Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh.
Author's Note: Ummm....none I guess.
"You can't trample infidels when you're a tortoise. I mean, all you could do is give them a meaningful look."
° Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
Chapter Nineteen: Rising Darkness-Gods of Light and Dark
Serenity was sitting on the same bed she had been on when Drake left. However, now she was leaning against her brother who had an arm wrapped comfortingly around her. She was aware that Tristan and Duke had both offered, but during this time of great stress she needed the comfort of her brother, her family.
Autumn was sitting in the chair beside the bed, and Mai was hovering over the younger girl, ready to help if she felt weak. Ryu stood in the corner, solemn and brooding as ever. A grim Kensai sat next to Kirani, whose bed had been uncovered once Drake left. He was holding her hand and speaking to her in quiet tones, despite knowing that she couldn't hear him. Nobody knew what he was saying.
Yugi and Dalin were outside with Kaiba, discussing something that they said was incredibly important. Serenity was sure that it had something to do with Taichi, but exactly what they were saying she didn't know. Tristan and Duke of course sat on her opposite side, ready to comfort her if necessary. Their commitment was actually starting to get eerie, especially since the guy who was probably their biggest competition was in a life or death situation.
A sudden chill went through the room as a voice cried out to them. To say that it was a voice was wrong, it was more like a feeling of despair. Everybody's eyes turned upwards to stare at the ceiling. The feeling of despair came from far above them, the dueling arena at the top of Duel Tower.
Yugi, Dalin, and Kaiba burst into the room and Dalin was the first to speak. "Did everyone else feel that?" Everyone nodded at once, and again they turned their eyes up to the ceiling. A dark foreboding feeling pierced its way into her heart, and the grim looks on everyone's faces said that they were feeling the same thing. Something was wrong, and Drake was in trouble.
"We can't just sit here while he's up there suffering! We have to do something! We have to help him!" As she spoke she jumped up from the bed, struggling to show everyone just how determined she was. The dead looks that everyone gave her said to her all she needed to know. They didn't think there was anything that could be done. They thought it was over.
"Drake's a fighter. He's said it himself. In fact, one of the first things that Kirani told me the first time we talked was that above all else, Drake is a fighter. He never gives up, no matter how tough the situation seems. He's putting himself on the line because he's willing to give everything for one woman, just that one person! If we give up on him now, it'd be like giving up on ever beating Taichi, of ever making things right again! He needs us, so I for one am not going to give up on him!"
The words sent a stirring of heat through the air. One by one the group's thoughts turned to Drake, on their impressions of him, of their thoughts on the duel, of their thoughts on Taichi. One by one they started to believe, they started to know. This duel was not just Drake against Taichi, it was all of them against Taichi. Right now Drake was the representative of their hopes and their dreams, and if he failed then everything was over.
Ryu was the first of the others to speak, and he did so, punctuating his words by hefting his gauntleted fist. "Serenity's right. Drake doesn't give up. He's not that kind of person. Even in his rough and tumble state he went up there to face Taichi, knowing that his chances of winning were slim. He needs our support, and I say we give it to him. In fact I'm going to offer him some of my own strength...because if what he's fighting for is wrong, then I don't want to be right!"
They knew he spoke of Hinata, they knew he felt responsible for letting her down. Now he was going to support Drake in a similar battle to restore the soul of a person he cared for. If Drake won, Hinata's soul would also be restored, and Ryu had to support that. More then that, he understood Drake now. He felt that he truly knew him, knew the kind of darkness that Drake fought against. The battle's he fought against himself. They had a lot in common.
The group's attention turned to the ceiling and their thoughts projected their confidence in Drake, their commitment to him. They gave him their strongest feelings, and with that came pieces of themselves. Those in the room with magic contributed an added share, bolstering Drake's magical prowess.
The response was not immediate. But within a minute they got a clear cut answer. Drake was alive! Alive in a way none of them had thought possible. Even those without magic could feel the blazing power that swarmed off of him, the raw energy of life. Their essences mixed with his and created a glowing life that ripped apart the despair and unveiled a more powerful feeling. Hope.
The waited, they hoped, and then it changed. Suddenly they could no longer feel that bright life that was Drake, could no longer feel the connection between themselves and the fighter. Dalin calmly assured them that since they had felt nothing negative through the bond, that it was mostly likely Taichi's dark powers that were interfering with what they felt.
They were happy hearing this, and Kensai, still at Kirani's side, whispered into the comatose girl's ear. Now Serenity knew what he was doing, he was trying to make himself more confident by feeding off the hope that soon she would be back. With their power filling Drake they were now certain that this wouldn't take long.
They noticed at the very last moment the dark fog that had seeped in through the cracks in the floor, through the ceiling, through the door. The very same dark fog that was a physical manifestation of the link between this realm and the Shadow Realm. They stepped backwards, forming a tight circle with magic users at key points, ready to defend themselves from whatever came.
The fog blurred across the floor, streaked up the bed, and then merged together into a black cloud that hung above the bed right in front of them. They split the circle and took places around the bed so they could all get a clear look at what was happening. The magic users were still ready, but they didn't predict an attack.
Suddenly Taichi's face appeared in front of them, then the image expanded to show the darkness around him and his body from the top of his head down to the middle of his chest. He seemed perfectly fine, uninjured, but he was grinning maliciously at them...or maybe perhaps them. Serenity's first thought was that Taichi wanted to taunt them by showing them images of the duel, and that seeing Taichi meant that it was his turn.
Her thoughts were shattered by the sound of Taichi's voice, clear as day but as dark as night. The tone of his voice was slightly angry, but also highly amused. It twisted the two incompatible emotions together in a way that only the insane can do. "Tell me mortals. Did you choose your savior in Drake? Were you counting on him coming to the rescue? Is this the face of your savior?!"
He punctuated his last words by jerked his hand up into view, and revealing what he was holding. His fingers were twined in Drake's hair, suspending the boy's limp body on its knees so that it was about chest level with Taichi. Drake's face and hair was bloody, and the little they could see of his body was similarly bloodied.
Serenity cried out in shock and turned away, burying her face against her brother's chest. Joey wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. As for himself, he was unable to look away from the beaten body of Drake Ihachi. He could hear Serenity sobbing against his chest, mumbling things in between sobs. "Not fair...it is...he shouldn't be...why'd you die? You promised me..."
"Your savior is nothing! He is merely human, just like the rest of you! The only one among you worth my time is Dalin, merely because of the presence of the Devourer within him. The rest of you are merely cattle to be led to the slaughter. So come to me, so the slaughter can begin. And it will begin with you Dalin, as I become the one who devours the Devourer!"
With his last words Taichi shoved Drake forwards and they all clearly heard the sickening crunch as his body crashed into the ground. Shouted words of anger became incoherent curses as the group raged at the seemingly invincible demon. Taichi was an inhuman monster, and he had to be dealt with in a manner suiting for an inhuman monster. He had to die.
The sudden sound of laughter cut through their curses and Serenity's sobbing. Had it been Taichi they would have been content to continue cursing at him. However the laughter they heard was different then any laugh they had heard before, and none of them recognized who was laughing.
They looked around, trying to find the source, but it was Taichi who gave them the answer. "Impossible! I killed you!" The laughter merely continued, uncaring of Taichi's incredulity. The group's eyes turned to the image in front of them, and watched as Drake's body was lifted up off the ground by some invisible force. It was from Drake's dead lips that the laughter echoed, but there was no sign that Drake was conscious of his actions. By all accounts he was dead.
The darkness that created their images flickered as a golden light erupted from Drake's Millennium Disc, and an enormous power started emanating from the body. It was a power as great as what Drake had displayed against Kirani, but this time it was completely controlled. Soon Drake's body was engulfed by that display of golden power.
"Killed me? You can't kill the immortal. Oh wait...you meant the mortal didn't you? Well yes, he's dead. Unless the definition of dead has changed in the past millennia or so. Heart stopped, brain function ceased, really freaking pale...yep. I'd say he's about as fucking dead as you can get...unless you count getting blown into pieces."
A slice of black energy cut through the golden power, and it opened up like a blossoming flower. As the light dimmed it soon became clear that Drake was no longer around. For now his appearance was completely different. Rather...her appearance.
Standing right in front of Taichi, and therefore (in image at least) right in front of them, was the russet-brown haired girl that they had identified as Drake's sister...if she had just suddenly dropped about four years and gained a shit load of evil. The woman that stood in front of them was attractive and fit Ryu's description to a T. The nasty smirk that she displayed was nearly proof enough that this woman was no good.
Taichi's face was a mix of shock and outrage at her sudden appearance. Apparently Taichi didn't like what he saw. Which isn't surprising when you've just seen a corpse rise from the dead and become a fully alive, and apparently unharmed, woman. "You arrogant bitch. You get your body slashed apart and yet you still come back for more? I guess when your body ceased to function you decided instead of sticking around in an immortal corpse you'd sit in the disc and wait for a suitable host huh?"
The woman smirked and brushed invisible dust off her jeans, glancing down at her DD2 briefly. Then she looked directly at the screen and made a waving motion. The fog vanished, leaving them all to wonder what was going on.
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"As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I did. I finally got a new host when that moron Shadi found my reincarnation and brought her to Egypt. She got the item and I transferred to her body. But I found out that the gods had a sense of humor. They stuck me in a virtual corpse! Her body was too weak for me to do anything, and she lacked great magical power. She was worthless to me."
Taichi grinned his amused grin and watched as the woman wandered over to where Drake had fallen in a pool of his own blood. She stooped down and collected the cards he had dropped, cleaning them with a burst of her magical powers. His amusement however, was for his new understanding. Now he knew exactly where Drake had gained all that power from. It was from her! She had been the source of that enormous power the whole time!
"Wait...don't tell me...I've got it! After a while you got bored of just sitting around with a worthless host and you decided to stage her injury. You manipulated her so she'd be stuck in a coma while you left her body. And then in that last moment you gave the Millennium Disc to Drake, so you could use his body!"
She grinned and drew a card from the top of the deck, then ejected a card from the cemetery slot. She looked down briefly at the cards, and Taichi started to wonder what she was up to. "Got it in one. But I discovered like all these mortals have, that he's a fighter first, last, and above all. The jerk's mental defenses were huge. Turns out the emotional damage he had gotten earlier in life had only been strengthened by his sister's coma. I had thought a bit of insanity would make him easier to control, since that's how it would normally work. But instead he got stronger! His mental defenses became virtually unbreakable, and I only managed to take over a few times before this."
Taichi grimaced at this, having discovered for himself that this was the case. His attempt at breaking Drake had only made the boy stronger, a reaction that was completely unusual for a person. Of all things and all people, he supposed that the only thing that set Drake apart from anyone else was that little thing. "You must have been bored sitting in that Disc, unable to manipulate anyone, knowing that I was doing the real work, manipulating the entire world while all you could do was play mental tiddly-winks."
He laughed as she looked up from her cards and casually flipped him the bird. Apparently she was up with the current lingo and body gestures. So she must have spent time exploring Drake's soul room and memories, finding out all sorts of things. "You know something Taichi, go to Hell. Its not my fault that I'm not a creature that has no true body. I need a body and I can't just go out and possess one like you can. So seriously, go fuck yourself."
"Still a bitch I see, even after all these millennia. Damn you really knew how to piss me off back then, but now...nothing you're nothing but chump change. You got yourself 'killed', and that's enough humor for me so I can forget all those times you irritated me. Now...say, what do I call you now?"
The russet haired woman leaned her head onto one hand as she stood there, thinking about the question. While they talked, Taichi was certain that Dalin and the others would be heading up to confront him. Of course when they entered they'd find themselves locked in a trap, where none could escape.
"Well, definitely don't call me Drake. In this time, I think my old name won't work. So I guess now...well just call me Ihachi for the moment. Anyways...are we gonna get this out of the way or not? I'd like to kill you and rob you of your power before the day is over."
Taichi burst out laughing at this declaration, realizing at last that she hadn't changed in over thirty-five hundred years. She was still as annoying as she had been then, and just as power hungry. The greedy bitch never could have enough power, and that greed was what got her immortality, and got her body crushed to a pulp, leaving her bodiless. "You think you can defeat me? Especially when you're under my rules? Pathetic! Your host was no challenge to me, and nor will you be. You both have the same pathetic deck, so I won't have any issues crushing you."
The Shadow Realm flickered around them as their respective dark powers added to its negative energy. Ihachi smirked widely and held out one hand above one of her face down cards, the one not held tight by energy bonds. It flipped up, revealing a machine in magician's clothing, holding a mirror. "Mechanical Magic Mirror! Copy his Monster Reborn!"
The image of the ankh appeared in the mirror and suddenly Chaos Sorcerer appeared in all its glory, power ready to unleash at any moment. With its deadly magic Taichi was now at something of a disadvantage. "Now I play Pot of Greed!"
Greedily she drew two more cards from her deck and looked down at them. She flashed him a smirk and then slammed one of the cards onto the field. As she did so a robed magician appeared, all in black, holding a small staff. "Skilled Dark Magician(1900/1700)! This beefy attacker will crush your life points once I get rid of your Invader. Now watch this move. Chaos Sorcerer, BANISH IT!"
The chaos magic user closed his eyes and started drawing in the chaotic energies that fueled his specific brand of magic. A purple ball of light formed in one hand and a white ball of light in the other. He then combined the energies together and hurled the new chaos magic at the Invader.
The dark creature slashed at the offending ball of energy, but all it managed to do was quicken its doom. The instant its claws touched that chaos ball the Invader turned white and then vanished. There was no trace left of it whatsoever. It had been banished, removed from the game.
"Next, Skilled Dark Magician, attack directly!" The robed magician raised his staff and aimed it at Taichi, sending a stream of black magic at Taichi's defenseless body. The energy streaked across the field, coming within inches of frying Taichi, but the magician's aim was thrown off by what happened immediately after Ihachi declared her attack.
"Go, Genocide Chains!" The ground around the magician exploded as pitch black barbed chains swarmed out and surrounded it. The magician panicked and tried to turn and swat the chains away, but they moved to quickly for him and acted the instant he did. In moments the chains had bound the magician, keeping him from moving and digging into his flesh, letting his blood run red against the ground.
Taichi grinned wickedly as the effect of the nano-machine kicked in. Ihachi grasped at her throat, gasping in pain as the nano-tendrils wormed their way through her body, taking over piece after piece. "At the end of your second turn Genocide Chains will drag your spellcaster into hell, removing it from the game and dealing damage to your life points equal to its attack strength. For the moment it can't attack, switch modes, or be sacrificed. Enjoy the gift!"
Ihachi grimaced and slipped a card into one of the activation slots. She smirked as her deck started glowing blue, and moments later a card slid out of it and into her hand. "I wont have to wait to see my spellcaster get dragged to Hell. Instead I can play Magical Well to grab a magic card from my deck. Next turn I'll use it to get rid of the chains. So go ahead and take your useless turn."
Taichi grinned as he drew two cards from the bottom of his deck. He wasn't grinning just because of his cards, but because the trap was about to be sprung. At this very moment those fools were standing packed into the elevator, waiting to get out on his floor. But when they did they'd get a big surprise. "I'll start by summoning the cuddly Kuriboh(300/200) in attack mode! Next I'll activate Demon Catapult to launch him and destroy that card in your hand!"
The cute little brown furball squealed in terror as the corpse catapult rose up from beneath it. It was too small to clamber out of the catapult's cup. It let out one final shriek as the crank was released and the catapult sent the little furry critter flying like a brown missile. Ihachi sneered and batted it aside, grimacing when the card she had placed in her hand was sent to the cemetery.
"For my next trick, the magic card Called From the Depths! Watch in wonder as a monster that was removed from the game is special summoned to the field. In fact...I think he's an old friend of yours!" A black vortex opened in the ground, and from it emerged the cowled figure of Invader of Darkness. At its appearance the magical chains wrapped around Ihachi's face down card once again, keeping her from using it.
"Now my Invader, cut that pathetic sorcerer to ribbons!" Ihachi got the distinct impression that underneath its mask the demon was smiling. It clenched its fist and then shot forward at incredible speed, slashing at the Chaos Sorcerer with its claws. The sorcerer raised its hands in defense, casting a defensive shield up around it, but the invader's claws ribbed the shield apart and continued to slice the sorcerer apart. The spray of blood that followed coincided with Ihachi's groans of pain as the device dealt further damage to her. (ILP: 2950)
Ihachi snatched at her next card and then followed that up by returning a card from her cemetery following the effect of Mystic Funnel. She looked at her two cards, then back at her current monster. Slowly a smirk spread across her attractive features, as she came up with a plan. "This should be interesting. First off I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Genocide Chains."
The magic card appeared on the field and sent a bolt of lightning at the chained spellcaster. The surge of electricity shattered the chains, freeing the magician at last. It also gave Taichi a clear view of his shoulder pads, both of which had glowing orbs. "Interested yet? It gets better. Activate magic card, Soul Drain! I can remove one monster from the cemetery to decrease one of your monster's by that monster's attack strength. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Taichi's eyes widened as a spirit form of Chaos Magician rose up from the ground. He raised his arms as it shot forward across the field to pass through the invader. The demonic creature let out a harsh growl as the spirit form stripped it of most of its power. (IoD: 500)
Ihachi reached down and grabbed the card on her field as the third and final orb on her spellcaster lit up, readying it for its effect. "I sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician and its three magic counters to special summon...Dark Magician(2500/2100)!" The black robed magician vanished and in a flash of light it was replaced by its superior, the purple robed and fully trained Dark Magician, one of the strongest of all spellcasters.
"Isn't this interesting. You've got no cards to protect your once powerful Invader of Darkness. I guess now is the time for me to take the lead. Dark Magician...Dark Magic Attack!" The magician raised one arm and thrust it, palm outwards, towards the invader. The invader inverted colors and shattered, causing Taichi to let out a cry of pain as his life points took a swift nose dive. (TLP: 2000)
Taichi drew his two cards and looked them up and down before turning his gaze back to the field. Now the stage was about to be set for the ultimate victory, the proof of his might. And the idiots had just walked into his trap. "Starting now, this duel is all mine. I will even defeat the might of God! Activate Hellish Accountant!"
Ihachi grimaced, knowing she had no duplicate of Dark Magician to summon, so she'd be forced to draw cards until she got a monster to summon. Worse yet, all the other cards she drew would be discarded. She started drawing as Taichi drew his three cards from the effect of his magic card. Her prospects grew worse as she went through card after card, both magic and trap, before finally coming across a monster. "I special summon Mystical Elf(800/2000) in defense mode."
Taichi grinned and slapped a card on his field, which appeared as a horizontal brown-backed card, a defensive monster. It sat across from the blue skinned elfin woman who had her arms crossed over her chest as she sat on her haunches, waiting for a potential attack. "Now the magic card, Payment of Debt. Think of this as Pot of Greed's big brother, because I get to draw three cards at no cost!"
His hand increased to six cards total, a fresh hand for him to work with. Whatever he used wouldn't be good for her chances, no hand advantage ever was. "I'll set three magic or trap cards down on my field, nearly filling up my quota. Now I am prepared for the downfall of God itself! Show me the power of your God of Light and then I will show you the power of my god...the God of Darkness, Exodia!"
Ihachi snapped a card off the top of her deck and looked down at it. A victorious grin spread across her face as she looked over the field and back down at the card. She had just found the way to end this duel easily, and gain the ultimate power. She ejected a card from her cemetery and added it to her hand to complete her strategy.
"When Drake said this card would keep coming back to get you, he was telling the truth. So here it is again, back by popular demand, Change of Heart!" The half breed shot out of its card and was absorbed into Taichi's defense card, which slowly drifted across the field, next to each of Ihachi's other monsters. Now was the time, now was when she would end his reign as strongest. Now she would take him down and gain the chance at the ultimate power! The power of a god!
Grinning triumphantly she held up her remaining card up above her head, ready to place it on the DD2 as soon as she was ready. "The descent of this mighty creature will be heralded by burning winds and twisted lands. And with the coming of this horror all those who draw breath shall know the true meaning of eternal slumber!"
With that proclamation she slammed the card down on the duel disk and watched as flames whipped around the two duelists, howling as a wind of flame. The ground around them rumbled and then broke apart as Ihachi's three monsters fell into the depths of Hell itself, consumed by its fires to feed the power of the coming beast. Obelisk the Tormentor(4000/4000)
The massive blue beast rose up on the field, towering above Taichi and his three face down cards, the only barrier between Ihachi and Taichi's life points. And a paltry barrier at that, with trap cards unable to effect Obelisk. "Its all over now! GOD HAND CRUSHER!"
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The instant the group departed the elevator they had been separated, surrounded only by the darkness of the Shadow Realm. Each of them was about to face something horrible, but for a few it would be worse. For those few, it would be beyond any sort of emotional pain you can imagine.
Yami grimaced as he staggered through the darkness, trying to find his way back to his friends. Every few seconds he called at one of their names, alternating back and forth. He knew that he could defend himself with his magic, but the others had no such magic to protect themselves, and were in great danger.
"Joey! Tea! Tristan! Duke! Anybody?!" A light chuckle alerted him to the presence of someone else in the shadows, and he whirled around to face the direction he had come from, only to find a shocking scene that had not been there when he passed. It hurt him just to see it.
There, right in front of him, was a set of gallows. Hanging from those gallows were each of his friends, their faces purpled by the terrible force that had ripped the air from their bodies, bruised up their necks, and left them as hanging corpses. "NO!!!!!"
Tears dripped from the corners of his eyes as he dropped to his knees in despair. This was impossible! How could he have lost his friends so soon? How could this have happened? His thoughts were cut off when something struck his shoulder, a light object that had no real weight.
He opened his eyes and looked to his shoulder, discovering a length of rope, already tied in a hangman's knot. The chuckle from before sounded again, and he jerked his head up, finding the empty spot at the gallows. Standing on the back of a chair was Drake, face and body covered by his own blood. His eyes were blank white, lifeless orbs that seemed to pierce into Yami's soul. "What's this for? What's going on?"
The body that was Drake grinned wickedly at him and pointed from his neck to the gallows above him. Then he slid a finger across his throat and jerked up with his hand, tilting his head to the side and making gagging sounds. Finally he threw back his head and laughed for nearly a minute. "What else? Its for you so you can do me like you did the rest of them."
Yami's eyes widened in shock as Drake gestured to the rest of his friends on the gallows. The meaning of his words was obvious, but it was impossible. It was preposterous. How could he be at fault? "What are you talking about? I don't know how this happened but I had no part in it!"
Yami turned away, certain that this was mere illusion, none of it real. However when he turned he found himself facing the gallows again, Drake standing above him. "Don't kid yourself Big Yugi, you knew all too well the dangers that were inherent in being an item possessor, the sort of things that would happen. You knew how dangerous the situation was, but still you brought them along. And so it was in that way that you hung your own friends."
Yami stumbled backwards, and turned to run the other way. He didn't make it more then a foot because the gallows were once again in front of him, keeping him from going anywhere. "Its your destiny, you were the one destined to defeat the ancient evil. But you couldn't even beat Dalin! It was because of you that I had to face Taichi, if you had been more capable then this wouldn't have happened. So with your own hands you must place this rope around my neck, just as you did when you lost to Dalin!"
"NO! I didn't, its not...I...I'm sorry, I just couldn't beat him. I couldn't win...I tried my hardest but I couldn't do it...I'm sorry!" Yami fell to his knees, pounding at the ground with his fists in frustration, knowing that there was no way to fix his mistakes. Drake was right, it was his fault, he was responsible for this.
Yami let out a sharp cry as a length of rope settled around his neck. With a strong heave Drake tightened the noose around Yami's neck, squeezing the air from his lungs. He vainly trained to escape, clawing at the rope as Drake pulled him up bit by bit, and then tied the rope off to let Yami dangle.
The corpse of Drake approached Yami and grabbed onto the rope, pulling the ancient Pharaoh face to face with him. The fetid breath reminiscent of grave soil wafted into Yami's nostrils, making him choke further. Drake's dead eyes stared directly into his, and he knew terror. "A little bit of advice Pharaoh. Always bury your dead with your own hands, else they come back to reek vengeance."
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Dalin Imaki Sumatin stumbled through the darkness, trying to find the one who would be his opponent. He would finish Taichi once and for all so he could set everything right. Then he could rid himself of the terrible presence within that had incorporated itself as part of him. The demon spirit of Ammut, the Devourer of Souls.
"TAICHI! You can't hide from me forever!" The item on his hand lit up the area around him with a bright silver glow, casting the darkness aside. However what he found was not what he had thought he would see. The ground around him was not ground, it was a mass of souls, writhing around his feet.
He turned in a circle, desperately trying to escape the sea of souls he was caught in, souls that would most certainly consume him if given the chance. Caught amongst these souls he would soon lose his own soul and become like them, tortured souls forever in the cold grip of the Shadow Realm. These were the souls that had been sent to the Shadow Realm over the years, every last one of them.
"It was always my duty to take the souls that were determined as evil and consume them, to make sure they didn't end up here. I consumed that darkness but was never affected by it, for I am a demon." The words were from Dalin's voice...but he had not spoken them.
Dalin jerked around, bring his arm up in defense, ready to release a blast of magic on whatever came near him. All he could see, however, was a tall figure shrouded by the darkness. The shadows made it impossible for Dalin to see exactly what the person looked like, but the voice that was his came from that figure...and that frightened him.
"Frightened of me? I don't see why. All that I am is the essence within you, the demon Ammut." The figure stepped into view, revealing Dalin's body, but it was the head that made it terrifying. The creature before him had an elongated neck, and a wide grinning mouth full of razor sharp teeth, it was unnatural because otherwise it was his face.
"What do you want from me? Just tell me that!" Dalin jerked back in surprise as the head zoomed towards him, the neck getting longer as it did so. The mouth closed with a snap, inches away from Dalin's nose, causing him to stagger backwards in shock. In that instant Ammut acted, grabbed him by the shoulder and lifted him up so that they were faced to face with each other.
"Want? From you? Absolutely nothing. I will simply continue to use your body until Taichi is defeated and the threat of the ancient one is gone. Then I shall leave your body. Of course when my essence exits your body it will tear your soul out with it. It is necessary for I require souls as power, and once I leave your body I will require that power to return to my home."
Dalin started to struggle, attempting to force his way free from Ammut's grasp, but a second pair of strong hands grabbed him from behind, keeping him tightly ensnared. Then a head leaned close to his and a familiar voice whispered in his ear. It was Drake. "Souls are a necessary source of life, as is blood. But souls don't make life, they just make the person. A body without a soul is still alive, its just a shell. And therefore a person can exist without a piece of their soul."
With those words Dalin felt the hand begin to dig into his back, and felt agony as that hand gripped his very essence. Took hold of his soul and started to tear it from his body. In moments he would be a lifeless shell.
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Serenity was searching for the duel. She had to do something, and even she didn't know what she'd do when she got there. She just knew that in this case, she had to do it. Whatever it was, it was the right thing. She owed that to Drake.
She let out a sudden cry as she stumbled over something on the ground, and fell flat on her face. She groaned and sat up, ribbing the bridge of her nose. Her hand jerked away from her face as she saw the plank of wood right in front of her. Slowly she back up and tilted her head up to get a better look at it.
When she saw exactly what it was she screamed as loud as she could. There, right in front of her, was a crucifix. Upon that crucifix, crown of thorns and all, was Drake. Blood dripped down his face, down his wrists, and from his legs were spiked ropes held his legs to the cross. "DRAKE!"
Her hands came up to her mouth as she shook her head in denial, staring up at the transfixed form of the man she cared about. She stood on unsteady feet and approached him, walking slowly, trying to figure out what to say. However her voice was ripped from her throat as his lifeless body turned its eyes upon her and spoke. "Why did you do this to me?"
"W-what?" Unconsciously she backed away from the cross as it moved towards her. She turned to run but found herself facing another cross. Eyes widening she turned in a circle. As far as the eye could see was a field of crosses, and on each one Drake hung.
"Your promise, the promise you knew I could not keep. It made me fight farther, made me fight harder. It was wrong of you to make me promise that, wrong of you to make me fall for that promise. Serenity Wheeler...you crucified me!"
"NO!" She tried to flee, to escape the voices from all around her that chanted those words 'You crucified me!', chanted from each set of lips of all the many Drakes in the field of crosses. Her flight was halted when a cross exploded from the ground, causing her to run headlong into it. She gasped as chain whipped out from around the cross and grabbed hold of her, pulling her up and binding her to the cross.
She gulped as she found herself face to face with the first Drake she had spoken to, his face right in front of hers. She struggled at her bonds and blinked back tears as the chains dug into her skin. This wasn't Drake, it couldn't be. This couldn't possibly be real. "But it is real Serenity. And its all because of you. But I'll even things up a bit, because all I need is a little piece of who you are."
She tried to respond, but she was cut off when he pushed his head forwards, capturing her lips with his. She melted into the kiss after a brief moment...but then it changed. She tried to pull away from the kiss as she felt something within her being pulled at. It was like he was trying to suck the life from her.
Her soul was being torn from her body in the form of a kiss.
**********************************
"Its all over now! GOD HAND CRUSHER!" The mighty blue skinned god hefted one giant hand and then punched down at Taichi's defenseless body, the fist moving with such great power that a bright aura surrounded it. With one blow this duel would be ended and the chance at godhood would be hers!
Taichi smirked as he opened his arms wide, ready to receive the attack. In that moment his three face down cards rose up, revealing what they were to Ihachi. "This truly is the end for you! Say goodbye to your God of Light! My first card is the quick-play magic card, Banishment! Now Obelisk, return to your mistress's hand!"
Ihachi growled when the mighty beast shrunk and returned to her hand in the form of a card. Had Banishment been a trap it wouldn't have worked, but because it was magic it was effective. "It doesn't matter. At the start of your turn Banishment's effect will be nullified by Obelisk and he will return to the field. All you've accomplished is to stall me."
"Not exactly little girl. My second card, From Hand! Now, according to its effect, I shall activate Card Destruction from my hand, so say goodbye to Obelisk!" Ihachi snarled as she was forced to deposit Obelisk into the cemetery, drawing a single card to replace it. Taichi on the other hand got two new cards.
"An effective move, but I can still resurrect Obelisk from the cemetery, if its only for one turn. One turn is all that I'd need to defeat you with the might of my God!" Taichi could only laugh at this, as he pointed to his next card. She recognized the visage of Dark Ruler Hades upon the card, and the background color told her that it was a trap card.
"The final of my three card combo, a permanent trap known as Soul Demolition! Now I reveal the weakness of your God. While on the field they remain virtually invincible, in hand they are weak, but in the cemetery they are absolutely defenseless! Subject to the effect of my trap card, I can now pay five hundred life points to remove a card in your cemetery from play, so say goodbye to Obelisk!" (TLP: 1500)
The ancient spirit woman could only watch helplessly as the giant image of Obelisk was torn from the cemetery and cast aside, fading into the oblivion around them. Now, at this moment, she had but one card left to protect her. Fortunately it was a good enough defense.
Taichi smirked as his turn started, giving him a boosted hand of four cards. "I begin with two cards face down. And with my next move I shall finish you for good, for not even you can withstand the agony that will follow. Reveal magic card, Dark Revival!"
Ihachi watched with baited breath as the ground in front of Taichi started to shake, and a black fogged issued from the ground, pushing the purple fog away. Bleak laughter sounded from within the fog...and then it parted. Ihachi gasped as the masked face of Invader of Darkness was revealed, and once more her face down card was chained by the invader's effect. "Say goodnight bitch! Invader of Darkness, break her in half!"
Within its mask the invader was smiling, feeling its revenge at hand. It took off across the field like a rocket, spreading its claws as wide as they would go. Ihachi cast one hand out and opened a shield of golden energy to deflect the invader's attack. But to her surprise it managed to pierce the barrier and slice into her. Much of the energy had been halted by her barrier...but it was enough.
Taichi laughed as the attack knocked Ihachi off her feet and sent her tumbling end over end for several feet. Finally she landed on her gut and slid backwards for a few more seconds before coming to a halt. He could feel her energy severely diminished by the attack, and it only got worse as his little toy activated. He grinned, soaking up the sounds of her agonized screaming. (ILP: 50)
He let out an unhappy sigh as Ihachi managed to force herself to her feet so she could take her turn. She was breathing heavily and blood trickled down her lip, but it wasn't enough. She grimaced in pain as she drew her next card and returned a card to her hand, giving her three cards. "Begin with Altar of Resurrection!"
She drew two cards off the top of her deck, bringing her up to four cards. Then she activated the magic card fro her cemetery. "I choose to activate Double Spell, and I'll discard the magic card from my hand to pay for it! Now for its effect....I choose to activate Called From the Depths! Return to me, Obelisk the Tormentor!"
The image of Obelisk slowly faded in, until the mighty beast was once again real and on the field. It would only last for one turn, but that was enough. "Next, the card I recovered. More draw power, Pot of Greed!" She slipped two more cards from her deck, replenishing her hand to four cards again, possibly enough to finish Taichi.
"I'll set a card face down and summon another Skilled Dark Magician(1900/1700). Now, Obelisk will destroy Invader of Chaos!" The massive god monster clenched its fist and then swung it horizontally. The invader tried to stop the fist, but being the size of its own body it was unable to, and that swing destroyed it easily. (TLP: 400)
Taichi doubled over, both in laughter and in pain. Whatever he found funny, she certainly didn't. She had just crushed his best monster, and now she had an open attack. Well she'd show him when to laugh. "Direct attack!" Her magician raised its staff and unleashed a beam of magical energy at Taichi.
"Your last Skilled Dark Magician fell pray to my chains, and so shall this one. Drag To Hell!" Black chains exploded from the ground and covered the magician. It struggled against their force, but found itself unable to fight back. In moments the spellcaster was dragged beneath the ground to the hell that awaited it. "Poor creature is removed from the game. Bu-bye. So...are you done?"
She nodded and then he followed the effect of his permanent magic card by drawing two cards, giving him a total of three. He casually slipped a card into one of his m/t slots and then announced his move. "I'll set a card face down. Next I summon Demon Soldier(1900/1500). And as its my turn...goodbye Obelisk!"
Ihachi grimaced as for the second time that duel Obelisk faded away, leaving her field open except for her two face down cards. And as she had believed before, those would be easily enough. "Demon Soldier, attack directly!"
"Activate Trap Reflector as Genocide Chains!" This time it was the demon who was wrapped up by the spiked chains. Oddly enough the demon smirked at this, seeming to enjoy the pain caused by the spikes digging into its skin.
"I knew you would do something stupid like that. So I feel sorry for you, as such things will only increase the darkness that assists my goal. Give this duel your all, for at the end your great power and darkness will be used to feed the coming of my master!"
She smirked and picked up her next card. She examined it carefully and then ejected a card from her cemetery, a plan already forming in her mind. She knew exactly how to defeat him, and she could do it in this single turn with the cards she had. All she needed were the two cards she had just gotten, and her face down card. "Say goodbye to the card on the right, Mystical Space Typhoon!"
A bolt of lightning shot out and shattered the card into thousands of particles. She was about to continue with her turn when the particles swarmed back together into the form of the card, and then flipped up, revealing a bloody severed hand. "The card you destroyed was Bloody Hand of the Demon Prophet. By its effect I now guess the type of card at the bottom of my deck. I guess trap."
He ejected the card and flipped it up to face her, revealing it to be the Reversed Worlds card, a trap. "Now I discard it and draw a total of five cards, giving me a big ol' hand of six cards!" She just kept smirking, knowing that even his new cards couldn't save him, because her next card was going to finish him off.
"Alright, then I'll summon Breaker the Magical Warrior(1600+300/1000). And I immediately use its magic counter to destroy your remaining face down card. The end has come for you at last!" The red armored knight charged forward and slashed his face down card apart with its sword, leaving his only defense as the Demon Soldier, and her face down card would take care of that threat.
"A foolish and desperate move. You just destroyed Shatter Point, which has two effects. I chose to use the second since I knew what was coming. Its second effect is that when its destroyed it lets me destroy one card on my opponent's field. In this case, that's Breaker!" Ihachi snarled as a beam of thin red energy sliced her Breaker in half, destroying him instantly. Now she was the one who was practically defenseless. But at least she could count on Genocide Chains to finish him off.
"I'll set two cards face down, and end my turn." Taichi grinned and drew two more cards, increasing his hand to a total of eight cards. If he didn't use up enough of them in this turn, then he'd have to discard to drop his hand back to a total of six cards. She hoped that was the case.
He held up one of the cards and then slapped it down on the field. She immediately recognized it from the first time he played it. "Hellish Accountant. With four cards on your field that means I can draw four, and you have to draw until you get a monster. So go ahead and do so."
She groaned as his hand quickly shot up to a total of eleven cards, any of which could be used to destroy her. She went through three cards, each of which were discarded, before coming upon a monster. She special summoned it in defense mode, revealing Apprenticeship Magician(400/800). The little blond spellcaster was only a temporary defense.
"I'll continue with two face down cards. And now I shall unveil a truly unique monster, unlike any other ever created. It was my idea in fact, to create this monster. You see, for over the years I have discovered that there exists a special brand of creature that can always be trusted to make things worse for just about everybody. But manipulated correctly they become deadly forces for the manipulator. With this in mind I designed the creature that epitomized this nature...the nature of the traitor!"
He slammed his next card on the field and she watched as a little green skinned demon rose up on the field, only a few feet tall. It had a fearful expression on its face and sharp fangs and claws...but it didn't look that deadly. It just looked like a little gremlin. "Ihachi, meet my favorite monster, the Traitor Beast(500/1000)! In fact...meet your newest monster!"
"Say what?" As she watched the little gremlin flicked its eyes back to look towards Taichi, and then it scampered over to her side of the field, looking frightened of its own shadow as it stood there. She snarled at seeing the weak little creature on her side. It was a liability, especially since she didn't know what its effect might be, other then the obvious.
"I'll end my turn, discarding two cards to drop my hand back to six cards as per the rules. And as you draw, my creature will go to work!" Ihachi grabbed the top card of her deck and then pulled a card free from her cemetery. In that brief moment the little gremlin launched itself at the Demon Soldier and slashed at its chains. She gasped as the chains shattered and her Trap Reflector card went to the cemetery.
"Allow me to explain. You see, a traitor never helps anyone but itself. Its always out to get the best position, and will even hurt its current side to make sure it can stay in favor with its enemies. Its first act as a traitor was to go under your control. The second is that each of your standby phases it lets me destroy one card on your field. You see! By manipulating it I gain the advantage!"
She snarled and grabbed a card from her hand, ready to act to defeat Taichi. "You think your traitorous gremlin will help you? Hardly! I now sacrifice it and Apprenticeship Magician for Omegus(3500/3200)!" She started to slam the card down on her field in order to get rid of Taichi's little monster, but a jolt of electricity caught her hand, keeping her from completing the action.
"You idiot! I told you a traitor's nature is to preserve itself. You can't sacrifice it!" She grimaced and dropped her hand to the card on her field, grabbing it to shift it into defense mode. As had happened when she tried to sacrifice it, a zap of mini-lightning stopped her. She looked up and saw Taichi shaking his finger and laughing at her. She should have known, of course it wouldn't obey her commands. That would be too easy.
"Fine, I'll just clear a path with Mystical Space Typhoon!" The card on Taichi's left exploded under the force of the magic card, and to her surprise a familiar line of red light shot out and sliced through her face down Mirror Force, destroying it completely. She cursed, recognizing the effect of Shatter Point. The bastard had faced down another one, knowing she'd try and clear away his traps. "End turn!"
Taichi smirked and slipped two more cards free, increasing his hand size up to eight, where once again he'd have to discard to keep his hand at the right size. Something was up with that though...certainly he could have done more in his previous turn to decrease his hand size...so he must have wanted to discard. But why? "Tell me Ihachi...do you like the gift of my little Traitor Beast? Yes? Well in that case why don't I give you a second one!"
Ihachi cursed her luck as a second little gremlin appeared on the field and scampered over to her side, joining its fellow traitor. With its presence she was even more vulnerable. "The end literally is now...with my trap card, Apocalypse Now! I'm sure you were wondering why I kept discarding, and it was for this card. It lets me remove any number of demons from my cemetery to destroy that many cards from your deck plus five! So I say goodbye to the twelve demons in my graveyard, and you say goodbye to seventeen cards!"
She bit back a cry as an even dozen dark souls rose up from the ground and hovered around Taichi. He casually stroked one, which moved in closer to him in response, a loyal demon to the last. He raised one arm and pointed at her, giving the command. With that the demon spirits shot out passing through her body bringing on further agony each time. And with each one she lost another card off her deck.
As the trap finished its work she managed to pull herself together, looking down at her severely diminished deck. It only had about ten or so cards left, not much to be happy about. "Now, I set two cards. Demon Soldier, attack the first Traitor Beast!" The demon raced across the field, swinging its sword as it went. However as it tried to strike down the gremlin Ihachi's face down card activated.
"Magical Hats, surround and conceal!" Four hats appeared and covered her monsters, leaving only one empty hat. She had a fifty-fifty chance of living through this attack, she had to hope for the beast because now her other face down couldn't help her at all. She saw the blade slice through a hat and then let out a sigh of relief as the hat turned out to be empty. She was starting to lose it.
"That's it for now. But beware, for the end is truly at hand. I knew you'd stop that attack, but I want to push you to your limits. Because this will all be determined with the might of my God, the God of Darkness, the Essence of Destruction, Exodia the Forbidden One!"
Her hand shook as she reached down, dropping the number of cards in her deck down. She started to reach for her cemetery but was cut off when the two gremlins exploded from the hats, causing them to vanish. One of the creatures darted at her Mystic Funnel and cut it into ribbons. The second slashed her face down Shrink in half. She glanced down at her card and dropped it, falling to her knees in shock. She had lost! It was impossible!
Taichi started to laugh at her despair, but was quickly stopped by the approaching light. He looked around, spotting a dozen points of light. He jerked to the side as one of the balls of light shot past him and towards Ihachi, the others followed, swarming around her. She looked up at them, vainly trying to beat them back. "Get the hell away from me! Away!"
In that moment the balls of light struck, striking her from all sides, forcing their way into her. Taichi watched as she started to scream, the light consuming her completely until she could no longer be seen. All that was there was a giant column of light...a light he recognized. "Soul light?"
The column of light exploded, knocking Taichi off his feet. He shook his head to clear it and looked up at where Ihachi had been. He gasped in shock as he saw what stood there, saw the absolute impossibility of it. "This can't be! Your dead! Your soul gone, destroyed! This is completely impossible!"
Drake Ihachi smirked and picked up the cards that Ihachi had dropped, then looked back up at Taichi. There was no blood, no evidence of wounds, his body was completely intact, no sign of even the injuries he had before their duel. What was more, his magical power had been completely restored, making him stronger then he had been at the start of the duel. "I tell you, its impossible! I killed you!"
He grinned and pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. Taichi watched as the entire group, from Dalin to Duke walked up. Each was a little unsteady on their feet, but otherwise fine. And it was then that Taichi felt it...saw it even. A dozen cords of light led from Drake to each member of the group. A dozen cords of soul light. "I was dead, my body finished. But Ihachi fixed it up using the power of the Shadow Realm. My soul was almost completely destroyed, but a dozen pieces remained, one for each of the people you see. Each one carried a piece of my soul in them, and I carry a piece of their souls in me. It was that power that restored my soul, funneled through your manipulating magic. All I had to do was turn your mental torture against you, and restore myself."
"But it can't be! Soul restoration has never been done before. Not even the strongest mages to ever live ever succeeded in doing such a thing. It was thought to be impossible!" Drake just grinned and shrugged his shoulder at this, hardly bothered by how impossible the situation was.
"What can I say? I didn't know it was impossible so I did it anyways. And now, I guess I'll set a card face down. Your turn Taichi, show me what you can do." The dark duelist grimaced and grabbed two cards from the bottom of his deck. He then reached out with his stolen power, the power he hadn't been using, the power of the Millennium Tauk. He used that power and peered into the future.
"Fool! I've seen the future, and no matter what you do, the outcome is the same! Your efforts will be useless and in my next turn you will perish! You'll be dead and the world will be gone!" He continued laughing, and the others started to get nervous, knowing the power that Taichi had stolen from the Millennium Tauk, the power to see the past and the future.
Drake just grinned and raised a single fist in defiance. "Go ahead and do your worst. As I said before, a real man faces with music even if he doesn't like the tune. And trust me Taichi, you're really off key."
Taichi just smirked and played his next card, revealing it to be a card with Dark Ruler Hades on it. Hades was holding up a Mirror Force card and grinning wickedly. "I play Demonic Cloning Technique. I now sacrifice Demon Soldier to copy one of your card effects, in this case, Mystical Space Typhoon!"
A bolt of lightning shot out and destroy Drake's face down card, but Drake was still calm and confident. He knew exactly what he was doing...or so it seemed. "Next I play Cheerful Coffin, and I'll discard three monsters. And now I'll reveal a copy of the card I most recently used on Ihachi...Apocalypse Now!"
The card flipped up and five demon spirits rose from the ground circling Taichi. The dark duelist casually commanded them to strike, and they did so with great vigor. Each one that struck Drake sent another of his cards to the cemetery, and then after they were gone five more had to go. But Drake just continued grinning as he watched each card fade away.
"The time has come for the God of Darkness to arise. You may not be able to sacrifice those Traitor Beast's, but I certainly can. Now I play Soul Exchange, to sacrifice your three monsters! For what was, for what is, and for what shall be, come out Exodia!"
The mighty dark God took shape from the very darkness of the Shadow Realm, the negative energies that had been created by the leakage of darkness from Exodia's prison. In mere moments the invincible god creature stood in front of Taichi, the unbound master of destruction, who with a flick of his wrist could destroy them all. "According to the effect of Soul Exchange I can't attack this turn, so I end this turn. However next turn... the end will come for you!"
Drake didn't even bother to look down as he drew his next card. He knew, he always knew in cases like this. He had explained it to Serenity when he had been teaching her about strategy and Duel Monsters. It was his ideal strategy, it was his planning. "You said that we were a lot alike, you and I. Well we are, I admit that now. We both see what was, what is, and we always look forward to and plan on what shall be. And that's knowledge that has served me well in the past and serves me well know. I just drew the very last card in my deck."
"Truly? That's hilarious! I could just end my next turn and win the duel...but don't count on it. I plan to destroy you with Exodia. Not only will I take your soul and your power, but I'll get my ultimate goal all in one fell swoop. Because you've joined your soul with theirs to empower yourself you've connected yourself to them in a dangerous way. When your soul is taken theirs will be as well, and I will take all the power that I need from Ammut to free my master! In my next turn, the result will not only be the end of the duel...it will be the end of the world!"
Drake grinned and took the card in his hand, then silently placed it on the field. It appeared as a brown-backed giant card in front of him, the only remaining card in his hand. He looked back up at Taichi and smiled, causing the light of his many bonds to glow brighter then ever. "The bond with my friends is not a weakness, it's a strength. And that strength will not only keep you from your goal, but it will end you forever. I'm ready for you Taichi. We all are. This is the end of just my turn, not the world."
Taichi grabbed two more cards and then tossed his hand to the side. He didn't need those cards, he had seen the future! He had seen himself standing in front of Drake, Exodia on the field, and he had seen himself call out an attack that obliterated Drake, winning him the duel. "It truly is over Drake, for the entire world! Exodia...OBLITERATE!"
As Drake's face down card started to flip up he realized something he had been too blind to see before. In his vision of the future nobody was standing behind Drake, and there was no bond of soul light. The future had changed. "Reveal face down card, Devil's Sanctuary!"
The wave of enormous energy crashed over the metal devil that rose up from the sanctuary, crushing it. Tiachi let out a cry of agony as the device's full power kicked in, the power to kill. The power that was only activated when a duelist lost. "Impossible! Exodia's attack means victory!"
"Right, and everything done to the Metal Devil Token(0/0) is done to my opponent instead. So the power of instant victory is turned against you, just as the power of our soul bonds turns back your darkness! Its over Taichi, you lost!" Taichi let out a cry of agony as the death throes ripped through him, crushing the insides of his very mortal body.
The dark duelist collapsed to his knees moaning in agony as death captured him. But slowly through that agonized moaning they could hear a darker, deeper voice, and that voice was laughing. They watched as a black shadow seeped from Taichi's body, rising up above him in the form of a pure black winged demon. "The end is truly here now, for the device in my body had one last effect. When it registered the command to kill, it would also send a command to the satellites that I control, Kabia Corp's missile satellites! And they assault will reduce the Earth's population down to 2% of its original!"
The group gasped in surprise, and turned to Kaiba. Their fears were confirmed when Kaiba nodded. The threat was real...and there was no way of stopping it. The dark shadow continued to laugh. "Fools, did you think defeating my mortal body would be the end of it? I had other plans, and now I will keep you all from interfering by casting you so far into the darkness of the Shadow Realm that you'll never escape!"
The group raised the soul bond, trying to put up a barrier, but they were unable to act in time. A wave of darkness washed over them, breaking the soul bond and pulling them apart and away...far off into the endless dark that was the Shadow Realm.
The people of Domino's worst fears were consumed as the sky rained fire, and the apocolyptic energy of nuclear missiles consumed everything. The entire world was consumed in the fires of the apocolypse. Taichi's vision had come true. The End of the World had come.
______________________________________________________________________________
Author's Note: Huzzah! There ya go. And when we continue with chapter twenty everything is gonna change, so watch for it!
Original Cards
Drake/Ihachi: Trap Reflector, Soul Drain, Magical Well
Taichi: Genocide Chains, Demon Catapult, Called From the Depths, Banishment, From Hand, Dark Revival, Drag To Hell, Bloody Hand of the Demon Prophet, Shatter Point, Hellish Accountant, Traitor Beast, Apocalypse Now, Demonic Cloning Technique
Author's Note: Ummm....none I guess.
"You can't trample infidels when you're a tortoise. I mean, all you could do is give them a meaningful look."
° Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
Chapter Nineteen: Rising Darkness-Gods of Light and Dark
Serenity was sitting on the same bed she had been on when Drake left. However, now she was leaning against her brother who had an arm wrapped comfortingly around her. She was aware that Tristan and Duke had both offered, but during this time of great stress she needed the comfort of her brother, her family.
Autumn was sitting in the chair beside the bed, and Mai was hovering over the younger girl, ready to help if she felt weak. Ryu stood in the corner, solemn and brooding as ever. A grim Kensai sat next to Kirani, whose bed had been uncovered once Drake left. He was holding her hand and speaking to her in quiet tones, despite knowing that she couldn't hear him. Nobody knew what he was saying.
Yugi and Dalin were outside with Kaiba, discussing something that they said was incredibly important. Serenity was sure that it had something to do with Taichi, but exactly what they were saying she didn't know. Tristan and Duke of course sat on her opposite side, ready to comfort her if necessary. Their commitment was actually starting to get eerie, especially since the guy who was probably their biggest competition was in a life or death situation.
A sudden chill went through the room as a voice cried out to them. To say that it was a voice was wrong, it was more like a feeling of despair. Everybody's eyes turned upwards to stare at the ceiling. The feeling of despair came from far above them, the dueling arena at the top of Duel Tower.
Yugi, Dalin, and Kaiba burst into the room and Dalin was the first to speak. "Did everyone else feel that?" Everyone nodded at once, and again they turned their eyes up to the ceiling. A dark foreboding feeling pierced its way into her heart, and the grim looks on everyone's faces said that they were feeling the same thing. Something was wrong, and Drake was in trouble.
"We can't just sit here while he's up there suffering! We have to do something! We have to help him!" As she spoke she jumped up from the bed, struggling to show everyone just how determined she was. The dead looks that everyone gave her said to her all she needed to know. They didn't think there was anything that could be done. They thought it was over.
"Drake's a fighter. He's said it himself. In fact, one of the first things that Kirani told me the first time we talked was that above all else, Drake is a fighter. He never gives up, no matter how tough the situation seems. He's putting himself on the line because he's willing to give everything for one woman, just that one person! If we give up on him now, it'd be like giving up on ever beating Taichi, of ever making things right again! He needs us, so I for one am not going to give up on him!"
The words sent a stirring of heat through the air. One by one the group's thoughts turned to Drake, on their impressions of him, of their thoughts on the duel, of their thoughts on Taichi. One by one they started to believe, they started to know. This duel was not just Drake against Taichi, it was all of them against Taichi. Right now Drake was the representative of their hopes and their dreams, and if he failed then everything was over.
Ryu was the first of the others to speak, and he did so, punctuating his words by hefting his gauntleted fist. "Serenity's right. Drake doesn't give up. He's not that kind of person. Even in his rough and tumble state he went up there to face Taichi, knowing that his chances of winning were slim. He needs our support, and I say we give it to him. In fact I'm going to offer him some of my own strength...because if what he's fighting for is wrong, then I don't want to be right!"
They knew he spoke of Hinata, they knew he felt responsible for letting her down. Now he was going to support Drake in a similar battle to restore the soul of a person he cared for. If Drake won, Hinata's soul would also be restored, and Ryu had to support that. More then that, he understood Drake now. He felt that he truly knew him, knew the kind of darkness that Drake fought against. The battle's he fought against himself. They had a lot in common.
The group's attention turned to the ceiling and their thoughts projected their confidence in Drake, their commitment to him. They gave him their strongest feelings, and with that came pieces of themselves. Those in the room with magic contributed an added share, bolstering Drake's magical prowess.
The response was not immediate. But within a minute they got a clear cut answer. Drake was alive! Alive in a way none of them had thought possible. Even those without magic could feel the blazing power that swarmed off of him, the raw energy of life. Their essences mixed with his and created a glowing life that ripped apart the despair and unveiled a more powerful feeling. Hope.
The waited, they hoped, and then it changed. Suddenly they could no longer feel that bright life that was Drake, could no longer feel the connection between themselves and the fighter. Dalin calmly assured them that since they had felt nothing negative through the bond, that it was mostly likely Taichi's dark powers that were interfering with what they felt.
They were happy hearing this, and Kensai, still at Kirani's side, whispered into the comatose girl's ear. Now Serenity knew what he was doing, he was trying to make himself more confident by feeding off the hope that soon she would be back. With their power filling Drake they were now certain that this wouldn't take long.
They noticed at the very last moment the dark fog that had seeped in through the cracks in the floor, through the ceiling, through the door. The very same dark fog that was a physical manifestation of the link between this realm and the Shadow Realm. They stepped backwards, forming a tight circle with magic users at key points, ready to defend themselves from whatever came.
The fog blurred across the floor, streaked up the bed, and then merged together into a black cloud that hung above the bed right in front of them. They split the circle and took places around the bed so they could all get a clear look at what was happening. The magic users were still ready, but they didn't predict an attack.
Suddenly Taichi's face appeared in front of them, then the image expanded to show the darkness around him and his body from the top of his head down to the middle of his chest. He seemed perfectly fine, uninjured, but he was grinning maliciously at them...or maybe perhaps them. Serenity's first thought was that Taichi wanted to taunt them by showing them images of the duel, and that seeing Taichi meant that it was his turn.
Her thoughts were shattered by the sound of Taichi's voice, clear as day but as dark as night. The tone of his voice was slightly angry, but also highly amused. It twisted the two incompatible emotions together in a way that only the insane can do. "Tell me mortals. Did you choose your savior in Drake? Were you counting on him coming to the rescue? Is this the face of your savior?!"
He punctuated his last words by jerked his hand up into view, and revealing what he was holding. His fingers were twined in Drake's hair, suspending the boy's limp body on its knees so that it was about chest level with Taichi. Drake's face and hair was bloody, and the little they could see of his body was similarly bloodied.
Serenity cried out in shock and turned away, burying her face against her brother's chest. Joey wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. As for himself, he was unable to look away from the beaten body of Drake Ihachi. He could hear Serenity sobbing against his chest, mumbling things in between sobs. "Not fair...it is...he shouldn't be...why'd you die? You promised me..."
"Your savior is nothing! He is merely human, just like the rest of you! The only one among you worth my time is Dalin, merely because of the presence of the Devourer within him. The rest of you are merely cattle to be led to the slaughter. So come to me, so the slaughter can begin. And it will begin with you Dalin, as I become the one who devours the Devourer!"
With his last words Taichi shoved Drake forwards and they all clearly heard the sickening crunch as his body crashed into the ground. Shouted words of anger became incoherent curses as the group raged at the seemingly invincible demon. Taichi was an inhuman monster, and he had to be dealt with in a manner suiting for an inhuman monster. He had to die.
The sudden sound of laughter cut through their curses and Serenity's sobbing. Had it been Taichi they would have been content to continue cursing at him. However the laughter they heard was different then any laugh they had heard before, and none of them recognized who was laughing.
They looked around, trying to find the source, but it was Taichi who gave them the answer. "Impossible! I killed you!" The laughter merely continued, uncaring of Taichi's incredulity. The group's eyes turned to the image in front of them, and watched as Drake's body was lifted up off the ground by some invisible force. It was from Drake's dead lips that the laughter echoed, but there was no sign that Drake was conscious of his actions. By all accounts he was dead.
The darkness that created their images flickered as a golden light erupted from Drake's Millennium Disc, and an enormous power started emanating from the body. It was a power as great as what Drake had displayed against Kirani, but this time it was completely controlled. Soon Drake's body was engulfed by that display of golden power.
"Killed me? You can't kill the immortal. Oh wait...you meant the mortal didn't you? Well yes, he's dead. Unless the definition of dead has changed in the past millennia or so. Heart stopped, brain function ceased, really freaking pale...yep. I'd say he's about as fucking dead as you can get...unless you count getting blown into pieces."
A slice of black energy cut through the golden power, and it opened up like a blossoming flower. As the light dimmed it soon became clear that Drake was no longer around. For now his appearance was completely different. Rather...her appearance.
Standing right in front of Taichi, and therefore (in image at least) right in front of them, was the russet-brown haired girl that they had identified as Drake's sister...if she had just suddenly dropped about four years and gained a shit load of evil. The woman that stood in front of them was attractive and fit Ryu's description to a T. The nasty smirk that she displayed was nearly proof enough that this woman was no good.
Taichi's face was a mix of shock and outrage at her sudden appearance. Apparently Taichi didn't like what he saw. Which isn't surprising when you've just seen a corpse rise from the dead and become a fully alive, and apparently unharmed, woman. "You arrogant bitch. You get your body slashed apart and yet you still come back for more? I guess when your body ceased to function you decided instead of sticking around in an immortal corpse you'd sit in the disc and wait for a suitable host huh?"
The woman smirked and brushed invisible dust off her jeans, glancing down at her DD2 briefly. Then she looked directly at the screen and made a waving motion. The fog vanished, leaving them all to wonder what was going on.
********************************************
"As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I did. I finally got a new host when that moron Shadi found my reincarnation and brought her to Egypt. She got the item and I transferred to her body. But I found out that the gods had a sense of humor. They stuck me in a virtual corpse! Her body was too weak for me to do anything, and she lacked great magical power. She was worthless to me."
Taichi grinned his amused grin and watched as the woman wandered over to where Drake had fallen in a pool of his own blood. She stooped down and collected the cards he had dropped, cleaning them with a burst of her magical powers. His amusement however, was for his new understanding. Now he knew exactly where Drake had gained all that power from. It was from her! She had been the source of that enormous power the whole time!
"Wait...don't tell me...I've got it! After a while you got bored of just sitting around with a worthless host and you decided to stage her injury. You manipulated her so she'd be stuck in a coma while you left her body. And then in that last moment you gave the Millennium Disc to Drake, so you could use his body!"
She grinned and drew a card from the top of the deck, then ejected a card from the cemetery slot. She looked down briefly at the cards, and Taichi started to wonder what she was up to. "Got it in one. But I discovered like all these mortals have, that he's a fighter first, last, and above all. The jerk's mental defenses were huge. Turns out the emotional damage he had gotten earlier in life had only been strengthened by his sister's coma. I had thought a bit of insanity would make him easier to control, since that's how it would normally work. But instead he got stronger! His mental defenses became virtually unbreakable, and I only managed to take over a few times before this."
Taichi grimaced at this, having discovered for himself that this was the case. His attempt at breaking Drake had only made the boy stronger, a reaction that was completely unusual for a person. Of all things and all people, he supposed that the only thing that set Drake apart from anyone else was that little thing. "You must have been bored sitting in that Disc, unable to manipulate anyone, knowing that I was doing the real work, manipulating the entire world while all you could do was play mental tiddly-winks."
He laughed as she looked up from her cards and casually flipped him the bird. Apparently she was up with the current lingo and body gestures. So she must have spent time exploring Drake's soul room and memories, finding out all sorts of things. "You know something Taichi, go to Hell. Its not my fault that I'm not a creature that has no true body. I need a body and I can't just go out and possess one like you can. So seriously, go fuck yourself."
"Still a bitch I see, even after all these millennia. Damn you really knew how to piss me off back then, but now...nothing you're nothing but chump change. You got yourself 'killed', and that's enough humor for me so I can forget all those times you irritated me. Now...say, what do I call you now?"
The russet haired woman leaned her head onto one hand as she stood there, thinking about the question. While they talked, Taichi was certain that Dalin and the others would be heading up to confront him. Of course when they entered they'd find themselves locked in a trap, where none could escape.
"Well, definitely don't call me Drake. In this time, I think my old name won't work. So I guess now...well just call me Ihachi for the moment. Anyways...are we gonna get this out of the way or not? I'd like to kill you and rob you of your power before the day is over."
Taichi burst out laughing at this declaration, realizing at last that she hadn't changed in over thirty-five hundred years. She was still as annoying as she had been then, and just as power hungry. The greedy bitch never could have enough power, and that greed was what got her immortality, and got her body crushed to a pulp, leaving her bodiless. "You think you can defeat me? Especially when you're under my rules? Pathetic! Your host was no challenge to me, and nor will you be. You both have the same pathetic deck, so I won't have any issues crushing you."
The Shadow Realm flickered around them as their respective dark powers added to its negative energy. Ihachi smirked widely and held out one hand above one of her face down cards, the one not held tight by energy bonds. It flipped up, revealing a machine in magician's clothing, holding a mirror. "Mechanical Magic Mirror! Copy his Monster Reborn!"
The image of the ankh appeared in the mirror and suddenly Chaos Sorcerer appeared in all its glory, power ready to unleash at any moment. With its deadly magic Taichi was now at something of a disadvantage. "Now I play Pot of Greed!"
Greedily she drew two more cards from her deck and looked down at them. She flashed him a smirk and then slammed one of the cards onto the field. As she did so a robed magician appeared, all in black, holding a small staff. "Skilled Dark Magician(1900/1700)! This beefy attacker will crush your life points once I get rid of your Invader. Now watch this move. Chaos Sorcerer, BANISH IT!"
The chaos magic user closed his eyes and started drawing in the chaotic energies that fueled his specific brand of magic. A purple ball of light formed in one hand and a white ball of light in the other. He then combined the energies together and hurled the new chaos magic at the Invader.
The dark creature slashed at the offending ball of energy, but all it managed to do was quicken its doom. The instant its claws touched that chaos ball the Invader turned white and then vanished. There was no trace left of it whatsoever. It had been banished, removed from the game.
"Next, Skilled Dark Magician, attack directly!" The robed magician raised his staff and aimed it at Taichi, sending a stream of black magic at Taichi's defenseless body. The energy streaked across the field, coming within inches of frying Taichi, but the magician's aim was thrown off by what happened immediately after Ihachi declared her attack.
"Go, Genocide Chains!" The ground around the magician exploded as pitch black barbed chains swarmed out and surrounded it. The magician panicked and tried to turn and swat the chains away, but they moved to quickly for him and acted the instant he did. In moments the chains had bound the magician, keeping him from moving and digging into his flesh, letting his blood run red against the ground.
Taichi grinned wickedly as the effect of the nano-machine kicked in. Ihachi grasped at her throat, gasping in pain as the nano-tendrils wormed their way through her body, taking over piece after piece. "At the end of your second turn Genocide Chains will drag your spellcaster into hell, removing it from the game and dealing damage to your life points equal to its attack strength. For the moment it can't attack, switch modes, or be sacrificed. Enjoy the gift!"
Ihachi grimaced and slipped a card into one of the activation slots. She smirked as her deck started glowing blue, and moments later a card slid out of it and into her hand. "I wont have to wait to see my spellcaster get dragged to Hell. Instead I can play Magical Well to grab a magic card from my deck. Next turn I'll use it to get rid of the chains. So go ahead and take your useless turn."
Taichi grinned as he drew two cards from the bottom of his deck. He wasn't grinning just because of his cards, but because the trap was about to be sprung. At this very moment those fools were standing packed into the elevator, waiting to get out on his floor. But when they did they'd get a big surprise. "I'll start by summoning the cuddly Kuriboh(300/200) in attack mode! Next I'll activate Demon Catapult to launch him and destroy that card in your hand!"
The cute little brown furball squealed in terror as the corpse catapult rose up from beneath it. It was too small to clamber out of the catapult's cup. It let out one final shriek as the crank was released and the catapult sent the little furry critter flying like a brown missile. Ihachi sneered and batted it aside, grimacing when the card she had placed in her hand was sent to the cemetery.
"For my next trick, the magic card Called From the Depths! Watch in wonder as a monster that was removed from the game is special summoned to the field. In fact...I think he's an old friend of yours!" A black vortex opened in the ground, and from it emerged the cowled figure of Invader of Darkness. At its appearance the magical chains wrapped around Ihachi's face down card once again, keeping her from using it.
"Now my Invader, cut that pathetic sorcerer to ribbons!" Ihachi got the distinct impression that underneath its mask the demon was smiling. It clenched its fist and then shot forward at incredible speed, slashing at the Chaos Sorcerer with its claws. The sorcerer raised its hands in defense, casting a defensive shield up around it, but the invader's claws ribbed the shield apart and continued to slice the sorcerer apart. The spray of blood that followed coincided with Ihachi's groans of pain as the device dealt further damage to her. (ILP: 2950)
Ihachi snatched at her next card and then followed that up by returning a card from her cemetery following the effect of Mystic Funnel. She looked at her two cards, then back at her current monster. Slowly a smirk spread across her attractive features, as she came up with a plan. "This should be interesting. First off I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Genocide Chains."
The magic card appeared on the field and sent a bolt of lightning at the chained spellcaster. The surge of electricity shattered the chains, freeing the magician at last. It also gave Taichi a clear view of his shoulder pads, both of which had glowing orbs. "Interested yet? It gets better. Activate magic card, Soul Drain! I can remove one monster from the cemetery to decrease one of your monster's by that monster's attack strength. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Taichi's eyes widened as a spirit form of Chaos Magician rose up from the ground. He raised his arms as it shot forward across the field to pass through the invader. The demonic creature let out a harsh growl as the spirit form stripped it of most of its power. (IoD: 500)
Ihachi reached down and grabbed the card on her field as the third and final orb on her spellcaster lit up, readying it for its effect. "I sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician and its three magic counters to special summon...Dark Magician(2500/2100)!" The black robed magician vanished and in a flash of light it was replaced by its superior, the purple robed and fully trained Dark Magician, one of the strongest of all spellcasters.
"Isn't this interesting. You've got no cards to protect your once powerful Invader of Darkness. I guess now is the time for me to take the lead. Dark Magician...Dark Magic Attack!" The magician raised one arm and thrust it, palm outwards, towards the invader. The invader inverted colors and shattered, causing Taichi to let out a cry of pain as his life points took a swift nose dive. (TLP: 2000)
Taichi drew his two cards and looked them up and down before turning his gaze back to the field. Now the stage was about to be set for the ultimate victory, the proof of his might. And the idiots had just walked into his trap. "Starting now, this duel is all mine. I will even defeat the might of God! Activate Hellish Accountant!"
Ihachi grimaced, knowing she had no duplicate of Dark Magician to summon, so she'd be forced to draw cards until she got a monster to summon. Worse yet, all the other cards she drew would be discarded. She started drawing as Taichi drew his three cards from the effect of his magic card. Her prospects grew worse as she went through card after card, both magic and trap, before finally coming across a monster. "I special summon Mystical Elf(800/2000) in defense mode."
Taichi grinned and slapped a card on his field, which appeared as a horizontal brown-backed card, a defensive monster. It sat across from the blue skinned elfin woman who had her arms crossed over her chest as she sat on her haunches, waiting for a potential attack. "Now the magic card, Payment of Debt. Think of this as Pot of Greed's big brother, because I get to draw three cards at no cost!"
His hand increased to six cards total, a fresh hand for him to work with. Whatever he used wouldn't be good for her chances, no hand advantage ever was. "I'll set three magic or trap cards down on my field, nearly filling up my quota. Now I am prepared for the downfall of God itself! Show me the power of your God of Light and then I will show you the power of my god...the God of Darkness, Exodia!"
Ihachi snapped a card off the top of her deck and looked down at it. A victorious grin spread across her face as she looked over the field and back down at the card. She had just found the way to end this duel easily, and gain the ultimate power. She ejected a card from her cemetery and added it to her hand to complete her strategy.
"When Drake said this card would keep coming back to get you, he was telling the truth. So here it is again, back by popular demand, Change of Heart!" The half breed shot out of its card and was absorbed into Taichi's defense card, which slowly drifted across the field, next to each of Ihachi's other monsters. Now was the time, now was when she would end his reign as strongest. Now she would take him down and gain the chance at the ultimate power! The power of a god!
Grinning triumphantly she held up her remaining card up above her head, ready to place it on the DD2 as soon as she was ready. "The descent of this mighty creature will be heralded by burning winds and twisted lands. And with the coming of this horror all those who draw breath shall know the true meaning of eternal slumber!"
With that proclamation she slammed the card down on the duel disk and watched as flames whipped around the two duelists, howling as a wind of flame. The ground around them rumbled and then broke apart as Ihachi's three monsters fell into the depths of Hell itself, consumed by its fires to feed the power of the coming beast. Obelisk the Tormentor(4000/4000)
The massive blue beast rose up on the field, towering above Taichi and his three face down cards, the only barrier between Ihachi and Taichi's life points. And a paltry barrier at that, with trap cards unable to effect Obelisk. "Its all over now! GOD HAND CRUSHER!"
******************************************
The instant the group departed the elevator they had been separated, surrounded only by the darkness of the Shadow Realm. Each of them was about to face something horrible, but for a few it would be worse. For those few, it would be beyond any sort of emotional pain you can imagine.
Yami grimaced as he staggered through the darkness, trying to find his way back to his friends. Every few seconds he called at one of their names, alternating back and forth. He knew that he could defend himself with his magic, but the others had no such magic to protect themselves, and were in great danger.
"Joey! Tea! Tristan! Duke! Anybody?!" A light chuckle alerted him to the presence of someone else in the shadows, and he whirled around to face the direction he had come from, only to find a shocking scene that had not been there when he passed. It hurt him just to see it.
There, right in front of him, was a set of gallows. Hanging from those gallows were each of his friends, their faces purpled by the terrible force that had ripped the air from their bodies, bruised up their necks, and left them as hanging corpses. "NO!!!!!"
Tears dripped from the corners of his eyes as he dropped to his knees in despair. This was impossible! How could he have lost his friends so soon? How could this have happened? His thoughts were cut off when something struck his shoulder, a light object that had no real weight.
He opened his eyes and looked to his shoulder, discovering a length of rope, already tied in a hangman's knot. The chuckle from before sounded again, and he jerked his head up, finding the empty spot at the gallows. Standing on the back of a chair was Drake, face and body covered by his own blood. His eyes were blank white, lifeless orbs that seemed to pierce into Yami's soul. "What's this for? What's going on?"
The body that was Drake grinned wickedly at him and pointed from his neck to the gallows above him. Then he slid a finger across his throat and jerked up with his hand, tilting his head to the side and making gagging sounds. Finally he threw back his head and laughed for nearly a minute. "What else? Its for you so you can do me like you did the rest of them."
Yami's eyes widened in shock as Drake gestured to the rest of his friends on the gallows. The meaning of his words was obvious, but it was impossible. It was preposterous. How could he be at fault? "What are you talking about? I don't know how this happened but I had no part in it!"
Yami turned away, certain that this was mere illusion, none of it real. However when he turned he found himself facing the gallows again, Drake standing above him. "Don't kid yourself Big Yugi, you knew all too well the dangers that were inherent in being an item possessor, the sort of things that would happen. You knew how dangerous the situation was, but still you brought them along. And so it was in that way that you hung your own friends."
Yami stumbled backwards, and turned to run the other way. He didn't make it more then a foot because the gallows were once again in front of him, keeping him from going anywhere. "Its your destiny, you were the one destined to defeat the ancient evil. But you couldn't even beat Dalin! It was because of you that I had to face Taichi, if you had been more capable then this wouldn't have happened. So with your own hands you must place this rope around my neck, just as you did when you lost to Dalin!"
"NO! I didn't, its not...I...I'm sorry, I just couldn't beat him. I couldn't win...I tried my hardest but I couldn't do it...I'm sorry!" Yami fell to his knees, pounding at the ground with his fists in frustration, knowing that there was no way to fix his mistakes. Drake was right, it was his fault, he was responsible for this.
Yami let out a sharp cry as a length of rope settled around his neck. With a strong heave Drake tightened the noose around Yami's neck, squeezing the air from his lungs. He vainly trained to escape, clawing at the rope as Drake pulled him up bit by bit, and then tied the rope off to let Yami dangle.
The corpse of Drake approached Yami and grabbed onto the rope, pulling the ancient Pharaoh face to face with him. The fetid breath reminiscent of grave soil wafted into Yami's nostrils, making him choke further. Drake's dead eyes stared directly into his, and he knew terror. "A little bit of advice Pharaoh. Always bury your dead with your own hands, else they come back to reek vengeance."
********************************
Dalin Imaki Sumatin stumbled through the darkness, trying to find the one who would be his opponent. He would finish Taichi once and for all so he could set everything right. Then he could rid himself of the terrible presence within that had incorporated itself as part of him. The demon spirit of Ammut, the Devourer of Souls.
"TAICHI! You can't hide from me forever!" The item on his hand lit up the area around him with a bright silver glow, casting the darkness aside. However what he found was not what he had thought he would see. The ground around him was not ground, it was a mass of souls, writhing around his feet.
He turned in a circle, desperately trying to escape the sea of souls he was caught in, souls that would most certainly consume him if given the chance. Caught amongst these souls he would soon lose his own soul and become like them, tortured souls forever in the cold grip of the Shadow Realm. These were the souls that had been sent to the Shadow Realm over the years, every last one of them.
"It was always my duty to take the souls that were determined as evil and consume them, to make sure they didn't end up here. I consumed that darkness but was never affected by it, for I am a demon." The words were from Dalin's voice...but he had not spoken them.
Dalin jerked around, bring his arm up in defense, ready to release a blast of magic on whatever came near him. All he could see, however, was a tall figure shrouded by the darkness. The shadows made it impossible for Dalin to see exactly what the person looked like, but the voice that was his came from that figure...and that frightened him.
"Frightened of me? I don't see why. All that I am is the essence within you, the demon Ammut." The figure stepped into view, revealing Dalin's body, but it was the head that made it terrifying. The creature before him had an elongated neck, and a wide grinning mouth full of razor sharp teeth, it was unnatural because otherwise it was his face.
"What do you want from me? Just tell me that!" Dalin jerked back in surprise as the head zoomed towards him, the neck getting longer as it did so. The mouth closed with a snap, inches away from Dalin's nose, causing him to stagger backwards in shock. In that instant Ammut acted, grabbed him by the shoulder and lifted him up so that they were faced to face with each other.
"Want? From you? Absolutely nothing. I will simply continue to use your body until Taichi is defeated and the threat of the ancient one is gone. Then I shall leave your body. Of course when my essence exits your body it will tear your soul out with it. It is necessary for I require souls as power, and once I leave your body I will require that power to return to my home."
Dalin started to struggle, attempting to force his way free from Ammut's grasp, but a second pair of strong hands grabbed him from behind, keeping him tightly ensnared. Then a head leaned close to his and a familiar voice whispered in his ear. It was Drake. "Souls are a necessary source of life, as is blood. But souls don't make life, they just make the person. A body without a soul is still alive, its just a shell. And therefore a person can exist without a piece of their soul."
With those words Dalin felt the hand begin to dig into his back, and felt agony as that hand gripped his very essence. Took hold of his soul and started to tear it from his body. In moments he would be a lifeless shell.
*****************************
Serenity was searching for the duel. She had to do something, and even she didn't know what she'd do when she got there. She just knew that in this case, she had to do it. Whatever it was, it was the right thing. She owed that to Drake.
She let out a sudden cry as she stumbled over something on the ground, and fell flat on her face. She groaned and sat up, ribbing the bridge of her nose. Her hand jerked away from her face as she saw the plank of wood right in front of her. Slowly she back up and tilted her head up to get a better look at it.
When she saw exactly what it was she screamed as loud as she could. There, right in front of her, was a crucifix. Upon that crucifix, crown of thorns and all, was Drake. Blood dripped down his face, down his wrists, and from his legs were spiked ropes held his legs to the cross. "DRAKE!"
Her hands came up to her mouth as she shook her head in denial, staring up at the transfixed form of the man she cared about. She stood on unsteady feet and approached him, walking slowly, trying to figure out what to say. However her voice was ripped from her throat as his lifeless body turned its eyes upon her and spoke. "Why did you do this to me?"
"W-what?" Unconsciously she backed away from the cross as it moved towards her. She turned to run but found herself facing another cross. Eyes widening she turned in a circle. As far as the eye could see was a field of crosses, and on each one Drake hung.
"Your promise, the promise you knew I could not keep. It made me fight farther, made me fight harder. It was wrong of you to make me promise that, wrong of you to make me fall for that promise. Serenity Wheeler...you crucified me!"
"NO!" She tried to flee, to escape the voices from all around her that chanted those words 'You crucified me!', chanted from each set of lips of all the many Drakes in the field of crosses. Her flight was halted when a cross exploded from the ground, causing her to run headlong into it. She gasped as chain whipped out from around the cross and grabbed hold of her, pulling her up and binding her to the cross.
She gulped as she found herself face to face with the first Drake she had spoken to, his face right in front of hers. She struggled at her bonds and blinked back tears as the chains dug into her skin. This wasn't Drake, it couldn't be. This couldn't possibly be real. "But it is real Serenity. And its all because of you. But I'll even things up a bit, because all I need is a little piece of who you are."
She tried to respond, but she was cut off when he pushed his head forwards, capturing her lips with his. She melted into the kiss after a brief moment...but then it changed. She tried to pull away from the kiss as she felt something within her being pulled at. It was like he was trying to suck the life from her.
Her soul was being torn from her body in the form of a kiss.
**********************************
"Its all over now! GOD HAND CRUSHER!" The mighty blue skinned god hefted one giant hand and then punched down at Taichi's defenseless body, the fist moving with such great power that a bright aura surrounded it. With one blow this duel would be ended and the chance at godhood would be hers!
Taichi smirked as he opened his arms wide, ready to receive the attack. In that moment his three face down cards rose up, revealing what they were to Ihachi. "This truly is the end for you! Say goodbye to your God of Light! My first card is the quick-play magic card, Banishment! Now Obelisk, return to your mistress's hand!"
Ihachi growled when the mighty beast shrunk and returned to her hand in the form of a card. Had Banishment been a trap it wouldn't have worked, but because it was magic it was effective. "It doesn't matter. At the start of your turn Banishment's effect will be nullified by Obelisk and he will return to the field. All you've accomplished is to stall me."
"Not exactly little girl. My second card, From Hand! Now, according to its effect, I shall activate Card Destruction from my hand, so say goodbye to Obelisk!" Ihachi snarled as she was forced to deposit Obelisk into the cemetery, drawing a single card to replace it. Taichi on the other hand got two new cards.
"An effective move, but I can still resurrect Obelisk from the cemetery, if its only for one turn. One turn is all that I'd need to defeat you with the might of my God!" Taichi could only laugh at this, as he pointed to his next card. She recognized the visage of Dark Ruler Hades upon the card, and the background color told her that it was a trap card.
"The final of my three card combo, a permanent trap known as Soul Demolition! Now I reveal the weakness of your God. While on the field they remain virtually invincible, in hand they are weak, but in the cemetery they are absolutely defenseless! Subject to the effect of my trap card, I can now pay five hundred life points to remove a card in your cemetery from play, so say goodbye to Obelisk!" (TLP: 1500)
The ancient spirit woman could only watch helplessly as the giant image of Obelisk was torn from the cemetery and cast aside, fading into the oblivion around them. Now, at this moment, she had but one card left to protect her. Fortunately it was a good enough defense.
Taichi smirked as his turn started, giving him a boosted hand of four cards. "I begin with two cards face down. And with my next move I shall finish you for good, for not even you can withstand the agony that will follow. Reveal magic card, Dark Revival!"
Ihachi watched with baited breath as the ground in front of Taichi started to shake, and a black fogged issued from the ground, pushing the purple fog away. Bleak laughter sounded from within the fog...and then it parted. Ihachi gasped as the masked face of Invader of Darkness was revealed, and once more her face down card was chained by the invader's effect. "Say goodnight bitch! Invader of Darkness, break her in half!"
Within its mask the invader was smiling, feeling its revenge at hand. It took off across the field like a rocket, spreading its claws as wide as they would go. Ihachi cast one hand out and opened a shield of golden energy to deflect the invader's attack. But to her surprise it managed to pierce the barrier and slice into her. Much of the energy had been halted by her barrier...but it was enough.
Taichi laughed as the attack knocked Ihachi off her feet and sent her tumbling end over end for several feet. Finally she landed on her gut and slid backwards for a few more seconds before coming to a halt. He could feel her energy severely diminished by the attack, and it only got worse as his little toy activated. He grinned, soaking up the sounds of her agonized screaming. (ILP: 50)
He let out an unhappy sigh as Ihachi managed to force herself to her feet so she could take her turn. She was breathing heavily and blood trickled down her lip, but it wasn't enough. She grimaced in pain as she drew her next card and returned a card to her hand, giving her three cards. "Begin with Altar of Resurrection!"
She drew two cards off the top of her deck, bringing her up to four cards. Then she activated the magic card fro her cemetery. "I choose to activate Double Spell, and I'll discard the magic card from my hand to pay for it! Now for its effect....I choose to activate Called From the Depths! Return to me, Obelisk the Tormentor!"
The image of Obelisk slowly faded in, until the mighty beast was once again real and on the field. It would only last for one turn, but that was enough. "Next, the card I recovered. More draw power, Pot of Greed!" She slipped two more cards from her deck, replenishing her hand to four cards again, possibly enough to finish Taichi.
"I'll set a card face down and summon another Skilled Dark Magician(1900/1700). Now, Obelisk will destroy Invader of Chaos!" The massive god monster clenched its fist and then swung it horizontally. The invader tried to stop the fist, but being the size of its own body it was unable to, and that swing destroyed it easily. (TLP: 400)
Taichi doubled over, both in laughter and in pain. Whatever he found funny, she certainly didn't. She had just crushed his best monster, and now she had an open attack. Well she'd show him when to laugh. "Direct attack!" Her magician raised its staff and unleashed a beam of magical energy at Taichi.
"Your last Skilled Dark Magician fell pray to my chains, and so shall this one. Drag To Hell!" Black chains exploded from the ground and covered the magician. It struggled against their force, but found itself unable to fight back. In moments the spellcaster was dragged beneath the ground to the hell that awaited it. "Poor creature is removed from the game. Bu-bye. So...are you done?"
She nodded and then he followed the effect of his permanent magic card by drawing two cards, giving him a total of three. He casually slipped a card into one of his m/t slots and then announced his move. "I'll set a card face down. Next I summon Demon Soldier(1900/1500). And as its my turn...goodbye Obelisk!"
Ihachi grimaced as for the second time that duel Obelisk faded away, leaving her field open except for her two face down cards. And as she had believed before, those would be easily enough. "Demon Soldier, attack directly!"
"Activate Trap Reflector as Genocide Chains!" This time it was the demon who was wrapped up by the spiked chains. Oddly enough the demon smirked at this, seeming to enjoy the pain caused by the spikes digging into its skin.
"I knew you would do something stupid like that. So I feel sorry for you, as such things will only increase the darkness that assists my goal. Give this duel your all, for at the end your great power and darkness will be used to feed the coming of my master!"
She smirked and picked up her next card. She examined it carefully and then ejected a card from her cemetery, a plan already forming in her mind. She knew exactly how to defeat him, and she could do it in this single turn with the cards she had. All she needed were the two cards she had just gotten, and her face down card. "Say goodbye to the card on the right, Mystical Space Typhoon!"
A bolt of lightning shot out and shattered the card into thousands of particles. She was about to continue with her turn when the particles swarmed back together into the form of the card, and then flipped up, revealing a bloody severed hand. "The card you destroyed was Bloody Hand of the Demon Prophet. By its effect I now guess the type of card at the bottom of my deck. I guess trap."
He ejected the card and flipped it up to face her, revealing it to be the Reversed Worlds card, a trap. "Now I discard it and draw a total of five cards, giving me a big ol' hand of six cards!" She just kept smirking, knowing that even his new cards couldn't save him, because her next card was going to finish him off.
"Alright, then I'll summon Breaker the Magical Warrior(1600+300/1000). And I immediately use its magic counter to destroy your remaining face down card. The end has come for you at last!" The red armored knight charged forward and slashed his face down card apart with its sword, leaving his only defense as the Demon Soldier, and her face down card would take care of that threat.
"A foolish and desperate move. You just destroyed Shatter Point, which has two effects. I chose to use the second since I knew what was coming. Its second effect is that when its destroyed it lets me destroy one card on my opponent's field. In this case, that's Breaker!" Ihachi snarled as a beam of thin red energy sliced her Breaker in half, destroying him instantly. Now she was the one who was practically defenseless. But at least she could count on Genocide Chains to finish him off.
"I'll set two cards face down, and end my turn." Taichi grinned and drew two more cards, increasing his hand to a total of eight cards. If he didn't use up enough of them in this turn, then he'd have to discard to drop his hand back to a total of six cards. She hoped that was the case.
He held up one of the cards and then slapped it down on the field. She immediately recognized it from the first time he played it. "Hellish Accountant. With four cards on your field that means I can draw four, and you have to draw until you get a monster. So go ahead and do so."
She groaned as his hand quickly shot up to a total of eleven cards, any of which could be used to destroy her. She went through three cards, each of which were discarded, before coming upon a monster. She special summoned it in defense mode, revealing Apprenticeship Magician(400/800). The little blond spellcaster was only a temporary defense.
"I'll continue with two face down cards. And now I shall unveil a truly unique monster, unlike any other ever created. It was my idea in fact, to create this monster. You see, for over the years I have discovered that there exists a special brand of creature that can always be trusted to make things worse for just about everybody. But manipulated correctly they become deadly forces for the manipulator. With this in mind I designed the creature that epitomized this nature...the nature of the traitor!"
He slammed his next card on the field and she watched as a little green skinned demon rose up on the field, only a few feet tall. It had a fearful expression on its face and sharp fangs and claws...but it didn't look that deadly. It just looked like a little gremlin. "Ihachi, meet my favorite monster, the Traitor Beast(500/1000)! In fact...meet your newest monster!"
"Say what?" As she watched the little gremlin flicked its eyes back to look towards Taichi, and then it scampered over to her side of the field, looking frightened of its own shadow as it stood there. She snarled at seeing the weak little creature on her side. It was a liability, especially since she didn't know what its effect might be, other then the obvious.
"I'll end my turn, discarding two cards to drop my hand back to six cards as per the rules. And as you draw, my creature will go to work!" Ihachi grabbed the top card of her deck and then pulled a card free from her cemetery. In that brief moment the little gremlin launched itself at the Demon Soldier and slashed at its chains. She gasped as the chains shattered and her Trap Reflector card went to the cemetery.
"Allow me to explain. You see, a traitor never helps anyone but itself. Its always out to get the best position, and will even hurt its current side to make sure it can stay in favor with its enemies. Its first act as a traitor was to go under your control. The second is that each of your standby phases it lets me destroy one card on your field. You see! By manipulating it I gain the advantage!"
She snarled and grabbed a card from her hand, ready to act to defeat Taichi. "You think your traitorous gremlin will help you? Hardly! I now sacrifice it and Apprenticeship Magician for Omegus(3500/3200)!" She started to slam the card down on her field in order to get rid of Taichi's little monster, but a jolt of electricity caught her hand, keeping her from completing the action.
"You idiot! I told you a traitor's nature is to preserve itself. You can't sacrifice it!" She grimaced and dropped her hand to the card on her field, grabbing it to shift it into defense mode. As had happened when she tried to sacrifice it, a zap of mini-lightning stopped her. She looked up and saw Taichi shaking his finger and laughing at her. She should have known, of course it wouldn't obey her commands. That would be too easy.
"Fine, I'll just clear a path with Mystical Space Typhoon!" The card on Taichi's left exploded under the force of the magic card, and to her surprise a familiar line of red light shot out and sliced through her face down Mirror Force, destroying it completely. She cursed, recognizing the effect of Shatter Point. The bastard had faced down another one, knowing she'd try and clear away his traps. "End turn!"
Taichi smirked and slipped two more cards free, increasing his hand size up to eight, where once again he'd have to discard to keep his hand at the right size. Something was up with that though...certainly he could have done more in his previous turn to decrease his hand size...so he must have wanted to discard. But why? "Tell me Ihachi...do you like the gift of my little Traitor Beast? Yes? Well in that case why don't I give you a second one!"
Ihachi cursed her luck as a second little gremlin appeared on the field and scampered over to her side, joining its fellow traitor. With its presence she was even more vulnerable. "The end literally is now...with my trap card, Apocalypse Now! I'm sure you were wondering why I kept discarding, and it was for this card. It lets me remove any number of demons from my cemetery to destroy that many cards from your deck plus five! So I say goodbye to the twelve demons in my graveyard, and you say goodbye to seventeen cards!"
She bit back a cry as an even dozen dark souls rose up from the ground and hovered around Taichi. He casually stroked one, which moved in closer to him in response, a loyal demon to the last. He raised one arm and pointed at her, giving the command. With that the demon spirits shot out passing through her body bringing on further agony each time. And with each one she lost another card off her deck.
As the trap finished its work she managed to pull herself together, looking down at her severely diminished deck. It only had about ten or so cards left, not much to be happy about. "Now, I set two cards. Demon Soldier, attack the first Traitor Beast!" The demon raced across the field, swinging its sword as it went. However as it tried to strike down the gremlin Ihachi's face down card activated.
"Magical Hats, surround and conceal!" Four hats appeared and covered her monsters, leaving only one empty hat. She had a fifty-fifty chance of living through this attack, she had to hope for the beast because now her other face down couldn't help her at all. She saw the blade slice through a hat and then let out a sigh of relief as the hat turned out to be empty. She was starting to lose it.
"That's it for now. But beware, for the end is truly at hand. I knew you'd stop that attack, but I want to push you to your limits. Because this will all be determined with the might of my God, the God of Darkness, the Essence of Destruction, Exodia the Forbidden One!"
Her hand shook as she reached down, dropping the number of cards in her deck down. She started to reach for her cemetery but was cut off when the two gremlins exploded from the hats, causing them to vanish. One of the creatures darted at her Mystic Funnel and cut it into ribbons. The second slashed her face down Shrink in half. She glanced down at her card and dropped it, falling to her knees in shock. She had lost! It was impossible!
Taichi started to laugh at her despair, but was quickly stopped by the approaching light. He looked around, spotting a dozen points of light. He jerked to the side as one of the balls of light shot past him and towards Ihachi, the others followed, swarming around her. She looked up at them, vainly trying to beat them back. "Get the hell away from me! Away!"
In that moment the balls of light struck, striking her from all sides, forcing their way into her. Taichi watched as she started to scream, the light consuming her completely until she could no longer be seen. All that was there was a giant column of light...a light he recognized. "Soul light?"
The column of light exploded, knocking Taichi off his feet. He shook his head to clear it and looked up at where Ihachi had been. He gasped in shock as he saw what stood there, saw the absolute impossibility of it. "This can't be! Your dead! Your soul gone, destroyed! This is completely impossible!"
Drake Ihachi smirked and picked up the cards that Ihachi had dropped, then looked back up at Taichi. There was no blood, no evidence of wounds, his body was completely intact, no sign of even the injuries he had before their duel. What was more, his magical power had been completely restored, making him stronger then he had been at the start of the duel. "I tell you, its impossible! I killed you!"
He grinned and pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. Taichi watched as the entire group, from Dalin to Duke walked up. Each was a little unsteady on their feet, but otherwise fine. And it was then that Taichi felt it...saw it even. A dozen cords of light led from Drake to each member of the group. A dozen cords of soul light. "I was dead, my body finished. But Ihachi fixed it up using the power of the Shadow Realm. My soul was almost completely destroyed, but a dozen pieces remained, one for each of the people you see. Each one carried a piece of my soul in them, and I carry a piece of their souls in me. It was that power that restored my soul, funneled through your manipulating magic. All I had to do was turn your mental torture against you, and restore myself."
"But it can't be! Soul restoration has never been done before. Not even the strongest mages to ever live ever succeeded in doing such a thing. It was thought to be impossible!" Drake just grinned and shrugged his shoulder at this, hardly bothered by how impossible the situation was.
"What can I say? I didn't know it was impossible so I did it anyways. And now, I guess I'll set a card face down. Your turn Taichi, show me what you can do." The dark duelist grimaced and grabbed two cards from the bottom of his deck. He then reached out with his stolen power, the power he hadn't been using, the power of the Millennium Tauk. He used that power and peered into the future.
"Fool! I've seen the future, and no matter what you do, the outcome is the same! Your efforts will be useless and in my next turn you will perish! You'll be dead and the world will be gone!" He continued laughing, and the others started to get nervous, knowing the power that Taichi had stolen from the Millennium Tauk, the power to see the past and the future.
Drake just grinned and raised a single fist in defiance. "Go ahead and do your worst. As I said before, a real man faces with music even if he doesn't like the tune. And trust me Taichi, you're really off key."
Taichi just smirked and played his next card, revealing it to be a card with Dark Ruler Hades on it. Hades was holding up a Mirror Force card and grinning wickedly. "I play Demonic Cloning Technique. I now sacrifice Demon Soldier to copy one of your card effects, in this case, Mystical Space Typhoon!"
A bolt of lightning shot out and destroy Drake's face down card, but Drake was still calm and confident. He knew exactly what he was doing...or so it seemed. "Next I play Cheerful Coffin, and I'll discard three monsters. And now I'll reveal a copy of the card I most recently used on Ihachi...Apocalypse Now!"
The card flipped up and five demon spirits rose from the ground circling Taichi. The dark duelist casually commanded them to strike, and they did so with great vigor. Each one that struck Drake sent another of his cards to the cemetery, and then after they were gone five more had to go. But Drake just continued grinning as he watched each card fade away.
"The time has come for the God of Darkness to arise. You may not be able to sacrifice those Traitor Beast's, but I certainly can. Now I play Soul Exchange, to sacrifice your three monsters! For what was, for what is, and for what shall be, come out Exodia!"
The mighty dark God took shape from the very darkness of the Shadow Realm, the negative energies that had been created by the leakage of darkness from Exodia's prison. In mere moments the invincible god creature stood in front of Taichi, the unbound master of destruction, who with a flick of his wrist could destroy them all. "According to the effect of Soul Exchange I can't attack this turn, so I end this turn. However next turn... the end will come for you!"
Drake didn't even bother to look down as he drew his next card. He knew, he always knew in cases like this. He had explained it to Serenity when he had been teaching her about strategy and Duel Monsters. It was his ideal strategy, it was his planning. "You said that we were a lot alike, you and I. Well we are, I admit that now. We both see what was, what is, and we always look forward to and plan on what shall be. And that's knowledge that has served me well in the past and serves me well know. I just drew the very last card in my deck."
"Truly? That's hilarious! I could just end my next turn and win the duel...but don't count on it. I plan to destroy you with Exodia. Not only will I take your soul and your power, but I'll get my ultimate goal all in one fell swoop. Because you've joined your soul with theirs to empower yourself you've connected yourself to them in a dangerous way. When your soul is taken theirs will be as well, and I will take all the power that I need from Ammut to free my master! In my next turn, the result will not only be the end of the duel...it will be the end of the world!"
Drake grinned and took the card in his hand, then silently placed it on the field. It appeared as a brown-backed giant card in front of him, the only remaining card in his hand. He looked back up at Taichi and smiled, causing the light of his many bonds to glow brighter then ever. "The bond with my friends is not a weakness, it's a strength. And that strength will not only keep you from your goal, but it will end you forever. I'm ready for you Taichi. We all are. This is the end of just my turn, not the world."
Taichi grabbed two more cards and then tossed his hand to the side. He didn't need those cards, he had seen the future! He had seen himself standing in front of Drake, Exodia on the field, and he had seen himself call out an attack that obliterated Drake, winning him the duel. "It truly is over Drake, for the entire world! Exodia...OBLITERATE!"
As Drake's face down card started to flip up he realized something he had been too blind to see before. In his vision of the future nobody was standing behind Drake, and there was no bond of soul light. The future had changed. "Reveal face down card, Devil's Sanctuary!"
The wave of enormous energy crashed over the metal devil that rose up from the sanctuary, crushing it. Tiachi let out a cry of agony as the device's full power kicked in, the power to kill. The power that was only activated when a duelist lost. "Impossible! Exodia's attack means victory!"
"Right, and everything done to the Metal Devil Token(0/0) is done to my opponent instead. So the power of instant victory is turned against you, just as the power of our soul bonds turns back your darkness! Its over Taichi, you lost!" Taichi let out a cry of agony as the death throes ripped through him, crushing the insides of his very mortal body.
The dark duelist collapsed to his knees moaning in agony as death captured him. But slowly through that agonized moaning they could hear a darker, deeper voice, and that voice was laughing. They watched as a black shadow seeped from Taichi's body, rising up above him in the form of a pure black winged demon. "The end is truly here now, for the device in my body had one last effect. When it registered the command to kill, it would also send a command to the satellites that I control, Kabia Corp's missile satellites! And they assault will reduce the Earth's population down to 2% of its original!"
The group gasped in surprise, and turned to Kaiba. Their fears were confirmed when Kaiba nodded. The threat was real...and there was no way of stopping it. The dark shadow continued to laugh. "Fools, did you think defeating my mortal body would be the end of it? I had other plans, and now I will keep you all from interfering by casting you so far into the darkness of the Shadow Realm that you'll never escape!"
The group raised the soul bond, trying to put up a barrier, but they were unable to act in time. A wave of darkness washed over them, breaking the soul bond and pulling them apart and away...far off into the endless dark that was the Shadow Realm.
The people of Domino's worst fears were consumed as the sky rained fire, and the apocolyptic energy of nuclear missiles consumed everything. The entire world was consumed in the fires of the apocolypse. Taichi's vision had come true. The End of the World had come.
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Author's Note: Huzzah! There ya go. And when we continue with chapter twenty everything is gonna change, so watch for it!
Original Cards
Drake/Ihachi: Trap Reflector, Soul Drain, Magical Well
Taichi: Genocide Chains, Demon Catapult, Called From the Depths, Banishment, From Hand, Dark Revival, Drag To Hell, Bloody Hand of the Demon Prophet, Shatter Point, Hellish Accountant, Traitor Beast, Apocalypse Now, Demonic Cloning Technique