Disclaimer: Dude...I don't own Yugioh. Get over it.
Chapter Twelve: Beyond God
Drake Ihachi felt a wave of cold travel up his spine, making him shiver for no apparent reason. He looked around, trying to see exactly what was giving him the creeps. All he saw was the dark haired kid Taichi staring at him with a small smirk on his face. "That guy gives me the creeps."
"You might be scared, but I'm about to slaughter him in our duel." Drake grinned, turning to face Kirani. In a minute the two of them would duel. As far as Drake was concerned the outcome of the duel was pretty obvious. Kirani was a skilled Rare Hunter...and this Taichi was a no-name duelist.
Drake stopped at that thought and almost laughed. He may have beaten Seto Kaiba...but nobody in the dueling world had ever heard of him either. After this tournament they'd know about him, but till then he'd just have to be satisfied with being a successful nobody.
He was snapped out his reverie when Kirani waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention. Apparently she had been saying something and he had been zoned out. "Umm...what were you saying?"
She rolled her eyes and pointed to the deck that sat in his duel disc. "I asked you if I could take a look at Obelisk. I mean, I've never even seen a card that powerful and we both know Malik was pretty crazy about obtaining those three cards." Drake grinned and picked the top card off of his deck and handed it to her.
He watched her face as she looked down at the card in her hands and he started grinning when he saw the look of wonder blossom in her eyes. Only a true duelist could get that look when seeing a card like Obelisk. A true duelist would see the massive inner strength of Obelisk and the power that it represented. Anyone else would simply see a card with high stats.
"Will the final duelists of the first round, Taichi Nobuki and Kirani Kajika, please step into the ring to begin the duel." Drake tried to hold it back but before he knew it he was laughing as hard as he could, trying to stop his laughter even while he laughed.
Kirani glared at him and gave him a sharp slap the backside of his head to shut him up. "Quiet you! It's a good name...its...oh would you stop laughing! ITS NOT FUNNY!" By this time several of the others had joined in, and even the referee was having trouble holding back his snickers. The only one who wasn't laughing was Kaiba...but then again he wouldn't be expected to laugh.
Holding back his laughter for a brief second Joey was able to get under Kirani's skin with a fierce jab at the source of their laughter. "Sing us a song frog girl!" It wasn't that funny, but for some reason everyone just laughed louder then ever at this.
"You might think its funny, but you don't see me laughing at people who have names like game, or apricot, or sea-horse! So just shut up all of you and let me duel! And I don't want to hear a word out of any of you the rest of this duel!"
(A.N.: I'm sure you want an explanation for this. Well its simple, Kajika means singing frog in Japanese, so the gang got a kick out of it. If you didn't know, Yugi means Game, hence that jibe. You already know the sea-horse bit if you've read the last chapter. Apricot is merely a jibe at the Japanese version of Tea, whose name of Anzu means apricot. And now you know)
Kirani stepped up onto the dueling field and Taichi matched her, taking up the other spot. Before he got there, he had to pass by Drake. Drake's eyes widened as he heard Taichi's voice whisper in his head, "Prepare to witness a force beyond God." As the other's watched, now a bit embarrassed about how they had laughed, the dueling field raised above them, ready for the duel to commence.
Taichi smirked and activated his disc, Kirani followed suit with her own disc. At the same time both players drew an opening hand of five cards, and began to plan. "Go ahead little girl, I'll give you the first turn. Show me what you can do."
(KLP: 4000, TLP: 4000)
Kirani nodded and snapped the top card off her deck. Examining it briefly, she decided that she would start off like Drake did, and see how her opponent would react. "I set one monster in defense mode. That's all."
Taichi shrugged and drew his own card, grinning at the sight of it. Quickly he slapped it down onto one of his monster zones and laughed as a wicked looking demon appeared on the field, flexing its sharp claws. "My Demon Soldier(1900/1500) has enough attack strength to eliminate any monster you've got! DEMON CLAW!"
The demon leapt across the field and slashed down across Kirani's defense monster. A tall, regal man appeared and pointed a finger at the demon. In obedience the monster crept back to its side of the field and snarled at being defeated. (TLP: 3900)
Kirani laughed as her monster crossed his arms across his chest, staring down his nose at Taichi and his monster. "Sorry Taichi, but my Banisher of Light(100/2000) has just enough defense to stop your attack. Better yet, while he's on the field, any monster that goes to the cemetery is removed from the game." Taichi shrugged and gave her the signal to take her turn.
She grinned as she drew her next card, and quickly set it on the field in one of her m/t slots. Then she passed the turn back to Taichi. The creepy duelist grinned as he looked over his newly drawn card, sending a shiver racing up Drake's spine again. Something was definitely weird about this guy. "I sacrifice my Demon Soldier for my Firewing Pegasus(2250/1800) in attack mode!"
Demon Soldier moaned in agony as it exploded into dust. A neigh sounded from the sky, and as the duelists looked up a flying horse with fire bursting from it charged down until he rested in front of Taichi. The duelist smirked and commanded it to attack Kirani's monster.
As quickly as the monster had appeared, it disappeared, falling into the ground right in front of the Banisher. Taichi acted shocked at this, but something in his eyes told Drake that the duelist had been expecting a trap, and didn't even care that he had to remove his monster from the game. Kirani smirked and showed him what her down card was. "My Chasm of Spikes card destroys your monster and deducts one quarter of its attack from your life points."
(TLP: 3337) Finally, Taichi shrugged it off and motioned for the game to continue. Kirani drew and played her card as quickly as she could. The sound of drums could be heard even before a woman dressed in spotted cat fur appeared, sitting behind a set of drums. "Meet Volt Girl(1900/800). This girl's tune will rock your world! Volt Girl, give him your best drum solo!"
Taichi grasped his heart as waves of electricity coarsed around him. He felt into an obviously fake coughing spat and then rolled onto his back, laughing hysterically. "You actually think that your light monsters can defeat me? You see, I always have methods of success, and when my supreme monster reaches the field it will be all over for you!"
Drake stiffened at these words. This was what Taichi must have been talking about, his ultimate monster, a force beyond God. But what could it possibly be?
Taichi had finally stood up and had drawn his next card, perfectly ready to win the duel, if you asked him that is. (TLP: 1437) "It is time. Time for dark to conquer light. I will use your own power to strengthen myself and turn the tide in my favor! Watch me win. I play Creature Swap! I'll take control of Banisher of Light, but since I don't have any monsters, you won't get anything out of this deal. Now I can sacrifice Banisher for Dark Ruler Hades(2450/1600) in attack mode!"
The blue skinned demon laughed evily as he raised his glass of wine and stared Volt Girl down. The drummer gulped audibly and backed away as much as she could. Taichi's smirk was wider then ever when he commanded his monster to destroy Volt Girl.
The dark ruler of the underworld abandoned his wine and darted across the field, grabbing Volt Girl in his powerful hands before she had a chance to evade. In a single swift motion he snapped the girl's neck, and tossed her aside. The hologram faded away, leaving some of the watcher's wondering why Kaiba had programmed the holograms to be so realistic.
Kaiba himself was busy contemplating his defeat. Now all he wanted was to see Yugi beaten, and he'd be fine with everything. He could recoup his losses, this wasn't the end of the world.
(KLP: 3450) Taichi smirked as he slapped down a second card. "I play Blood Compensation! At a cost of 500 life points I can summon an extra monster, so I'll pay the life points to summon a monster face down in defense mode!" (TLP: 937) Another monster appeared in the face down position and Taichi ended his turn.
Kirani grimaced as she drew her card. His monster was powerful...but she now had a way to defeat it and give herself an enormous lead. Well...at least a bigger lead then she already had. Taichi smirked again, sending a cold chill throughout Kirani's body. She had though Malik was creepy, but this guy was really starting to get to her.
"Poor little Kirani. She so desperately wants to prove herself, but even when she raises her favorite monster it won't do her any good. Because of all the monsters you posses, the last one I will destroy will be your favorite monster, and it will bring me victory!"
Kirani rolled her eyes as the creepy kid started laughing maniacally. Hearing Malik do that stupid sort of laugh was bad enough, but hearing it even after the irritating jackass was killed? There wasn't a fate that any god in existence could think up that was worse then constantly being surrounded by insane evil people who loved to laugh.
Taichi's whispered words reached her, even across the field, echoing in her head. Nothing he could have said could possibly have frightened her more then his words. "It isn't god that has chosen your punishment."
Shuddering she played the first card that would bring her to victory. "I play Cheerful Coffin, letting me discard up to three monsters from my hand. I'll discard two, and then play Monster Reborn to revive one of the monster's I discarded. Now I'll be happy to introduce to you a monster who a friend gave me, a monster that will prove to be your undoing!"
Drake grinned as she spoke these words, realizing instantly what monster it was. The monster was the one he had given her as a link. It was a monster he would never use in his deck since it didn't fit his theme, but it was powerful nonetheless. "I summon Joan the Guardian Angel(2800/2000) in attack mode!"
Taichi quirked an eyebrow as Kirani's monster began to float down from the ground. It was a redheaded woman with a halo above her head and clear angel wings extending out behind her. Dressed in a white robe with a long white stole extending several feet, she didn't appear to be all that dangerous, however as the non-fusion recreation of Saint Joan, she was definitely more powerful then she appeared to be.
"I'll also play Ceremonial Bell(0/1850) in defense mode. Ceremonial Bell forces both of us to play with our hands open to the other player. My card is Sebek's Blessings, what do you have?"
Taichi grinned and showed his hand to Kirani. She leaned forward to get a good view of them and nearly fell in shock. He had two really good cards! Why hadn't he played any of them? Not only did he have Raigeki Break, but he also had Treasure of Hell, a magic card that let both players to draw cards from the bottom of their deck until they had six cards in hand.
Still wondering what he had in store for her and why he hadn't used those cards, she decided that she'd find out later, after she had finished him off. "I'll set one card and have Joan attack Hades and destroy him!"
Joan nodded and was soon engulfed in a golden glow. Aiming herself at Hades she hurtled across the field as a golden meteor, crashing into the Dark Ruler and burning him to a cinder. Much happier, the angel settled back down in front of Kirani, knowing that the death of Volt Girl had been avenged. (KLP: 5900)
"When Joan destroys a monster in battle, that monster's base attack strength is added to my life points. I'll also activate Sebek's Blessings, giving me an additional handful of life points. (KLP: 6250) And you were saying you could beat me in one turn?"
(TLP: 587) Taichi smirked and drew his next card, revealing it to be a Pot of Greed. Knowing she could see his play, he slipped the card in and drew his first card, revealing it to be a Dark Elf. He hesitated on the next card for some reason, merely giving Kirani an evil look.
"I can indeed defeat you in one turn, because in this turn I will summon the monster that will lead to your defeat. I will show you a power beyond God!" Kaiba perked up as he heard these words, whereas everyone else started to worry. Drake shivered as a sensation of utmost dread suffused his being, practically flooding through his veins.
He could literally hear an inner voice screaming at him that something was horribly wrong! That he had to do something to stop Taichi or Kirani would get hurt. But there wasn't anything he could do!
"The end has come for you Kirani, with this next card I will bring about your defeat. So here it is!" He snapped the card off his deck and held it in the air in triumph, without even looking at it. Then he snatched his Dark Elf and slapped it onto one of his monster zones.
The dark skinned spellcaster appeared, being the exact opposite of her counterpart, the Mystical Elf. Their stats were also reversed, Dark Elf having 2000 attack and 800 defense. "Next I'll flip up my face down monster, X.E.N.O.!"
A monster that looked much like a mollusk with teeth and a tongue appeared, and snaked that tongue around the Ceremonial Bell, dragging it over to Taichi's side of the field. He smirked as his life points started to tick down to nearly zero. (TLP: 87)
"When flipped, X.E.N.O. allows me to take control of one monster on your side of the field until the end of this turn. This gives me a total of three monsters. Now, by sacrificing 500 life points as compensation, I can now normal summon again this turn!"
Laughing, the dark haired boy held out one of his arms. His eyes glinted evilly as he pulled a simple knife from his pocket and then slammed it into his wrist. Pulling the blade out, he turned his wrist upside down so that the blood could splatter onto the ground. His laughter only grew as the blood splashed upon the ground at his feet.
"What the hell are you doing?" Taichi merely continued laughing as he let more blood pour from his wrist. Then, smearing the blood upon his hand, he grasped the second card he had drawn by the effect of Pot of Greed and slammed it onto his monster zone, shattering his other three monsters in the process.
"I'm not surprised you don't understand. Your concepts of power and commitment are hardly up to my standard. You see, the card is Blood Compensation, so I must give up my own blood to summon my next monster. And through that blood I gain a bond with my monster like nothing you could possibly understand! You see..this is more then a simple game...it's a Shadow Game!"
Drake whipped around as he heard these words and ran up to Kaiba. "Kaiba! Cancel the duel right now! If you don't something terrible could happen!"
The older duelist grunted in response and gestured to the blood that seeped through his arms, and the weak Rishid that stood in the corner. "Rishid, Bakura, Malik. They have suffered, and Malik has even died. For the first two I would say that they were weak, so they were defeated and didn't deserve to continue. However with Malik's death something happened. At that moment I should have canceled this entire tournament and had Dalin arrested. However I can't do that anymore."
Grabbing the CEO by the front of his shirt Drake pulled him forward, so that they were almost eye to eye. "And why the fuck can't you?"
He sighed and looked away, refusing to meet Drake's eyes. "Because I'm no longer in control of this tournament. If I tried to cancel it, these duels would still continue. I can do nothing about that. I don't care that Malik is dead, but this Taichi, I want to see him lose. He also claims to have a power greater then God, and I believe he's referring to the god cards. Therefore I will see this monster, and I will find a way to claim it."
Back on the field the blood of Taichi was now creating a pool in what would be one of the monster zones and everything was starting to shake. The entire blimp rattled, and with a brief flash, the lights went out and the holographic projectors deactivated.
Joan was still standing there, despite the deactivation. The blimp itself was beginning to descend, a lack of power forcing it to plummet to the ocean below. "Now my monster, now my master! For what was, for what is, and for what shall be I call upon you!"
A black fire ignited upon the blood, spinning around it until some sort of occult symbol appeared. Suddenly a massive hand, the size of a human body erupted from it and crashed down on the field. The tan fleshed arm began pulling itself up, dragging the massive body up with it.
Slowly the monster rose up, showing its true horrifying self as a monster that existed completely outside of the holograms that generated the rest of the monsters in the game. It generated itself, creating an aura that made Joan just as real as it was. This monster was a true terror to behold, particularly for Kaiba.
The sound of bone contacting with bone wasn't enough to pull anyone's gaze away from the monster. Kaiba slowly reached up a hand to his nose, wiping the blood that blossomed there off, though it wasn't enough to stop the flow. Drake dropped his fist to his side and shouted at Kaiba, rage filling his heart. "Stop the duel! DO IT NOW!"
Kaiba closed his eyes and looked away, now ignoring the flow of blood down his chin. This was his fault...this was...it was...real. "I'm sorry...I can't do anything."
Taichi's laughter echoed above the deep guttural sounds of his new monster, whose snake head charm was enough to let even an amateur duelist recognize it. "Its all over Kirani...for now my supreme monster, a force beyond God will eliminate you. No...it will do more then simply eliminate you. It will obliterate you. EXODIA! OBLITERATE!"
Exodia raised its unchained hands and called upon its awesome energies and then extended its arm, sending a massive wave of deadly energy cascading over Joan, killing her so quickly that it was as if she never existed. The wave hurtled onwards towards Kirani, ready to enveloped her as well.
In a moment of desperation Drake jumped onto the field and tackled Kirani, letting the beam hurtle harmlessly over their heads, vaporizing the top of the elevator shaft and continuing onwards across the ocean. Those present looked on in horror as the beam struck the tops of several towers in the far distant Domino City, and shatter them in mere seconds.
As suddenly as the power had gone out, it came back on, and Exodia faded away, leaving Taichi standing there on a pool of his own blood, grinning maniacally. What was worse was his arm...it had stopped bleeding and no flesh wound was visible. "As the penalty for losing this game, I can inflict Punishment Game. Your soul now belongs to me Kirani!" Drake's eyes widened as the blank card came up.
There was a flash of light, and Kirani simply crumpled. Her grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, trying to get her to walk up, but she didn't respond. Her glazed eyes simply started straight into the sky, leaving no doubt that she was no longer with him.
Something deep inside him snapped as he saw those eyes. To see those eyes, with nothing in them, eyes that had once been filled with life, to now be completely empty...it broke him. Another pair of blank eyes taunted him in his mind, taunted him with shadows of things that had nearly broken him before. To see it happen again was simply too much for him.
"I'm going to kill you!" Leaping up from his spot next to Kirani, the punk duelist charged across the field to attack Taichi, perfectly intent on ripping his disgusting throat out. Taichi merely shook his finger in disapproval and raised a card in front of him, a card that had Kirani's image on it.
"I wouldn't try anything if I were you. Kirani's soul is right here in this card, and should you try and harm me, I will tear it. Then her soul will never return, and she'll be gone for good, just like...her." Taichi smirked as Drake stopped in his tracks, fists clenched in rage but unable to act. Nobody could do anything, there was nothing that could be done.
Laughing, Taichi walked away and entered the elevator, leaving everyone behind him shaking in horror. This was no longer a tournament...it was a race towards death.
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Yami had every intention of discussing Dalin's findings with him, however a dark power had distracted him, making him break into a run heading for the dueling arena. Something had just happened, and he feared that his help was needed.
"Yugi!" Yami spun and found Dalin running up behind him. The other duelist must have sensed the darkness as well, and had been heading up for the same reasons.
As one, the two duelists started running again, only to be stopped as the floor seemed to shimmer, allowing a tall tan man wearing a turban to step out. "Pharaoh, Ammut, I must speak with you about what has just happened."
Yami snarled in impatience and tried to brush past Shadi, however Dalin grabbed his shoulder, restraining him. "We were just going to investigate. What did you want to tell us?"
Shadi eyed each of them in turn, before expressing himself. "The presence I have sensed is a darkness that has not shown itself since roughly 1500 B.C., 3500 years ago. Five centuries before your reign as Pharaoh. You see at that time there existed a monster who wished to free the essence of the Shadow Realm. The essence of destruction that the gods had sealed before time had even begun.
This force had no name, but it called itself The Hand of the Forbidden One. The essence of destruction that had been sealed had been given a name in Egypt, a name that was spoken only be the truly brave. It was called Exodia. The Hand took sacrifices, and used that evil to bend the Shadow Realm, attempting to sunder it and release his master. An act that would have destroyed the universe if the Hand had not been defeated and destroyed.
Somehow the hand has returned within the body of this body, and now I fear that soon if he is not stopped he will be able to sunder the Shadow Realm as he intended long ago, using the power he intends to gain by taking the soul of Ammut, and the souls of the ones who defeated him long ago. You must defeat him, or the universe shall cease to exist."
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Drake turned his head away from the wall, away from the corner that he had been standing at. The Hand? Sunder the Shadow Realm? None of that mattered to him. He couldn't care less about some stupid essence of destruction and the end of the world.
He would kill Taichi after he defeated him in a duel. But he would do it for his own reasons, not so he could save the world. He would leave foolish notions like heroism to people like Yugi and Joey. He had blood on his mind, and he wouldn't let anything stand in his way of taking his revenge.
When he killed Taichi...he wondered if the boy would have the same look on his face that the last one did. He could still hear the words that she had said to him, he could hear them ringing in his head. He clenched his hand on the Disc that hung from his neck, picturing the small and fragile hands that had placed it around his neck.
"I never even got to say goodbye."
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A.N.-I know this isn't all that long, but it seemed that it was all that was necessary for this chapter. It might actually be the shortest of my chapters yet, though I'd have to go back and check. Well, at least besides Ch. 8. Okay...so Ch. 3 was the shortest. But hey, I still wrote it didn't I? Hope its angsty enough for you, though it will get worse as you go. Read and review, thanks!
Next Time: The blimp finally arrives at the true place of the finals and everyone prepares to disembark. Joey challenges Kaiba to a duel, and the two begin. Meanwhile Shadi confronts Taichi and the two initiation a Shadow Game. Can Shadi win, or is Taichi just too much for the tombkeeper?
Chapter Twelve: Beyond God
Drake Ihachi felt a wave of cold travel up his spine, making him shiver for no apparent reason. He looked around, trying to see exactly what was giving him the creeps. All he saw was the dark haired kid Taichi staring at him with a small smirk on his face. "That guy gives me the creeps."
"You might be scared, but I'm about to slaughter him in our duel." Drake grinned, turning to face Kirani. In a minute the two of them would duel. As far as Drake was concerned the outcome of the duel was pretty obvious. Kirani was a skilled Rare Hunter...and this Taichi was a no-name duelist.
Drake stopped at that thought and almost laughed. He may have beaten Seto Kaiba...but nobody in the dueling world had ever heard of him either. After this tournament they'd know about him, but till then he'd just have to be satisfied with being a successful nobody.
He was snapped out his reverie when Kirani waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention. Apparently she had been saying something and he had been zoned out. "Umm...what were you saying?"
She rolled her eyes and pointed to the deck that sat in his duel disc. "I asked you if I could take a look at Obelisk. I mean, I've never even seen a card that powerful and we both know Malik was pretty crazy about obtaining those three cards." Drake grinned and picked the top card off of his deck and handed it to her.
He watched her face as she looked down at the card in her hands and he started grinning when he saw the look of wonder blossom in her eyes. Only a true duelist could get that look when seeing a card like Obelisk. A true duelist would see the massive inner strength of Obelisk and the power that it represented. Anyone else would simply see a card with high stats.
"Will the final duelists of the first round, Taichi Nobuki and Kirani Kajika, please step into the ring to begin the duel." Drake tried to hold it back but before he knew it he was laughing as hard as he could, trying to stop his laughter even while he laughed.
Kirani glared at him and gave him a sharp slap the backside of his head to shut him up. "Quiet you! It's a good name...its...oh would you stop laughing! ITS NOT FUNNY!" By this time several of the others had joined in, and even the referee was having trouble holding back his snickers. The only one who wasn't laughing was Kaiba...but then again he wouldn't be expected to laugh.
Holding back his laughter for a brief second Joey was able to get under Kirani's skin with a fierce jab at the source of their laughter. "Sing us a song frog girl!" It wasn't that funny, but for some reason everyone just laughed louder then ever at this.
"You might think its funny, but you don't see me laughing at people who have names like game, or apricot, or sea-horse! So just shut up all of you and let me duel! And I don't want to hear a word out of any of you the rest of this duel!"
(A.N.: I'm sure you want an explanation for this. Well its simple, Kajika means singing frog in Japanese, so the gang got a kick out of it. If you didn't know, Yugi means Game, hence that jibe. You already know the sea-horse bit if you've read the last chapter. Apricot is merely a jibe at the Japanese version of Tea, whose name of Anzu means apricot. And now you know)
Kirani stepped up onto the dueling field and Taichi matched her, taking up the other spot. Before he got there, he had to pass by Drake. Drake's eyes widened as he heard Taichi's voice whisper in his head, "Prepare to witness a force beyond God." As the other's watched, now a bit embarrassed about how they had laughed, the dueling field raised above them, ready for the duel to commence.
Taichi smirked and activated his disc, Kirani followed suit with her own disc. At the same time both players drew an opening hand of five cards, and began to plan. "Go ahead little girl, I'll give you the first turn. Show me what you can do."
(KLP: 4000, TLP: 4000)
Kirani nodded and snapped the top card off her deck. Examining it briefly, she decided that she would start off like Drake did, and see how her opponent would react. "I set one monster in defense mode. That's all."
Taichi shrugged and drew his own card, grinning at the sight of it. Quickly he slapped it down onto one of his monster zones and laughed as a wicked looking demon appeared on the field, flexing its sharp claws. "My Demon Soldier(1900/1500) has enough attack strength to eliminate any monster you've got! DEMON CLAW!"
The demon leapt across the field and slashed down across Kirani's defense monster. A tall, regal man appeared and pointed a finger at the demon. In obedience the monster crept back to its side of the field and snarled at being defeated. (TLP: 3900)
Kirani laughed as her monster crossed his arms across his chest, staring down his nose at Taichi and his monster. "Sorry Taichi, but my Banisher of Light(100/2000) has just enough defense to stop your attack. Better yet, while he's on the field, any monster that goes to the cemetery is removed from the game." Taichi shrugged and gave her the signal to take her turn.
She grinned as she drew her next card, and quickly set it on the field in one of her m/t slots. Then she passed the turn back to Taichi. The creepy duelist grinned as he looked over his newly drawn card, sending a shiver racing up Drake's spine again. Something was definitely weird about this guy. "I sacrifice my Demon Soldier for my Firewing Pegasus(2250/1800) in attack mode!"
Demon Soldier moaned in agony as it exploded into dust. A neigh sounded from the sky, and as the duelists looked up a flying horse with fire bursting from it charged down until he rested in front of Taichi. The duelist smirked and commanded it to attack Kirani's monster.
As quickly as the monster had appeared, it disappeared, falling into the ground right in front of the Banisher. Taichi acted shocked at this, but something in his eyes told Drake that the duelist had been expecting a trap, and didn't even care that he had to remove his monster from the game. Kirani smirked and showed him what her down card was. "My Chasm of Spikes card destroys your monster and deducts one quarter of its attack from your life points."
(TLP: 3337) Finally, Taichi shrugged it off and motioned for the game to continue. Kirani drew and played her card as quickly as she could. The sound of drums could be heard even before a woman dressed in spotted cat fur appeared, sitting behind a set of drums. "Meet Volt Girl(1900/800). This girl's tune will rock your world! Volt Girl, give him your best drum solo!"
Taichi grasped his heart as waves of electricity coarsed around him. He felt into an obviously fake coughing spat and then rolled onto his back, laughing hysterically. "You actually think that your light monsters can defeat me? You see, I always have methods of success, and when my supreme monster reaches the field it will be all over for you!"
Drake stiffened at these words. This was what Taichi must have been talking about, his ultimate monster, a force beyond God. But what could it possibly be?
Taichi had finally stood up and had drawn his next card, perfectly ready to win the duel, if you asked him that is. (TLP: 1437) "It is time. Time for dark to conquer light. I will use your own power to strengthen myself and turn the tide in my favor! Watch me win. I play Creature Swap! I'll take control of Banisher of Light, but since I don't have any monsters, you won't get anything out of this deal. Now I can sacrifice Banisher for Dark Ruler Hades(2450/1600) in attack mode!"
The blue skinned demon laughed evily as he raised his glass of wine and stared Volt Girl down. The drummer gulped audibly and backed away as much as she could. Taichi's smirk was wider then ever when he commanded his monster to destroy Volt Girl.
The dark ruler of the underworld abandoned his wine and darted across the field, grabbing Volt Girl in his powerful hands before she had a chance to evade. In a single swift motion he snapped the girl's neck, and tossed her aside. The hologram faded away, leaving some of the watcher's wondering why Kaiba had programmed the holograms to be so realistic.
Kaiba himself was busy contemplating his defeat. Now all he wanted was to see Yugi beaten, and he'd be fine with everything. He could recoup his losses, this wasn't the end of the world.
(KLP: 3450) Taichi smirked as he slapped down a second card. "I play Blood Compensation! At a cost of 500 life points I can summon an extra monster, so I'll pay the life points to summon a monster face down in defense mode!" (TLP: 937) Another monster appeared in the face down position and Taichi ended his turn.
Kirani grimaced as she drew her card. His monster was powerful...but she now had a way to defeat it and give herself an enormous lead. Well...at least a bigger lead then she already had. Taichi smirked again, sending a cold chill throughout Kirani's body. She had though Malik was creepy, but this guy was really starting to get to her.
"Poor little Kirani. She so desperately wants to prove herself, but even when she raises her favorite monster it won't do her any good. Because of all the monsters you posses, the last one I will destroy will be your favorite monster, and it will bring me victory!"
Kirani rolled her eyes as the creepy kid started laughing maniacally. Hearing Malik do that stupid sort of laugh was bad enough, but hearing it even after the irritating jackass was killed? There wasn't a fate that any god in existence could think up that was worse then constantly being surrounded by insane evil people who loved to laugh.
Taichi's whispered words reached her, even across the field, echoing in her head. Nothing he could have said could possibly have frightened her more then his words. "It isn't god that has chosen your punishment."
Shuddering she played the first card that would bring her to victory. "I play Cheerful Coffin, letting me discard up to three monsters from my hand. I'll discard two, and then play Monster Reborn to revive one of the monster's I discarded. Now I'll be happy to introduce to you a monster who a friend gave me, a monster that will prove to be your undoing!"
Drake grinned as she spoke these words, realizing instantly what monster it was. The monster was the one he had given her as a link. It was a monster he would never use in his deck since it didn't fit his theme, but it was powerful nonetheless. "I summon Joan the Guardian Angel(2800/2000) in attack mode!"
Taichi quirked an eyebrow as Kirani's monster began to float down from the ground. It was a redheaded woman with a halo above her head and clear angel wings extending out behind her. Dressed in a white robe with a long white stole extending several feet, she didn't appear to be all that dangerous, however as the non-fusion recreation of Saint Joan, she was definitely more powerful then she appeared to be.
"I'll also play Ceremonial Bell(0/1850) in defense mode. Ceremonial Bell forces both of us to play with our hands open to the other player. My card is Sebek's Blessings, what do you have?"
Taichi grinned and showed his hand to Kirani. She leaned forward to get a good view of them and nearly fell in shock. He had two really good cards! Why hadn't he played any of them? Not only did he have Raigeki Break, but he also had Treasure of Hell, a magic card that let both players to draw cards from the bottom of their deck until they had six cards in hand.
Still wondering what he had in store for her and why he hadn't used those cards, she decided that she'd find out later, after she had finished him off. "I'll set one card and have Joan attack Hades and destroy him!"
Joan nodded and was soon engulfed in a golden glow. Aiming herself at Hades she hurtled across the field as a golden meteor, crashing into the Dark Ruler and burning him to a cinder. Much happier, the angel settled back down in front of Kirani, knowing that the death of Volt Girl had been avenged. (KLP: 5900)
"When Joan destroys a monster in battle, that monster's base attack strength is added to my life points. I'll also activate Sebek's Blessings, giving me an additional handful of life points. (KLP: 6250) And you were saying you could beat me in one turn?"
(TLP: 587) Taichi smirked and drew his next card, revealing it to be a Pot of Greed. Knowing she could see his play, he slipped the card in and drew his first card, revealing it to be a Dark Elf. He hesitated on the next card for some reason, merely giving Kirani an evil look.
"I can indeed defeat you in one turn, because in this turn I will summon the monster that will lead to your defeat. I will show you a power beyond God!" Kaiba perked up as he heard these words, whereas everyone else started to worry. Drake shivered as a sensation of utmost dread suffused his being, practically flooding through his veins.
He could literally hear an inner voice screaming at him that something was horribly wrong! That he had to do something to stop Taichi or Kirani would get hurt. But there wasn't anything he could do!
"The end has come for you Kirani, with this next card I will bring about your defeat. So here it is!" He snapped the card off his deck and held it in the air in triumph, without even looking at it. Then he snatched his Dark Elf and slapped it onto one of his monster zones.
The dark skinned spellcaster appeared, being the exact opposite of her counterpart, the Mystical Elf. Their stats were also reversed, Dark Elf having 2000 attack and 800 defense. "Next I'll flip up my face down monster, X.E.N.O.!"
A monster that looked much like a mollusk with teeth and a tongue appeared, and snaked that tongue around the Ceremonial Bell, dragging it over to Taichi's side of the field. He smirked as his life points started to tick down to nearly zero. (TLP: 87)
"When flipped, X.E.N.O. allows me to take control of one monster on your side of the field until the end of this turn. This gives me a total of three monsters. Now, by sacrificing 500 life points as compensation, I can now normal summon again this turn!"
Laughing, the dark haired boy held out one of his arms. His eyes glinted evilly as he pulled a simple knife from his pocket and then slammed it into his wrist. Pulling the blade out, he turned his wrist upside down so that the blood could splatter onto the ground. His laughter only grew as the blood splashed upon the ground at his feet.
"What the hell are you doing?" Taichi merely continued laughing as he let more blood pour from his wrist. Then, smearing the blood upon his hand, he grasped the second card he had drawn by the effect of Pot of Greed and slammed it onto his monster zone, shattering his other three monsters in the process.
"I'm not surprised you don't understand. Your concepts of power and commitment are hardly up to my standard. You see, the card is Blood Compensation, so I must give up my own blood to summon my next monster. And through that blood I gain a bond with my monster like nothing you could possibly understand! You see..this is more then a simple game...it's a Shadow Game!"
Drake whipped around as he heard these words and ran up to Kaiba. "Kaiba! Cancel the duel right now! If you don't something terrible could happen!"
The older duelist grunted in response and gestured to the blood that seeped through his arms, and the weak Rishid that stood in the corner. "Rishid, Bakura, Malik. They have suffered, and Malik has even died. For the first two I would say that they were weak, so they were defeated and didn't deserve to continue. However with Malik's death something happened. At that moment I should have canceled this entire tournament and had Dalin arrested. However I can't do that anymore."
Grabbing the CEO by the front of his shirt Drake pulled him forward, so that they were almost eye to eye. "And why the fuck can't you?"
He sighed and looked away, refusing to meet Drake's eyes. "Because I'm no longer in control of this tournament. If I tried to cancel it, these duels would still continue. I can do nothing about that. I don't care that Malik is dead, but this Taichi, I want to see him lose. He also claims to have a power greater then God, and I believe he's referring to the god cards. Therefore I will see this monster, and I will find a way to claim it."
Back on the field the blood of Taichi was now creating a pool in what would be one of the monster zones and everything was starting to shake. The entire blimp rattled, and with a brief flash, the lights went out and the holographic projectors deactivated.
Joan was still standing there, despite the deactivation. The blimp itself was beginning to descend, a lack of power forcing it to plummet to the ocean below. "Now my monster, now my master! For what was, for what is, and for what shall be I call upon you!"
A black fire ignited upon the blood, spinning around it until some sort of occult symbol appeared. Suddenly a massive hand, the size of a human body erupted from it and crashed down on the field. The tan fleshed arm began pulling itself up, dragging the massive body up with it.
Slowly the monster rose up, showing its true horrifying self as a monster that existed completely outside of the holograms that generated the rest of the monsters in the game. It generated itself, creating an aura that made Joan just as real as it was. This monster was a true terror to behold, particularly for Kaiba.
The sound of bone contacting with bone wasn't enough to pull anyone's gaze away from the monster. Kaiba slowly reached up a hand to his nose, wiping the blood that blossomed there off, though it wasn't enough to stop the flow. Drake dropped his fist to his side and shouted at Kaiba, rage filling his heart. "Stop the duel! DO IT NOW!"
Kaiba closed his eyes and looked away, now ignoring the flow of blood down his chin. This was his fault...this was...it was...real. "I'm sorry...I can't do anything."
Taichi's laughter echoed above the deep guttural sounds of his new monster, whose snake head charm was enough to let even an amateur duelist recognize it. "Its all over Kirani...for now my supreme monster, a force beyond God will eliminate you. No...it will do more then simply eliminate you. It will obliterate you. EXODIA! OBLITERATE!"
Exodia raised its unchained hands and called upon its awesome energies and then extended its arm, sending a massive wave of deadly energy cascading over Joan, killing her so quickly that it was as if she never existed. The wave hurtled onwards towards Kirani, ready to enveloped her as well.
In a moment of desperation Drake jumped onto the field and tackled Kirani, letting the beam hurtle harmlessly over their heads, vaporizing the top of the elevator shaft and continuing onwards across the ocean. Those present looked on in horror as the beam struck the tops of several towers in the far distant Domino City, and shatter them in mere seconds.
As suddenly as the power had gone out, it came back on, and Exodia faded away, leaving Taichi standing there on a pool of his own blood, grinning maniacally. What was worse was his arm...it had stopped bleeding and no flesh wound was visible. "As the penalty for losing this game, I can inflict Punishment Game. Your soul now belongs to me Kirani!" Drake's eyes widened as the blank card came up.
There was a flash of light, and Kirani simply crumpled. Her grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, trying to get her to walk up, but she didn't respond. Her glazed eyes simply started straight into the sky, leaving no doubt that she was no longer with him.
Something deep inside him snapped as he saw those eyes. To see those eyes, with nothing in them, eyes that had once been filled with life, to now be completely empty...it broke him. Another pair of blank eyes taunted him in his mind, taunted him with shadows of things that had nearly broken him before. To see it happen again was simply too much for him.
"I'm going to kill you!" Leaping up from his spot next to Kirani, the punk duelist charged across the field to attack Taichi, perfectly intent on ripping his disgusting throat out. Taichi merely shook his finger in disapproval and raised a card in front of him, a card that had Kirani's image on it.
"I wouldn't try anything if I were you. Kirani's soul is right here in this card, and should you try and harm me, I will tear it. Then her soul will never return, and she'll be gone for good, just like...her." Taichi smirked as Drake stopped in his tracks, fists clenched in rage but unable to act. Nobody could do anything, there was nothing that could be done.
Laughing, Taichi walked away and entered the elevator, leaving everyone behind him shaking in horror. This was no longer a tournament...it was a race towards death.
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Yami had every intention of discussing Dalin's findings with him, however a dark power had distracted him, making him break into a run heading for the dueling arena. Something had just happened, and he feared that his help was needed.
"Yugi!" Yami spun and found Dalin running up behind him. The other duelist must have sensed the darkness as well, and had been heading up for the same reasons.
As one, the two duelists started running again, only to be stopped as the floor seemed to shimmer, allowing a tall tan man wearing a turban to step out. "Pharaoh, Ammut, I must speak with you about what has just happened."
Yami snarled in impatience and tried to brush past Shadi, however Dalin grabbed his shoulder, restraining him. "We were just going to investigate. What did you want to tell us?"
Shadi eyed each of them in turn, before expressing himself. "The presence I have sensed is a darkness that has not shown itself since roughly 1500 B.C., 3500 years ago. Five centuries before your reign as Pharaoh. You see at that time there existed a monster who wished to free the essence of the Shadow Realm. The essence of destruction that the gods had sealed before time had even begun.
This force had no name, but it called itself The Hand of the Forbidden One. The essence of destruction that had been sealed had been given a name in Egypt, a name that was spoken only be the truly brave. It was called Exodia. The Hand took sacrifices, and used that evil to bend the Shadow Realm, attempting to sunder it and release his master. An act that would have destroyed the universe if the Hand had not been defeated and destroyed.
Somehow the hand has returned within the body of this body, and now I fear that soon if he is not stopped he will be able to sunder the Shadow Realm as he intended long ago, using the power he intends to gain by taking the soul of Ammut, and the souls of the ones who defeated him long ago. You must defeat him, or the universe shall cease to exist."
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Drake turned his head away from the wall, away from the corner that he had been standing at. The Hand? Sunder the Shadow Realm? None of that mattered to him. He couldn't care less about some stupid essence of destruction and the end of the world.
He would kill Taichi after he defeated him in a duel. But he would do it for his own reasons, not so he could save the world. He would leave foolish notions like heroism to people like Yugi and Joey. He had blood on his mind, and he wouldn't let anything stand in his way of taking his revenge.
When he killed Taichi...he wondered if the boy would have the same look on his face that the last one did. He could still hear the words that she had said to him, he could hear them ringing in his head. He clenched his hand on the Disc that hung from his neck, picturing the small and fragile hands that had placed it around his neck.
"I never even got to say goodbye."
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A.N.-I know this isn't all that long, but it seemed that it was all that was necessary for this chapter. It might actually be the shortest of my chapters yet, though I'd have to go back and check. Well, at least besides Ch. 8. Okay...so Ch. 3 was the shortest. But hey, I still wrote it didn't I? Hope its angsty enough for you, though it will get worse as you go. Read and review, thanks!
Next Time: The blimp finally arrives at the true place of the finals and everyone prepares to disembark. Joey challenges Kaiba to a duel, and the two begin. Meanwhile Shadi confronts Taichi and the two initiation a Shadow Game. Can Shadi win, or is Taichi just too much for the tombkeeper?