure I can become strong enough one day to defeat those apostle bastards and save this world."

"Go home kid." The Wanderer replied, continuing his path.

"No! I am not getting out of your way!" Yumio latched onto him stubbornly.

"I say leave!" Exclaimed the wanderer, "there's nothing for you where I'm going!"

Yumio adamantly refused, standing firm, not moving an inch. After a while, the wanderer let out an exasperated sigh.

"Very well, tag along." Said the wanderer, "But don't expect me to care if you break a leg or something."

"Hell yeah!" Yumio cheered.

And so, leaving his settlement, Yumio began his journey along with the mysterious wanderer.

To Be Continued...