This chapter will finally develop some characters I have been rejecting for quite some time. Three guesses on who they are. _
*Chapter 23: Light and Dark*
"My name is Brandi. I'm Max's sister. This is my Soul Monster, Mana. Pleased to meet you all."
After checking to see that nobody had been injured by the explosion in the cave, Hope had suggested that Brandi tell the others who she was.
"Why didn't you tell us that you had a sister?" Will asked.
"I can keep a few things to myself," Max muttered.
Hope glanced over at Rue, surprised that he hadn't commented on anything being said. He seemed to be thinking about something else. In fact, nobody else was really talking much.
"So what do we do next?" Will asked.
Everyone pondered that, except for one individual, who seemed very interested in one of the new acquaintances.
A loud slap echoed through the cave, along with Mana's shout.
"PERVERT!!!"
Neo gently rubbed the section of his face that was injured, while Will found the situation amusing.
"Just a suggestion; do not examine a woman's body for too long, or you will be caught."
Neo pulled a depressed looking face, while Hope shook her head. "The first thing we should do is get away from this graveyard. It's awful in here! We can decide what to do after that."
The suggestion was agreed with. They decided to make their way through the path that had not been blocked with a boulder. The trip was made with all speed, and they had soon exited. They walked to the gorge before sitting down.
"I came to find Max to tell him I had defeated a General of Hell. Her name was Aurora. Max… she was the bank robber's wife."
Max shook his head. "It seems we cannot escape from the past."
"Indeed. I guess we will just tag along now-not like we have anything better to do."
Neo seemed to be happy about this. Gaston covered his eyes in mock despair. "Neo was bad before, but I think this will make him even worse."
Neo glared at him, and they went back to wondering where to
go next.
"There is probably nothing else here. How about we go to another area?" Will recommended.
Hope nodded. "We haven't explored the forest yet… how about there?"
"I suppose that will do," Rue agreed.
*****
After about three hours, they had arrived at the forest. Hope was being carried by Gaston, as she was on the verge of collapsing; they had walked very quickly.
"I'm still not into this kind of thing," Hope complained.
"You'll get used to it eventually," Gaston encouraged.
"Eventually is the key word…" she grumbled.
"It will start to get dark in… oh, maybe an hour or so," Brandi said. "Let's walk for a while, and start to look for an area to stop in thirty to forty minutes."
That settled, they walked on for about ten minutes, until they arrived at a clearing. That was when they saw two people.
"You two again!" Rue exclaimed.
"I see you remember who we are," Sarius said.
"Who are these guys?" Brandi asked.
Rue glared at them. "Sarius is the older man's name. I don't know what that kid's name is. Then you have their Soul Monsters, Raid and Cyrus. We met briefly before."
"But they left without warning," Hope finished. "Why are you here now?"
"More and more Generals of Hell have been falling…" Sarius stated. "I am here to see your skills. I want to know how good you really are. These lackeys are nothing compared to some challenges you will face. You worry about death? That is something you should not be concerned with. You have much more important things to worry about."
"Why can't you say anything simple?!" Rue yelled. "You only talk in riddles! This is a waste of time. Alright, you want to duel? I'll duel you."
"Wait Rue," Will interrupted. "You're letting your emotions take over your common sense. You'll make some careless error, and lose the duel."
"You don't trust me?"
"Not really-don't you even think about drawing that battle axe-so I will be the one to duel you, Sarius-what did I just say Rue?"
Rue let go of the handle on the axe regretfully, while Sarius eyed them coolly. "I never said I would be the one to duel. While I could, I have dueled a lot recently. Child, you have not dueled for a while. Why don't you duel Will?"
"Hai, Tirran-sama," the Child said. He walked toward Will, preparing his Duel Disk. He put the golden ball he still carried under his arm.
"…Is that kid retarded or something?" Neo asked, confused. "Why did he say hi?"
Will smacked him over the head with the book he was still carrying. "Hai means yes in Japanese, numbskull. Before you ask, sama basically means lord."
Rue was looking on in bewilderment. "An eight year old kid against someone in collage?"
"You would be surprised," Hope commented. "I went to a tournament with my sister once. She won, but second place was a kid that was only seven. He trashed everyone. Don't underestimate because of age."
"A wise statement indeed," Sarius said. "The Child is a duelist you should not doubt." For looks can be deceiving… they all think he is just a young boy. Young? They don't know just how wrong they are…
Child, Child, always Child… why doesn't he address him by name? Hope wondered.
"Alright, I accept your challenge!" Will prepared his Duel Disk as well. "Let's get down to business."
Will: 8000
Child: 8000
"So I go first? Fine. I will lay one monster in defense mode, and three cards down. It's your turn."
The Child looked at the card he drew, and summoned it instantly. A knight appeared on the field, with white armor.
"Blade Knight!" Hope realized. (1600/1000) "I use that monster in my deck."
He then lay two other cards down, but Will was ready.
"I'll activate one of my face down cards, Cyclone. I choose to have it destroy the first card you laid. Oh, I'll also activate my Blessing of God trap. I get 500 Life Points whenever I draw."
The face down card revealed itself as a Holy Barrier-Mirror Force before shattering. The Child did not seemed concerned with the loss though. He pointed at the card on Will's side of the field. The Blade Knight rushed forward and swung his sword, slicing Will's monster in half.
"You destroyed my Saint Magician (300/400). I get one magic card back from my Cemetery thanks to its reverse effect."
"Actually, you don't," Hope said. "When Blade Knight is the only monster on his side of the field, all reverse effects of the monsters he destroys are negated."
Will grimaced. "Just my luck. Alright, I assume it is my turn. I draw, activating Blessing of God."
Will: 8500
Child: 8000
"I summon Magic Warrior-Breaker. (1900/1000) I remove his counter to destroy your face down card. (1600/1000)"
Breaker slashed the Magic Cylinder to pieces.
"Our monsters would normally be equal now, but I activate my face down card: Black Power Stone. Now I have three magic counters to give my monsters. I transfer one to Breaker. (1900/1000) Now it will attack and destroy your Blade Knight."
Will: 8500
Child: 7700
"Looks like Will is off to a good start," Rue said.
Hope agreed. "That's true, but the duel can turn tide at any moment. What I find nice about this match is we finally don't have to worry about being killed in the end."
"Good point," Gaston muttered.
The Child summoned his next monster, one Brandi knew well.
"Mad Dog of Darkness? (1900/1400) Just what theme is he trying to run?"
Cyrus had remained at the Child's side until now, just watching the match. Now he began to glow, and pointed his sword to the field. Another monster appeared on the spot as the Child's Life Points lowered.
Will: 8500
Child: 7200
"Executioner Makyura… (1600/1200)" Hope murmured.
"What did you just do?" Will asked.
The Child just stared at him.
"Not a big talker, is he?" Rue commented.
"My effect allows my master to pay 500 Life Points to special summon a Light or Dark Main-Type monster from his hand," Cyrus explained.
"It's a miracle! A Soul Monster that can talk!" Gaston joked.
Olympion shifted its eyes toward Gaston. He looked away hurriedly.
The child then inserted a card into the Duel Disk. It showed itself to them.
"Angel's Gift…" Rue announced.
The Child drew three cards, and then showed Will a Black Core and Dark World Warrior Dark Sword before discarding them to the Cemetery. Then, he played yet another monster. The dragon came up with a roar.
"It looks just like Raid…" Hope noticed.
"It looks like the Child has managed to summon Chaos Emperor Dragon-Messenger of the End. (3000/2500) It's special summon requirements are fulfilled by removing a Light and Dark Main-Type from the Cemetery."
"So that's what the bizarre mix of monsters is about…" Brandi said.
The Child then played the last card in his hand.
"No! Change of Heart!" Will realized.
Will's Breaker went over to his opponent's field. The Child simply pointed at Will. All of the monster's launched their attacks at Will.
Brandi winced. "Ouch! That one has to hurt."
Hope noticed that Rue didn't seem to mind that Will was being beaten. "Shouldn't you be supporting him?"
Rue shrugged. "It's nice to see him actually get hurt for once. Don't worry, he'll make a comeback. That kid has no cards; one Thunderbolt or Black Hole and it's over."
Will: 100
Child: 7700
Sarius shook his head. "It looks like this duel is over."
Will frowned. "What do you mean? I still have a chance to reclaim this duel as long as I have Life Points."
"But you won't. I think the Child knows what I mean."
The Child nodded, and simply tapped the Chaos Emperor Dragon. On the field, it suddenly swamped the playing area with an explosion. Light and dark energy was everywhere, consuming everything, even the cards on the Child's dueling field.
"What's going on?!" Will shouted over the explosion.
When it finally died down, the field was empty. Will looked at his Life Point counter, and stared at it in shock. "What?!"
Will: 0
Child: 6700
"The Chaos Emperor Dragon has the ability to destroy all cards on the field and in each player's hand by paying 1000 Life Points. For each card destroyed this way, the opponent loses 300 Life Points," Sarius explained. "For all of your talk and actions, you seem like amateurs. Only three turns into the match, and the game is already over?"
"One of my off days, I suppose," Will shrugged. "It appears you are a good duelist; it was nice playing you."
"Arigatou," the Child said before deactivating his Duel Disk and walking back to Sarius' side.
"What does that mean? You suck in French? Because if that's what he said, he's right," Neo joked.
Yet again, he was too slow to avoid being hit over the head by the thick book. "It means thank you in Japanese, you idiot."
Sarius sighed. "I have seen all I need to here. It is time we left."
Suddenly, a man came running into the clearing. He had a black cloak slung over his shoulder, and the fiery orb around his neck. He wore a red, long sleeved shirt, and dark blue pants. In the middle of the shirt was a big N; on the right pant leg was a big S. He wore black tennis shoes. His hair was blonde, and he had blue eyes.
Following him was a Soul Monster. It was completely metal. Its legs, body, and arms were silver. Its wings were pink, and its head was yellow. It carried a sword. All over its body were small, gold circles that said either N or S. Its eyes were not visible, as its face was covered with a visor.
"You have entered my territory, so now you must die!" the General announced.
Rue just stared at him. "Dude, we've been here for over an hour, and you just realized that we "invaded" the forest?"
The man glared at him. "My security camera and alarm are broken, ok?! I came a little bit later, but it doesn't matter. I'll kill you all!"
Sarius gave the guy a look of forced patience. "We actually have something we must do. Please let us leave this time, and we can duel later."
"No way!" the man shouted. "You'll all die now! Starting with you!" He pointed at Sarius.
Sarius rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll duel. Let's make it quick though."
"My name is Aimant! Who are you?"
"The one who will kick your ass for wasting my time," Sarius stated calmly.
"A wise guy, eh? I'll shut your mouth soon enough!"
Sarius: 8000
Aimant: 8000
"I go first! I summon Magnet Warrior Beta! (1700/1600) Then I lay one card down."
"Fine by me. I lay one card down, and set one monster."
"For all of your boastful words, you seem to be a coward," Aimant taunted.
"I know better than to rush into your traps."
"Whatever. I summon Magnet Warrior Gamma! (1500/1800)"
"That was a mistake. I activate Tidal Wave. All monsters on the field, including my Executioner Makyura (1600/1200) are destroyed."
"Your loss, punk! I won't do anything else!"
Hope raised her eyebrow. "Punk? This guy is really bad at insults."
Sarius' expression did not waver. "I activate Distressing Choice. I pick five cards from my deck. You select one, and I put it into my hand. The rest go to the Cemetery. I have picked Blade Knight, Dark World Warrior Dark Sword, Mad Dog of Darkness, Dunames Valkyria, and Magic Reflector: Reflect Bounder. Make your pick."
"What lame choices! Take the Blade Knight."
"Very well. Now you will lose. First, I summon Magic Warrior-Breaker. (2400/1500) I remove his counter to destroy your card. (2100/1500)"
"You destroyed Attack Nullification… hey, wait! Your monster is too strong! It should be only 1600/1000!"
"Raid gives my Light and Dark Main-Type monsters 500 more attack and defense points, and lowers yours by 500. Too bad you only use Earth monsters… I remove Dark World Warrior Dark Sword and Blade Knight to special summon Chaos Emperor Dragon-Messenger of the End! (3500/3000) I also remove Executioner Makyura and Dunames Valkyria to special summon Chaos Soldier-Messenger of Creation! (3500/3000) You have no cards on the field. Face it-you lose."
Aimant grinned. "You forgot my Deck Master, Polarity!"
"What kind of lame names are these?" Mana muttered.
"Shut up! By paying 500 Life Points, I can Special Summon a Magnet Warrior from my Cemetery, so I special summon Beta! Unfortunately, it must be in attack mode. But I will still live!"
Sarius: 8000
Aimant: 7500
As he did this, electricity began to crackle on his body. He snickered. "I forgot to tell you the conditions of this duel. By losing Life Points, you get shocked!"
Sarius was not phased. "I won't have to worry about that, seeing as you will now lose. Chaos Soldier, attack Beta! Now, attack his Life Points directly!"
"What?! How?!" Aimant screamed in pain as he was sliced with the huge sword.
"If my Chaos Soldier destroys a monster in battle, he can attack again. Now, Chaos Emperor Dragon, crush this pathetic man."
Sarius: 8000
Aimant: 0
Aimant screamed as he and Polarity were shocked with too many volts of lightening to count. Their bodies were too burned to tell who they had been.
Sarius smirked. "And here I thought Generals were supposed to be challenging. Come on Child-let's go."
"Hai, Tirran-sama."
The companions were too stunned to do anything as they watched the four figures vanish.
To be continued…
