CHAPTER FOUR… cooooooooooool…
Author's Notes: Well, I'm still alive. Took two weeks off, back to work now. Will probably have this up within a week. I'm not feeling extremely rushed anymore because HCG extended the deadline, and I don't have any reviewers except Daricio yet, so it's not like I have to hurry. Oh, well, it's sort of a limited-audience fic anyway, and I've never been what you could call a popular writer. I'm now tempted to go off on a random tangent and talk about what a cool game Xenosaga: Episode I is (just got it last weekend), but I won't because I have a duel to write, and a gore scene to write, and a creepy bad guy to develop. So, let's get moving with the chapter!
* * *
"We duel with 4000 life points. Standard rules for sacrifices and card limitations. Agreed?" Kouten sneered down at the pathetically short boy whom his accuser had selected as his dueling proxy.
Suddenly, the strange puzzle-like trinket around the boy's neck began to glow. It shined with a strange, and mysterious light, and an equally mysterious eye symbol began to glow on the boy's forehead. Kouten was intrigued. The trinket was obviously some sort of magical artifact to aid in dueling, and he was curious to see exactly what it did.
Whatever he expected, it wasn't the sudden, two-foot height growth and eye-color change accompanied by a flash of golden light. The "transformed" boy looked far older, wiser, and altogether more dangerous. The blond-haired girl and white-haired man flinched involuntarily at the sight of him; the eighteen-year-old he'd challenged narrowed his eyes, but did not physically react. Kouten himself had to admit he was a bit startled by this obvious display of magic… and there was something distinctly odd about the boy's transformation, too…
"I accept your terms," the no-longer-so-boyish boy said in a deep, confident voice. "However, if I win, you must agree to leave us in peace and not hinder our quest to bring this murderer you speak of to justice.."
Kouten glared at the man. Metsubou was his fight, and none of these others had any business keeping him from it. But no matter. His victory was guarenteed. And then, he would demand that they leave him alone.
"Fine." He took out his Horatio Pocket Dueling Glove v. 5.0 and snapped it onto his left wrist. It was smooth and made of fabric; its few features included a mid-sized computer screen on the top currently displaying an empty duel field in astounding 256-bit graphics and lined with several blinking indicators (including a life-point indicator which was currently set to 4000), a deck-sized black box hanging off the bottom, and a removable tray that could extend in and out of the bottom of the box. Kouten inserted his deck into the tray on the glove, barely noticing the man's interested look at his dueling glove. However, he stared openly when the man- Yugi, wasn't it?- brought out the strangest-looking dueling glove he'd ever seen.
It didn't appear anywhere near as advanced as the Horatio Corporation technology. It was stiff, and had to be held totally flat or the cards would fall off the wing-like platform that extended mechanically from the top. It looked blocky, and uncomfortable to wear, too, not like the sleek and form-fitting glove that he wore.
"Is that a dueling glove also?" he asked Yugi, just to be sure.
"It is a duel disk, if that's what you mean," Yami told him cooly. "You may rest assured, it can play the game just as well."
Kouten shrugged. It wasn't his problem if First Realm dueling technology wasn't up to snuff. "I shall take the first move," he announced. The "draw ready" indicator on his duel disk flashed, and Kouten opened the same tray he'd stuck his deck in and removed the six cards now lying there, forming his starting hand and the card he drew for the first turn. He examined his hand and smiled.
"I'll play this card in defense mode," he began, inserting his monster card facedown into the tray. On the computer screen in front of him, a facedown card appeared in his monster zone, and the same facedown appeared holographically in the space between the two duelists.
"Then I'll set these two cards face down," he finished, placing the two additional cards facedown into the tray and closing the electronic door to finish his turn. The computer screen and holography adjusted accordingly.
"My turn," growled the not-so-Yugi as he set about manually drawing six cards from the deck inserted into the primitive dueling… device. "I'll set two cards face down also. Next, I'll summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700) in Attack Mode, and use him to attack your facedown card!"
Kouten didn't even flinch as his Violent Rain (1550/800) was destroyed. That monster was played to be thrown away. Yugi had just fallen straight into his plan.
"It's my turn, then," Kouten announced. "I'll lay two more cards face-down on the field and summon High Tide Gyojin (1650/1300) in Attack Mode! And now, I'll use my monster of the ocean to attack your primitive Magnet Warrior!"
Crazy kid didn't even blink when his life points were knocked down to 3750 and his Magnet Warrior was sent to the graveyard. This guy must be either really tough or really stupid. Probably both.
"Very well," his opponent said of the attack. "But that makes it my turn, and every turn I take brings me closer to victory."
Tough, stupid, and overconfident.
"I'll summon Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) in Attack Mode as well." Now came the critical moment. If Yugi attacked High Tide Gyojin, he would be attacking right into a well-laid trap, but was Yugi a good enough duelist to see through the ruse?
"Beta, attack now!"
Apparently, he wasn't. "I'll activate these two facedown trap cards- Negate Attack and Dramatic Confrontation! Negate Attack blocks your Magnet Warrior's assault, which triggers my other card."
As the image of the Negate Attack card flipped over on the computer-screen duel field, the card itself did the same, guarding Kouten from Beta's attack. "Dramatic Confrontation activates automatically as soon as I block any of your attacks, and allows us both to choose any monster of either Level 7 or Level 8 and summon it to the field. You will quickly be destroyed by my monster!"
It was Yugi's turn to smile enigmatically. "My dear friend, YOU are the one who will be destroyed! Watch closely as I summon my favorite monster- the Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" The robed and pointy-hatted wizard appeared on the field, glaring down at Kouten's fish monster.
"Pathetic," Kouten snorted. "I'll summon Suijin, the Spirit of Water (2500/2100)!"
"How can he call dat pathetic?" Joey yelled from the sidelines. "His monster has exactly the same stats!"
Glaring at the dim-witted lackey, Kouten explained, "Obviously you have failed to account for Suijin's special ability. In a confrontation between the two, Suijin would win. I would explain in more detail, but I have a duel to finish." He turned back to his opponent. "However, Suijin's ability can be used only once per game, so you've lucked out. I'll save it for the future."
Yugi was finally frowning. Maybe he was just now grasping the seriousness of the situation. "Very well," Yugi announced. "It's your move."
And so it was. Kouten felt the victory flowing up through his body. "And now for Part Two of my strategy," he announced to the onlookers. "Observe as I play the magic card Lingering Emotional Impact, which returns a monster from my graveyard to the field for one turn." The hologram of the card looked like a thousand ghostly heads streaming out from the graveyard, their mouths opened in a silent scream. "Obviously, I have only one monster in my graveyard, so I'll choose the Violent Rain."
Yugi was looking confused. Good.
"You may be wondering why I resurrected such a weak monster. Well, this is why. I'll sacrifice both High Tide Gyojin and Violent Rain in order to summon… Sanga of the Thunder (2600/2200)!" He laid the card face up on the table with a flourish. This duel was going exactly the way he wanted it to! And that punk kid wasn't looking quite so confident anymore.
* * *
"Saguru?" Kawari was still dizzy from adrenaline and injury, and his mind wasn't fully comprehending what was going on around him. "How'd you get here?"
Saguru was trying to treat Kawari for shock and for minor cuts and bruises incurred fighting the other guard, but he didn't even pretend to be a good doctor- he'd have to see a medic back at the Opposition when this mission was over.
"Kaze sent me home," he replied. "They were going on another mission, something to do with other Realms, and he wanted me to check on you guys. I guess it was a good thing I did. You wouldn't have stood a chance about those guys."
Something odd about the situation that had been bothering Saguru ever since he'd arrived suddenly registered in Saguru's mind. "Where's Kaeru?" Kawari never went on a mission without his Yami, and the lack of slight golden glow around his Millennium Ring indicated that Kaeru was not in his soul room.
Kawari suddenly sat up straight. "Kaeru!" he shouted. "I left him behind, he was fighting some guards, he said he'd catch up, but he should have been here long before now! It shouldn't have taken him any more time than it took me to fight the first guard!"
Saguru and Kawari were both weighing options faster than a bolt of lightning. "You have to go on," Saguru finally decided. "You know what this mission's about- I don't. I'll head back down and support Kaeru if I need to."
He was almost to the far staircase when Kawari remembered his burning question from before he lost consciousness. "How did you get up there?"
Saguru grinned. "Luckiest Realm Gating error of my life," he replied before vanishing down to the lower level.
"It was the only Realm Gating error of your life, Saguru," Kawari muttered to himself.
* * *
"Since the lingering effects of Dramatic Confrontation prevents me from attacking for one turn after it's used, I'll wait to destroy your Dark Magician," Kouten was saying, looking quite superior. "But don't get excited. The true might of the storm hasn't struck yet!"
This man was a good duelist, Yami had to admit. But he was the King of Games, and not about to lose his first duel since Kaiba at Duelist Kingdom.
"First, I'll switch Beta the Magnet Warrior into Defense Mode," Yami decided, making the appropriate adjustment to his card. "Then, I activate Magical Hats!" Yami was playing his signature move. As the hats materialized over the Dark Magician, his remaining trap card, and two empty spaces and began to mix confusingly, he heard Joey cheering the familiar play.
"Under two of the hats are nothing," Yami explained, smiling at Kouten's obvious annoyance. "One hat conceals my Dark Magician. The fouth hat has a trap underneath, that will activate automatically if you attack it, so be careful!" Yami had no doubt that the odds would be in his favor. The Heart of the Cards was all he needed to guarentee that.
"Clever," Kouten sneered. "But now it's my turn. And I somehow don't think that your one remaining facedown card will be enough to stop my powerful storm deck. You see this glaive that I carry?" He held up the silver weapon for Yugi to see. It was adorned with images of thunder, lighting, rain and wind. At the top were engraved three characters of a strange writing that Yugi did not recognize.
"It is called the Storm Dragon," Kouten continued. "It is my father's glaive. He was the one who taught me about storms, and to respect their power. He always fought with honor, and he fought for his honor. You have insulted my honor, and through me, my father's honor. I shall defend it with the power of Storm Dragon, and the power of the storm itself!"
"Nice speech, fishhead!" Joey jeered from the sidelines. "Been rehearsing that one?"
"Huh, it isn't even that cool-looking," Devlin chipped in. "Looks pretty dirty to me. Maybe his dad got it at a secondhand store somewhere."
Yami frowned at Joey and Duke. "That's enough from you two," he told his overenthusiastic supporters. What Kouten had just said explained a lot. But it wasn't enough reason to start losing duels.
"It is my turn," Kouten told him, looking cool and oddly pale. "I have but a few more moves to complete before the bolt strikes. "I'll play two more cards face-down, and summon the Aqua Madoor (1200/2000) in Defense Mode," he announced. "And now, Sanga, attack… the second hat from the right!" Electrical energy focused on the kanji for lighting in the center of the monster, forming a huge lighting bolt that annihilated one hat. There was nothing underneath. "Suijin, do the same!" The concentrated blast of water again revealed nothing."
Yami smiled. Kouten's next attack would be the one that brought him down. "Only two hats remain- the one concealing the Dark Magician and the one concealing my trap. Feeling lucky?"
"I don't need luck. The lightning strikes both powerful and accurate."
This guy's confident, thought Yami. But then, I've never faced a duelist who wasn't.
"My turn," Yami told him. Suijin and Sanga were threats, certainly. But he was confident that the Heart of the Cards would guide Kouten's next attack straight for his trap, effectively guaranteeing his win. In the meantime, he could pretend to stall with weak monsters.
"I'll summon Uma the Horselord (1600/1900) in Defense Mode," Yami finally decided, as the dark, Asian man clad in armor and riding a powerful-looking bay horse materialized on the field.
"A powerful monster, considering that it's only Level 4," Kouten grudgingly complimented. "However, it is way out of the league that this game has been taken into, and it's my turn. I don't need to summon any monsters this turn- I'll just annihilate you with my two creatures of the storm! Sanga, attack with Lightning Spell Blast!" The thunder attack quickly destroyed Yugi's monster, but Kouten decided to outwait the Magical Hats ultimatum for one more turn.
"And now, Suijin, take out Beta the Magnet Warrior with Fury Aqua Wall!" The giant wave of water emanating from the symbol in Suijin's middle section destroyed Beta with a single shot.
"One more turn before I take out your Dark Magician," taunted Kouten.
Yami remained confident. "It looks bad, but I've been in worse situations before. You will attack the wrong card. You see, my grandfather always-"
"I don't give a damn what your grandfather taught you," Kouten replied. "My father taught me to respect the storm, to think long and strike hard, and to believe in the Heart of the Cards. Those are the three keys to victory."
The bottom dropped out of Yami's world.
* * *
"My Fifth Legend magic card has rendered all your monsters worthless!" Metsubou gloated. "Now, History God Thoth, destroy what remains of his life points!" The bird-shaped, lantern-wielding spellcaster lifted his lamp to shoot out a bright flash of light, and his opponent's primitive, abacus-like life point indicator dropped to zero. He was victorious.
"Now, hand over your so-called Sacred Stone as you promised, villain!" Metsubou supposed he was being a bit unfair. The people of the Third Realms were too primitive and stupid to know any better, and after all, this man's counterpart in Third True had relinquished his Kernel willingly.
"I… I cannot part with the Stone," the elderly man protested, his voice filled with pain. "It is the very heart and soul of our people-"
"It is the heart and soul of your world, old fool," Metsubou snapped. He was losing his patience. "The winner of this duel was agreed to have claim to the Third Negative Kernel, your Sacred Stone, and I am the winner. Give me the Stone!"
A bright flash emitted from Metsubou's dueling deck, and the old man fell to his knees.
"Nooooo…" he protested in vain. "I must… must guard… stone… I… NOOO!"
Metsubou snatched up the Kernel from where it lay beneath the pathetic geezer's crumpled form. Only three more to go.
* * *
My opponent believes in the Heart of the Cards. Suddenly, the one assurance Yami had of victory, the one guarentee that would always prevent him from losing, had vanished. What happens when two opponents who both believe in the Heart go up against each other? It it random? Is it actually based on skill?
That would make sense. And Yami had skill, certainly. He was the King of Games. But he no longer had complete confidence. And that one missing ingredient was the one thing that could cost him a duel.
On the other side of the duel, Kouten could sense this fear. All is going well, he thought. The Heart of the Cards will guide me to victory.
"My turn," Yami announced, his confident voice sounding only marginally less so. His outward appearance, as always, radiated the authority of the ancient Pharaoh.
"I play the magic card Graceful Charity, which allows me to draw three cards and discard two cards from my hand." Yami drew the three cards, and looked at his hand.
Hmm… Dark Magician Girl, Dark Magic Ritual, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, Monster Reborn, Buster Blader, Shadow Spell, and Multiply. No monsters less than Level 4... and I have to discard two cards.
Suddenly, a brilliant solution occurred to him. "I will discard Multiply and Buster Blader," announced Yugi. "Now, I will lay one card face-down and play this magic card!" He grinned at his own cleverness.
"Monster Reborn! Ressurect the Buster Blader (2600/2300) I just discarded!" The dragon-killing, heavily-armored knight appeared as a hologram before him, looking slightly insignificant in front of Suijin and Sanga. Yugi, however, knew better.
"Buster Blader, attack Suijin with Vorpal Blade Slash!" The water monster was destroyed by the knight's sword technique, and the impact caused Kouten to lose 100 life points off his previously untouched 4000.
"And now it's my turn," Kouten continued. "I activate Time Machine, which allows me to return one monster from the graveyard if it was destroyed last turn! Return, Suijin!"
Well, that was really pointless, thought Yami.
"I'll also summon another Aqua Madoor (1200/2000) in Defense Mode, and play the magic card Aqua Screen!"
The hologram card glowed blue and emitted a watery blanket, which immediately wrapped around his two defending Aqua Madoors.
"Aqua Screen is a continuous magic card that doubles the defense power of all my Water-element monsters in Defense Mode for three turns! That means that even your Buster Blader can't touch them now!"
Why is he worried about protecting useless monsters? wondered Yami. This man's strategy had been confounding from the beginning.
The inevitable ultimatum had been reached. Which one to attack? wondered Kouten. Left one, right one, left one, right one… right one? Left one? Uh…
"Sanga, attack the one on the right, NOW!" Kouten belted out his order quickly before his nerve could reach him. Think long, strike hard.
The thunder attack built up and launched. An eternity stretched over the battlefield as Yami and Kouten watched the attack fly toward the hat. Neither was certain of the result.
A holographic explosion of thunder and card shrapnel revealed what had been inside the hat. It was… a trap. As it activated, it displayed a hologram of several red-tinted explosions and flashes of light centered around Kouten's monsters.
Flooded with relief, Yami couldn't help grinning as he explained the trap's effect for Kouten's and his audience's benefit. "This is the trap card Trauma Soul Lock! It will prevent all of your cards on the field when it was activated from attacking, and its effect lasts for the rest of the duel!"
Yugi, resting in Yami's soul room and watching the duel through his eyes, could feel the giddy, relieved feeling coming from his dark counterpart. Kouten's two strongest monsters were permanently out of commission! The duel was as good as won!
"My Dark Magician will emerge from the last remaining Magical Hat, as there is no need for him to stay concealed. Now, it's my turn, and Buster Blader will again attack your useless Suijin!"
Buster Blader moved to attack, but Kouten waved his hand and activated his last remaining facedown card almost lazily. "Mirror Force," he said offhandedly, distractedly watching the trap blow up Buster Blader and the Dark Magician as if his mind was elsewhere.
I must draw the card I need for victory," Kouten thought. Otherwise, this Yugi may recover. He is too good a duelist to put my victory off for another turn. I MUST draw the needed card.
Yami, of course, was quite taken aback by the whole affair. Not only were two of his powerful Level 7 monsters destroyed with one trap, but Kouten was acting like it was no big deal. Not that it was a huge worry to Yami. He had just drawn the Magician of Black Chaos from his hand, and he would summon it next turn using his Dark Magic Ritual and sacrifices from his hand. Kouten's useless storm army would soon be picked over.
Heart of the Cards, guide me, Kouten thought desperately. I can see from Yami's eyes that he will take me down next turn unless I pull this off… Kouten closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, prayed like mad, and drew. Peeking first one eye, then the other, like he was scratching a lottery ticket bought with the last of his money.
It was the card he needed.
"I'll sacrifice my two Aqua Madoors to bring forth Kazejin, the Wind Spirit!" The monster unfolded it's winglike flaps and soared over to join Suijin and Sanga. "And now, I'll use the card I just drew! SYNTHESIS!"
The name of the magic card shattered the air in the dueling arena, in the peanut gallery, and in Yugi's soul room.
"Synthesis, combine three into one! Suijin, Kazejin, and Sanga of the Thunder combine to form the ultimate storm deity- the Gate Guardian (3750/3500)! And you have no monsters on the field, so, Gate Guardian, attack his life points directly!" A beam of pure water, wind, and thunder energy combined in the kanji for storm that sat in the center of the Gate Guardian's three sections. Combined, into an ultimate blast of destruction.
Yami's near-full life points were obliterated by that one attack. Kouten had won the duel. And Yami had lost his second duel ever in his lifetime.
* * *
Kaeru was dead, there was no question of that. The three guards he had stopped to battle were dead as well, but this offered Saguru little consolation. No normal human could have survived the amount of blood loss that Kaeru had. Of course, Kaeru was no normal human, but extricating his crippled spirit from the depths of the Millennium Ring and reforming his consciousness would take months.
In an attempt to keep down a mild panic, Saguru used a favorite tactic- make an inappropriately funny comment.
"Kaeru, buddy, you ain't looking your best now, are ya?" There was no answer from the man, his lifeless mouth full of white hair stained with blood. The pool of dark red liquid that was soaking his shirt and the floor below him certainly wasn't the greatest aesthetic. There was nothing to do now but return to Kawari. Kaeru's physical body here would vanish within a few hours of his death. If there was time later, Kawari could enter the Ring and try to search for Kaeru's lost spirit, but right now the mission was the priority.
Or, so Saguru assumed. He still wasn't quite sure what the mission was. Well, Kawari probably needed help with whatever, so following him would be best.
It didn't take Saguru long to retrace his steps back up the few corridors, and past the landing where Kawari had fought the guard. The knocked-out guard looked like he was beginning to stir, so Saguru moved quickly past him before he regained full consciousness. Up the stairs where he had killed the three buff guards, still not a sound in the hallways except Saguru's softly clanking footsteps.
His footsteps became heavier as he climbed the next staircase, which was far steeper than the others had been. The top- and whatever lay there- was near.
Saguru broke into a quiet run. Kawari could have gone a great distance in the time it took Saguru to discover Kaeru's body, and there was no telling what he might encounter the closer he got to the office of the man in charge of the Hand of the Shadow now- a ruthless and cruel American-born man named Solvaring.
Automatically, Saguru spat on the floor just thinking of Solvaring. He had been a prodigy in the Special Guard, and had always been planning to seize power from Yami when the opportunity presented itself. And he took pleasure in torturing and killing his prisoners. He always returned the bodies of those Opposition members he had captured, if only to sicken his opponents beyond belief. For that is what the bodies were after Simon Solvaring had dealt with them- sickening.
There were no sign of any guards, which was odd. If not actual guards, he'd at least expected to find unconscious forms dealt with by Kawari. But there was nothing.
False sense of security, Saguru thought to himself. One of the oldest tricks in dem books. He kept one hand on his gun.
As Saguru ascended the next staircase, he caught sight of a shadow at the end of the hallway, moving furtively with the look of a thief- or an Opposition member trained by one.
"Kawari?" Saguru dared to shout. The shadow paused for a moment, and then walked back toward where Saguru was standing at the top of the staircase.
As he passed a window, the shadowed man's face was suddenly lit up and visible. And it wasn't Kawari.
Saguru was too shocked to do anything except stare as the strange man slowly aimed a gun at his head.
* * *
Yami slowly sunk to his knees, not even bothering to remove his deck from his duel disk. "I… lost…"
Yugi quickly took over his body before he could come to his senses or freak Kouten out too much.
Kouten was paying Yami no attention, but staring over at Kaze. "I have defeated your proxy. I have proven you to be nothing. You are only a tough talker. You have nothing but a little blue static."
Kaze, too, seemed in shock. So, for that matter, did Joey, Duke Devlin, and Aikan. Miyaburu looked amused, as always, but there was a hint of amazement mixed in with the amusement.
"You have lost, Kaze. Lost through your proxy, you couldn't even fight your own battle."
That got Kaze's attention. "My battles are no business of yours," he said softly. "You have proven your point. Get out, now, and leave us to our search."
"No!" Kouten shouted. "Metsubou is mine! None of you have lost fathers! I will track him on my own!"
Miyaburu opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it. Then, he opened it again. "Excuse me, Mr. Kouten," he began, "but Metsubou can Realm-travel. You cannot. Therefore, we must be the ones to bring him to justice."
Unnoticed for all this time, that comment angered Ichiko enough to cause her to break her silence. "You fools! Can you only think of yourselves! Look at it logically! Kouten has knowledge of Metsubou that you'll probably need. Kaze's party has the ability to Realm-travel. Why not work together?"
Kaze and Kouten both looked at her. Then, they looked at each other. Then, they burst out laughing.
Joey was confused. "What's so funny?"
"Your face," Devlin told him as he began to clean up Yami's scattered deck. "C'mon, we've got a murderer to catch."
* * *
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Whew, massive duel over. Didn't get much else done this chapter. Yes, I know I'm WAAAAY behind schedule, but I'm going to try to get Chapter Five mostly completed over Thanksgiving break and have it posted the first week or two into December. I should be wrapping this up around Chapter Seven or so, which I'll probably be scrambling to complete as Winter Break ends. I'll have a lot more time over Winter Break, though, so I'll probably be faster.
XENOSAGA RAWKS!!! Everyone should get it who likes animé, sci-fi, or RPGs, or if you're lucky like me and like all three. Much better than FF X-2... Man, that was crap.
Sorry, just had to get that out of my system.
A minor, nitpicky note on a duel thing: I forgot the name of all the monster attacks, and I haven't even been using them up until now, so I just made a few up. Imaginary candy and other good food to whoever figures out where I stole Buster Blader's attack from.
Hope to see you in a few weeks or so! (Not a month like this time!)