Disclaimer: You have to understand by now that I don't own Yugioh.
Author's Note: And now, the continuation of something completely different. And don't worry if it doesn't seem as exciting or good as it was at the end of Battle City. This is just the start, and things will pick up.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." -Oscar Wilde
Chapter Twenty-One: Maze Brothers and the Seal of Orichalcos
Drake shook his head as the two maze brothers started up the field, activating the holo projectors. He grinned as he opened the little hatch on the side of the duel disk, and pulled free a wire which he used to connect the disk to the platform. This way he could play as he wanted to. "Okay, and what exactly did you two have in mind? And who is my partner?"
Mei chuckled evilly and gestured to the exit behind Drake. With that gesture a gate slammed down, trapping Drake in and keeping anyone else from entering. "This duel will be of a special system. Two on one, under Deck Master rules. Each player creates a deck from cards selected and then chooses one monster to be Deck Master. You can summon that monster but beware, for its destruction is your doom. Of course each Deck Master also has an effect the player can use."
Drake grimaced as holographic cards started floating up in front of him, and he slowly started picking out his cards. He had to be careful and choose his deck well, otherwise he wouldn't be able to beat these two idiots. Two on one wasn't exactly fair, so he'd probably have to be in top form. But maybe not...this Deck Master system gave him an advantage. "I've now created my deck, and my Deck Master shall be the mighty Obelisk the Tormentor(4000/4000)!"
The Maze Brothers nearly had a collective heart attack as Drake's massive god creature appeared behind him, ready to provide its support. With its great power and its immunities, he could probably win the duel by summoning it in his first turn, but he'd play it safe for the moment.
Mei opened their duel with his hand of six cards, choosing to go first out of the three of them. The order that was announced was Mei, Kyu, and finally Drake. Which meant if one pulled an advantage on him, then the other would be able to follow up. "I'll set a monster in defense mode, and set one card face down. End turn!"
Kyu picked up his sixth card and glanced over at his brother. The green clothed duelist nodded in response, and Kyu forcefully slammed his next card down on the field. "I sacrifice my brother's face down Sangan(1000/600) to summon Labyrinth Wall(0/3000) in defense mode. Next I activate the effect of my Deck Master, Giant Soldier of Stone, to double my wall's defense power!"
Drake grimaced as the massive labyrinth filled up the entire field, bringing entirely new rules into play, rules that Drake had only heard about. This would definitely make the duel more interesting. Mei grinned as he announced his own move. "I shall continue with this trend by activating my own Deck Master's ability, the ability of One-Eyed Shield Dragon grants my brother's wall an immunity to magic and trap cards!"
Kyu ended his turn after his brother finished searching his deck for a monster, courtesy of Sangan's effect. Finally it became Drake's turn. "I'll set two cards face down, and then summon Neo the Magical Swordsman(1700/1000) in attack mode. I'll have Neo advance four spaces into the maze!" His spellcaster appeared on the field, and lit the way with his sword by making it glow blue. Then he walked forward four spaces, stopping only part way into the maze.
The turn went back to Mei, who quickly grabbed a new card, bringing his hand back up to six cards. There was no telling what card he had grabbed, and it could make this worse for Drake. "I play Premature Burial at a cost of eight hundred life points so I can resummon Sangan. Then I set a monster in defense mode. Finally I shall set a card face down!" The furry little demon creature appeared on the field, and next to him a spot on the board glowed. But because he hadn't advanced either of them, they remained where they were. (MLP: 3200)
Kyu grinned as he picked up his next card, and immediately selected a card from his hand which he played to the field. "I sacrifice my brother's Sangan and Witch of the Black Forest to summon Sanga of the Thunder(2600/2200)!" The first piece, and strongest, of the Gate Guardian set appeared on the field, and Mei started searching his deck for two monsters. Whatever they were planning...not good.
"I shall chain my brother's sacrifice with my face down card, Ultimate Offering, allowing each player to pay 500 life points for each extra normal summons!" The card flipped up, and the two brothers smirked to each other, ready for whatever damage they had planned. If Drake was right...then pretty quickly the Gate Guardian would hit the field.
"I pay a total of fifteen hundred life points so I can summon my own Sangan, Witch of the Black Forest, and finally sacrifice them for Suijin(2500/2200) in attack mode! Finally I begin searching my deck for two monsters, and end my turn." The second piece of the set appeared on the field, ready to deal out damage to whoever tried to attack it. With its effect it made a very dangerous opponent. (KLP: 2500)
Drake rolled his eyes and picked up a card, glancing at it only briefly before he placed it on the field. "I summon Mystical Elf(800/2000) in defense mode. Then I'll advance both monsters four spaces into the maze." His blue elf appeared on the field and slowly followed the path his Neo had taken. Neo advanced even further into the maze...and then suddenly dropped out of sight.
Mei cackled evilly as Neo went under, caught in a deep hole. "You're monster has stumbled upon the trap that I set within the maze, my Trap Hole to be exact!" Drake grimaced and passed his turn on to Mei, who gladly took it and drew another card.
"I'll set a monster in defense, and then pay one thousand life points to summon another monster and then sacrifice both for Kazejin(2400/2200) in attack mode!" He grinned as the final piece appeared on the field, ready for whatever they had in mind. Mei casually passed the turn to his brother, who was eagerly fingering a card in his hand, most likely the Gate Guardian. (MLP: 2200)
"I begin by sacrificing the three pieces for Gate Guardian(3750/3400). Next, I shall play Polymerization to fuse my Cannon Soldier with my brother's Giga-tech Wolf to form Labyrinth Tank(2400/2400)! I will continue by advancing my tank into the maze by seven spaces, putting it only 13 more spaces away from reaching your life points!"
The spiked tank started advancing, however it was soon stopped by Drake's commanding voice. "This move wouldn't work normally, but thanks to your corrupted rules I can now activate Trap Reflector as Trap Hole, dropping your Tank out of existence!" Kyu grimaced as his newest monster vanished into the abyss of the trap that Drake had set for it, destroying it for good.
"Very well, I shall end this turn with one last action, the reason why we summoned the Gate Guardian. Our monster has a ranged attack, and its too large to move through the maze. However it can attack anything within the maze, and your life points directly should you not have any protective monsters. So go Gate Guardian, destroy Mystical Elf!" The massive beast gathered its energy and sent a sphere of combined power at his elf, who was unable to defend itself and was easily overwhelmed and destroyed.
Drake picked up his card and grinned as he decided that he would play the game that they had been playing. All they had been doing was waiting, and gathering their forces. He would just do the same thing. He simply set a monster face down and ended his turn.
Mei gladly drew his next card, looking at his hand of three cards. He still had a monster he had taken through the effect of his witch, a monster with hardly any defense points, but the second highest base attack strength of any level four monster. "I start by summoning Jirai Gumo(2200/100) in attack mode! Then I'll play Monster Reborn to revive Sanga of the Thunder in attack mode! My monsters will advance four spaces and seven, respectively. Now, Gate Guardian, destroy his defense monster!"
The land mine spider and the massive Sanga moved into the maze as the giant guardian above them launched another combined attack that easily obliterated Drake's face down monster. However he quickly replaced it with another monster, since it had been Apprenticeship Magician.
"You may have kept up your defenses, but now that its my turn I shall have my Gate Guardian destroy it!" The guardian unleashed a third attack that proved equally as fatal as each of his others, destroying the second Apprenticeship Magician. Drake casually set a monster from his deck onto the field as per its effect.
"Now, the magic card, Sacrifice Bomb! This permanent magic card allows me to sacrifice one monster on the field each turn to deal damage to your life points equal to its attack. So we shall part with Jirai Gumo to part you with more then half of your life points!" A bag of explosives strapped themselves to the giant spider, which hurled itself into the air and then exploded, shaking the entire room. Drake heard an odd cracking sound, but ignored it for the moment. (DLP: 1800)
Drake shook his head at how pathetic these two had been throughout the duel. He added a fourth card to his hand and then grabbed his defense monster and flipped it face up. "I'll start by flipping Old Vindictive Magician to destroy the Gate Guardian." The two maze brothers gasped in horror as their prized monster exploded into tiny little pieces with a single blast from his aging magician.
"I'll continue by sacrificing my magician for Magical Marionette(2000/1000). Then I'll follow that up with the magic card Graceful Charity, which grants my marionette a magic counter, boosting its attack by two hundred." Drake casually deposited his two chosen cards and grinned as his little manakin, a creature wielding two daggers and on strings, grew more powerful.
"Continuing my trend of magic cards I'll play Monster Reborn to revive the Dark Magician(2500/2100), granting my marionette the second magic counter." The familiar purple robed spellcaster hit the field, joining the ever strengthening marionette. Together they made a powerful fighting force, but Drake's combo wasn't over yet. He had a duel to win in this turn.
"Now I play a very special magic card, Baptism of Light and Dark! By its effect I can sacrifice my face up Dark Magician to special summon...Black Magician of Chaos(2800/2600)!" His Dark Magician shattered, and was quickly replaced by the more powerful blue skinned spellcaster, who twirled his staff overhead before resting it on the ground.
"According to my monster's effect I can now select a magic card in my cemetery and add it to my hand. I select Monster Reborn, and then play it to once again revive the Dark Magician!" He grinned as his powerful magician reappeared, ready to fight once again. Not only that, but by playing Monster Reborn again he had increased his marionette's attack power to twenty-eight hundred.
"I now discard what's left of my hand as the summoning cost of my Deck Master, moving Obelisk the Tormentor(4000/4000) onto the field!" He deposited his single remaining card into his cemetery, and watched as his god creature advanced onto the field, completely ignoring the weaker members of the group. To him they were just bugs.
"The final part of my combo involves the second use of my marionette's counters, by removing two I can destroy one monster on my opponent's field. So I remove all four to destroy Sanga and Labyrinth Wall!" The marionette hurled its two daggers at the two monsters, destroying them both easily, clearing the way for Drake by removing the obstacle of the maze. Seeing what they were faced with the two maze brothers dropped their cards and started trying to climb out, screaming in terror.
"Now my monsters, attack together!" The three magicians cast their various items of power together and gathered with their collective power a massive ball of energy. Once it was ready Obelisk grabbed it up with his hand and then hurled the Massive Ball of Energy(11300/0) towards his opponents.
It exploded in front of them, instantly dropping their life points to zero and winning Drake the duel. But that was just the simplest thing that had happened. As Drake watched, horrified, the cracking sound returned, and the entire stadium split in half and start dropping down the cliff face, to deposit them all into the craggy rocks below.
Drake hastily grabbed up his cards and started scrambling up the falling platform. He had mere seconds left when he jumped, and then the platform fell away, crashing several moments later into the bottom of the ravine, exploding terribly. Drake hit the edge and scrabbled to hold on, barely managing to get a grip of the rocky ground. He was left hanging by his bare hands over the rocks below.
Slowly he started to pull himself up, but he soon discovered that the ground wasn't fully stable, and the rocks broke away, letting him fall to his doom. "AAAAAAA!!!!!" He squeezed his eyes shut, not fully understanding how he could meet an ignominious end at the hands of...well rocks. He would have been better off staying dead then just to come back and get killed by stone.
His screams stopped suddenly as something caught his arm, and jerked him to a halt. He blinked and turned his gaze up to see what had stopped him. He discovered that someone had grabbed hold of his arm. A someone who oddly enough had one blue and one brown eye. "Hold on, I'll get you up."
Together the two of them managed to get Drake back on solid ground and away from that unsettling death. He took a deep breath and took a look at his savior, who had come through the now open doorway. Obviously he had gone through the maze himself and been locked out when Drake's duel started. Lucky he had been there.
His savior was tall, about the same height as Drake himself, and roughly the same age as well. He wore a white t-shirt that was almost completely covered by a black vest that he let hang open, blowing in the breeze, while his light-weight black pants tugged in an attempt to escape with the wind. On his right arm was a bright white duel disk, proving that he was a duelist. "Thanks. I'm Drake. Might I ask the name of my savior?"
The strange duelist smiled slightly and offered his hand to Drake, as he gave his name. "I'm Kai Kaethan, glad to meet you." Drake took his hand and shook it, then let go and turned away. He started heading towards the only path out, a small trail that would lead away from the maze and towards...well somewhere different.
Drake blinked and turned around at the sound of footsteps. To his surprise Kai was just a few feet behind him, also walking in the same direction. He grinned and held out his hand to stop the other duelist. "Look, I appreciate you saving me, but I have important stuff to do, and I don't want you following me."
Kai just shook his head and brushed past Drake, continuing along. "I'm not following you, this is the only exit!" Drake sighed and started walking again. It would seem that for the moment he and Kai were traveling partners, but only until he found Taichi.
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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!"
Kensai grimaced as the seal fully took over, filling the dueling area with an eerie green light. He reached out and tapped the edge of the circle, and received a vicious spark in return, burning his finger. So escaping wasn't going to happen. In that case he was just going to have to duel his very hardest. It was win...no. There was no choice but victory in this situation.
Varon grinned as he took another card from his hand and held it up in front of him, ready to play it. Then he slipped it into the activation slot, and let its magic do its work. "I didn't use this card before because I didn't believe it was necessary...but now I'll win this duel in one turn by the power of my magic card, Full Armor Gravitation!"
The magic card that appeared displayed a person fully equipped with various armors and he was glowing with an intensely bright light. Varon grabbed at his deck and immediately started slipping cards off the top. "By the effect of Full Armor Gravitation I can draw ten cards, and of those ten cards I can automatically special summon any armor monsters I draw!"
Kensai's eyes widened, but then he grinned, realizing the flaw in the card. Ten cards was a lot, but there was a specific rule that would keep him from getting as much out of the deal as he was hoping. "Forgetting something Varon? You can only play a total of five monsters. So any extras you draw will just clog up your hand."
Varon just smirked and kept drawing until he had drawn all ten cards that he was required to draw, and then he quickly started playing monsters. First one, then a second, soon four, and to Kensai's surprise...seven. "One of the first effects of the Seal of Orichalcos is that it lets me play my monsters in my magic zones, allowing me to summon up to ten monsters!"
Varon's smirk just grew wider as the seven monsters appeared in quick succession, one after another the seven armors equipped onto Varon's body. Legs, a chest piece, left arm, right arm, a little shield over his left arm, a little gun turret on his right arm, and finally a Psychic Head Armor that closed over his head. "Now, with these seven armors, I have formed the unstoppable Borgman!"
Kensai clenched his fists tight as the full borgman was assembled. Because of the way this was working out he had no idea exactly what each armor did, or even each armor's stats. Hell, he didn't even know what their names were. "Whatever sort of power your armors have, I'm ready to take them on. Seal or no seal, I won't be giving this duel up. You'll have to give me everything you've got to win this. Now lets do this!"
Varon lifted up his right arm and grinned as he started sprinting towards Kensai. He had chosen the single armor monster he was going to attack with, and whatever it was, Kensai was sure that its effect was dangerous. It wasn't Big Bang Blow, but it look deadly. "You want me to give it everything I've got? Well here it is, Busterpile Armor(0+500/0)!"
He charged across the field at full speed, and was nearly to Gaia, his outstretched arm ready to deal a killing blow. What Kensai didn't realize was that when Busterpile attacked a monster he negated battle damage, destroyed both monsters, and dealt 500 direct damage. In that way he'd be able to cut Kensai's life points down, and the duel would be his. "HERE I COME!"
Kensai grinned as his goggle-headed opponent neared his monster, ready to strike it down with whatever effect his Busterpile had. However imminent soul loss was not on Kensai's list of things to do for the day. "I refuse to be defeated! Go Jack of All Trades!"
His face down card flipped up, revealing an image of Jack's Knight praying over its sword. The text at the bottom of his trap card revealed all that Varon needed to know, and as close as he was he could read exactly what it said. "Now by the effect of my trap card I sacrifice my Gaia to special summon Jack's Knight(1900/1000) from my deck to the field!"
Varon skidded to a halt as his target suddenly exploded in front of him. Kensai's deck started glowing, and several seconds later the light shot from his deck and onto the field in front of Varon. Varon blinked several times to clear the light from his eyes, and suddenly found himself face to face with Kensai's new monster.
Jack's Knight was a tall blonde warrior in white and purple armor. He held a fancy shield in one hand and a shiny broad sword in the other. He was a monster that hadn't been in Kensai's deck until just recently...when he had assembled a brand new deck.
Varon scoffed at the appearance of this new monster and raised his fist again, ready to continue the attack. "Why sacrifice a stronger monster for a weaker one? I can destroy this monster as readily as I could the last one, so it will hardly make any difference." He started punching, but suddenly electricity jumped up from the seal beneath him and stopped his hand, shocking him and sending him stumbling backwards.
Kensai grinned as Varon shook his arm in pain. The goggle-head vainly tried to figure out exactly what had happened, but he wasn't having any luck. So Kensai decided to explain it for him. "That shock was just your seal enforcing the current rules. While Jack's Knight and Jack of All Trades are on the field together you get no battle phase. Therefore your attack was invalid. Sorry, but it looks like your turn is about over."
The other duelist scowled and then stalked back to his side of the field. However, when he turned around a big smile was on his face. It was obvious that despite being stopped Varon was happy that Kensai was continuing to duel his hardest. It was for situations like this one, situations that pushed people to their limits, that Varon lived for. "I'll just set two cards face down and end my turn. Congratulations Kensai on stopping me, I expected nothing less."
Kensai slowly slid his next card off the top of his deck, silently wondering exactly what some of the duelists he knew would do in this situation. He knew that Drake would insist on continuing to fight, even if the situation looked hopeless. Kirani would say that a duel like this was only a trial from which to garner strength.
He added the card to his hand but didn't look down at it. Quietly he whispered his truth to the world, hoping that it was heard by the people he wanted to hear it. "You are both right. I won't back down, not even and inch, and I will emerge from this stronger then ever. I won't be useless to anyone anymore. Before I couldn't fight Taichi, but I will make sure that I have the strength to fight him if I am needed to."
He let out his breath and then dropped his eyes to his hand, looking it over briefly. He stared at the two cards, and then grinned as an idea came to him. Already his determination was paying off. "Okay, I begin by summoning King's Knight(1600/1400) in attack mode!"
As he played the monster onto the field, it appeared in all its glory. A bearded blonde man dressed in fanciful orange and white armor, with a purple cape flaring out behind him. He also held a sword in his hand, and each wrist had a spiked bracer on it. In his left hand was a sturdy orange shield. At his appearance Jack's Knight silently bowed, greeting his king.
"Now I play a magic card made available by your idea to select cards. Such a card is normally virtually impossible to find, and is quite new. It's the card Payment of Debt!" He deposited the card in his cemetery and then drew three more cards off the top of his deck, putting him ahead of Varon's hand by one card. Now he had the necessary cards to continue this duel for real.
"I'll set one card face down, and play Reinforcement to the Army!" He ejected his deck according his card's effect and started searching his deck for a level four or lower warrior to add to his hand. Once he found what he was looking for he reshuffled his deck and then put it back in its slot. He was just about ready to take back this duel.
"I have no idea what your armors are capable of, so I won't risk attacking. I'm safe for the moment since you have no battle phase. I'll just end my turn at that, and next turn I intend to take this duel in hand and win the day!" He grinned and hoped for the best, knowing that victory wasn't certain. Even the cards he had now couldn't insure victory, but he was willing to bet it all on his strategy. That was enough for now.
Varon started his turn by taking a card that was popped out of his deck. That meant he was using the effect of Psychic Head Armor to choose an armor monster to add to his hand. Whatever it was, Kensai was ready to handle it. He wasn't going to be defeated by a bunch of weird new monsters that he had never heard of. "Hey Kensai, you may have had me stopped last turn, but my next armor monster will let me clinch this duel. Go, Breaker Armor(0+500/1000)!"
Kensai started to worry when he heard the term breaker in the monster's name. He knew of two monsters that had breaker in their name, and both had effects that could destroy magic and trap cards. If this was a similar case then he was in trouble.
The new armor that appeared was in fact, a full suit of armor. It was a black high tech looking suit, similar to the compiled borgman form that Varon had assembled. This armor however had no helmet, obviously leaving an opening for Psychic Head Armor. "Now I'll use my monster's effect, by sacrificing him to negate the effect of your Jack of All Trades...permanently!"
Kensai grimaced as the suit of armor used rocket boosters to zip across the field towards him. Once there it stopped its boosters and whirled around, grabbing hold of his trap card in a bear hug, and staying that way. Kensai gulped grimly as he realized the implication. Varon now had a battle phase.
"You know, originally I was going to use Busterpile to destroy your monster and deal five hundred damage. But now I can do much better! You see one of my monsters is Burning Knuckle Armor(0+500/1000)!" As he spoke he held up his left fist, demonstrating his armor monster by displaying it to Kensai. Whatever this monster did, it was bound to be bad for Kensai.
"Burning Knuckle has two effects, but the first is the only you should be worried about. Just like my Buster Knuckle it gains two hundred points for each armor on the field, and counting my Deck Master that's a total of sixteen hundred bonus attack points, bringing him up to 2100!" Kensai grimaced as he realized that the bonus made that single armor stronger then even his Jack's Knight. Definitely not good.
"Aren't you miscalculating a little bit? Even if you use it to destroy my King's Knight you'll only do five hundred damage ,the same as would have happened if you used Busterpile. So what's the difference?" Varon just grinned and pressed a button on his duel disk, in order to activate one of his face down cards.
"This is what! Activate Armor of Inferno, switching all armor monsters into attack mode and boosting their attack power by one thousand!" The card flipped up, revealing a the image of the borgman surrounded by an aura of flames. As this happened the same aura of flames lit up around Varon, granting him a huge power boost, bringing Burning Knuckle up to thirty-one hundred points, more then enough to finish of his life points.
"Here it is, the end of this duel! I attack with Burning Knuckle to destroy Jack's Knight!" This time all he did was punch forwards, and a get of flame erupted from his hand, streaking towards Kensai's knight. Kensai's eyes widened as he realized that he could really feel the heat of the flames...that fire was real!
"I won't lose yet! Activate Weakening of Attack!" A ripple appeared in the air, absorbing the flames and keeping Kensai and his knights safe from the attack. Not only that but by its effect Varon's battle phase was immediately ended, further protecting Kensai. He let out a deep breath, relieved when Varon announced no counter move.
"A good play Kensai, but it won't save you in the end. I've still got all my armors, and you won't be getting past them anytime soon. Shortly I will prove my strength and make the half-way mark in my streak of victories!"
The warrior duelist looked down at the deck in his duel disk. From that deck he needed one card, if he didn't get that card then he had no idea how he'd be able to win this duel. He had only one strategy available to him, and no cards to let him stop Varon's assault in the next turn. This one draw could mean everything.
"I put all my faith in this one draw!" He pulled the card free and then held it above his head for a moment. Then he forcefully brought his arm down, bringing the card directly in front of his face. Slowly a grin spread across his features, causing Varon to start to worry.
"My faith has rewarded me with the one card that I can use to turn this duel around. Now first I'll summon Queen's Knight(1500/1600) to complete my set!" Kensai's newest monster was a woman with long blonde hair. She wore bright red armor and had a tall red helmet. In her right hand she held a triangular shield, and in her left she held a stout sword. Jack's Knight payed her deference with a slightly shallower bow then he had given to the king.
"Now for this card, the card that will change the tide of this duel in my favor! I play Royal Straight!" He slammed the card down, and in quick succession his three monsters shattered into dust particles. First went Jack's Knight. Then went the queen. Finally the king went, making way for something greater, something deadlier.
"By its effect I sacrifice Jack's Knight, Queen's Knight, and King's Knight so special summon Royal Flush(2400/1350) to the field!" The new monster appeared as a tall and muscular warrior dressed in green armor. His face was a pale light mask, and on the center of his chest was a bright red heart. This monster was going to be Varon's undoing.
"Now since I've summoned it to the field I can bring about your defeat. I remove five monsters in my deck from play whose levels are 1-5! Then I can destroy all cards on my opponent's field!" Five cards ejected from Kensai's deck and he held them in his right hand. Slowly he started taking them, starting from the left, and sending them to his cemetery.
"The first, a one star monster, represents the ten of a royal flush!" He took the card and casually deposited it in his cemetery. Then he continued his move, watching with delight as the terror on Varon's face started to grow.
"The second, two star, is the Jack, second part of the royal flush!" The next card was sent to the cemetery, further increasing Varon's nervousness. With this move Kensai would be able to take control and dominate the duel with his strong monster.
"Third is the three star, one of my favored monster, Marauding Captain. It will represent the queen, the second of the face cards!" He briefly showed Varon the image of his Marauding Captain before he sent that monster to the cemetery, to join the ones before it.
"Next is the king, in this case another Swift Black Ninja!" He took the dark ninja and slipped him through the cemetery slot, dropping in on top of several other monsters. The monsters in Kensai's cemetery were starting to pile up now.
"The final monster represents the ace, the last and most powerful of the face cards. This monster goes to the cemetery to deal the damage as vengeance of the loss of his two lesser selves. This monster is Freed the Matchless General!" The card that he showed was an almost identical warrior to the wandering heroes that Kensai had used before, except this one was older and had a mustache while the other monster was clean shaven.
"Now the effect of my Royal Flush comes into play! Royal Straight Slasher!" The warrior monster held up its sword and slowly images of regular playing cards appeared. The first was a ten of hearts, the second a jack of hearts, then the queen, the king, and finally an ace. The cards were absorbed into the warrior's sword, and then he slashed down with his sword.
Varon cried out as an intense wind ripped through his armors, shattering each and every one of them and his face down card. The wind picked him up and sent him flying backwards until he was stopped by the barrier of the seal. He was dropped painfully to the ground, and lay there for a moment. Then he pulled himself up.
Kensai grimaced at seeing the seal intact. The effect of Royal Flush should have destroyed the seal...but apparently it wasn't something to be beaten so easily. In that case he would really have to finish Varon off, stripping him of his soul. He had hoped to avoid that, but now it seemed like there was no choice. "Royal Flush, attack Varon directly!"
The warrior launched himself at Kensai's opponent and slashed him viciously across the chest. The attack knocked Varon off his feet and flipped him over. The tough goggle-head slammed forcefully onto the ground, but was able to get to his feet again, bruised but not beaten. "That was truly amazing Kensai, but you haven't beaten me yet. I won't give up at all, so if you want to win this you'll have to pull on even greater levels of skill, otherwise you'll lose this duel to me!" (VLP: 2450)
"I was hoping to avoid making you lose your soul, but if that's what is absolutely necessary to win this duel and come out of it stronger...if you won't settle for anything less then victory or defeat...in that case I will continue to duel my hardest, and I will win this duel!" With that declaration he ended his turn, giving control back to the injured armor duelist.
Varon drew his next card, and then to Kensai's amazement two armor monsters appeared quickly onto his field. The first was the blue helmet that was Psychic Head Armor. The second was the gauntlet fist that was Busterpile.
"You see! Your time is over Kensai, because the effect of Psychic Head Armor allows it to be special summon to the field in attack mode if its in my cemetery at the start of my turn. And thanks to the effect of my Deck Master I was able to revive my Busterpile. Now your end is nearing!"
The helmet slowly lowered onto his head, and the right arm piece connected to his arm with a spray of sparks. Now he was equipped with two pieces of armor, making him a partial borgman. What Kensai didn't see was within the helmet Varon was offered a different view of things. Power gauges let him see his opponent's physical health meter, the opposing monster's stats, and his opponent's life points.
"I'll continue by summoning Advanced Shield(0+500/1500) to the field in defense mode!" A small but thick piece of white metal appeared in front of Varon, and it moved towards him, becoming equipped on the side of his right arm. Hopefully this monster didn't have some kind of deadly effect, but Kensai doubted that considering the trend of monsters he had faced.
"I attack with Busterpile!" He raced across the field and slammed his fist into Royal Flush's face, shattering its mask and his armored fist. The armor and the warrior exploded into tiny pieces, and the effect of Varon's Busterpile dealt the damage to Kensai's life points, bringing him only centimeters away from defeat and becoming soulless. (KLP: 350)
Kensai grimaced, looking at his current cards. He had no possible way of stopping the next attack. He had to draw something good, something other then a monster. If he summoned a monster he would accomplish nothing but give Varon a target to destroy the next turn with his Busterpile, thereby winning him the duel. "Damn it all, I need something now!"
He grabbed the card free and then quickly placed it on the field, watching as the brown-backed card appeared vertically in front of him. He knew what it was, but Varon had no such luxury. He would have to gamble. "That one card face down is all."
Varon grinned as he drew his next card, not bothering to use the effect of his Psychic Head Armor. He simply announced his first move, reviving an armor monster. "Since you didn't summon a monster I'm going to revive Buster Knuckle(1300/0) in attack mode. His attack strength is increased to thirteen hundred from the armor monsters on the field and the Seal of Orichalcos."
The simpler armor rose up and equipped itself in place of Busterpile, the Advanced Shield automatically fitting under it. With this single monster Varon had the attack power to wipe out Kensai's life points in a single strike. "Its over!"
He took off across the field to attack directly, but what he got was a face down card flipping up, revealing King's Knight kneeling. The background of the card was giant heart shape. "Its over only when one of us hits zero life points! My face down card King of Hearts lets me special summon King's Knight to the field and grants him a battle phase during this turn!"
Varon was unable to stop as the powerful bearded warrior appeared on the field in front of Kensai, blocking the path to the warrior duelist's life points. "King's Knight, counterattack and destroy both Buster Knuckle and Advanced Shield!"
The knight rushed forward to meet Varon's assault, and casually slashed Varon across the arm. The blow whipped Varon around and sent him crashing to the ground. The blow also destroyed the shield on his arm and his right arm armor. (VLP: 2150) "Good move. I'll set a card face down and end my turn."
Kensai grabbed the top card of his deck, more casually now then had been the turn before. He could attack now, but that would risk whatever card Varon had placed face down. With the amount of life points he was left with a foolhardy attack like that could spell his end. "I'll set a card face down and end my own turn."
Varon grinned as he drew his card, special summoning Busterpile back onto the field. It was quickly attached to his arm, granting him its effect. Varon had also taken a monster from his deck this time, ready to use it if necessary. "I'll summon Jet Gun Turret(0+500/500) to the field."
The new armor was an arm attachment that equipped over his Busterpile right arm. It was a group of barrels with rockets sticking out of them. Despite that, Kensai was fairly certain that the new armor monster was just insurance, in case Kensai was able to stop Varon's attack. "Here I go!"
Kensai stopped the attack fairly quickly, revealing his newest face down card. It flipped up, depicting Queen's Knight kneeling in a diamond shaped background. "Reveal Queen of Diamonds! This ends your battle phase immediately and lets me special summon Queen's Knight from the graveyard to the field!"
Varon grimaced and ended his turn as soon as the blonde haired female warrior appeared next to her king. It was with these two monsters and their partner that Kensai had been able to turn the tide before, and perhaps he had some sort of combo in mind for them. "Go ahead and show me your plan. I want to take every single move you have! Give me your absolute best and don't stop till the duel has been won by one of us!"
Kensai shook his head in sadness, pitying seeing the end of such a strong duelist, but he had now seen the way to victory, a path to end this duel once and for all. "I'll be sad to see you go Varon. Its been a tough duel and fun, but I can't let it continue any longer. I've drawn on every bit of my strength, and that strength will make me victorious."
He calmly slapped his new card onto the field, revealing the magic card Remove Trap. A grinning Varon revealed his Sakuretsu Armor card, which was destroyed by the effect of Kensai's magic card. Now the path was cleared and Kensai had a way to victory.
"I've realized now what the effect of my Deck Master is. You said before this that a Deck Master can be a key to winning a duel, but I didn't know my Deck Master's effect...till now. Blessed Knight of Emoria, as a monster, has the ability to decrease its attack strength by one thousand permanently to grant it the ability to attack directly. And now it grants my warriors the same power for the duration of one chosen turn, and that turn is now!"
Varon smirked, doing the math and realizing that even together Kensai's two monsters wouldn't be able to do enough damage to finish him off. They would fall slightly over one thousand points short of defeating him. "Now its your math that's wrong Kensai, your monsters aren't strong enough to defeat me."
"No, but armies always give each other strength. As that is the case I now play The A. Force, which boosts the attack power of each of my warriors by two hundred for each face-up warrior or spellcaster on my side of the field. Including my Deck Master that will boost my two monsters by six hundred a piece. And now I reduce their attack powers!"
Varon grinned once more, seeing defeat coming for him. The end truly had come, and he was glad to see it under the hands of a strong and determined duelist. He hadn't reached his limits in this duel, and he didn't think Kensai had either. But maybe someday Kensai would get that duel, even if Varon wouldn't. "Go ahead, end it. Don't back down now."
Kensai nodded and raised his arm, pointing to his opponent. His two monster's raised their weapons and stepped up, ready to attack. "Queen's Knight(1100/1600) start us off!" The female warrior charged forwards and slashed Varon across the chest, slamming him back against the edge of the seal. (VLP: 1050)
"King's Knight...end it once and for all!" The bearded king rushed towards Varon and stabbed the duelist in the chest, pinning him against the barrier for several seconds, watching as the barrier burned his back and drained his strength. Then he pulled the blade back, letting Varon fall heavily to the ground. (VLP: 0)
Kensai turned away, not wanting to watch as the seal pulled in and surrounded Varon. Then in one quick motion the seal collapsed in on him, and his soul was taken. There was nothing left of the tough goggle-head but an empty shell.
After it was over Kensai walked up the shell, and bent down. Slowly he picked up a single card that sat on the ground amidst the pile of Varon's other cards. It was a very special card, and a very deadly one. He held it up in front of his eyes and then clenched his other fist as tight as he could, until his knuckles turned white.
"Seal of Orichalcos...I won't forget the pain you've caused. This is a lesson for me that I will never forget, and I grow stronger for it! I'll remember what such a power as yours can do, the power to grant strength and the power to take life. That is the gift and the curse of any great power. Varon, I promise I will not forget the lesson you have given me, you and your Seal of Orichalcos."
He turned and pocketed the card, staring off into the distance. Nobody deserved such a punishment, such a thing as had happened to Kirani and now had happened to Varon. Nobody...except one person. And so he would keep the card and remember its power and its gift and curse.
"TAICHI! I'M COMING FOR YOU TAICHI!"
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Author's Note: And there ya go. The appearance of the Seal of Orichalcos. However...eh screw it, I won't say it. And Paul, there was your armor duel from me, hope it was good enough to help you along. Also, for those who don't know, I don't own Kai Kaethen, he is owned by Time Mage, whose stories you should go and read. Huzzah!
Original Cards
Kensai: Jack of All Trades, King of Hearts, Queen of Diamonds, Blessed Knight of Emoria
Varon: Armor of Inferno, Breaker Armor
Author's Note: And now, the continuation of something completely different. And don't worry if it doesn't seem as exciting or good as it was at the end of Battle City. This is just the start, and things will pick up.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." -Oscar Wilde
Chapter Twenty-One: Maze Brothers and the Seal of Orichalcos
Drake shook his head as the two maze brothers started up the field, activating the holo projectors. He grinned as he opened the little hatch on the side of the duel disk, and pulled free a wire which he used to connect the disk to the platform. This way he could play as he wanted to. "Okay, and what exactly did you two have in mind? And who is my partner?"
Mei chuckled evilly and gestured to the exit behind Drake. With that gesture a gate slammed down, trapping Drake in and keeping anyone else from entering. "This duel will be of a special system. Two on one, under Deck Master rules. Each player creates a deck from cards selected and then chooses one monster to be Deck Master. You can summon that monster but beware, for its destruction is your doom. Of course each Deck Master also has an effect the player can use."
Drake grimaced as holographic cards started floating up in front of him, and he slowly started picking out his cards. He had to be careful and choose his deck well, otherwise he wouldn't be able to beat these two idiots. Two on one wasn't exactly fair, so he'd probably have to be in top form. But maybe not...this Deck Master system gave him an advantage. "I've now created my deck, and my Deck Master shall be the mighty Obelisk the Tormentor(4000/4000)!"
The Maze Brothers nearly had a collective heart attack as Drake's massive god creature appeared behind him, ready to provide its support. With its great power and its immunities, he could probably win the duel by summoning it in his first turn, but he'd play it safe for the moment.
Mei opened their duel with his hand of six cards, choosing to go first out of the three of them. The order that was announced was Mei, Kyu, and finally Drake. Which meant if one pulled an advantage on him, then the other would be able to follow up. "I'll set a monster in defense mode, and set one card face down. End turn!"
Kyu picked up his sixth card and glanced over at his brother. The green clothed duelist nodded in response, and Kyu forcefully slammed his next card down on the field. "I sacrifice my brother's face down Sangan(1000/600) to summon Labyrinth Wall(0/3000) in defense mode. Next I activate the effect of my Deck Master, Giant Soldier of Stone, to double my wall's defense power!"
Drake grimaced as the massive labyrinth filled up the entire field, bringing entirely new rules into play, rules that Drake had only heard about. This would definitely make the duel more interesting. Mei grinned as he announced his own move. "I shall continue with this trend by activating my own Deck Master's ability, the ability of One-Eyed Shield Dragon grants my brother's wall an immunity to magic and trap cards!"
Kyu ended his turn after his brother finished searching his deck for a monster, courtesy of Sangan's effect. Finally it became Drake's turn. "I'll set two cards face down, and then summon Neo the Magical Swordsman(1700/1000) in attack mode. I'll have Neo advance four spaces into the maze!" His spellcaster appeared on the field, and lit the way with his sword by making it glow blue. Then he walked forward four spaces, stopping only part way into the maze.
The turn went back to Mei, who quickly grabbed a new card, bringing his hand back up to six cards. There was no telling what card he had grabbed, and it could make this worse for Drake. "I play Premature Burial at a cost of eight hundred life points so I can resummon Sangan. Then I set a monster in defense mode. Finally I shall set a card face down!" The furry little demon creature appeared on the field, and next to him a spot on the board glowed. But because he hadn't advanced either of them, they remained where they were. (MLP: 3200)
Kyu grinned as he picked up his next card, and immediately selected a card from his hand which he played to the field. "I sacrifice my brother's Sangan and Witch of the Black Forest to summon Sanga of the Thunder(2600/2200)!" The first piece, and strongest, of the Gate Guardian set appeared on the field, and Mei started searching his deck for two monsters. Whatever they were planning...not good.
"I shall chain my brother's sacrifice with my face down card, Ultimate Offering, allowing each player to pay 500 life points for each extra normal summons!" The card flipped up, and the two brothers smirked to each other, ready for whatever damage they had planned. If Drake was right...then pretty quickly the Gate Guardian would hit the field.
"I pay a total of fifteen hundred life points so I can summon my own Sangan, Witch of the Black Forest, and finally sacrifice them for Suijin(2500/2200) in attack mode! Finally I begin searching my deck for two monsters, and end my turn." The second piece of the set appeared on the field, ready to deal out damage to whoever tried to attack it. With its effect it made a very dangerous opponent. (KLP: 2500)
Drake rolled his eyes and picked up a card, glancing at it only briefly before he placed it on the field. "I summon Mystical Elf(800/2000) in defense mode. Then I'll advance both monsters four spaces into the maze." His blue elf appeared on the field and slowly followed the path his Neo had taken. Neo advanced even further into the maze...and then suddenly dropped out of sight.
Mei cackled evilly as Neo went under, caught in a deep hole. "You're monster has stumbled upon the trap that I set within the maze, my Trap Hole to be exact!" Drake grimaced and passed his turn on to Mei, who gladly took it and drew another card.
"I'll set a monster in defense, and then pay one thousand life points to summon another monster and then sacrifice both for Kazejin(2400/2200) in attack mode!" He grinned as the final piece appeared on the field, ready for whatever they had in mind. Mei casually passed the turn to his brother, who was eagerly fingering a card in his hand, most likely the Gate Guardian. (MLP: 2200)
"I begin by sacrificing the three pieces for Gate Guardian(3750/3400). Next, I shall play Polymerization to fuse my Cannon Soldier with my brother's Giga-tech Wolf to form Labyrinth Tank(2400/2400)! I will continue by advancing my tank into the maze by seven spaces, putting it only 13 more spaces away from reaching your life points!"
The spiked tank started advancing, however it was soon stopped by Drake's commanding voice. "This move wouldn't work normally, but thanks to your corrupted rules I can now activate Trap Reflector as Trap Hole, dropping your Tank out of existence!" Kyu grimaced as his newest monster vanished into the abyss of the trap that Drake had set for it, destroying it for good.
"Very well, I shall end this turn with one last action, the reason why we summoned the Gate Guardian. Our monster has a ranged attack, and its too large to move through the maze. However it can attack anything within the maze, and your life points directly should you not have any protective monsters. So go Gate Guardian, destroy Mystical Elf!" The massive beast gathered its energy and sent a sphere of combined power at his elf, who was unable to defend itself and was easily overwhelmed and destroyed.
Drake picked up his card and grinned as he decided that he would play the game that they had been playing. All they had been doing was waiting, and gathering their forces. He would just do the same thing. He simply set a monster face down and ended his turn.
Mei gladly drew his next card, looking at his hand of three cards. He still had a monster he had taken through the effect of his witch, a monster with hardly any defense points, but the second highest base attack strength of any level four monster. "I start by summoning Jirai Gumo(2200/100) in attack mode! Then I'll play Monster Reborn to revive Sanga of the Thunder in attack mode! My monsters will advance four spaces and seven, respectively. Now, Gate Guardian, destroy his defense monster!"
The land mine spider and the massive Sanga moved into the maze as the giant guardian above them launched another combined attack that easily obliterated Drake's face down monster. However he quickly replaced it with another monster, since it had been Apprenticeship Magician.
"You may have kept up your defenses, but now that its my turn I shall have my Gate Guardian destroy it!" The guardian unleashed a third attack that proved equally as fatal as each of his others, destroying the second Apprenticeship Magician. Drake casually set a monster from his deck onto the field as per its effect.
"Now, the magic card, Sacrifice Bomb! This permanent magic card allows me to sacrifice one monster on the field each turn to deal damage to your life points equal to its attack. So we shall part with Jirai Gumo to part you with more then half of your life points!" A bag of explosives strapped themselves to the giant spider, which hurled itself into the air and then exploded, shaking the entire room. Drake heard an odd cracking sound, but ignored it for the moment. (DLP: 1800)
Drake shook his head at how pathetic these two had been throughout the duel. He added a fourth card to his hand and then grabbed his defense monster and flipped it face up. "I'll start by flipping Old Vindictive Magician to destroy the Gate Guardian." The two maze brothers gasped in horror as their prized monster exploded into tiny little pieces with a single blast from his aging magician.
"I'll continue by sacrificing my magician for Magical Marionette(2000/1000). Then I'll follow that up with the magic card Graceful Charity, which grants my marionette a magic counter, boosting its attack by two hundred." Drake casually deposited his two chosen cards and grinned as his little manakin, a creature wielding two daggers and on strings, grew more powerful.
"Continuing my trend of magic cards I'll play Monster Reborn to revive the Dark Magician(2500/2100), granting my marionette the second magic counter." The familiar purple robed spellcaster hit the field, joining the ever strengthening marionette. Together they made a powerful fighting force, but Drake's combo wasn't over yet. He had a duel to win in this turn.
"Now I play a very special magic card, Baptism of Light and Dark! By its effect I can sacrifice my face up Dark Magician to special summon...Black Magician of Chaos(2800/2600)!" His Dark Magician shattered, and was quickly replaced by the more powerful blue skinned spellcaster, who twirled his staff overhead before resting it on the ground.
"According to my monster's effect I can now select a magic card in my cemetery and add it to my hand. I select Monster Reborn, and then play it to once again revive the Dark Magician!" He grinned as his powerful magician reappeared, ready to fight once again. Not only that, but by playing Monster Reborn again he had increased his marionette's attack power to twenty-eight hundred.
"I now discard what's left of my hand as the summoning cost of my Deck Master, moving Obelisk the Tormentor(4000/4000) onto the field!" He deposited his single remaining card into his cemetery, and watched as his god creature advanced onto the field, completely ignoring the weaker members of the group. To him they were just bugs.
"The final part of my combo involves the second use of my marionette's counters, by removing two I can destroy one monster on my opponent's field. So I remove all four to destroy Sanga and Labyrinth Wall!" The marionette hurled its two daggers at the two monsters, destroying them both easily, clearing the way for Drake by removing the obstacle of the maze. Seeing what they were faced with the two maze brothers dropped their cards and started trying to climb out, screaming in terror.
"Now my monsters, attack together!" The three magicians cast their various items of power together and gathered with their collective power a massive ball of energy. Once it was ready Obelisk grabbed it up with his hand and then hurled the Massive Ball of Energy(11300/0) towards his opponents.
It exploded in front of them, instantly dropping their life points to zero and winning Drake the duel. But that was just the simplest thing that had happened. As Drake watched, horrified, the cracking sound returned, and the entire stadium split in half and start dropping down the cliff face, to deposit them all into the craggy rocks below.
Drake hastily grabbed up his cards and started scrambling up the falling platform. He had mere seconds left when he jumped, and then the platform fell away, crashing several moments later into the bottom of the ravine, exploding terribly. Drake hit the edge and scrabbled to hold on, barely managing to get a grip of the rocky ground. He was left hanging by his bare hands over the rocks below.
Slowly he started to pull himself up, but he soon discovered that the ground wasn't fully stable, and the rocks broke away, letting him fall to his doom. "AAAAAAA!!!!!" He squeezed his eyes shut, not fully understanding how he could meet an ignominious end at the hands of...well rocks. He would have been better off staying dead then just to come back and get killed by stone.
His screams stopped suddenly as something caught his arm, and jerked him to a halt. He blinked and turned his gaze up to see what had stopped him. He discovered that someone had grabbed hold of his arm. A someone who oddly enough had one blue and one brown eye. "Hold on, I'll get you up."
Together the two of them managed to get Drake back on solid ground and away from that unsettling death. He took a deep breath and took a look at his savior, who had come through the now open doorway. Obviously he had gone through the maze himself and been locked out when Drake's duel started. Lucky he had been there.
His savior was tall, about the same height as Drake himself, and roughly the same age as well. He wore a white t-shirt that was almost completely covered by a black vest that he let hang open, blowing in the breeze, while his light-weight black pants tugged in an attempt to escape with the wind. On his right arm was a bright white duel disk, proving that he was a duelist. "Thanks. I'm Drake. Might I ask the name of my savior?"
The strange duelist smiled slightly and offered his hand to Drake, as he gave his name. "I'm Kai Kaethan, glad to meet you." Drake took his hand and shook it, then let go and turned away. He started heading towards the only path out, a small trail that would lead away from the maze and towards...well somewhere different.
Drake blinked and turned around at the sound of footsteps. To his surprise Kai was just a few feet behind him, also walking in the same direction. He grinned and held out his hand to stop the other duelist. "Look, I appreciate you saving me, but I have important stuff to do, and I don't want you following me."
Kai just shook his head and brushed past Drake, continuing along. "I'm not following you, this is the only exit!" Drake sighed and started walking again. It would seem that for the moment he and Kai were traveling partners, but only until he found Taichi.
*******************************************************
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!"
Kensai grimaced as the seal fully took over, filling the dueling area with an eerie green light. He reached out and tapped the edge of the circle, and received a vicious spark in return, burning his finger. So escaping wasn't going to happen. In that case he was just going to have to duel his very hardest. It was win...no. There was no choice but victory in this situation.
Varon grinned as he took another card from his hand and held it up in front of him, ready to play it. Then he slipped it into the activation slot, and let its magic do its work. "I didn't use this card before because I didn't believe it was necessary...but now I'll win this duel in one turn by the power of my magic card, Full Armor Gravitation!"
The magic card that appeared displayed a person fully equipped with various armors and he was glowing with an intensely bright light. Varon grabbed at his deck and immediately started slipping cards off the top. "By the effect of Full Armor Gravitation I can draw ten cards, and of those ten cards I can automatically special summon any armor monsters I draw!"
Kensai's eyes widened, but then he grinned, realizing the flaw in the card. Ten cards was a lot, but there was a specific rule that would keep him from getting as much out of the deal as he was hoping. "Forgetting something Varon? You can only play a total of five monsters. So any extras you draw will just clog up your hand."
Varon just smirked and kept drawing until he had drawn all ten cards that he was required to draw, and then he quickly started playing monsters. First one, then a second, soon four, and to Kensai's surprise...seven. "One of the first effects of the Seal of Orichalcos is that it lets me play my monsters in my magic zones, allowing me to summon up to ten monsters!"
Varon's smirk just grew wider as the seven monsters appeared in quick succession, one after another the seven armors equipped onto Varon's body. Legs, a chest piece, left arm, right arm, a little shield over his left arm, a little gun turret on his right arm, and finally a Psychic Head Armor that closed over his head. "Now, with these seven armors, I have formed the unstoppable Borgman!"
Kensai clenched his fists tight as the full borgman was assembled. Because of the way this was working out he had no idea exactly what each armor did, or even each armor's stats. Hell, he didn't even know what their names were. "Whatever sort of power your armors have, I'm ready to take them on. Seal or no seal, I won't be giving this duel up. You'll have to give me everything you've got to win this. Now lets do this!"
Varon lifted up his right arm and grinned as he started sprinting towards Kensai. He had chosen the single armor monster he was going to attack with, and whatever it was, Kensai was sure that its effect was dangerous. It wasn't Big Bang Blow, but it look deadly. "You want me to give it everything I've got? Well here it is, Busterpile Armor(0+500/0)!"
He charged across the field at full speed, and was nearly to Gaia, his outstretched arm ready to deal a killing blow. What Kensai didn't realize was that when Busterpile attacked a monster he negated battle damage, destroyed both monsters, and dealt 500 direct damage. In that way he'd be able to cut Kensai's life points down, and the duel would be his. "HERE I COME!"
Kensai grinned as his goggle-headed opponent neared his monster, ready to strike it down with whatever effect his Busterpile had. However imminent soul loss was not on Kensai's list of things to do for the day. "I refuse to be defeated! Go Jack of All Trades!"
His face down card flipped up, revealing an image of Jack's Knight praying over its sword. The text at the bottom of his trap card revealed all that Varon needed to know, and as close as he was he could read exactly what it said. "Now by the effect of my trap card I sacrifice my Gaia to special summon Jack's Knight(1900/1000) from my deck to the field!"
Varon skidded to a halt as his target suddenly exploded in front of him. Kensai's deck started glowing, and several seconds later the light shot from his deck and onto the field in front of Varon. Varon blinked several times to clear the light from his eyes, and suddenly found himself face to face with Kensai's new monster.
Jack's Knight was a tall blonde warrior in white and purple armor. He held a fancy shield in one hand and a shiny broad sword in the other. He was a monster that hadn't been in Kensai's deck until just recently...when he had assembled a brand new deck.
Varon scoffed at the appearance of this new monster and raised his fist again, ready to continue the attack. "Why sacrifice a stronger monster for a weaker one? I can destroy this monster as readily as I could the last one, so it will hardly make any difference." He started punching, but suddenly electricity jumped up from the seal beneath him and stopped his hand, shocking him and sending him stumbling backwards.
Kensai grinned as Varon shook his arm in pain. The goggle-head vainly tried to figure out exactly what had happened, but he wasn't having any luck. So Kensai decided to explain it for him. "That shock was just your seal enforcing the current rules. While Jack's Knight and Jack of All Trades are on the field together you get no battle phase. Therefore your attack was invalid. Sorry, but it looks like your turn is about over."
The other duelist scowled and then stalked back to his side of the field. However, when he turned around a big smile was on his face. It was obvious that despite being stopped Varon was happy that Kensai was continuing to duel his hardest. It was for situations like this one, situations that pushed people to their limits, that Varon lived for. "I'll just set two cards face down and end my turn. Congratulations Kensai on stopping me, I expected nothing less."
Kensai slowly slid his next card off the top of his deck, silently wondering exactly what some of the duelists he knew would do in this situation. He knew that Drake would insist on continuing to fight, even if the situation looked hopeless. Kirani would say that a duel like this was only a trial from which to garner strength.
He added the card to his hand but didn't look down at it. Quietly he whispered his truth to the world, hoping that it was heard by the people he wanted to hear it. "You are both right. I won't back down, not even and inch, and I will emerge from this stronger then ever. I won't be useless to anyone anymore. Before I couldn't fight Taichi, but I will make sure that I have the strength to fight him if I am needed to."
He let out his breath and then dropped his eyes to his hand, looking it over briefly. He stared at the two cards, and then grinned as an idea came to him. Already his determination was paying off. "Okay, I begin by summoning King's Knight(1600/1400) in attack mode!"
As he played the monster onto the field, it appeared in all its glory. A bearded blonde man dressed in fanciful orange and white armor, with a purple cape flaring out behind him. He also held a sword in his hand, and each wrist had a spiked bracer on it. In his left hand was a sturdy orange shield. At his appearance Jack's Knight silently bowed, greeting his king.
"Now I play a magic card made available by your idea to select cards. Such a card is normally virtually impossible to find, and is quite new. It's the card Payment of Debt!" He deposited the card in his cemetery and then drew three more cards off the top of his deck, putting him ahead of Varon's hand by one card. Now he had the necessary cards to continue this duel for real.
"I'll set one card face down, and play Reinforcement to the Army!" He ejected his deck according his card's effect and started searching his deck for a level four or lower warrior to add to his hand. Once he found what he was looking for he reshuffled his deck and then put it back in its slot. He was just about ready to take back this duel.
"I have no idea what your armors are capable of, so I won't risk attacking. I'm safe for the moment since you have no battle phase. I'll just end my turn at that, and next turn I intend to take this duel in hand and win the day!" He grinned and hoped for the best, knowing that victory wasn't certain. Even the cards he had now couldn't insure victory, but he was willing to bet it all on his strategy. That was enough for now.
Varon started his turn by taking a card that was popped out of his deck. That meant he was using the effect of Psychic Head Armor to choose an armor monster to add to his hand. Whatever it was, Kensai was ready to handle it. He wasn't going to be defeated by a bunch of weird new monsters that he had never heard of. "Hey Kensai, you may have had me stopped last turn, but my next armor monster will let me clinch this duel. Go, Breaker Armor(0+500/1000)!"
Kensai started to worry when he heard the term breaker in the monster's name. He knew of two monsters that had breaker in their name, and both had effects that could destroy magic and trap cards. If this was a similar case then he was in trouble.
The new armor that appeared was in fact, a full suit of armor. It was a black high tech looking suit, similar to the compiled borgman form that Varon had assembled. This armor however had no helmet, obviously leaving an opening for Psychic Head Armor. "Now I'll use my monster's effect, by sacrificing him to negate the effect of your Jack of All Trades...permanently!"
Kensai grimaced as the suit of armor used rocket boosters to zip across the field towards him. Once there it stopped its boosters and whirled around, grabbing hold of his trap card in a bear hug, and staying that way. Kensai gulped grimly as he realized the implication. Varon now had a battle phase.
"You know, originally I was going to use Busterpile to destroy your monster and deal five hundred damage. But now I can do much better! You see one of my monsters is Burning Knuckle Armor(0+500/1000)!" As he spoke he held up his left fist, demonstrating his armor monster by displaying it to Kensai. Whatever this monster did, it was bound to be bad for Kensai.
"Burning Knuckle has two effects, but the first is the only you should be worried about. Just like my Buster Knuckle it gains two hundred points for each armor on the field, and counting my Deck Master that's a total of sixteen hundred bonus attack points, bringing him up to 2100!" Kensai grimaced as he realized that the bonus made that single armor stronger then even his Jack's Knight. Definitely not good.
"Aren't you miscalculating a little bit? Even if you use it to destroy my King's Knight you'll only do five hundred damage ,the same as would have happened if you used Busterpile. So what's the difference?" Varon just grinned and pressed a button on his duel disk, in order to activate one of his face down cards.
"This is what! Activate Armor of Inferno, switching all armor monsters into attack mode and boosting their attack power by one thousand!" The card flipped up, revealing a the image of the borgman surrounded by an aura of flames. As this happened the same aura of flames lit up around Varon, granting him a huge power boost, bringing Burning Knuckle up to thirty-one hundred points, more then enough to finish of his life points.
"Here it is, the end of this duel! I attack with Burning Knuckle to destroy Jack's Knight!" This time all he did was punch forwards, and a get of flame erupted from his hand, streaking towards Kensai's knight. Kensai's eyes widened as he realized that he could really feel the heat of the flames...that fire was real!
"I won't lose yet! Activate Weakening of Attack!" A ripple appeared in the air, absorbing the flames and keeping Kensai and his knights safe from the attack. Not only that but by its effect Varon's battle phase was immediately ended, further protecting Kensai. He let out a deep breath, relieved when Varon announced no counter move.
"A good play Kensai, but it won't save you in the end. I've still got all my armors, and you won't be getting past them anytime soon. Shortly I will prove my strength and make the half-way mark in my streak of victories!"
The warrior duelist looked down at the deck in his duel disk. From that deck he needed one card, if he didn't get that card then he had no idea how he'd be able to win this duel. He had only one strategy available to him, and no cards to let him stop Varon's assault in the next turn. This one draw could mean everything.
"I put all my faith in this one draw!" He pulled the card free and then held it above his head for a moment. Then he forcefully brought his arm down, bringing the card directly in front of his face. Slowly a grin spread across his features, causing Varon to start to worry.
"My faith has rewarded me with the one card that I can use to turn this duel around. Now first I'll summon Queen's Knight(1500/1600) to complete my set!" Kensai's newest monster was a woman with long blonde hair. She wore bright red armor and had a tall red helmet. In her right hand she held a triangular shield, and in her left she held a stout sword. Jack's Knight payed her deference with a slightly shallower bow then he had given to the king.
"Now for this card, the card that will change the tide of this duel in my favor! I play Royal Straight!" He slammed the card down, and in quick succession his three monsters shattered into dust particles. First went Jack's Knight. Then went the queen. Finally the king went, making way for something greater, something deadlier.
"By its effect I sacrifice Jack's Knight, Queen's Knight, and King's Knight so special summon Royal Flush(2400/1350) to the field!" The new monster appeared as a tall and muscular warrior dressed in green armor. His face was a pale light mask, and on the center of his chest was a bright red heart. This monster was going to be Varon's undoing.
"Now since I've summoned it to the field I can bring about your defeat. I remove five monsters in my deck from play whose levels are 1-5! Then I can destroy all cards on my opponent's field!" Five cards ejected from Kensai's deck and he held them in his right hand. Slowly he started taking them, starting from the left, and sending them to his cemetery.
"The first, a one star monster, represents the ten of a royal flush!" He took the card and casually deposited it in his cemetery. Then he continued his move, watching with delight as the terror on Varon's face started to grow.
"The second, two star, is the Jack, second part of the royal flush!" The next card was sent to the cemetery, further increasing Varon's nervousness. With this move Kensai would be able to take control and dominate the duel with his strong monster.
"Third is the three star, one of my favored monster, Marauding Captain. It will represent the queen, the second of the face cards!" He briefly showed Varon the image of his Marauding Captain before he sent that monster to the cemetery, to join the ones before it.
"Next is the king, in this case another Swift Black Ninja!" He took the dark ninja and slipped him through the cemetery slot, dropping in on top of several other monsters. The monsters in Kensai's cemetery were starting to pile up now.
"The final monster represents the ace, the last and most powerful of the face cards. This monster goes to the cemetery to deal the damage as vengeance of the loss of his two lesser selves. This monster is Freed the Matchless General!" The card that he showed was an almost identical warrior to the wandering heroes that Kensai had used before, except this one was older and had a mustache while the other monster was clean shaven.
"Now the effect of my Royal Flush comes into play! Royal Straight Slasher!" The warrior monster held up its sword and slowly images of regular playing cards appeared. The first was a ten of hearts, the second a jack of hearts, then the queen, the king, and finally an ace. The cards were absorbed into the warrior's sword, and then he slashed down with his sword.
Varon cried out as an intense wind ripped through his armors, shattering each and every one of them and his face down card. The wind picked him up and sent him flying backwards until he was stopped by the barrier of the seal. He was dropped painfully to the ground, and lay there for a moment. Then he pulled himself up.
Kensai grimaced at seeing the seal intact. The effect of Royal Flush should have destroyed the seal...but apparently it wasn't something to be beaten so easily. In that case he would really have to finish Varon off, stripping him of his soul. He had hoped to avoid that, but now it seemed like there was no choice. "Royal Flush, attack Varon directly!"
The warrior launched himself at Kensai's opponent and slashed him viciously across the chest. The attack knocked Varon off his feet and flipped him over. The tough goggle-head slammed forcefully onto the ground, but was able to get to his feet again, bruised but not beaten. "That was truly amazing Kensai, but you haven't beaten me yet. I won't give up at all, so if you want to win this you'll have to pull on even greater levels of skill, otherwise you'll lose this duel to me!" (VLP: 2450)
"I was hoping to avoid making you lose your soul, but if that's what is absolutely necessary to win this duel and come out of it stronger...if you won't settle for anything less then victory or defeat...in that case I will continue to duel my hardest, and I will win this duel!" With that declaration he ended his turn, giving control back to the injured armor duelist.
Varon drew his next card, and then to Kensai's amazement two armor monsters appeared quickly onto his field. The first was the blue helmet that was Psychic Head Armor. The second was the gauntlet fist that was Busterpile.
"You see! Your time is over Kensai, because the effect of Psychic Head Armor allows it to be special summon to the field in attack mode if its in my cemetery at the start of my turn. And thanks to the effect of my Deck Master I was able to revive my Busterpile. Now your end is nearing!"
The helmet slowly lowered onto his head, and the right arm piece connected to his arm with a spray of sparks. Now he was equipped with two pieces of armor, making him a partial borgman. What Kensai didn't see was within the helmet Varon was offered a different view of things. Power gauges let him see his opponent's physical health meter, the opposing monster's stats, and his opponent's life points.
"I'll continue by summoning Advanced Shield(0+500/1500) to the field in defense mode!" A small but thick piece of white metal appeared in front of Varon, and it moved towards him, becoming equipped on the side of his right arm. Hopefully this monster didn't have some kind of deadly effect, but Kensai doubted that considering the trend of monsters he had faced.
"I attack with Busterpile!" He raced across the field and slammed his fist into Royal Flush's face, shattering its mask and his armored fist. The armor and the warrior exploded into tiny pieces, and the effect of Varon's Busterpile dealt the damage to Kensai's life points, bringing him only centimeters away from defeat and becoming soulless. (KLP: 350)
Kensai grimaced, looking at his current cards. He had no possible way of stopping the next attack. He had to draw something good, something other then a monster. If he summoned a monster he would accomplish nothing but give Varon a target to destroy the next turn with his Busterpile, thereby winning him the duel. "Damn it all, I need something now!"
He grabbed the card free and then quickly placed it on the field, watching as the brown-backed card appeared vertically in front of him. He knew what it was, but Varon had no such luxury. He would have to gamble. "That one card face down is all."
Varon grinned as he drew his next card, not bothering to use the effect of his Psychic Head Armor. He simply announced his first move, reviving an armor monster. "Since you didn't summon a monster I'm going to revive Buster Knuckle(1300/0) in attack mode. His attack strength is increased to thirteen hundred from the armor monsters on the field and the Seal of Orichalcos."
The simpler armor rose up and equipped itself in place of Busterpile, the Advanced Shield automatically fitting under it. With this single monster Varon had the attack power to wipe out Kensai's life points in a single strike. "Its over!"
He took off across the field to attack directly, but what he got was a face down card flipping up, revealing King's Knight kneeling. The background of the card was giant heart shape. "Its over only when one of us hits zero life points! My face down card King of Hearts lets me special summon King's Knight to the field and grants him a battle phase during this turn!"
Varon was unable to stop as the powerful bearded warrior appeared on the field in front of Kensai, blocking the path to the warrior duelist's life points. "King's Knight, counterattack and destroy both Buster Knuckle and Advanced Shield!"
The knight rushed forward to meet Varon's assault, and casually slashed Varon across the arm. The blow whipped Varon around and sent him crashing to the ground. The blow also destroyed the shield on his arm and his right arm armor. (VLP: 2150) "Good move. I'll set a card face down and end my turn."
Kensai grabbed the top card of his deck, more casually now then had been the turn before. He could attack now, but that would risk whatever card Varon had placed face down. With the amount of life points he was left with a foolhardy attack like that could spell his end. "I'll set a card face down and end my own turn."
Varon grinned as he drew his card, special summoning Busterpile back onto the field. It was quickly attached to his arm, granting him its effect. Varon had also taken a monster from his deck this time, ready to use it if necessary. "I'll summon Jet Gun Turret(0+500/500) to the field."
The new armor was an arm attachment that equipped over his Busterpile right arm. It was a group of barrels with rockets sticking out of them. Despite that, Kensai was fairly certain that the new armor monster was just insurance, in case Kensai was able to stop Varon's attack. "Here I go!"
Kensai stopped the attack fairly quickly, revealing his newest face down card. It flipped up, depicting Queen's Knight kneeling in a diamond shaped background. "Reveal Queen of Diamonds! This ends your battle phase immediately and lets me special summon Queen's Knight from the graveyard to the field!"
Varon grimaced and ended his turn as soon as the blonde haired female warrior appeared next to her king. It was with these two monsters and their partner that Kensai had been able to turn the tide before, and perhaps he had some sort of combo in mind for them. "Go ahead and show me your plan. I want to take every single move you have! Give me your absolute best and don't stop till the duel has been won by one of us!"
Kensai shook his head in sadness, pitying seeing the end of such a strong duelist, but he had now seen the way to victory, a path to end this duel once and for all. "I'll be sad to see you go Varon. Its been a tough duel and fun, but I can't let it continue any longer. I've drawn on every bit of my strength, and that strength will make me victorious."
He calmly slapped his new card onto the field, revealing the magic card Remove Trap. A grinning Varon revealed his Sakuretsu Armor card, which was destroyed by the effect of Kensai's magic card. Now the path was cleared and Kensai had a way to victory.
"I've realized now what the effect of my Deck Master is. You said before this that a Deck Master can be a key to winning a duel, but I didn't know my Deck Master's effect...till now. Blessed Knight of Emoria, as a monster, has the ability to decrease its attack strength by one thousand permanently to grant it the ability to attack directly. And now it grants my warriors the same power for the duration of one chosen turn, and that turn is now!"
Varon smirked, doing the math and realizing that even together Kensai's two monsters wouldn't be able to do enough damage to finish him off. They would fall slightly over one thousand points short of defeating him. "Now its your math that's wrong Kensai, your monsters aren't strong enough to defeat me."
"No, but armies always give each other strength. As that is the case I now play The A. Force, which boosts the attack power of each of my warriors by two hundred for each face-up warrior or spellcaster on my side of the field. Including my Deck Master that will boost my two monsters by six hundred a piece. And now I reduce their attack powers!"
Varon grinned once more, seeing defeat coming for him. The end truly had come, and he was glad to see it under the hands of a strong and determined duelist. He hadn't reached his limits in this duel, and he didn't think Kensai had either. But maybe someday Kensai would get that duel, even if Varon wouldn't. "Go ahead, end it. Don't back down now."
Kensai nodded and raised his arm, pointing to his opponent. His two monster's raised their weapons and stepped up, ready to attack. "Queen's Knight(1100/1600) start us off!" The female warrior charged forwards and slashed Varon across the chest, slamming him back against the edge of the seal. (VLP: 1050)
"King's Knight...end it once and for all!" The bearded king rushed towards Varon and stabbed the duelist in the chest, pinning him against the barrier for several seconds, watching as the barrier burned his back and drained his strength. Then he pulled the blade back, letting Varon fall heavily to the ground. (VLP: 0)
Kensai turned away, not wanting to watch as the seal pulled in and surrounded Varon. Then in one quick motion the seal collapsed in on him, and his soul was taken. There was nothing left of the tough goggle-head but an empty shell.
After it was over Kensai walked up the shell, and bent down. Slowly he picked up a single card that sat on the ground amidst the pile of Varon's other cards. It was a very special card, and a very deadly one. He held it up in front of his eyes and then clenched his other fist as tight as he could, until his knuckles turned white.
"Seal of Orichalcos...I won't forget the pain you've caused. This is a lesson for me that I will never forget, and I grow stronger for it! I'll remember what such a power as yours can do, the power to grant strength and the power to take life. That is the gift and the curse of any great power. Varon, I promise I will not forget the lesson you have given me, you and your Seal of Orichalcos."
He turned and pocketed the card, staring off into the distance. Nobody deserved such a punishment, such a thing as had happened to Kirani and now had happened to Varon. Nobody...except one person. And so he would keep the card and remember its power and its gift and curse.
"TAICHI! I'M COMING FOR YOU TAICHI!"
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Author's Note: And there ya go. The appearance of the Seal of Orichalcos. However...eh screw it, I won't say it. And Paul, there was your armor duel from me, hope it was good enough to help you along. Also, for those who don't know, I don't own Kai Kaethen, he is owned by Time Mage, whose stories you should go and read. Huzzah!
Original Cards
Kensai: Jack of All Trades, King of Hearts, Queen of Diamonds, Blessed Knight of Emoria
Varon: Armor of Inferno, Breaker Armor