54. The King of Ghosts.
After the deaths of Beldam, Marilyn and Doopliss the heroes are not allowed to rest, Syn appeared telling them to get a key on top of the tower, however this seems simple Syn still has a trick up her sleeves.
After Syn disappeared Mario turned his attention back to his team, Vivian was devastated in the last moments of her life Marilyn escaped Beldam's spell then she got devoured by the darkness, Vivian acted all tough when she faced Beldam Mario's friend tried to get Beldam out of the Shadow Queen's darkness but her attempt failed and she was forced to kill her sister, claiming it did not hurt her Mario knew better.
Bow was out of it too as she had told Mario Doopliss was the first person she had actually killed, she looked tough from the outside but Mario felt her sadness.
'Listen everyone.' He said: 'Some of you need to get out of here, Bow I want you to take Goombella and Vivian outside make sure you stay with them all the time.'
Bow carefully took the girls by their shoulder: 'Mario, all of you please be careful.' Bow spoke before she walked away.
'Mallow how are you holding up?' Mario then asked.
'I'm fine for now, a bit tired but that won't slow me down, I need to keep going.'
Mario nodded: 'Good we might need you further down the road, we can't give up now.'
'Give up you should.' A sinister voice sounded throughout the chamber, slowly a ghostly form appeared, it was a white ball with small stubby arms, a tiny tail, a huge mouth with sharp teeth and small, red eyes a part on it's ''head'' where normally the eyebrows would be was a bit thicker casting an eerie shadow over the creature's eyes, on top of it's ''head'' it wore a heavy-looking crown made of gold with a purple gemstone edged on top of it.
'And you are?' Mario asked, this made the creature laugh: 'I was hitching a ride with Gregory.' It replied.
'King Boo.' Luigi growled.
The ghost laughed: 'I needed a body to survive in your realm, but here? The palace of Shadows is seated in the Realm of Darkness where I came from, I don't need a host here, you're all on my turf now, here I rule as...' The ghost cackled he paused for a second: 'King.' He then said in his sinister voice again.
'Why do this King Boo, it was Syn who used you, she ripped you away from Gregory.' Luigi said, King Boo closed his eyes for a second.
'Because my freedom is on the line, I beat you here and Syn will give me Twilight Town to rule over, that fake-ghost Doopliss made a mess of things there!' The ghost cackled.
'Like hell you will, Twilight Town belongs to Bow and I make sure it stays that way.' Luigi said through his teeth.
'Well then brother of Mario, shall we end this?' The ghost spoke then suddenly he disappeared and reappeared on top of the tower.
Luigi looked at the top of the tower, the ghostly form of King Boo was taunting him by sticking his ridiculously large tongue at him.
'Come face me if you dare.' The ghost cackled, the key they needed to proceed appeared in the small stump that was King Boo's arm, suddenly he swallowed the key then stuck his tongue out again to show the key was gone.
'That miserable little.' Luigi growled.
(Luigi: 8000) - (King Boo: 8000)
'I activate Polymerization!' He roared, the vortex opened up behind him.
'I Fuse Stratos and Shadow Mist!'
First appeared the fast hero with the rotors attached to his back, next to him appeared a new hero this was a female with pale skin and long blue hair, she wore completely black armor covering her entire body, a loincloth over the armor, her helmet covered her entire head but left her face open she had glowing red eyes.
The two heroes disappeared into the vortex: 'I Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Escuridao!' A new Hero appeared out of the vortex he was completely made of some goo-like substance, it had four pointed wings and huge claws. (2500- 2700 ATK)
'Escuridao gains 100 Attack Points for each Elemental Hero in the Graveyard.' Luigi explained: 'Now I end my turn.'
Now that Luigi had summoned a Monster he had gotten the attention of King Boo this gave Mario the time to slowly sneak towards the tower, the brothers only had to look at each other and they both had figured out the same plan, Luigi knew he had to give Mario time to climb the tower.
'Little Mario I see you!' King Boo cackled: 'I know what you plan to do but you won't get my key.'
The ghost grinned as six ghostly cards appeared before him.
'My turn and I activate Double Summon.' One of the ghost cards disappeared and the Spell card appeared before Luigi.
'Now I Summon Inaba White Rabbit and Hebo, Lord of the River.'
First appeared the mini rocket the small, white rabbit was clamped to the thing. (700 ATK)
Next to it appeared a new Monster it was a Kappa, a turtle-like creature it had a hole in it's head where it carried some water in, the creature wore blue robes and a turtle shell on it's back, it's hair was white and it had a long beard, the Kappa was leaning on a cane. (1800 ATK)
'Hebo has quite a handy Effect, it can make one Monster my opponent controls a Spirit Monster, that also returns to the hand during the End Phase, I use that Effect on Escuridao.' Hebo rose it's cane slightly then tapped the ground twice a ghostly mist appeared around Escuridao.
'You know Inaba White Rabbit already!' King Boo cackled: 'But let me remind you!' The small rabbit grinned then the rocket it held on to launched from the base and quickly homed in on Luigi, Mario's brother leaped away but got knocked back by the shockwave the rabbit created.
(Luigi: 7300) - (King Boo: 8000)
'Now I Set a card and that ends my turn.' The king of ghosts stated, one of the ghostly cards disappeared and appeared in a facedown state behind his Monsters, then all Monsters on the Field disappeared, Luigi put Escuridao back in his Extra Deck before King Boo appeared two ghostly cards.
'My turn.' Luigi said, he quickly drew his card.
'You know you just hurt yourself Boo, Your Spirit Monsters will be the end of you.'
Luigi took a card from his hand: 'I activate Miracle Fusion, this time I Banish Shadow Mist and Stratos from my Graveyard!' Again the Fusion vortex appeared the two heroes disappeared into it and again Escuridao leaped out. (2500 ATK)
'Attack directly!' The Hero disappeared into the shadows then showed back up next to King Boo.
'I activate Changing Destiny!' The king cackled, his Trap card opened up, a red and blue door appeared before Luigi: 'This negates your attack and changes your Monster to Defense Mode.' Boo cackled, Escuridao disappeared from the tower then reappeared kneeling before Luigi. (2000 DEF)
'Now Luigi, do you gain half of your Monster's Attack Points as Life Points or deal it to me as damage?' Luigi didn't have to think he opened the red door, lightning struck King Boo.
(Luigi: 7300) - (King Boo: 6750)
'You think I let you off the hook King Boo, here's a new trick I picked up! I activate my Spell card Mask Change: 'I Send Escuridao to my Graveyard then I Special Summon a Masked Hero with the same Attribute!'
A mask appeared in front of Escuridao the Elemental Hero grabbed it then it started to glow: 'I Special Summon Masked Hero Anki!'
Escuridao stopped glowing in it's place now stood a muscular man, he was completely clad in heavy armor, mostly bronze with a white chest and red claws on both hands and feet, with his helmet completely covering his head and the single, white horn on top it gave the Masked Hero the appearance of a dinosaur-like creature. (2800 ATK)
'Anki direct attack!' The brute Monster leaped up to the tower then gave King Boo a headbutt almost knocking the king's crown off.
(Luigi: 7300) - (King Boo: 3950)
'That was a lucky hit, I won't allow you to hit me again.' King Boo cackled, a new card appeared before him.
'I Banish Inaba White Rabbit from my hand so I can Special Summon Izanagi.' The king explained, in mid-air appeared a new Monster, a man with long, white hair he wore a white tunic with some matching cotton pants underneath, his shoulders were protected by pauldrons, in his right hand he held a spear. (2200 ATK)
'Now I Normal Summon Nikitama.' King Boo continued, next to Izanagi appeared the green soul. (800 ATK)
'Nikitama as you should know allows me to Normal Summon another Spirit Monster.' Another card in front of King Boo disappeared as did Nikitama in it's place appeared a creature all too familiar to Luigi with it's long, white hair and beard, it's red face and it's long, pointed, red nose. (1900 ATK)
'Not Great Long Nose again.' Luigi sighted remembering the time he nearly lost to that creature.
'Now I draw a new card due to Nikitama's Effect, since it was send to the Graveyard and I control a Spirit Monster.' The king explained, a new card appeared in front of him.
'If Great Long Nose attacks me I cannot attack then it is all over.' Luigi muttered.
'You know I will attack you! In fact Great Long Nose attacks Anki!'
The Tengu inhaled in order to unleash a powerful blast of wind.
'And I activate Shrink!' King Boo cackled, the Spell card appeared on the Field then Anki shrunk to half it's size. (2800- 1400 ATK)
The blast of wind send the small Masked Hero flying the warrior landed against the wall leaving a small crack.
'Izanagi attack directly!' King Boo commanded the second Spirit Monster threw his spear at Luigi , the weapon graced his shoulder.
(Luigi: 4600) - (King Boo: 3950)
'I end my turn.' King Boo stated as Izanagi retrieved the spear, Luigi gave King Boo a confused look as his Monsters stayed on the Field.
'Surprised? Due to Izanagi the Effect to return Spirit Monsters to my hand during the End Turn becomes optional and I do not use that Effect right now.' King Boo said with a huge grin on his face.
'I'm losing this, my Heroes are stronger than the Monsters he I got one chance to win this but I need a lot of cards, with only one card in my hand currently.' Luigi started to sweat meanwhile Mario reached the top of the tower.
'Welcome!' King Boo laughed: 'Looks like your brother is in a lot of trouble!' The ghost laughed.
'Just give it up Boo, you're a second rang villain anyway, a mere puppet of Syn.' Mario replied with a sigh, he sounded tired.
'S-second rank!' King Boo howled, his eye started to twitch.
'Syn can obliterate you whenever she wants, now cough up that key so we can all be done with it, hell I even throw in a deal, give us that key and we make sure Syn is defeated so you will be free to go.'
King boo turned around considering his options: 'No deal.' He finally replied, when he faced Mario again he was all serious: 'Syn would be able to kill me sooner than you can stop her, besides Syn is as strong as Azrael if not stronger, your victory over her is not guaranteed, then even if you defeat Syn there are still Grave and the Shadow Queen to deal with, I am working together with them whether I like it or not they are not keen on failure either.'
Mario felt there was nothing he could say to persuade the king, he was right on every point, the words King Boo spoke made Mario realize even more what they were up against, there were only a handful of enemies left but they were all crazy strong.
'Then Luigi has to beat the key out of you, we need to progress no matter the cost.' Mario said he took the Sapphire Star out of his pocket: 'This will help Luigi.' He stated as he held the star above his head, Luigi's Deck started to glow and he drew his card.
'I Set one card.' Mario's brother stated, the Sapphire Star appeared facedown in front of Luigi.
'I end my turn.'
King Boo laughed as a new card appeared in front of him: 'I've seen what those Crystal Stars can do, every time one showed up your friend won the Duel, I am not scared of the Crystal Stars!' King Boo laughed.
A card in front of King Boo disappeared: 'I Summon Hebo again.' The ghost stated before Luigi appeared the Kappa again. (1800 ATK)
'Hebo attacks the defending Monster.' King Boo commanded,
'Izanagi, Great Long Nose, Hebo attack directly!' King Boo cackled, first a wind blast created by Great Long Nose hit Luigi then Izanagi charged in and started to clobber Luigi using his spear, quickly Mario's brother pressed a button on his Duel Disk a gigantic version of the Sapphire Star appeared behind him, when the Spirit Monsters retreated Luigi was still standing.
(Luigi: 100) - (King Boo: 3950)
'Sapphire Star: Sweat Feast. This turn my Life Points cannot go lower than 100, now I can draw cards for every 500 points of damage I took.' Luigi explained then he drew nine cards from his Deck.
'So that is what a Crystal Star can do? I am not impressed!' King Boo cackled: 'You only stalled a turn and refilled your hand, what good will that do? I shall end my turn here and all my Monsters stay on the Field.'
Luigi looked at the Sapphire Star behind him then he looked at his hand.
'Now Luigi show me your final struggle, this will be your end.' King Boo spoke the madness in his eyes was clearly visible.
'You shouldn't underestimate my brother King Boo.' Mario replied, the ghost then remembered Mario was still on the tower.
'You know I'm getting sick of you and your family, once I'm done with Luigi I shall deal with you, now Mario enjoy the view, you have the best seat to see your brother die after all.'
Luigi in the meantime drew another card.
'I activate Monster Reborn!' He shouted pulling King Boo's attention back into the Duel, the holy symbol appeared on the Field and with it Anki. (2800 ATK)
'Next I Summon Elemental Hero Woodsman.' flowers appeared all over the Field, slowly a man appeared his body was completely green and incredibly muscular he was almost completely naked except for a brown, ragged loincloth and a pair of boots the weirdest thing about this man was the fact that his right arm and right leg were made out of tree bark and tree roots. (1000 ATK)
'I activate another Mask Change.' Luigi stated, this time Woodsman started to flash, he picked up the mask: 'I Summon Masked Hero Dian!' Woodsman stopped flashing he got replaced by a female hero, she wore steel armor covering her entire body, her face was partially hidden by a helmet, she wore some armbands and a blue half-skirt, a blue cape was flowing in the wind behind her, she gracefully drew a rapier-like weapon. (2800 ATK)
'Now I activate Polymerization, I Summon Contrast Hero Chaos!' Luigi roared, instead of the Fusion vortex a flash of light illuminated the area followed by a wave of darkness the two Masked Heroes slowly merged into one being, a man wearing light but sturdy armor around his body leaving his arms bare he wore two scarves a black and white one the right side of the hero was slightly darker than the left side. (3000 ATK)
King Boo started to laugh: 'Don't forget you still cannot attack because of Great Long Nose, so all this effort was wasted!'
Luigi ignored the ghost he simply placed two cards in his Duel Disk they appeared behind Chaos.
'I end my turn.'
King Boo let out a chuckle, a new card appeared before him.
'I Summon my second Inaba White Rabbit.'
A new rocket pack appeared on the Field the white rabbit seemed really content with it's position. (700 ATK)
'Inaba White Rabbit attack directly!' King Boo cackled.
'I activate Waboku!' Luigi roared his facedown Trap card opened up, the three priests dressed in blue robes appeared and created a magical barrier around Luigi, Inaba White Rabbit bounced off of the barrier.
'Now King Boo it is my turn.' Luigi said with a grin: 'I activate the Effect of Contrast Hero Chaos! Once per turn I can negate the Effect of one Monster and I choose Izanagi.' Luigi said.
'You did what?' King Boo yelled, his crown nearly fell of it's head: 'I change Izanagi to Defense.' The ghost stammered Izanagi knelt down using the spear as a makeshift shield. (1000 DEF)
'You still lose Luigi, I activate the Effect of Hebo by making Chaos a Spirit Monster you lose the only chance you have and don't forget I still have Inaba White Rabbit and you only have 100 Life Points.' Luigi could see the smug look on the ghost's face.
'No dice King Boo I activate Book of Moon on Chaos!' Before Luigi's eyes his Hero disappeared and got replaced by a facedown card: 'Now my Monster is not face-up so you cannot target it.'
King Boo let out a howl of anger as first his Great Long Nose disappeared followed by Hebo and finally Inaba.
'Due to Sweat Feast I cannot Draw cards now, but that doesn't matter, first I Summon Elemental Hero Ocean.'
water started to appear leaped out, out of the water leaped a man it was shark-like in appearance with blue scales covering it's body it had a shark-like fin on top of it's rather small head, a long neck and silver armor covering it's hips in it's hands the Hero held a silver spear decorated with red and green gems the tip of the spear was shaped like a crescent moon, when the Hero landed on the ground it struck an heroic pose. (1500 ATK)
'Next H - Heated Heart.' Luigi continued as he played another Spell card.
'This gives Chaos 500 more Attack Points and a Piercing Effect!'
The Hero let out a war-cry. (3000- 3500 ATK)
'Attack Izanagi!' The Spirit looked up then he first flashed light then dark and then exploded.
(Luigi: 100) - (King Boo: 1450)
'Ocean finish it!' Luigi roared, water appeared under the hero and on top of the tower, it dived in then leaped out of the puddle on top of the tower it slapped King Boo with it's spear knocking the crown of King Boo's head.
(Luigi: 100) - (King Boo: 0)
'No, I won't lose here!' King Boo howled, the crown floated back on top of his head, his eyes turned purple and started to glow, the ghost cackled as the entire room started to spin around clockwise King Boo started to spin counter clockwise.
(Luigi: 100) - (King Boo: 8000)
'This time I will capture your soul!' The ghost cackled.
'You will do not do such a thing.' The voice of Syn said she appeared in mid-air, immediately the room stopped spinning.
'I gave you one last chance King Boo and you failed yet again, no more games.' Syn snapped her fingers, an empty painting appeared behind King Boo, it's frame was made of black wood, King Boo tried to get away but slowly he was dragged into it the frame dropped on the ground now showing King Boo with a terrified look on it's face he hung in a purple background.
While Luigi was Dueling King Boo Bow reached the door, it opened when Bow approached.
'So that's what going on.' She muttered as she led Goombella and Vivian outside.
'Why did the door open?' Goombella asked.
'Simple each time any of us uses a Crystal Star it unleashed magic, the magic of the stars counteracts the dark magic inside the palace, whatever magic held down these doors is gone.' Bow explained while they walked through the sewers, the bodies unconscious of X-Naut soldiers laid everywhere, slowly they moved through the sewers occasionally they came across a left over soldier, most had lost the will to fight the once that wanted to Duel were swept aside by Bow, by the time they came outside the sun was setting in, they expected the sewer entrance to be swarming with soldiers but it seemed that Don Pianta's men had taken control over the city, the Don himself was just fighting off three soldiers in the streets, Bow jumped in to help him, once the soldiers were finished Don Pianta decided that they could lay low in his casino, which now served as his base of operations, the group passed through the town square a countless X-Naut Soldiers were standing or sitting guarded by police officers and Don Pianta's men the soldiers who proven to be problematic were tied up.
'As you can see my men have the situation under control.' Don Pianta spoke, Bow was impressed the Don saw that from her expression.
'Ya know I wanna run for mayor, I have great plans for Rogueport, by doing this I show da Don can control things and bring an end to chaos, dat has to stand for something.'
Bow heard the pride in his voice, she always thought Don Pianta was a merciless gangster she now realized she was wrong the entire time, he only acted as a gangster so he could keep order, as a mayor he would be able to do that through legal means.
Meanwhile back in the chamber inside the Palace of Shadows Syn gracefully landed next to King Boo's painting.
'That would be a nice decoration don't you agree?' She said her voice all sweet.
'Enough of this Syn, this ends now.' Geno said while he stepped forward.
'Not yet Geno, you have the key you need to proceed.' She said as Mario just exited the tower the key in his hand.
'That is door you want to get.' Syn said while pointing at a smaller door at the end of a marble bridge: 'You only have to pass through that room, Grave is waiting there beat him and then I will Duel you Geno.'
As abruptly as Syn had appeared she disappeared again.
'Mario.' Geno said to break the silence, Mario looked up: 'Something ain't right I can sense something behind that door, something terribly evil, something familiar as well.'
Next time:
Another enemy fell but there is no time to rest, Syn refused another challenge telling the heroes she would be waiting beyond the next room.
But first Ruby needs to defeat the terrible evil Mario sensed behind the door. ''The Shadow Queen's Pet.'' Coming next.
Card details:
Sapphire Star: Sweet Feast
Quick-Play Spell card
Activate when your LP would be reduced to 0. During the turn you activate this card your LP cannot become lower than 100. Then after the Battle Phase you can draw 1 card for every 500 points of Damage you took, during your next turn you cannot Draw any cards.
Note: The above card was created by me, nobody is allowed to use this card for their own.
