Disclaimer: You know the drill, no Yugioh here.
Author's Note: And now for something completely different...sorta.
Strength is the only thing that matters. Everything else is an illusion for the weak."-Dragonball Z
Chapter Twenty: Into the Shadows
Everything was dark. But then again, this was the Shadow Realm, so that was to be expected. However the dull orange glow of sunrise was not to be expected, leading Dalin to believe that a false world had been created within this part of the Shadow Realm. But who had created it he had no idea. What purpose was similarly a mystery.
He groaned and shook his head, trying to clear the fog from it. He cast his gaze around him, trying to find any sign of the others. There was nothing. Apparently Taichi, or whatever that thing had been, had done an effective job at separating them. In fact he couldn't even sense them.
He struggled to stand, and after a few moments of trying he managed to pull himself up. He drew a little bit of power from the four fingered ring on his hand and surrounded himself in a silver glow that illuminated the area around him.
When everything was cleared up he found himself in a little wooded enclave, with a clear cut exit right in front of him. It was through this exit that the dim light of the rising sun shown. However the exit seemed too clear cut...it was not natural. Someone had been here. "Is anybody there?"
Dalin grimaced as a harsh voice cut through the clean air with its annoying laughter. It wasn't horribly evil like Taichi's laugh had been, it was just annoying. But it definitely had a tinge of darkness to it. Nothing horrible, but the laughter obviously wasn't the good kind. "Who's there?"
Dalin threw his arms up in front of his eyes as bright lights ignited around him, shining directly into his face. Slowly he managed to get his vision back, and he recognized the source of the lights as spot lamps. He looked towards the exit and found a hideous man entering.
The newcomer was extremely ugly. He was wrinkled and had several warts on his face, that and he was overweight. He had been the source of the laughter obviously, and in his hand he carried something very familiar. A dueling deck. "So, I guess another lamb has fallen into my trap. The name is Lechuge, and I happen to be a mob boss. Normally I'd have somebody else deal with you, but to get out of this freaky place I have to beat ten duelists. You'll be my third."
Dalin quirked an eyebrow, noticing that while the man had a deck, he didn't have a duel disk. "How do you expect to duel without a duel disk?" The ugly man just grinned and snapped his fingers. Dalin's eyes widened as the ground underneath them started to shake...and soon a dueling platform rose up, with Dalin already standing at one end.
Lechuge came up on his platform and slapped his deck down on the deck zone of the dueling platform. "I suppose I don't need to explain rules to you. I was told that there's an option of a special set of rules, but instead I chose to use something different for my dueling. The unfortunate thing for you is that the loser of this duel...well let's just say they won't be having any fun. And of course, don't try running, cuz there's an automatic mini-gun set up right outside the exit and if anybody but me tries to leave before this duel is over...they get new holes."
Dalin grimaced and briefly shuffled his deck before placing it on his own deck zone. Then he drew his opening hand of five cards, watching as Lechuge did the same. "What is this about? Why are you supposed to duel me?"
"I don't have a clue, but I don't intend to lose. I need to get out of this freaky place, so I'm gonna win. So lets get started. Me first. Draw card! Okay, now I'll start this off by summoning Surprising Matasa(1300/800) in attack mode. Then I'll equip him with Axe of Despair to raise his attack strength by 1000. Lets see you beat that."
Dalin shook his head at the amateur move, watching as the holographic form of a green armored samurai appeared, wielding a skull headed axe. Matasa's ability to attack twice in a battle phase was impressive, but it would do his opponent no good. "I will begin this duel with two cards face down. Next I shall summon Zolga(1700/1000) in attack mode. End turn."
Two squares lit up behind Dalin's Zolga followed by the appearance of the trapezoid angel itself. Now he would see what Lechuge could do. "Draw card. Ha! Now I'm gonna equip my Matasa with Excalibur! This card doubles Matasa's attack strength to 4600, but its destroyed the moment I draw. However it lets me skip my draw phase if I want."
Dalin shook his head as the samurai added a simple broadsword to its other hand, doubling its attack strength. Lechuge truly was an amateur, and any duelist who had lost to him had to be pathetic. "Activate face down card, Reward of Summons. This allows you to special summon a monster at your hand, and grants me one thousand life points for that summons." (DLP: 5000)
Lechuge grinned and picked a card from his hand, and slapped it onto the field. "I special summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp(1800/1000) in attack mode!" The green genie was summoned onto the field and then crossed its arms, ready to do as its master commanded.
"Activate face down card, Blessings of Birth. When you special summon a monster I can activate this card, automatically ending your turn." Lechuge grumbled and passed the turn to Dalin, who immediately drew a card, increasing his hand size to four cards.
Dalin calmly examined his hand, thinking over the strategy he had been working on during the time waiting during Drake's duel. He had known he would need something special to beat Taichi if Drake lost, so he had prepared accordingly. "I set one card face down to end my turn."
Lechuge of course, skipped his draw phase. With three cards in his hand his choices were thin, and obviously he had just monsters there. "I'll summon Hayabusa Knight(1000/700) in attack mode. Then I attack with La Jinn!" The genie started charging up energy between its palms, but Dalin was ready for this.
"Chain with Pleasantries of Heaven. This will force both players to skip their next battle phases, in this case ending yours now. As a result I can a further thousand life points." The genie stopped its attack, and Lechuge, unable to make a move, ended his turn. (DLP: 6000)
Dalin drew his next card and played it immediately, watching as the sky lit up and a celestial hand reached down to surround Lechuge. "My next card is called Hand of Heaven. If my opponent has more monsters then me and neither player has any monsters in their cemetery my opponent must select a number of monsters from his deck equal to the total levels of the monsters on the field divided by two. So send seven monsters from your deck to your cemetery."
Lechuge grimaced and searched his deck before depositing his chosen monsters into the cemetery. He had most likely chosen many of his weaker monsters, but considering the type of moves Lechuge had been making so far, most of his monsters were bound to be strong attackers. "Set one card face down. End turn."
Lechuge glanced at his hand for a brief moment before deciding on his actions. He grabbed one of his two remaining cards and played it to the field. In that moment his Hayabusa Knight and La Jinn were destroyed. The monster rose up, revealing Tri-Horned Dragon(2850/2350). "I attack!"
"Open face down card, Return of the Hand! By removing Hand of Heaven from my cemetery I can negate your attack and end your battle phase." Again Lechuge was forced to end his turn abruptly. He swore violently and watched as Dalin drew his next card, putting his hand up to a total of three cards. Now he had exactly what he needed.
"I will begin this turn with by playing the card that will bring about the summoning of the strongest monster you have ever faced. I equip Zolga with Holy Goddess Sword-Airtos, increasing its attack by 300." Zolga had no hands, so the shining sword simply floated around in front of Zolga waiting to be used.
"Since I have no monsters in my cemetery and the sword is on the field, I may now special summon Guardian Airtos(2500/2000) in attack mode. As per its effect I instantly equip the sword to it. Now comes the interesting part. I remove cards from your cemetery until I reach a non-monster card, and then I increase Airtos' attack by the total attack power of the removed monsters."
Dalin's newest and mightiest monster was a female angel with white angel wings, a brown outfit, and wore a headdress that seemed to be the head of a giant white bird of some kind. Perhaps a crane. The angel took up the sword from Zolga and then waved it in a slashing motion. Lechuge could only watch in horror as his nine monsters rose up from the graveyard and shattered. They were revealed as three Hayabusa Knights, three monsters with nine hundred attack which Dalin didn't recognize, two Big Eyes, and La Jinn.
"Now, Guardian Airtos(12700/2000), attack and destroy Surprising Matasa!" The angel swooped down and sliced the samurai in half with its blade, shattering it into tiny pieces. Thus would be the end of the duel...or so Dalin thought. To his shock he noticed his opponent's life point counter for the first time where it appeared in front of his face on the platform. (LLP: 51900)
"You started with sixty-thousand life points! So that's how you won your other duels!" As Dalin's turn ended Lechuge started to laugh. Dalin had now realized exactly what was in store, because even with his ability to increase his life points, he could never hope to reach the heights of life points that Lechuge had. This would take a long time, and in that time Lechuge would have plenty of opportunities to make a comeback.
"And now I draw!"
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Drake groaned at the sight in front of him, recognizing the way the walls seemed to move. In front of him was a giant maze, and as far as he could tell there was no way for him to get anywhere without getting through that first.
"Damn you Taichi! I'll find a way to end you once and for all...but first I'll have to find you." With that he set off down the maze, his full focus on getting to the end and finding some way to get to Taichi. He still had a promise to fulfill, he had to bring back Kirani and every other soul Taichi had stolen. Even if it cost him his life......
Again.
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Across their new world dozens of duelists were awakening to find themselves in similar situations. Soon hundreds more awoke, joining the already innumerable masses of duelists and non-duelists who had been forced into this strange new world. So would begin a mass of chaotic duels, all driving towards a single hidden purpose.
Of course none of that was known by Takuya Shinomori, known to his friends and to his enemies as Kensai. All he knew was that he had a killer headache and when he had woken up he had found himself sinking in quick-sand.
He had been quickly pulled free by a very strange looking teenager. This teen had a full head of brown hair, and wore a strange red and black jumpsuit with shoulder pads. Oddest still were the goggles he wore on his head, but not over his eyes. He had a duel disk on one arm, but no deck was in it.
"Thanks for helping me out back there, I probably couldn't have gotten out without you. My name's Takuya by the way, but most people call me Kensai." He offered his hand to the other duelist, who grinned and shook Kensai's hand with great vigor. The strange man's hands were calloused, and his grip was strong. There was perhaps more to this stranger then met the eye.
"Name's Varon, glad to meet ya. I noticed your duel disk as I saw you were noticing mind. As a gift for rescuing me you can treat me to a duel. If I beat you that'll make my fifth victory, putting me at the halfway mark."
Kensai blinked stupidly and stared at Varon for a moment before asking the obvious question. "Halfway mark? What are you talking about?" So for the next few minutes his new companion explained to him about the rules that he had been told about, and how to escape this place each duelist who had been dragged here had to win ten straight duels, with no losses. The initial challenger got to select the rules.
"And since I challenged you, I get to select what rules we go by. In this case the rules we'll be going by are the rules told to me by that weird guy I told you about. Its called the Deck Master System. Each player first creates a deck from sample cards displayed, and then we select one monster amongst them to be our deck master. That monster is placed out of play and has a special effect that can be used at any time. We can put the deck master into play, but its risky because if the deck master is destroyed, you lose the game. Oh, and we start with twice the normal life points."
Kensai chuckled as he listened to Varon go through the list of rules in quick succession, without ever taking a break. The guy definitely seemed enthusiastic about dueling, so Kensai was willing to let him have that duel. Of course he was going to have to break Varon's streak, but if Varon was good then he'd be able to bring himself back up. "Okay, I'm game."
With that the two duelist started to select their cards, watching carefully as holographic images floated before their eyes. Kensai soon discovered through experimentation that if he focused hard enough on a specific booster set, the cards would role exactly to that set, letting him view the cards. Unfortunately it wouldn't let him go to specific cards. Within about five minutes the two duelists had created decks.
"Okay Varon, I've made my deck, and now I'll select my deck master. Blessed Knight of Emoria(1800/1900) will be my Deck Master. So select your Deck Master and let's get this started." As soon as Kensai selected his master it appeared beside him, life sized and ready to go. His knight was dressed in shining white armor and instead of a sword he held a two-headed axe like an executioner might wield.
The brown haired goggle head grinned as he finished selecting his cards, and casually picked a monster from his deck and held it up. As he spoke the monster appeared behind him, revealing a blue helmet with a black visor. "I select Psychic Head Armor(0/500) as my Deck Master! And with this Deck Master the power of my armor deck becomes greater then you can imagine!"
"Armor Deck?"
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"And now I draw! Ha, watch this you little runt. Pot of Greed to draw two cards." The fat ugly man grabbed two more cards from his deck greedily, seemingly confident that they would be exactly what he needed. Of course at that moment Dalin realized that Lechuge had never shuffled his deck, and it was quite probable the fat man had stacked his deck before hand.
"First I'll play the magic card Pump Up, which will double on monster's attack strength on my field for the duration of the turn! Then I'll follow that with Riryoku, which will drain your Airtos's attack strength by half and give my monster that power. So now Tri-horned Dragon(12050/2350) destroy Airtos!"
The dragon raced across the field and swiped at Airtos with its claws. The weakened angel tried to fight back, but was unable to, causing it to be destroyed by the dragon's attack. What was worse was the damage that Dalin took from that attack. It nearly wiped him out of life points that he would need to survive this long duel. (DLP: 300) "End turn!"
Dalin drew a quick breath and added his next card to his hand. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw what it was, a card that would definitely help him out. He casually slipped it onto the special zone on the dueling platform. "I play the field magic card, Sanctuary of the Sky." The temple in the clouds appeared on the field, reduced in size to fit within the platform. But its effect was all that mattered. "I end my turn."
Lechuge grinned as he slipped a card off his deck and then placed it on the field. "I summon Nin-Ken Dog(1800/1000) in attack mode! Then both my monsters will attack, starting with my ninja doggy!" Lechuge's newest monster was a dog standing upright and wearing a ninja outfit, a strange picture indeed. Dalin shook his head as the two monsters attacked his Zolga. And as Yugi has discovered in their duel, a barrier of light sprung up and stopped the attacks from destroying Zolga.
"As long as Sanctuary of the Sky is in play my angels cannot be defeated. So you are forced to end your turn having no more options." The fat man grumbled, but eventually motioned for Dalin to take his turn. Dalin did so, drawing a card to bump up his hand size. He glanced down at the card and recognized Hysteric Fairy. However, as he examined the rest of his hand, he realized that if he drew the right card he could take a big jump ahead if he kept this card in his hand. He motioned for Lechuge to take his turn.
The fat duelist grabbed at his deck and then quickly tossed his Nin-Ken Dog aside in exchange for a stronger monster, which was quickly revealed. "I tribute Nin-Ken Dog for Summoned Skull(2500/1200) in attack mode!" With that he ended his turn.
Dalin drew his next card and immediately saw the possibilities. The card he had drawn was hardly fair and would most likely soon be banned, but for the moment it was good for him. "I play Payment of Debt to draw three cards at no cost to myself." With that quick action his hand size increased to five, giving him exactly the cards he needed to turn this thing to his advantage. Not that it was overly necessary considering the skill of his current opponent.
"I summon Warrior of Zera(1600/1600) in attack mode!" The earthen warrior, one of only a small few non-angels in Dalin's deck, appeared on the field only briefly before vanishing in a flash of light. A column of light appeared in its place and then slowly faded revealing a purple skinned angel with wide spanned wings, a helmet, and a red cloth across his face. This angel wielded a curved sword which he held aloft easily with one hand.
"By sacrificing Warrior of Zera I can special summon a very deadly angel, an angel in a class like none you've ever seen before. For this is a fighting angel, this is Archangel Zerato(2800/2300)! Now, by discarding Hysteric Fairy from my hand I can activate his effect, and destroy all monsters on your field!" The archangel stretched out his blade and issued forth a stream of light energy that consumed the Summoned Skull and the Tri-Horned Dragon.
"Zerato and Zolga, attack directly!" Both angels attack, Zerato slicing against the platform's barrier with his sword and Zolga sending a stream of energy to collide against the barrier. Lechuge was lucky that the platform's didn't translate force like the disks did, otherwise he'd be in a lot of pain from those two attacks. (LLP: 47400)
"Now I shall continue my turn by playing the magic card, A Gathering of Angels! This permanent magic card lets me select an angel sub-type from my deck each turn and place it in my hand in place of my draw phase. My second card is also a permanent magic card called Angelic Light Ceremony. By its effect I gain 500 life points each standby phase for each angel on my field. It also allows me to pay five hundred life points to draw a card. With that I end my turn!"
Lechuge gulped as he started to see the possibilities. Then he drew his card and quickly set a monster down on the field in defense mode. That was all he was able to do in his turn, giving control back to Dalin and his vicious cycling combo.
He selected one card from his deck that was an angel according to the effect of his permanent magic card, A Gathering of Angels. Then he gained a thousand life points for the two angels he had on the field. (DLP: 1300) Then he followed that up by paying a thousand points to draw two cards. (DLP: 300)
"I'll set one card face down, and then summon Mercury, Angel of Wisdom(0/1700) in attack mode. Now I discard Atomic Firefly from my hand to activate Zerato's effect. Say goodbye to your monster!" Again Zerato unleashed a beam of energy from his blade, cutting down Lechuge's defense, revealing a Dragon Dwelling in the Cave(1300/2000) that was quickly destroyed.
"I attack directly with Zolga and Zerato!" Again the two angels followed up with their powerful attacks, further reducing Lechuge's life points. But despite Dalin's efforts he had still hardly managed to dent the other duelist's life points. (LLP: 42900)
"Umm...one card face down. End turn." Dalin smiled slightly at seeing Lechuge actually play card that wasn't a monster or an equip magic card, Pot of Greed withstanding. A trap perhaps? Or maybe just a magic card to keep Dalin from attacking.
Dalin let the smile faded as he selected another angel from his deck, and then gained the needed life points. He now had two cards in his hand, one from Mercury's effect and the other from his gathering. (DLP: 1800) He kept his face blank as he continued by paying all the life points he had juste gained to draw three more cards, bringing his hand up to five. (DLP: 300)
"I shall now deal with your threat by summoning a monster unlike anything you have ever experienced. I sacrifice Zerato, Zolga, and Mercury to summon The Saint Dragon Osiris(4000/4000)! And because I sacrificed Zolga I gain two thousand life points!" (DLP: 2300)
Lechuge stared at the giant snake like dragon in horror, unable to comprehend its true ferocity as the platform kept its true size from being displayed. It was, however, the largest monster that Lechuge had ever seen, and it took up almost all the room on the field. "I pay two thousand life points to draw four cards, brining my hand up to eight cards. Thereby increasing Osiris' attack by four thousand points. Osiris, attack directly!"
Lechuge threw out his hand and revealed his face down Mirror Force. Unfortunately for Lechuge Osiris shattered the barrier and plowed its incredible attack right into the barrier between the holograms and Lechuge. (LLP: 34900)
"I assumed you had a trap, which my Osiris is immune to. Now to keep from discarding cards I'll summon Angel of Creation, Venus(1600/0) in attack mode. Then I'll play Poison of the Old Man to gain twelve hundred life points, which I will gladly spend one thousand of to special summon two Holy Shine Spheres(500/500 X2)" (DLP: 500)
The angelic woman appeared on the field, her long blonde hair flowing at behind her. At Dalin's command she summoned forth two of the spheres that swirled around her, leaving one lonely one left. However it would join Dalin's forces in the next turn.
Lechuge grimaced and grabbed his next card. He slowly placed it on the field, only to find his Battle Ox(1700/1000) was destroyed instantly by Osiris's second mouth attack, leaving him defenseless. Shaking in fear Lechuge gave the command to Dalin.
Dalin gladly took command and placed a specific angel in his hand. As well, at the start of his turn his life points took a turn for the better. Then of course he payed five hundred life points to special summon the final Holy Shine Sphere, filling up his monster zones. His wasn't done yet as he sacrificed one of the spheres for his next monster. "I sacrifice a sphere for Saturn, Angel of Judgement(2400/0)."
The purple skinned angel replaced the little glowing sphere and snapped his wings out wide, joining his brethren on the field. His power was gladly welcomed by the angels, and completely ignored by the far mightier Osiris. "I now pay one thousand life points to draw two cards from my deck, brining my hand up to eight again." (DLP: 500)
Lechuge gulped air greedily as the terrifying force was commanded to attack him directly, dumping a huge chunk of his life points down the drain. Despite his advantages, he was quickly losing to a superior duelist and his enormous duel monster. (LLP: 21900) "I'll set two cards face down, and end my turn."
Lechuge glanced down at his card, and found only a United We Stand. Normally a good card, it was useless without any monsters. He grimaced and passed his turn to Dalin, knowing that soon he would be finished, because nothing could possibly defeat such a powerful monster as Osiris.
Dalin shook his head in disgust as he added yet another angel to his hand, surveying the situation as his life points jumped up enormously to a total of 2500. He looked over his hand briefly before paying two thousand life points to jump his hand up to four cards, at that same moment he activated his face down Solemn Wishes, giving him five hundred more life points. (DLP: 1000)
He grinned as the realization of Dalin's combo finally hit him. Osiris's attack strength was equal to the number of cards in Dalin's hand. Angelic Light Ceremony allowed Dalin to pay five hundred life points to draw a card. Solemn Wishes granted him five hundred life points every time he drew a card. Now he could infinitely pay for the effect of Angelic Light Ceremony, allowing him to increase his hand to whatever size he wanted. (DLP: 1000)
Lechuge dropped to his knees in horror as Osiris(22000/22000) towered over him, ready to attack at a single command. Worse yet, he knew that when this duel ended he'd lose more then his winning streak...he'd lose far more then that. "Osiris, Thunder Force Attack!" (LLP: 0)
Dalin shook his head as he gathered up his card, hardly bothering to watch as a dark cloud swirled around Lechuge, ripping his soul from his body and dragging it into the sky above. He had no pity for one as disgusting and pathetic as Lechuge, for the man truly deserved to have his soul ripped from him. The worm couldn't even beat Dalin while cheating.
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Drake grimaced as he turned a corner and found himself at a dead end. Now he'd have to go back and follow the other path and hope that he didn't make a wrong choice again and end up at another dead end. "Damn it Taichi! You can delay me with your maze, but it won't stop me!"
With that he turned and headed back the way he had come, retracing his path so he could return to the fork where he had chosen right, and instead take the left path. Sooner or later he'd make it to the end of this maze, and when he did Taichi would find himself in a world of hurt. Assuming that Drake found a way out of the maze.
Drake stepped around the corner and found himself standing on a dueling platform. The platform raised him up the traditional height and then he found himself facing two strange duelists. Both were obviously Chinese, one wearing a green outfit, the other an orange one. One had the word Kyu on his forehead, and the other hand the word Mei.
Drake groaned as he reversed the order and put the words together. Together those words made the word Labyrinth. If that was the case then these two...and considering what he had just escaped from.... "You're the Maze Brothers, Mei and Kyu!"
It was Mei who first spoke, grinning widely as he did so. "We are glad you could make it to the real fun and games."
Kyu continued, "And equally glad that you already know our names."
"Though you have now escaped our maze", said Mei.
"You have now reached the end of your days!" With that the two brothers started laughing, and the dueling platform activated. In mere moments Drake assumed he would be forced into a duel, and since these two were known for being double duelists, then he'd have a partner at any moment. Things were just starting to get interesting.
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"Armor Deck?" Varon's only response was to grin widely and draw his opening hand. Kensai grumbled to himself and then drew his own opening hand, taking six cards because as the challenged duelist it was his right to take the first turn. (KLP: 8000/Varon: 8000)
Kensai stared down at his hand, looking back up at Varon occasionally. He had no idea what sort of deck an armor deck might be, so he'd have to play it safe at first. He had two cards in his hand that he could start off with and get a decent start without committing too much to a first move.
"Alright, I'll begin this duel by summoning Wandering Hero Freed(1700/1000) in attack mode!" The monster shimmered into view in front of him, revealing a blonde haired knight with a shining sword in hand and crimson cape billowing out behind him. This was one of the key cards to Kensai's deck, as it was one of the light type monsters he needed to bring out his ultimate warrior.
Varon grinned as if he had been expecting something like this. The goggle-head shook his hand and slapped himself upside the head. "I knew you'd be using a warrior deck. What else would someone calling themself Kensai use? Anyways, don't expect simple brute force to beat me, I won't allow it."
Kensai just grinned and took out his magic card, ready to use it to take a key advantage in this duel as quickly as he could. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he did know that he had to find his friends as soon as he could. If Varon was as good he hoped, then maybe he'd invite Varon along. They would need all the help they could get.
"I play the magic card Wandering Samurai! This lets me special summon a monster from my deck that is of the same name as a monster on my field!" Kensai's magic card appeared, revealing an image of a samurai with red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his cheek. Varon grinned happily as Kensai's deck lit up and then a second blonde haired warrior appeared on the field.
"I don't know what sort of power I'm up against, so I'll simply end my turn here." As he passed the turn to Varon he noticed something. Varon wasn't drawing from his deck, instead a card popped out from the middle of his deck. The goggle-head grabbed the card and placed it in his hand.
"According the effect of Psychic Head Armor I can add an armor monster to my hand instead of having a draw phase. But that won't be all, because aside from that, as it's the normal ability of Psychic Head Armor, I still have its Deck Master effect." He grinned and pulled two of his cards free from his hand, ready to play them.
"This duel is really something important to me, not just because it will be my fifth straight victory, but because it represents my strength. Every duel is a part of my strength, and so I will win this duel to prove just how powerful my heart and body are. Now, activate magic card Play Nice! During this turn damage that would be dealt through battle to me is cut in half and divided amongst the players."
The magic card appeared, represented by an image of two duel monsters, Buster Blader and Dark Magician, playing ring around the rosy. Kensai rolled his eyes at the sight of the card and waited for Varon to continue his move. "Continuing I summon the first of my armors, Big Bang Blow Armor(0/500) in attack mode!"
The monster summoned was...well it was an armor piece. It was a right armor, with a blue band appearing from the shoulder joint to the elbow joint. Below the elbow it was an ivory white color with what looked like a form of brass knuckles (though in white) on the hand.
Varon grinned and held his right arm out horizontally. Kensai was shocked as the armor zoomed towards him and then opened up, attaching itself to his arm. It shut together with the snap of electricity and Varon had his armor. "I'll attack your first Wandering Hero Freed!"
Kensai blinked in surprise as Varon literally started closing the distance between them, arm raised as if poised to strike. The Wandering Hero casually slashed at him with its sword, but Varon raised his armored arm and blocked the strike. He then followed up by punching the warrior in the face, knocking it backwards. As he did this the armor started to glow and then it exploded, covering Varon and the two warriors with smoke.
Slowly the smoke cleared and when it was all gone Varon was standing there, just a few feet in front of Kensai, completely unharmed. However both of Kensai's monsters were gone, and he looked down at his DD2 staring in horror as his life points trickled down. (KLP: 3750) "What's going on?"
Varon grinned and wandering back to his original spot, about ten feet away from Kensai. Then he selected two more cards from his hand and casually started fiddling with them. "My Big Bang Blow Armor, when it is destroyed in battle, its effect activates. All monsters on the field are destroyed and damage is dealt to both players equal to the total attack strengths of their monsters. Not only that but Play Nice spread a bit of extra damage to you." (VLP: 7150)
Kensai gulped as he realized exactly how bad such a situation was. There wasn't even a single card in the game of Duel Monsters that could have such an effect, but here this little armor monster had it, and it required no sacrifice. Worse, by its own effect since it had no attack strength Varon could easily destroy a field full of monsters with it in one turn and eliminate his opponent.
If all the armor monsters had that kind of power then Kensai would be in trouble, so he just had to hope that Big Bang Blow was the strongest of them. But even that wasn't much help since each turn Varon could just add another to his hand...unless it was restricted. "I'll set up two cards on the field. End turn."
Varon flashed him a grin as the two cards appeared vertically in front of him. They weren't necessarily a huge threat, but Kensai had to take the chance of it. With his current life point disadvantage he would need to take out Varon's life points as quickly as he could. "Draw card!"
He glanced down at the card he had drawn, and then back at his hand. He had an available combo, but he'd have to hope that it worked, else he'd be knee deep in trouble. If it did work he'd be able to even things out a little bit. "My first card is called Knighted From The Grave! I can activate this card only if I have warriors in my cemetery whose levels is equal to or greater then a warrior in my hand. If so I can normal summon that warrior without sacrifices."
He selected another card from his hand and then played it to the field, quickly revealing the strongest monster he had drawn in this duel at the beginning. With a direct attack from it he'd be able to do some serious damage to Varon. "I summon Swift Knight Gaia of the Gale(2300/2100)!" The knight rode out on the field, wielding its lances with great vigor, ready to take apart his opponent.
"I'll set one card down on the field. Gaia, attack Varon directly!" First his face down card appeared on the field, and then the knight started galloping across the field towards Varon. The goggle-head awaited Gaia almost eagerly, and Kensai didn't know if it was because a trap had been set or because Varon was just being unusual.
"Open face down card, Magnet Armor! I special summon Big Bang Blow from the cemetery to the field in attack mode!" Kensai cried out in surprise as the right arm reappeared on the field and equipped back onto Varon's arm. The brown-haired duelist grinned and reached out with his armored fist, grabbing hold of Gaia's lance and stopping the attack.
The armor started to glow and then it exploded as it had in the turn before. The smoke quickly faded away, leaving nothing but Varon and a single card on the field. The destruction of his powerful knight was a fierce blow to Kensai's life points...but nothing was happening to Varon's. "My remaining face down card is called Armor Protection. During this turn I take no life point damage from when my armor monsters are involved in battle." (KLP: 1450)
Kensai grimaced, realizing exactly how bad the situation really was. This was truly the worst he had ever been in a duel. It wasn't that he was playing poorly, it was that these armor monsters had caught him off guard with their enormous power. Now he was faced with a severe deficiency in the life point department. He desperately needed some way to make a come back...and he might be able to do that, he just had to wait and hope. "End!"
Varon grinned and drew a card from the top of his deck this time, instead of getting an armor monster from his deck. To Kensai's surprise as his turn started Big Bang Blow appeared on the field again, rising up from the ground. "What's this? What's going on?"
Varon grinned again and pointed with his thumb to the floating helmet behind him. His Deck Master. Kensai groaned as he realized the effect of the Deck Master...he just had to hope he was incorrect. "During each of my standby phases Psychic Head Armor lets me special summon one of my armor monsters from the cemetery, so I'll just keep recycling my Big Bang Blow until you've been finished off!" Kensai had sadly been correct. The Deck Master effect was what he had feared it to be.
"Now I'll begin my turn by simply summoning this new armor monster, Buster Knuckle Armor(0/0)! Next its effect will take place, boosting its attack by two hundred for each armor monster on the field. In this situation Psychic Head Armor is counted, boosting my new armor to six hundred attack points." Varon's newest armor was a left arm, this one with spiked knuckles almost like rockets. If its only effect was the power increase then Kensai was fairly safe, if not he was pretty screwed.
"Here I come!" Kensai raised his arms in defense as Varon charged across the field, fists at the ready. As soon as Varon took a swing at him he deflect the blow, letting it slide past him. Because Varon had committed so much to the blow, Kensai was able to sweep the goggle-head's feet and shove him backwards with one hand. Varon recovered quickly and stood up, grinning like an idiot. Despite the fact that he hadn't connected, the real damage had been done. (KLP: 850)
Varon flashed Kensai another grin and then motioned for Kensai to start his turn. Obviously Varon didn't think much of Kensai if he left a weak monster like Buster Knuckle open for an attack with no traps to protect it. "I summon Swift Black Ninja(1700/1000). I'll then attack your Buster Knuckle with it!"
The black clad ninja zipped across the field at deadly speeds, ready to cut down the much weaker monster. Varon held his two fists up, and then moved his right arm in the way of the oncoming attack. The ninjas blow fell upon Big Bang Blow, and the armor started glowing. "Know this for the next time we might duel, one of the two staple armor effects is that if I've got more then one on the field I can choose which one you attack, so I've selected Big Bang Blow!"
Kensai suddenly grinned and flipped his face down card, revealing a warrior on a funeral pyre, thousands gathered him in his final moments. "I figured something like that would happen, in fact I was waiting on you using Big Bang Blow next turn, but this works as well. Reveal, A Hero's Farewell! I can activate this when an effect would destroy one of my warriors. This will consume my warrior for its effect instead, and remove all of my opponent's monsters from the game!"
Varon cried out in shock as a blaze of fire whipped up around him, quickly consuming the ninja and his two armors. When the flames faded away Varon stood there, looking very shocked indeed. "Its not over Varon, because now I play Warrior's Tomb! According to its effect I can draw one card from each warrior sub-type in my cemetery, giving me three more cards!"
Varon watched in horrified fascination as Kensai drew three more cards, bringing his hand up to a total of four cards. Then his opponent continued his play. "I'll now play Warrior Reborn to revive Swift Knight Gaia of the Gale in attack mode!" The purple armored knight shimmered into view from the ground and took his place in front of Kensai, the horse's hoofs pawing at the ground, ready for action.
"I'll continue this trend by playing Brave Warrior Charge! By its effect I can give one of my warriors a second battle phase during this turn! As that is the case I'll have Gaia attack directly!" The knight stampeded across the field and caught Varon in the chest with its lance, picking him up and knocking him backwards several feet. With that action it was his life point's turn to take a severe dip. Kensai had managed a come back. (VLP: 4850)
"Now I'll set up a card and end my turn. Tell me Varon, is that strength enough in heart and mind for you? Or were you hoping for more then that? If you are, then I'm ready for anything, because my determination knows no bounds, and my warriors and I won't stop until all our opponents have been defeated!"
Varon grinned broadly as he plucked a card from his deck, bringing his hand up to three cards. He grabbed one of his cards and held it up, waiting to play it while he started to speak. "I wasn't expecting you to be such a strong duelist, and to be honest I'm overjoyed. I'm really starting to enjoy this duel, and I hope that we can push each other to our limits. To see to that, I have the necessary card to make us both duel our very hardest."
Kensai grinned, ready for whatever Varon had to throw at him. No single card was gonna make him stop dueling, not when he was already in full swing. If Varon thought that this card would push them to their limits, then let him bring it on. "To insure that neither duelists back downs an inch I shall use the card granted to me by a very special organization. I now invoke the ultimate power, Seal of Orichalcos!"
Kensai's eyes widened as a green barrier started to spring up around them, and a five pointed star within a strange circle appeared around them. As he watched Varon's eyes lit up with glee as an identical symbol appeared on his forehead. "What's going on?"
"This is it, this is the true power of the Doom Organization! The Seal will bind us both in this duel, and grant me dark power. We must both duel our very hardest because in a sealed duel...the loser forfeits their soul!"
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Author's Note: There ya go! Continue into the next chapter to see what happens. Oh, and Time Mage...ah forget it, you'll find out soon enough.
Original Cards
Dalin: Reward of Summons, Pleasantries of Heaven, Hand of Heaven, Return of the Hand, Payment of Debt, A Gathering of Angels, Angelic Light Ceremony. (Airtos and its summoning card are from the Doom Arc. Pump Up and Excalibur also appear in the Doom Arc, both played by Yugi.)
Kensai: Wandering Samurai(yes, in honor of Ruruouni Kenshin as is Kensai's last name, Shinomori(Aoshi Shinomori anyone?).), Knighted From The Grave, A Hero's Farewell, Warrior's Tomb, Brave Warrior Charge
Varon: Play Nice, Armor Protection (all other cards played so far by Varon appear in the Doom Arc used by...well Varon.)
Author's Note: And now for something completely different...sorta.
Strength is the only thing that matters. Everything else is an illusion for the weak."-Dragonball Z
Chapter Twenty: Into the Shadows
Everything was dark. But then again, this was the Shadow Realm, so that was to be expected. However the dull orange glow of sunrise was not to be expected, leading Dalin to believe that a false world had been created within this part of the Shadow Realm. But who had created it he had no idea. What purpose was similarly a mystery.
He groaned and shook his head, trying to clear the fog from it. He cast his gaze around him, trying to find any sign of the others. There was nothing. Apparently Taichi, or whatever that thing had been, had done an effective job at separating them. In fact he couldn't even sense them.
He struggled to stand, and after a few moments of trying he managed to pull himself up. He drew a little bit of power from the four fingered ring on his hand and surrounded himself in a silver glow that illuminated the area around him.
When everything was cleared up he found himself in a little wooded enclave, with a clear cut exit right in front of him. It was through this exit that the dim light of the rising sun shown. However the exit seemed too clear cut...it was not natural. Someone had been here. "Is anybody there?"
Dalin grimaced as a harsh voice cut through the clean air with its annoying laughter. It wasn't horribly evil like Taichi's laugh had been, it was just annoying. But it definitely had a tinge of darkness to it. Nothing horrible, but the laughter obviously wasn't the good kind. "Who's there?"
Dalin threw his arms up in front of his eyes as bright lights ignited around him, shining directly into his face. Slowly he managed to get his vision back, and he recognized the source of the lights as spot lamps. He looked towards the exit and found a hideous man entering.
The newcomer was extremely ugly. He was wrinkled and had several warts on his face, that and he was overweight. He had been the source of the laughter obviously, and in his hand he carried something very familiar. A dueling deck. "So, I guess another lamb has fallen into my trap. The name is Lechuge, and I happen to be a mob boss. Normally I'd have somebody else deal with you, but to get out of this freaky place I have to beat ten duelists. You'll be my third."
Dalin quirked an eyebrow, noticing that while the man had a deck, he didn't have a duel disk. "How do you expect to duel without a duel disk?" The ugly man just grinned and snapped his fingers. Dalin's eyes widened as the ground underneath them started to shake...and soon a dueling platform rose up, with Dalin already standing at one end.
Lechuge came up on his platform and slapped his deck down on the deck zone of the dueling platform. "I suppose I don't need to explain rules to you. I was told that there's an option of a special set of rules, but instead I chose to use something different for my dueling. The unfortunate thing for you is that the loser of this duel...well let's just say they won't be having any fun. And of course, don't try running, cuz there's an automatic mini-gun set up right outside the exit and if anybody but me tries to leave before this duel is over...they get new holes."
Dalin grimaced and briefly shuffled his deck before placing it on his own deck zone. Then he drew his opening hand of five cards, watching as Lechuge did the same. "What is this about? Why are you supposed to duel me?"
"I don't have a clue, but I don't intend to lose. I need to get out of this freaky place, so I'm gonna win. So lets get started. Me first. Draw card! Okay, now I'll start this off by summoning Surprising Matasa(1300/800) in attack mode. Then I'll equip him with Axe of Despair to raise his attack strength by 1000. Lets see you beat that."
Dalin shook his head at the amateur move, watching as the holographic form of a green armored samurai appeared, wielding a skull headed axe. Matasa's ability to attack twice in a battle phase was impressive, but it would do his opponent no good. "I will begin this duel with two cards face down. Next I shall summon Zolga(1700/1000) in attack mode. End turn."
Two squares lit up behind Dalin's Zolga followed by the appearance of the trapezoid angel itself. Now he would see what Lechuge could do. "Draw card. Ha! Now I'm gonna equip my Matasa with Excalibur! This card doubles Matasa's attack strength to 4600, but its destroyed the moment I draw. However it lets me skip my draw phase if I want."
Dalin shook his head as the samurai added a simple broadsword to its other hand, doubling its attack strength. Lechuge truly was an amateur, and any duelist who had lost to him had to be pathetic. "Activate face down card, Reward of Summons. This allows you to special summon a monster at your hand, and grants me one thousand life points for that summons." (DLP: 5000)
Lechuge grinned and picked a card from his hand, and slapped it onto the field. "I special summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp(1800/1000) in attack mode!" The green genie was summoned onto the field and then crossed its arms, ready to do as its master commanded.
"Activate face down card, Blessings of Birth. When you special summon a monster I can activate this card, automatically ending your turn." Lechuge grumbled and passed the turn to Dalin, who immediately drew a card, increasing his hand size to four cards.
Dalin calmly examined his hand, thinking over the strategy he had been working on during the time waiting during Drake's duel. He had known he would need something special to beat Taichi if Drake lost, so he had prepared accordingly. "I set one card face down to end my turn."
Lechuge of course, skipped his draw phase. With three cards in his hand his choices were thin, and obviously he had just monsters there. "I'll summon Hayabusa Knight(1000/700) in attack mode. Then I attack with La Jinn!" The genie started charging up energy between its palms, but Dalin was ready for this.
"Chain with Pleasantries of Heaven. This will force both players to skip their next battle phases, in this case ending yours now. As a result I can a further thousand life points." The genie stopped its attack, and Lechuge, unable to make a move, ended his turn. (DLP: 6000)
Dalin drew his next card and played it immediately, watching as the sky lit up and a celestial hand reached down to surround Lechuge. "My next card is called Hand of Heaven. If my opponent has more monsters then me and neither player has any monsters in their cemetery my opponent must select a number of monsters from his deck equal to the total levels of the monsters on the field divided by two. So send seven monsters from your deck to your cemetery."
Lechuge grimaced and searched his deck before depositing his chosen monsters into the cemetery. He had most likely chosen many of his weaker monsters, but considering the type of moves Lechuge had been making so far, most of his monsters were bound to be strong attackers. "Set one card face down. End turn."
Lechuge glanced at his hand for a brief moment before deciding on his actions. He grabbed one of his two remaining cards and played it to the field. In that moment his Hayabusa Knight and La Jinn were destroyed. The monster rose up, revealing Tri-Horned Dragon(2850/2350). "I attack!"
"Open face down card, Return of the Hand! By removing Hand of Heaven from my cemetery I can negate your attack and end your battle phase." Again Lechuge was forced to end his turn abruptly. He swore violently and watched as Dalin drew his next card, putting his hand up to a total of three cards. Now he had exactly what he needed.
"I will begin this turn with by playing the card that will bring about the summoning of the strongest monster you have ever faced. I equip Zolga with Holy Goddess Sword-Airtos, increasing its attack by 300." Zolga had no hands, so the shining sword simply floated around in front of Zolga waiting to be used.
"Since I have no monsters in my cemetery and the sword is on the field, I may now special summon Guardian Airtos(2500/2000) in attack mode. As per its effect I instantly equip the sword to it. Now comes the interesting part. I remove cards from your cemetery until I reach a non-monster card, and then I increase Airtos' attack by the total attack power of the removed monsters."
Dalin's newest and mightiest monster was a female angel with white angel wings, a brown outfit, and wore a headdress that seemed to be the head of a giant white bird of some kind. Perhaps a crane. The angel took up the sword from Zolga and then waved it in a slashing motion. Lechuge could only watch in horror as his nine monsters rose up from the graveyard and shattered. They were revealed as three Hayabusa Knights, three monsters with nine hundred attack which Dalin didn't recognize, two Big Eyes, and La Jinn.
"Now, Guardian Airtos(12700/2000), attack and destroy Surprising Matasa!" The angel swooped down and sliced the samurai in half with its blade, shattering it into tiny pieces. Thus would be the end of the duel...or so Dalin thought. To his shock he noticed his opponent's life point counter for the first time where it appeared in front of his face on the platform. (LLP: 51900)
"You started with sixty-thousand life points! So that's how you won your other duels!" As Dalin's turn ended Lechuge started to laugh. Dalin had now realized exactly what was in store, because even with his ability to increase his life points, he could never hope to reach the heights of life points that Lechuge had. This would take a long time, and in that time Lechuge would have plenty of opportunities to make a comeback.
"And now I draw!"
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Drake groaned at the sight in front of him, recognizing the way the walls seemed to move. In front of him was a giant maze, and as far as he could tell there was no way for him to get anywhere without getting through that first.
"Damn you Taichi! I'll find a way to end you once and for all...but first I'll have to find you." With that he set off down the maze, his full focus on getting to the end and finding some way to get to Taichi. He still had a promise to fulfill, he had to bring back Kirani and every other soul Taichi had stolen. Even if it cost him his life......
Again.
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Across their new world dozens of duelists were awakening to find themselves in similar situations. Soon hundreds more awoke, joining the already innumerable masses of duelists and non-duelists who had been forced into this strange new world. So would begin a mass of chaotic duels, all driving towards a single hidden purpose.
Of course none of that was known by Takuya Shinomori, known to his friends and to his enemies as Kensai. All he knew was that he had a killer headache and when he had woken up he had found himself sinking in quick-sand.
He had been quickly pulled free by a very strange looking teenager. This teen had a full head of brown hair, and wore a strange red and black jumpsuit with shoulder pads. Oddest still were the goggles he wore on his head, but not over his eyes. He had a duel disk on one arm, but no deck was in it.
"Thanks for helping me out back there, I probably couldn't have gotten out without you. My name's Takuya by the way, but most people call me Kensai." He offered his hand to the other duelist, who grinned and shook Kensai's hand with great vigor. The strange man's hands were calloused, and his grip was strong. There was perhaps more to this stranger then met the eye.
"Name's Varon, glad to meet ya. I noticed your duel disk as I saw you were noticing mind. As a gift for rescuing me you can treat me to a duel. If I beat you that'll make my fifth victory, putting me at the halfway mark."
Kensai blinked stupidly and stared at Varon for a moment before asking the obvious question. "Halfway mark? What are you talking about?" So for the next few minutes his new companion explained to him about the rules that he had been told about, and how to escape this place each duelist who had been dragged here had to win ten straight duels, with no losses. The initial challenger got to select the rules.
"And since I challenged you, I get to select what rules we go by. In this case the rules we'll be going by are the rules told to me by that weird guy I told you about. Its called the Deck Master System. Each player first creates a deck from sample cards displayed, and then we select one monster amongst them to be our deck master. That monster is placed out of play and has a special effect that can be used at any time. We can put the deck master into play, but its risky because if the deck master is destroyed, you lose the game. Oh, and we start with twice the normal life points."
Kensai chuckled as he listened to Varon go through the list of rules in quick succession, without ever taking a break. The guy definitely seemed enthusiastic about dueling, so Kensai was willing to let him have that duel. Of course he was going to have to break Varon's streak, but if Varon was good then he'd be able to bring himself back up. "Okay, I'm game."
With that the two duelist started to select their cards, watching carefully as holographic images floated before their eyes. Kensai soon discovered through experimentation that if he focused hard enough on a specific booster set, the cards would role exactly to that set, letting him view the cards. Unfortunately it wouldn't let him go to specific cards. Within about five minutes the two duelists had created decks.
"Okay Varon, I've made my deck, and now I'll select my deck master. Blessed Knight of Emoria(1800/1900) will be my Deck Master. So select your Deck Master and let's get this started." As soon as Kensai selected his master it appeared beside him, life sized and ready to go. His knight was dressed in shining white armor and instead of a sword he held a two-headed axe like an executioner might wield.
The brown haired goggle head grinned as he finished selecting his cards, and casually picked a monster from his deck and held it up. As he spoke the monster appeared behind him, revealing a blue helmet with a black visor. "I select Psychic Head Armor(0/500) as my Deck Master! And with this Deck Master the power of my armor deck becomes greater then you can imagine!"
"Armor Deck?"
*********************************
"And now I draw! Ha, watch this you little runt. Pot of Greed to draw two cards." The fat ugly man grabbed two more cards from his deck greedily, seemingly confident that they would be exactly what he needed. Of course at that moment Dalin realized that Lechuge had never shuffled his deck, and it was quite probable the fat man had stacked his deck before hand.
"First I'll play the magic card Pump Up, which will double on monster's attack strength on my field for the duration of the turn! Then I'll follow that with Riryoku, which will drain your Airtos's attack strength by half and give my monster that power. So now Tri-horned Dragon(12050/2350) destroy Airtos!"
The dragon raced across the field and swiped at Airtos with its claws. The weakened angel tried to fight back, but was unable to, causing it to be destroyed by the dragon's attack. What was worse was the damage that Dalin took from that attack. It nearly wiped him out of life points that he would need to survive this long duel. (DLP: 300) "End turn!"
Dalin drew a quick breath and added his next card to his hand. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw what it was, a card that would definitely help him out. He casually slipped it onto the special zone on the dueling platform. "I play the field magic card, Sanctuary of the Sky." The temple in the clouds appeared on the field, reduced in size to fit within the platform. But its effect was all that mattered. "I end my turn."
Lechuge grinned as he slipped a card off his deck and then placed it on the field. "I summon Nin-Ken Dog(1800/1000) in attack mode! Then both my monsters will attack, starting with my ninja doggy!" Lechuge's newest monster was a dog standing upright and wearing a ninja outfit, a strange picture indeed. Dalin shook his head as the two monsters attacked his Zolga. And as Yugi has discovered in their duel, a barrier of light sprung up and stopped the attacks from destroying Zolga.
"As long as Sanctuary of the Sky is in play my angels cannot be defeated. So you are forced to end your turn having no more options." The fat man grumbled, but eventually motioned for Dalin to take his turn. Dalin did so, drawing a card to bump up his hand size. He glanced down at the card and recognized Hysteric Fairy. However, as he examined the rest of his hand, he realized that if he drew the right card he could take a big jump ahead if he kept this card in his hand. He motioned for Lechuge to take his turn.
The fat duelist grabbed at his deck and then quickly tossed his Nin-Ken Dog aside in exchange for a stronger monster, which was quickly revealed. "I tribute Nin-Ken Dog for Summoned Skull(2500/1200) in attack mode!" With that he ended his turn.
Dalin drew his next card and immediately saw the possibilities. The card he had drawn was hardly fair and would most likely soon be banned, but for the moment it was good for him. "I play Payment of Debt to draw three cards at no cost to myself." With that quick action his hand size increased to five, giving him exactly the cards he needed to turn this thing to his advantage. Not that it was overly necessary considering the skill of his current opponent.
"I summon Warrior of Zera(1600/1600) in attack mode!" The earthen warrior, one of only a small few non-angels in Dalin's deck, appeared on the field only briefly before vanishing in a flash of light. A column of light appeared in its place and then slowly faded revealing a purple skinned angel with wide spanned wings, a helmet, and a red cloth across his face. This angel wielded a curved sword which he held aloft easily with one hand.
"By sacrificing Warrior of Zera I can special summon a very deadly angel, an angel in a class like none you've ever seen before. For this is a fighting angel, this is Archangel Zerato(2800/2300)! Now, by discarding Hysteric Fairy from my hand I can activate his effect, and destroy all monsters on your field!" The archangel stretched out his blade and issued forth a stream of light energy that consumed the Summoned Skull and the Tri-Horned Dragon.
"Zerato and Zolga, attack directly!" Both angels attack, Zerato slicing against the platform's barrier with his sword and Zolga sending a stream of energy to collide against the barrier. Lechuge was lucky that the platform's didn't translate force like the disks did, otherwise he'd be in a lot of pain from those two attacks. (LLP: 47400)
"Now I shall continue my turn by playing the magic card, A Gathering of Angels! This permanent magic card lets me select an angel sub-type from my deck each turn and place it in my hand in place of my draw phase. My second card is also a permanent magic card called Angelic Light Ceremony. By its effect I gain 500 life points each standby phase for each angel on my field. It also allows me to pay five hundred life points to draw a card. With that I end my turn!"
Lechuge gulped as he started to see the possibilities. Then he drew his card and quickly set a monster down on the field in defense mode. That was all he was able to do in his turn, giving control back to Dalin and his vicious cycling combo.
He selected one card from his deck that was an angel according to the effect of his permanent magic card, A Gathering of Angels. Then he gained a thousand life points for the two angels he had on the field. (DLP: 1300) Then he followed that up by paying a thousand points to draw two cards. (DLP: 300)
"I'll set one card face down, and then summon Mercury, Angel of Wisdom(0/1700) in attack mode. Now I discard Atomic Firefly from my hand to activate Zerato's effect. Say goodbye to your monster!" Again Zerato unleashed a beam of energy from his blade, cutting down Lechuge's defense, revealing a Dragon Dwelling in the Cave(1300/2000) that was quickly destroyed.
"I attack directly with Zolga and Zerato!" Again the two angels followed up with their powerful attacks, further reducing Lechuge's life points. But despite Dalin's efforts he had still hardly managed to dent the other duelist's life points. (LLP: 42900)
"Umm...one card face down. End turn." Dalin smiled slightly at seeing Lechuge actually play card that wasn't a monster or an equip magic card, Pot of Greed withstanding. A trap perhaps? Or maybe just a magic card to keep Dalin from attacking.
Dalin let the smile faded as he selected another angel from his deck, and then gained the needed life points. He now had two cards in his hand, one from Mercury's effect and the other from his gathering. (DLP: 1800) He kept his face blank as he continued by paying all the life points he had juste gained to draw three more cards, bringing his hand up to five. (DLP: 300)
"I shall now deal with your threat by summoning a monster unlike anything you have ever experienced. I sacrifice Zerato, Zolga, and Mercury to summon The Saint Dragon Osiris(4000/4000)! And because I sacrificed Zolga I gain two thousand life points!" (DLP: 2300)
Lechuge stared at the giant snake like dragon in horror, unable to comprehend its true ferocity as the platform kept its true size from being displayed. It was, however, the largest monster that Lechuge had ever seen, and it took up almost all the room on the field. "I pay two thousand life points to draw four cards, brining my hand up to eight cards. Thereby increasing Osiris' attack by four thousand points. Osiris, attack directly!"
Lechuge threw out his hand and revealed his face down Mirror Force. Unfortunately for Lechuge Osiris shattered the barrier and plowed its incredible attack right into the barrier between the holograms and Lechuge. (LLP: 34900)
"I assumed you had a trap, which my Osiris is immune to. Now to keep from discarding cards I'll summon Angel of Creation, Venus(1600/0) in attack mode. Then I'll play Poison of the Old Man to gain twelve hundred life points, which I will gladly spend one thousand of to special summon two Holy Shine Spheres(500/500 X2)" (DLP: 500)
The angelic woman appeared on the field, her long blonde hair flowing at behind her. At Dalin's command she summoned forth two of the spheres that swirled around her, leaving one lonely one left. However it would join Dalin's forces in the next turn.
Lechuge grimaced and grabbed his next card. He slowly placed it on the field, only to find his Battle Ox(1700/1000) was destroyed instantly by Osiris's second mouth attack, leaving him defenseless. Shaking in fear Lechuge gave the command to Dalin.
Dalin gladly took command and placed a specific angel in his hand. As well, at the start of his turn his life points took a turn for the better. Then of course he payed five hundred life points to special summon the final Holy Shine Sphere, filling up his monster zones. His wasn't done yet as he sacrificed one of the spheres for his next monster. "I sacrifice a sphere for Saturn, Angel of Judgement(2400/0)."
The purple skinned angel replaced the little glowing sphere and snapped his wings out wide, joining his brethren on the field. His power was gladly welcomed by the angels, and completely ignored by the far mightier Osiris. "I now pay one thousand life points to draw two cards from my deck, brining my hand up to eight again." (DLP: 500)
Lechuge gulped air greedily as the terrifying force was commanded to attack him directly, dumping a huge chunk of his life points down the drain. Despite his advantages, he was quickly losing to a superior duelist and his enormous duel monster. (LLP: 21900) "I'll set two cards face down, and end my turn."
Lechuge glanced down at his card, and found only a United We Stand. Normally a good card, it was useless without any monsters. He grimaced and passed his turn to Dalin, knowing that soon he would be finished, because nothing could possibly defeat such a powerful monster as Osiris.
Dalin shook his head in disgust as he added yet another angel to his hand, surveying the situation as his life points jumped up enormously to a total of 2500. He looked over his hand briefly before paying two thousand life points to jump his hand up to four cards, at that same moment he activated his face down Solemn Wishes, giving him five hundred more life points. (DLP: 1000)
He grinned as the realization of Dalin's combo finally hit him. Osiris's attack strength was equal to the number of cards in Dalin's hand. Angelic Light Ceremony allowed Dalin to pay five hundred life points to draw a card. Solemn Wishes granted him five hundred life points every time he drew a card. Now he could infinitely pay for the effect of Angelic Light Ceremony, allowing him to increase his hand to whatever size he wanted. (DLP: 1000)
Lechuge dropped to his knees in horror as Osiris(22000/22000) towered over him, ready to attack at a single command. Worse yet, he knew that when this duel ended he'd lose more then his winning streak...he'd lose far more then that. "Osiris, Thunder Force Attack!" (LLP: 0)
Dalin shook his head as he gathered up his card, hardly bothering to watch as a dark cloud swirled around Lechuge, ripping his soul from his body and dragging it into the sky above. He had no pity for one as disgusting and pathetic as Lechuge, for the man truly deserved to have his soul ripped from him. The worm couldn't even beat Dalin while cheating.
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Drake grimaced as he turned a corner and found himself at a dead end. Now he'd have to go back and follow the other path and hope that he didn't make a wrong choice again and end up at another dead end. "Damn it Taichi! You can delay me with your maze, but it won't stop me!"
With that he turned and headed back the way he had come, retracing his path so he could return to the fork where he had chosen right, and instead take the left path. Sooner or later he'd make it to the end of this maze, and when he did Taichi would find himself in a world of hurt. Assuming that Drake found a way out of the maze.
Drake stepped around the corner and found himself standing on a dueling platform. The platform raised him up the traditional height and then he found himself facing two strange duelists. Both were obviously Chinese, one wearing a green outfit, the other an orange one. One had the word Kyu on his forehead, and the other hand the word Mei.
Drake groaned as he reversed the order and put the words together. Together those words made the word Labyrinth. If that was the case then these two...and considering what he had just escaped from.... "You're the Maze Brothers, Mei and Kyu!"
It was Mei who first spoke, grinning widely as he did so. "We are glad you could make it to the real fun and games."
Kyu continued, "And equally glad that you already know our names."
"Though you have now escaped our maze", said Mei.
"You have now reached the end of your days!" With that the two brothers started laughing, and the dueling platform activated. In mere moments Drake assumed he would be forced into a duel, and since these two were known for being double duelists, then he'd have a partner at any moment. Things were just starting to get interesting.
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"Armor Deck?" Varon's only response was to grin widely and draw his opening hand. Kensai grumbled to himself and then drew his own opening hand, taking six cards because as the challenged duelist it was his right to take the first turn. (KLP: 8000/Varon: 8000)
Kensai stared down at his hand, looking back up at Varon occasionally. He had no idea what sort of deck an armor deck might be, so he'd have to play it safe at first. He had two cards in his hand that he could start off with and get a decent start without committing too much to a first move.
"Alright, I'll begin this duel by summoning Wandering Hero Freed(1700/1000) in attack mode!" The monster shimmered into view in front of him, revealing a blonde haired knight with a shining sword in hand and crimson cape billowing out behind him. This was one of the key cards to Kensai's deck, as it was one of the light type monsters he needed to bring out his ultimate warrior.
Varon grinned as if he had been expecting something like this. The goggle-head shook his hand and slapped himself upside the head. "I knew you'd be using a warrior deck. What else would someone calling themself Kensai use? Anyways, don't expect simple brute force to beat me, I won't allow it."
Kensai just grinned and took out his magic card, ready to use it to take a key advantage in this duel as quickly as he could. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he did know that he had to find his friends as soon as he could. If Varon was as good he hoped, then maybe he'd invite Varon along. They would need all the help they could get.
"I play the magic card Wandering Samurai! This lets me special summon a monster from my deck that is of the same name as a monster on my field!" Kensai's magic card appeared, revealing an image of a samurai with red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his cheek. Varon grinned happily as Kensai's deck lit up and then a second blonde haired warrior appeared on the field.
"I don't know what sort of power I'm up against, so I'll simply end my turn here." As he passed the turn to Varon he noticed something. Varon wasn't drawing from his deck, instead a card popped out from the middle of his deck. The goggle-head grabbed the card and placed it in his hand.
"According the effect of Psychic Head Armor I can add an armor monster to my hand instead of having a draw phase. But that won't be all, because aside from that, as it's the normal ability of Psychic Head Armor, I still have its Deck Master effect." He grinned and pulled two of his cards free from his hand, ready to play them.
"This duel is really something important to me, not just because it will be my fifth straight victory, but because it represents my strength. Every duel is a part of my strength, and so I will win this duel to prove just how powerful my heart and body are. Now, activate magic card Play Nice! During this turn damage that would be dealt through battle to me is cut in half and divided amongst the players."
The magic card appeared, represented by an image of two duel monsters, Buster Blader and Dark Magician, playing ring around the rosy. Kensai rolled his eyes at the sight of the card and waited for Varon to continue his move. "Continuing I summon the first of my armors, Big Bang Blow Armor(0/500) in attack mode!"
The monster summoned was...well it was an armor piece. It was a right armor, with a blue band appearing from the shoulder joint to the elbow joint. Below the elbow it was an ivory white color with what looked like a form of brass knuckles (though in white) on the hand.
Varon grinned and held his right arm out horizontally. Kensai was shocked as the armor zoomed towards him and then opened up, attaching itself to his arm. It shut together with the snap of electricity and Varon had his armor. "I'll attack your first Wandering Hero Freed!"
Kensai blinked in surprise as Varon literally started closing the distance between them, arm raised as if poised to strike. The Wandering Hero casually slashed at him with its sword, but Varon raised his armored arm and blocked the strike. He then followed up by punching the warrior in the face, knocking it backwards. As he did this the armor started to glow and then it exploded, covering Varon and the two warriors with smoke.
Slowly the smoke cleared and when it was all gone Varon was standing there, just a few feet in front of Kensai, completely unharmed. However both of Kensai's monsters were gone, and he looked down at his DD2 staring in horror as his life points trickled down. (KLP: 3750) "What's going on?"
Varon grinned and wandering back to his original spot, about ten feet away from Kensai. Then he selected two more cards from his hand and casually started fiddling with them. "My Big Bang Blow Armor, when it is destroyed in battle, its effect activates. All monsters on the field are destroyed and damage is dealt to both players equal to the total attack strengths of their monsters. Not only that but Play Nice spread a bit of extra damage to you." (VLP: 7150)
Kensai gulped as he realized exactly how bad such a situation was. There wasn't even a single card in the game of Duel Monsters that could have such an effect, but here this little armor monster had it, and it required no sacrifice. Worse, by its own effect since it had no attack strength Varon could easily destroy a field full of monsters with it in one turn and eliminate his opponent.
If all the armor monsters had that kind of power then Kensai would be in trouble, so he just had to hope that Big Bang Blow was the strongest of them. But even that wasn't much help since each turn Varon could just add another to his hand...unless it was restricted. "I'll set up two cards on the field. End turn."
Varon flashed him a grin as the two cards appeared vertically in front of him. They weren't necessarily a huge threat, but Kensai had to take the chance of it. With his current life point disadvantage he would need to take out Varon's life points as quickly as he could. "Draw card!"
He glanced down at the card he had drawn, and then back at his hand. He had an available combo, but he'd have to hope that it worked, else he'd be knee deep in trouble. If it did work he'd be able to even things out a little bit. "My first card is called Knighted From The Grave! I can activate this card only if I have warriors in my cemetery whose levels is equal to or greater then a warrior in my hand. If so I can normal summon that warrior without sacrifices."
He selected another card from his hand and then played it to the field, quickly revealing the strongest monster he had drawn in this duel at the beginning. With a direct attack from it he'd be able to do some serious damage to Varon. "I summon Swift Knight Gaia of the Gale(2300/2100)!" The knight rode out on the field, wielding its lances with great vigor, ready to take apart his opponent.
"I'll set one card down on the field. Gaia, attack Varon directly!" First his face down card appeared on the field, and then the knight started galloping across the field towards Varon. The goggle-head awaited Gaia almost eagerly, and Kensai didn't know if it was because a trap had been set or because Varon was just being unusual.
"Open face down card, Magnet Armor! I special summon Big Bang Blow from the cemetery to the field in attack mode!" Kensai cried out in surprise as the right arm reappeared on the field and equipped back onto Varon's arm. The brown-haired duelist grinned and reached out with his armored fist, grabbing hold of Gaia's lance and stopping the attack.
The armor started to glow and then it exploded as it had in the turn before. The smoke quickly faded away, leaving nothing but Varon and a single card on the field. The destruction of his powerful knight was a fierce blow to Kensai's life points...but nothing was happening to Varon's. "My remaining face down card is called Armor Protection. During this turn I take no life point damage from when my armor monsters are involved in battle." (KLP: 1450)
Kensai grimaced, realizing exactly how bad the situation really was. This was truly the worst he had ever been in a duel. It wasn't that he was playing poorly, it was that these armor monsters had caught him off guard with their enormous power. Now he was faced with a severe deficiency in the life point department. He desperately needed some way to make a come back...and he might be able to do that, he just had to wait and hope. "End!"
Varon grinned and drew a card from the top of his deck this time, instead of getting an armor monster from his deck. To Kensai's surprise as his turn started Big Bang Blow appeared on the field again, rising up from the ground. "What's this? What's going on?"
Varon grinned again and pointed with his thumb to the floating helmet behind him. His Deck Master. Kensai groaned as he realized the effect of the Deck Master...he just had to hope he was incorrect. "During each of my standby phases Psychic Head Armor lets me special summon one of my armor monsters from the cemetery, so I'll just keep recycling my Big Bang Blow until you've been finished off!" Kensai had sadly been correct. The Deck Master effect was what he had feared it to be.
"Now I'll begin my turn by simply summoning this new armor monster, Buster Knuckle Armor(0/0)! Next its effect will take place, boosting its attack by two hundred for each armor monster on the field. In this situation Psychic Head Armor is counted, boosting my new armor to six hundred attack points." Varon's newest armor was a left arm, this one with spiked knuckles almost like rockets. If its only effect was the power increase then Kensai was fairly safe, if not he was pretty screwed.
"Here I come!" Kensai raised his arms in defense as Varon charged across the field, fists at the ready. As soon as Varon took a swing at him he deflect the blow, letting it slide past him. Because Varon had committed so much to the blow, Kensai was able to sweep the goggle-head's feet and shove him backwards with one hand. Varon recovered quickly and stood up, grinning like an idiot. Despite the fact that he hadn't connected, the real damage had been done. (KLP: 850)
Varon flashed Kensai another grin and then motioned for Kensai to start his turn. Obviously Varon didn't think much of Kensai if he left a weak monster like Buster Knuckle open for an attack with no traps to protect it. "I summon Swift Black Ninja(1700/1000). I'll then attack your Buster Knuckle with it!"
The black clad ninja zipped across the field at deadly speeds, ready to cut down the much weaker monster. Varon held his two fists up, and then moved his right arm in the way of the oncoming attack. The ninjas blow fell upon Big Bang Blow, and the armor started glowing. "Know this for the next time we might duel, one of the two staple armor effects is that if I've got more then one on the field I can choose which one you attack, so I've selected Big Bang Blow!"
Kensai suddenly grinned and flipped his face down card, revealing a warrior on a funeral pyre, thousands gathered him in his final moments. "I figured something like that would happen, in fact I was waiting on you using Big Bang Blow next turn, but this works as well. Reveal, A Hero's Farewell! I can activate this when an effect would destroy one of my warriors. This will consume my warrior for its effect instead, and remove all of my opponent's monsters from the game!"
Varon cried out in shock as a blaze of fire whipped up around him, quickly consuming the ninja and his two armors. When the flames faded away Varon stood there, looking very shocked indeed. "Its not over Varon, because now I play Warrior's Tomb! According to its effect I can draw one card from each warrior sub-type in my cemetery, giving me three more cards!"
Varon watched in horrified fascination as Kensai drew three more cards, bringing his hand up to a total of four cards. Then his opponent continued his play. "I'll now play Warrior Reborn to revive Swift Knight Gaia of the Gale in attack mode!" The purple armored knight shimmered into view from the ground and took his place in front of Kensai, the horse's hoofs pawing at the ground, ready for action.
"I'll continue this trend by playing Brave Warrior Charge! By its effect I can give one of my warriors a second battle phase during this turn! As that is the case I'll have Gaia attack directly!" The knight stampeded across the field and caught Varon in the chest with its lance, picking him up and knocking him backwards several feet. With that action it was his life point's turn to take a severe dip. Kensai had managed a come back. (VLP: 4850)
"Now I'll set up a card and end my turn. Tell me Varon, is that strength enough in heart and mind for you? Or were you hoping for more then that? If you are, then I'm ready for anything, because my determination knows no bounds, and my warriors and I won't stop until all our opponents have been defeated!"
Varon grinned broadly as he plucked a card from his deck, bringing his hand up to three cards. He grabbed one of his cards and held it up, waiting to play it while he started to speak. "I wasn't expecting you to be such a strong duelist, and to be honest I'm overjoyed. I'm really starting to enjoy this duel, and I hope that we can push each other to our limits. To see to that, I have the necessary card to make us both duel our very hardest."
Kensai grinned, ready for whatever Varon had to throw at him. No single card was gonna make him stop dueling, not when he was already in full swing. If Varon thought that this card would push them to their limits, then let him bring it on. "To insure that neither duelists back downs an inch I shall use the card granted to me by a very special organization. I now invoke the ultimate power, Seal of Orichalcos!"
Kensai's eyes widened as a green barrier started to spring up around them, and a five pointed star within a strange circle appeared around them. As he watched Varon's eyes lit up with glee as an identical symbol appeared on his forehead. "What's going on?"
"This is it, this is the true power of the Doom Organization! The Seal will bind us both in this duel, and grant me dark power. We must both duel our very hardest because in a sealed duel...the loser forfeits their soul!"
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Author's Note: There ya go! Continue into the next chapter to see what happens. Oh, and Time Mage...ah forget it, you'll find out soon enough.
Original Cards
Dalin: Reward of Summons, Pleasantries of Heaven, Hand of Heaven, Return of the Hand, Payment of Debt, A Gathering of Angels, Angelic Light Ceremony. (Airtos and its summoning card are from the Doom Arc. Pump Up and Excalibur also appear in the Doom Arc, both played by Yugi.)
Kensai: Wandering Samurai(yes, in honor of Ruruouni Kenshin as is Kensai's last name, Shinomori(Aoshi Shinomori anyone?).), Knighted From The Grave, A Hero's Farewell, Warrior's Tomb, Brave Warrior Charge
Varon: Play Nice, Armor Protection (all other cards played so far by Varon appear in the Doom Arc used by...well Varon.)