Disclaimer: Yeah yeah, no Yugioh here.
Author's Note: Here's the duel that was suppossed to be in the previous chapter. And of course the duel that was originaly in this chapter. You can guess on your own which one was suppossed to go where, but it doesn't matter.
Quote of the Chapter: "War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children." -Jimmy Carter
Chapter Twenty-Three: Run the Gauntlet!
When he awoke he found himself in what might be called nowhere, but was better described as nothing. Of course these things probably had roughly the same meaning, but at the moment of his awakening that didn't really matter to him.
"Damn my head hurts." Groaning he sat up and looked around, trying to discover exactly what the nothing or nowhere around him was. It was at that point that he realized that at this moment those words had almost the exact same meaning. He really should have thought of that earlier.
"You feel guilty for Hinata's soul being taken away don't you?" Ryu jumped to his feet, fists at the ready as he searched for the source of the voice. However all that was there was the nothing, the nowhere. Silently he cursed himself for using those words again to describe the same thing.
"Who the hell are you? Where are you? What do you want?" His voice echoed back to him across the....blankness. Yes, that was one he hadn't used yet, blankness. The only immediate response he got from the blankness was a low chuckle that echoed back at him through the blankness.
"Oh I'm here somewhere in the void (Ryu filed that one away for further use). I'm just a simple prospector looking for certain things. As to what I want...well I want to cut a deal with you." The low chuckle filled the void, carrying with it a sense of dread that prickled Ryu's skin. Whoever this person was, it was unlikely they were one of the good guys.
"What kind of deal?" Suddenly lights sprang up, casting aside the shadows of the void, the nothing, the nowhere, the blankness. Blankness was a stupid word. Screw blankness, he'd stick with void.
A figure stepped into view and Ryu gasped at the sight of this person, finally starting to understand exactly what was going on. Things definitely weren't looking up for him at the moment. "The deal is simple. I will get Hinata's soul free for you if you do what I ask of you. You will become my willing soldier, doing my bidding at each and every turn. You kill who I want, maim who I want, and whatever other things come up. How does that sound?"
Had anyone been listening in on this conversation they would have been leaning in to hear Ryu's response. They would have waited several seconds before he spoke again. They would have been deeply disappointed as the void swallowed up his answer, keeping it from their ears. And they would have heard the laughter that followed after.
Seto Kaiba had been stalking through the forest for nearly an hour, following the path of the black wind that had left after he defeated the last duelist. He had won another duel about fifteen minutes after that, and was now continuing on the path that the wind had taken.
The undergrowth snapped under his booted feet, cracking and tearing as he pushed his way past all the plants. He had his destination in mind, and it all revolved around a certain black haired boy. He wouldn't let anything happen to Mokuba, he had to rescue him from this crazy world.
He stopped in surprise as the forest simply stopped, and now he found himself in what was clearly the stadium he had been building, but completed now. He whirled around to see if there was anything like a holoprojector hidden to create this, but soon discovered that the forest behind him was gone. "What's going on here?"
Twin laughter spun him around, and he found to brown cloaked figures striding from the entrance across from him. He recognized the eye symbol on their cloaks as the same symbol that appeared on each of the Millennium items...and one the Rare Hunter's cloaks. "Rare Hunters. Just what I needed."
"Poor Kaiba, so desperate to find his little brother. Of course he could always get that information out of us, if he can beat us in a duel." Kaiba scowled as the two Rare Hunters activated the DD2s on their arms, and drew opening hands of five cards. These punks had already assumed that he was going to duel. But then again...it was his best chance to find Mokuba.
"Which one of you do I duel first?" When the two cloaked duelists started laughing realization struck Kaiba. They had said us, they meant us, and that meant they both wanted to duel him. Two on one. Knowing the Rare Hunters they'd at least be pretty good, and that meant he was in trouble in a two on one duel. He might be able to win, but they'd probably have decks designed to assist each other, giving him a disadvantage.
"Now dat's not exactly fair is it? How's about I duel you clowns too, and if we win you tell us both where our siblings are. Huh?" Kaiba whirled around at the sound of that voice, that damned Osaka accent. He knew before finishing his turn exactly who was stepping up behind him. The last person he wanted to see, Joey Wheeler.
The Rare Hunters laughed at this proposition and silently discussed it with each other. Finally they two broke apart, and nodded in assent. It would be a two on two duel, Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler versus the two unknown Rare Hunters. Kaiba understood the situation well enough that he willingly accepted the help.
Each duelist now had an opening hand, and Joey took the opportunity to draw a sixth card, choosing to go first in this duel. He surveyed his hand and quickly chose the cards he wanted to use. "I'll summon Mad Sword Beast(1400/1200) in attack mode. Then I'll set three cards face down. End turn." The armored beast appeared on the field and snorted at the Rare Hunters. Then three cards appeared behind it.
The first of the Rare Hunters selected his cards from his six and grinned beneath his hood. Then he carefully placed them onto the disk. "I'll place a monster in defense mode and two cards face down. End turn!" His cards appeared, and then the turn shifted to Kaiba who greedily drew his sixth card.
Kaiba surveyed his hand and looked over the other cards on the field, snorting at how ridiculous it was to start off so weakly. He started off strong, stayed strong, and that was why he would win. "I play Cost Down, discarding a card from my hand to reduce all monsters in my hand by two levels. Now I play Silent Death, reviving the Battle Ox I sent to the cemetery in permanent defense mode!"
The brown-skinned minotaur appeared on the field, crouching down in defense mode. Because of the effect of Silent Death it was impossible for him to go into attack mode...so Joey realized what Kaiba was intending at the same time the hunters did. "I sacrifice Battle Ox for hte mighty Blue Eyes White Dragon(3000/2500)!"
Battle Ox shattered, and with a flap of giant wings the virtually invincible engine of destruction appeared on the field in all its blue eyed white scaled glory. It let out a deafening roar, and Kaiba smirked at the sight of his mighty beast. "I'll set a single card face down and end my turn."
The second hunter drew his card and looked over his hand. A small smile appeared across his features as he picked out the cards he wanted to use. "I'll set two cards face down and play Polymerization to fuse Time Wizard and Baby Dragon into Thousand Dragon(2400/2000)!" The two creatures appeared on the field and merged into one, becoming the orange scaled massive dragon. An impressive first turn move.
Joey shook his head as he drew and then grinned in triumph as he recognized the card he had just drawn. This was gonna make everything so much easier. In fact it was gonna easily get him the exact card he needed. "I play Card in Hand, which lets me place a monster from my deck in my hand."
He ejected his deck and searched through, before finally coming across the monster that he had added when he created this deck the first time he dueled someone under these strange rules. It was going to be the first time he had used it, and the other card as well. "Go face down cards, White Dragon Ritual and Black Dragon Ritual!" The two cards flipped up, revealing very similar pots usually seen in ritual summoning.
"I offer Mad Sword Beast and Axe Raider from my hand to special summon Paladin of White Dragon(1900/1200) and Knight of Black Dragon(1800/1000)!" The two named monsters were sucked into the pots, and then moments later the pots shattered, revealing two very special monsters. A well dressed knight riding what looked like a baby Blue Eyes and a tall knight in black standing with no dragon.
"I'm gonna use the Paladin's effect and destroy your face down monster, so go Paladin attack and destroy!" The paladin swooped down across the field, ready to strike down the defensive monster. However at the last moment a face down card flipped up, revealing Negate Attack.
"I'll chain not only with Negate Attack, but with Reward of Negation! Every time our opponents are unable to complete a declared attack we may put one Polymerization or fusion material monster into our hand!" Joey grimaced as the first Rare Hunter started searching through his deck before getting the card he wanted.
However Joey's turn wasn't over, so he decided to use his Knight's effect. He was about to get out one of his deadliest monsters in one single stroke. "I sacrifice Knight of Black Dragon for its effect, special summoning Red Eyes Black Dragon(2400/2000) to the field!" The knight shattered, and Joey called forth the powerful spiky skinned black dragon. Its red eyes pierced through the Rare Hunter's cold gaze and made him step back momentarily in fright.
As Joey ended his turn by special summoning his own Blue Eyes, Kaiba could only think about the situation critically. He stood with the White Dragon and Joey with the Black Dragon, both counterparts of the other. One dark, one light. But in truth the situation was reversed between them. The darker one was Kaiba, and the lighter was Joey. Just likely Kaiba was a world class duelist and Joey was...
As the Rare Hunter drew his next card Kaiba was forced to shake that thought off, because it obviously wasn't true. Joey had beaten him fair and square, and that meant he wasn't just some third ranked duelist. He was a world class duelist, and perhaps it was time that Kaiba stopped avoiding that thought. "Nice move Wheeler, but not good enough. I summon Supply(1300/800) and then flip my face down Summoner of Illusions(800/900). Now I sacrifice Supply for its effect, to special summon Black Skull Dragon(3200/2500)!"
Both Joey and Kaiba stared in surprise as the newer monster vanished and was replaced by the towering black dragon, which flexed its skeletal wings and roared at the two of them. With it in play, things just got more difficult. "I'll set one card face down and then I have Black Skull Dragon attack the Blue Eyes!"
Kaiba grimaced as he saw the molten fireballs bearing down upon Joey's Blue Eyes. Hopefully that amateur would be able to stop the attack with his remaining face down card. "Activate Magic Arm Shield!" The card flipped, and a grabber launched out, pulling Summoner of Illusions in the way of the attack. It was incinerated by the attack and the Rare Hunter grimaced as his life points took a dip. (RH1LP: 5600) Finally the skull dragon was destroyed, according to the effect of Summoner of Illusions.
Now, once again it was Kaiba's turn. He drew his card, giving him a total of two cards, and smirked at the sight of his next card. This next move would certainly be an effective one. It would knock his opponent's life points down by quite a bit. "I summon Vorse Raider(1900/1200). Now I play Energy Absorber, sacrificing Vorse Raider to let Blue Eyes attack directly! Burst Stream!"
The Blue Eyes took the energy granted by the sacrifice of the Vorse Raider. It then opened its mouth wide and shot forth its beam of pure white energy directly at his opponent, who watched the blast from underneath his hood. "Activate Fusion Sacrifice! I can negate your attack by sacrificing one fusion monster, namely my Thousand Dragon. Thanks to my partner's Reward of Negation, I get to put a special card into my hand."
Kaiba ended his turn, and the other Rare Hunter gladly took his own, drawing a new card and giving him a total of three cards in his hand. He held up one card, displaying Pot of Greed, and then drew two cards. Unnoticed by Kaiba or Joey, he was not drawing from the top of his deck. Instead he drew from a special compartment which slid out the cards just like they would have been at the top, making it impossible to tell he hadn't drawn them in the normal manner. "Huh...looks like my strategy is starting to be worked out."
Kaiba quirked an eye, and then gasped as his opponent played his next card combo. "I play Fusion Gate, which will let us fuse monsters without Polymerization. Now I play Fusion Jetway! My partner and I draw two cards, and then in each draw phase, as long as Fusion Gate is in play, we both draw two cards."
He drew two more cards from his deck, bringing him to four cards and his partner to four as well. They both looked over their cards greedily, neither having taken them from the top of their deck. The second of the Rare Hunters, whose turn it currently was, grinned as the ultimate strategy came together. "I throw Versago the Destroyer and Dark Magician into the Fusion Gate in order to create the ultimate fusion monster...Black Flare Knight(2200/800)!"
Kaiba and Joey grimaced as they saw the monster appear on the field in all its glory. Both knew what it was capable of from Joey and Yugi's duel in the finals of Battle City. When that thing attacked, things would get ugly. "Now I play Fusion Rampage! This permanent magic card boosts all fusion monsters by 500 attack points, and grants them an extra 200 points when in battle with a non-fusion monster. So now, Black Flare Knight(2900/800), attack Kaiba's Blue Eyes!"
The knight's attack was barely underway before the Blue Eyes counter attacked with its Burst Stream, vaporizing the poor knight. But it would shortly be avenged by the gold-armored knight that was summoned in its place, with a boosted attack power of 3300, stronger then the Blue Eyes even without its effect. "Mirage Knight...Annihilate the Blue Eyes!"
The golden knight zipped across the field, scythe at the ready, as its power soared to a massive sixty-five hundred, far higher then the Blue Eyes. Worse yet, none of Kaiba's cards could stop the attack, and even if Joey wanted to defend, it wouldn't accomplish anything. With a quick slice of the scythe, Kaiba's Blue Eyes was no more, and his life points took a major dip. (KLP: 4500)
Kaiba sneered as his Blue Eyes vanished, knowing the truth of the situation. In moments they would have regained the advantage, because Mirage Knight had a serious flaw in its design. After attacking, at the end of that turn it would be removed from the game. "You fool! As soon as you end your turn your monster will be no more!"
The Rare Hunter laughed at this statement, and casually displayed the card that remained in his hand. It showed a man partially vanished, standing on a high-tech platform. Kaiba took back his words as he recognized the card. "You're not thinking strategically Kaiba. The removal effect of my monster can only take place if its on the field at that time. To keep that from happening I just get it off the field for the moment. To do that, I play Emergency Transporter, which will remove my monster from the game until the start of my opponent's next turn!"
The Mirage Knight flickered and vanished as it was teleported away. It would soon return to pose a continued threat at the beginning of Joey's turn. These Rare Hunters had discovered a way to keep the ultimate fusion monster...and that would mean certain disaster for Joey and Kaiba.
Joey drew his next card and looked down at it, hoping for something good. He grinned as he saw the card that he had drawn, a very useful card indeed. "I play Treasure of Destiny! Go dice roll!" All player's eyes watched the die bounce across the field, and Joey pumped his fist into the air in triumph as the die came to rest on a six, meaning he could draw six cards.
He drew his six cards and then looked them over, grinning as he did so. It was time for him to show these Rare Hunters exactly what he was made of. In fact, it was time to show Kaiba again what he was made of. "I'll start off by playing Foolish Burial, to place a monster from my deck into my cemetery. But since you've shown me dat our cards can work for our allies as well, I'll use its effect to send a monster from Kaiba's deck to da cemetery!"
Kaiba turned to his partner in outrage, and started to complain until Joey reached him, and whispered the card he wanted in the cemetery. Kaiba's outrage turned into a smirk as he realized what his partner was up to. A pretty clever move from Wheeler. "Now dat I got dat outta da way, I'll play Premature Burial, paying 800 life points to resurrect the Blue Eyes White Dragon from da cemetery!" (JLP: 7200)
The Blue Eyes rose onto the field, joining its brother and the Red Eyes Black Dragon. The white dragons didn't seem to get along with the black dragon, courtesy of their opposite natures. But that didn't matter, because Joey had a plan all set up. "Check dis one out. Giant Trunade!" A giant wind picked up, and all magic and trap cards were picked up off the field and tossed back into their opponent's hands, giving them back every card they had previously placed.
The Rare Hunters grimaced as Mirage Knight's power dropped to a mere 2800, not enough to stop the attack of a Blue Eyes. And since its effect only worked when it was the one doing the attacking...then they were in trouble. "Now I'll play Premature Burial again, reviving the Blue Eyes I sent to the cemetery using Foolish Burial!" (JLP: 6400)
The Rare Hunters cowered in fear as their almost totally clear fields were overwhelmed by the great power of the four mighty dragons, each one easily able to inflict massive amounts of damage to them. When they attacked...things would be bad. "Now I play Monster Reborn on the Black Skull Dragon that was destroyed!"
"I command all my monsters to attack!" Three streams of white energy speared out, two striking directly and one destroying Mirage Knight. A stream of red energy crashed into the second Rare Hunter and a ball of molten fire crashed into him as well, dropping his life points severely. The first was totally defeated. (RH1: 0, RH2: 2200)
The second Rare Hunter gulped in horror as his partner collapsed, unable to maintain his strength and remain standing. Since his partner was out of the running...that meant the turn would skip right to Kaiba...meaning he was open for yet another attack.
Kaiba drew his card and then smirked, before displaying it to the Rare Hunter. The Rare Hunter cried out in shock at the sight of that card...the card that was about to be his demise. "I play Polymerization to create Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon(4500/3800). Now my ultimate dragon, Ultimate Burst Stream!" The second Rare Hunter screamed as the enormous stream of energy collided with his body and picked him up off the ground, sending him flying.
The duel disks shut down and the two world class duelists approached their beaten opponents. Kaiba bent down and grabbed the first one by his shirt and pulled him up so they were face to face. "Now tell us, where are our siblings?"
Kensai had never really given women much respect...well not in the area of battle. When it came to the average lifestyle he gave women a lot of respect because they deserved it. However he had grown up believing that women had no place in battle, and that attitude had gotten him into trouble more then once.
But never before had it gotten him into as much trouble as this situation...which was potentially deadly. All he had been doing was wandering around, searching for Taichi, minding his own business, when he came across a small village. So he had gone into the village to inspect it and ask questions.
He had quickly noticed what made this village different then any other, and had sadly made a few stupid comments without thinking. Those comments allowed him to come to a very special understanding. Being chauvinistic amongst a society of warrior women is really really REALLY STUPID!
"Look I apologized! Isn't there any way we can avoid having me killed?" However his pleas seemed to fall on the deaf ears of a couple dozen angry amazonians. Never in his life had he expected to run into the legendary race of warrior women, nor had he expected to get attacked by a dozen and then tied up like a hog to be roasted on a spit.
"Outsiders are not allowed, and worst of all you are a MALE outsider. You will be punished for your intrusion by death!" The speaker was a tall blonde and very attractive woman who he had learned was the leader of this tribe of amazons. She hadn't been one of those who had attacked him, but she was certainly willing to strike him whenever he said something out of turn.
"That's not true. I know a certain tradition of the amazons that could let him live." Everyone in the village turned to see another blonde woman exiting a tent, following her were people who obviously weren't amazons. But the blonde woman was Mai! In fact, the others were Mokuba, a weakened Autumn, and Hinata!
The leader snorted as she looked from Mai and back to Kensai. Obviously she wasn't too happy about this idea being brought up. Perhaps she hoped that it wouldn't come up and they could roast him without interruption. "Besides, your tribe needs the ten victories as much as anybody else, so why not have him represent these three who aren't up for it. If you beat him you can get four victories in one."
The amazon leader quirked an eyebrow and then nodded her head. With a sharp hand motion she sent a command to the amazons holding him up. With a quick slash of a knife he was freed and dropped unceremoniously to the ground. He grunted and then pulled himself back up to his feet. "What are you talking about Mai?"
"Its simple. You just have to face off against one of the amazons in a duel. If you win all four of you get freedom, if you lose then all four of you get cooked. Fair enough right?" Kensai grumbled at this, but seeing no other options he started up his duel disk. The amazonian leader chuckled and motioned one of her warriors forwards, who activated her own duel disk.
"This duel will be a bit more complicated then that. We believe in fair play, so to represent the others you will duel four amazons total. You will duel them in succession, with no life points regrouping on your part. The first of you opponents will begin at 2000 life points, the second at 4000, then at 6000, and if you get far enough you will face me at 8000. You will start with 8000 life points."
Kensai gulped, but merely nodded in acceptance, as he had no other real options. It was either duel and win, or don't duel and die. Not much in the choices department at all actually. Both of the two starting duelists drew their opening hands and his opponent, a very muscular blonde amazon, drew six to start off. "I summon Big Shield Guardna(100/2600) in defense mode. End turn!"
Kensai drew his sixth card and looked down at his hand, grinning as he saw exactly what he had. This duel wouldn't be so hard after all, in fact he could finish it in no time if each of the amazons was as basic as this one. "I play Graceful Charity, drawing three and discarding two. Now I remove both monsters I discarded from the game to special summon Chaos Solider-Messenger of Creation(3000/25000)!"
His trump monster appeared in all its black and gold armored glory, wielding its curved blade with a skilled nature. With one strike he would end this duel. Easy as pie. "I set one card and choose to use my soldier's destruction ability. When he destroys a monster he can continue to attack! Chaos Blade Attack!" With a sweep of his blade the Chaos Soldier annihilated the shield wielding warrior, and then with a second sweep it knocked the amazon off her feet and down to the ground, her life points gone.
Immediately the second amazon stepped up, this one with dirty blonde hair and standing roughly six and a half feet in height. She wasn't as muscular as the previous one, but she looked equally deadly. If she dueled like the last one, he'd have no problems at all though. "I summon Amazoness Swords Woman(2000/1600), who gets a boost from our collective Deck Master, Amazoness Paladin! Our deck master boosts all female monsters by five hundred attack points!"
The new monster was a muscular amazon wielding a wicked looking curved blade. At the announcement of their deck master's effect, Kensai glanced back at his deck master, Matchless General Freed, whose deck master effect he didn't know. "I'll next equip her with two cards, one is Protective Amulet which cuts its attack power in half to protect it from all cards that would destroy it. Next is called Jewel of Amara, which lets any monster with 1000 points or under attack directly...and lets them attack twice in the battle phase! Double Sword Slash!"
The swords woman charged across the field and slashed the blade twice across Kensai's chest, knocking him backwards and making his life points take a significant dip. Apparently the first one had been testing him, but hadn't expected him to pull off as good a move as he had. (KLP: 6000)
He drew his next card, putting him up to five cards in his hand. At this point he started laughing, causing all the amazons to stare at him and wonder what he thought was so funny. "As good a combo as that was, its no match for my next move. I summon Blessed Knight of Emoria and then have Chaos Soldier banish your amazon for good!" With a single beam of chaos energy the sword wielding amazon was removed from the game.
"Now, Blessed Knight of Emoria, attack directly!" The white armored knight charged across the field and swung his mace with great force, catching his amazon opponent in the chest, smashing her to the ground and putting a dent into her life points. (A2LP: 2200)
His opponent struggled to her feet and drew a card, giving her four cards total. She grinned and picked up her first card, sliding it into her duel disk and thereby activating it. The card appeared on the field, revealing a magic card that depicted a man being dragged down by something heavy. "I play Will of Gravity! It equips onto a monster on the field, keeping it from using its effects for as long as Will of Gravity is equipped. So say goodbye to your soldier's effects."
Kensai grimaced as the increased gravity nearly caused his soldier's knees to buckle. Well, it looked like he wouldn't be removing any other monsters from the game anytime soon. "Now I summon Reflect Bounder, whose effect will make it too costly for you to attack it at all!" The monster was a machine whose body consisted of several mirrors, its effect would send any attack he made straight at his life points.
He drew his next card and glanced down at it before setting it on the field. It appeared quickly enough in front of him, face down. It was a nice little surprise for if she tried anything. "Guess you didn't know my knight's effect. Attack Reduction!" His amazon opponent looked shocked as his monster's attack power dropped to eight hundred, and it zipped straight past her machine and to her life points, smashing her again with its mace. (A2LP: 1400)
She greedily drew her next card, and then slammed it onto the field, revealing Lady Panther(1900/1300), boosted by her deck master's effect. The female panther in humanoid form roared at his knight and soldier, and brandished her weapon. "Lady Panther, destroy his knight once and for all!" The panther woman charged across the field and sliced his monster in two, dropping his life points by a bare amount. (KLP: 5900)
"Activate Attack and Receive!" His trap card flipped up and its effect went off, cutting her life points in half, making her easy prey for any attack he might make. She grimaced and set one card before ending her turn. (A2LP: 700)
Kensai took a deep breath, knowing that the others were counting on him to get them out of this mess...a mess that his idiocy had created. He drew his card and then held it above his head for a moment before bringing it down in front of his face to examine. Upon seeing it his face broke out in a grin and he played it. "I start off with Remove Trap to destroy your face down card!" Her face down card, a Magic Jammer, broke apart.
"I'll continue by playing Despell on your Will of Gravity! And then I'll play Warrior Mimic, which lets me copy any card in your cemetery as long as I have a warrior on my field. So I equip it as Will of Gravity onto Reflect Bounder." This time it was the machine who was dragged down by gravity, giving Kensai a nearly open path to her life points.
"I set one card, and then summon Swift Knight Gaia(2300/2100) because it's the only card in my hand. Then I attack with my monsters!" First the purple armored knight rode out onto the field, and then his two monsters charged forwards and cut down his opponent's two monsters, dropping her life points to zero and moving him on to the next duelist.
His newest opponent was attractive...but probably two feet taller then he was. Again, this one was blonde, just like the others. She smirked at him and drew an opening hand of six cards, and then started her turn by placing two cards face down, which appeared across from his. "I summon Unfriendly Amazon(2500/1000) and then equip her with Shooting Star Bow-Ceal, which reduces her attack by one thousand...and lets her attack directly!"
The armored woman appeared, holding a bow with an unearthly glow. She notched an arrow into the bow and let fly, striking Kensai in the chest and dropping his life points. "Now I play my own Will of Gravity on Chaos Soldier!" He grimaced as yet again his monster was brought down by gravity. (KLP: 4400)
He drew his card and laughed before setting a card face down. This one had done some serious damage, but she wouldn't be continuing that for much longer. He'd be dropping her to fifteen hundred life points in this turn, easy. "I activate my face down Rush Recklessly to boost my knight to 3000 attack, and then I go for the kill!"
"Activate face down cards, Waboku and Scapegoat!" Four little goat tokens appeared, and then a group of robed men appeared and blocked his strike with easy, keeping him from destroying any of his opponent's monsters. Not only that, but now she'd be able to make the upkeep of her Amazon.
She drew her next card and then slipped it onto the field. Then she followed up by sacrificing a goat token for upkeep and then summoning another monster onto the field. This one was Amazoness Chain Wielder(2000/1300) who was swinging her bladed chain around with deadly skill. "Direct attack!" Again Kensai was struck by an arrow, dropping his life points even further. (KLP: 2900)
He grinned and drew his card, knowing what he'd be doing next. He was about to take victory into his hand quite easily in this turn. "Activate Ice Prison!" Kensai grimaced as Chaos Soldier was wrapped up by ice. He knew this trap, he'd heard of it. He couldn't do anything with his soldier...and the only way to free it was to change its stats.
"I equip Chaos Soldier with Axe of Despair, boosting it to four thousand and freeing it from your prison. Then I activate Meteorain, and attack two goat tokens!" His soldier gained a demon headed axe and broke free, and then his two monsters charged across the field and sliced through one token apiece, dealing damage equal to the difference between their attack and the other monster's defense. (A3LP: 0)
He grinned as his turn ended, and watched as the attractive amazonian leader approached him, activating a duel disk and drawing an opening hand. Her life point counter rose to eight thousand, making it a fifty-one hundred point gap he'd have to make up for. Not only that, but she still kept the Unfriendly Amazon and its power to attack directly. "I sacrifice my two amazons for Cosmo Queen(3400/2400)!"
The new monster was a incredibly thin woman with...well a bulbous head. Either she was wearing some sort of crown, or her brain was huge, Kensai couldn't tell one way or the other. "I'll set one card face down. Now..." She looked over the two monsters and did the math in her head. Destroying his knight would deal more damage, but it wouldn't finish him. If he managed to get back Chaos Soldier's effects then it would be a huge threat. She had to eliminate it first. "I equip Cosmo Queen with United We Stand, now I destroy Chaos Soldier!"
Kensai discovered that it was indeed a huge brain when she fired off a wave of psychic energy that shattered his powerful soldier and dealt him a total of one thousand damage. He was even more behind now, and beating her with that much of a difference might be impossible. Even if she was a total amateur it'd be difficult...she had everything going for her, and he didn't even have any cards in his hand. (KLP: 1900)
He drew his card and grimaced at what he saw. He slowly set the monster in defense mode and switched Gaia to defense as well. That was all he could do for the moment, and hopefully she wouldn't manage to get two more usable monsters out in the next turn, or he'd be finished.
She drew her card and grinned, flipping up her face down card, Avatar of Apophis which created a snake warrior token for her to use as she saw fit. Yep, he was screwed. But to his surprise she didn't do what he expected. "I sacrifice my token for Amazon Lady(2600/2000), and attack your two monsters!"
The new monster was well-dressed, for an amazon. She wore flowing scarlet robes and had a tiara made from what looked like bones. She and the brainy Cosmo Queen charged forwards and cut apart his two monsters, leaving him without any defense. As he drew his card he knew he needed something good, or else he was finished. "Yes! Go Swords of Revealing Light! I knew this card would come in handy!" His opponent cursed as her monsters were locked down by the power of the glowing green swords, giving him three turns to prepare.
She grimaced and drew her next card, then slammed it onto her duel disk, revealing another Amazoness Swords Woman, joining the two other amazons on the field. Then she waved her hand, passing the turn back over to Kensai. He drew his card and then grimaced, setting it down on the field. It might help...but not by much. It was just another Attack and Receive.
The amazonian leader drew another card, and summoned the fierce and muscular Amazoness Fighter(1800/300), who also had the boost. Now her monster zones were full, and her Cosmo Queen had enormous power. She completed her turn by setting one card and using Remove Trap on his Attack and Receive.
He took a deep breath and drew his next card. He stared at it for a moment, and then glanced down at his face down card. It was a card he had in his deck because...well he wasn't sure why. It had been sitting there since turn one of this duel...and if he had his deck master's effect figured right then he had a plan. "End turn!"
His opponent drew her card and then shrugged it off, obviously not having gotten anything worth while. "Well male, it looks like you've run out of options. At the end of this turn the swords will be gonna, freeing me for attacking. So after your next turn, this duel will be over and you and the rest of these outsiders will be dead!"
He felt a flicker of anger at this, knowing that she was completely serious. She was ready to kill them if she won...and he couldn't let that happen. As he started his turn he felt a flicker of power from within the pocket of his jeans, but he brushed it off as his imagination. "I won't let that happen! So now I activate my deck master's special ability, Gathering of the Army! Instead of drawing I can put one warrior into my hand from my deck and then shuffle my deck. So here we go!"
He ejected his deck and started looking through it, and his grin widened as he came across the monster that he wanted. After adding it to his hand he shuffled the deck and put it back in. Now he just needed some luck in what was to come. "Alright, I summon Blade Knight(1600/1600) in attack mode!"
His monster was summoned to the field, revealing a knight in white armor revealing an impressive looking sword. However its power was nothing against that of any of her monsters, making it a seemingly weak creature. The amazon leader seemed to agree, as she threw her head back and started laughing uproariously as did the rest of the amazons. Even those who had been rooting for him seemed to despair at seeing it.
"That's the monster you selected? That's the best you can do? That pathetic thing will never accomplish anything, heck its weaker even then my Amazoness Fighter!" As she spoke this words all those watching saw as the monster's attack power rose to two thousand, and they looked to him in question, wondering how this was happening.
"When I've got two or less cards in my hand Blade Knight gets a power boost of four hundred, and when he's my only monster he can negate flip effects. But that bonus...I don't need it...not exactly. I play Card of Sanctity!" The card appeared on the field, revealing a man reveling in the joy of the coins that fell from the sky. Both of them started drawing their six cards, and as they did so everyone wondered why he hadn't used it the previous turn.
"Curious as to why I waited to use that card? This is why! Open face down card, Card of Last Will! Because my monster had its attack power reduced when my hand increased to six cards, I can now draw five more cards, bringing my total up to eleven cards!" Everyone gasped, and Mai nodded appreciatively, impressed by how well thought out the move was. It wasn't what she would have expected from Kensai, not after his performance against her.
He drew the next five cards, making his hand large enough that he had trouble holding all of them. He started looking through the cards, trying to decide which cards to use. Suddenly his eyes fell upon one of his cards and his eyes lit up. "It's time to show you a monster like no other. Just as my soldier brings the message of creation, this monster brings the message of the apocalypse. By removing one light monster and one dark monster in my cemetery I can special summon Chaos Emperor Dragon-Messenger of the Apocalypse(3000/2500)!"
A column of light erupted on the right side of Kensai, followed by a column of black energy on his left side. The twin columns converged in front of him and became a swirl of colors, before finally fading away. The bubble of energy burst, and out stepped a massive dragon of white, green, and orange, with a orange mane of hair. It let out a deafening roar which shook the entire village and then readied itself.
"This monster is like no other because it possesses an extremely powerful effect. At a cost of a measly one thousand life points I can destroy all cards on the field and in both player's hands, including the dragon itself. Not only that but for each card that goes to the cemetery from its effect you lose three hundred life points! And counting all the cards in my hand, on the field, and in your hand...I count twenty cards. So get ready...Apocalyptic Eruption!"
All the amazons backed away, readying themselves for the explosion. Mai pulled Mokuba and Autumn off to the side. His opponent raised her arms in defense as the dragon started glowing and then...it exploded. They were both caught up in the holographic blast, nearly blasted off their feet completely.
As the dust settled both duelists took their hands and deposited them into the cemetery slot, and the second part of the effect went off, dealing massive damage to his opponent's life points. She grimaced as she watched the duel disk counted down her life points, dropping her nearly to the defeat point. (KLP: 800, ALLP: 2000)
She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Despite the disadvantages they had given to him he had managed to drop her to within striking distance of defeat. A MALE! How could a male possibly do this to her, leader of the amazons? It wasn't possible! "Its not over yet male! I'm not beaten and you're open to attack!"
He grinned and motioned to his deck master with his hand. Her eyes widened as it floated out onto the field, readying itself for an attack, sword at the ready. She gulped, realizing exactly what the situation was. Her field was open, he had never had a battle phase this turn...and his deck master had over two thousand attack points. "Freed the Matchless General(2300/1600), Matchless Blade!"
The blonde warrior charged across the field and slashed his opponent's chest, making her stumble backwards. She grunted as her life points dropped to zero, granting him and his new companions victory. He had won out over adversity...even though his own stupidity had caused it in the first place. "Congratulations male...that makes only two males to ever win. The last one slaughtered three of our number and stole the soul of the amazon he faced after winning. That bastard..."
Kensai's eyes widened as he started to recognize the description of events, and he understood exactly who that person was. There couldn't be anyone else that sadistic...nobody. "What was his name?" The amazon leader just shook her head, revealing that the person who they had faced had never given his name. But Kensai knew...it had to be.
"His name is Taichi Nobuki, and he's done such things before. And I swore on my life that I, Takuya Shinomori, will find him and defeat him, bringing this insanity to an end once and for all! And I know exactly how I'm going to do it..." Again he felt a flicker of power from his pocket, and this time he accepted it, letting a trickle of that power flow into him, causing his anger to rise.
He would find Taichi and he would defeat him using the power of the Seal of Orichalcos...even if it cost him his very soul. He'd make sure that Taichi was beaten and sealed away for all time. "Do you have a horse?"
Several miles away a young man with dark hair and cold eyes walked through a quarry of rocks, whistling a happy tune. He knew exactly where he was going, knew exactly what he was doing. He had everything all laid out in front of him. Soon everything he had ever wanted would be his.
Yes it was indeed a good day to be Taichi Nobuki.
Author's Notes: Ummm...none really. There ya go!
Original Cards
Kensai: Warrior Mimic
Amazons: Will of Gravity, Protective Amulet, Jewel of Amara, (Ice Prison, or whatever its called for real, is from the anime, used by Raphael in the Doom Arc), Amazon Lady
Author's Note: Here's the duel that was suppossed to be in the previous chapter. And of course the duel that was originaly in this chapter. You can guess on your own which one was suppossed to go where, but it doesn't matter.
Quote of the Chapter: "War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children." -Jimmy Carter
Chapter Twenty-Three: Run the Gauntlet!
When he awoke he found himself in what might be called nowhere, but was better described as nothing. Of course these things probably had roughly the same meaning, but at the moment of his awakening that didn't really matter to him.
"Damn my head hurts." Groaning he sat up and looked around, trying to discover exactly what the nothing or nowhere around him was. It was at that point that he realized that at this moment those words had almost the exact same meaning. He really should have thought of that earlier.
"You feel guilty for Hinata's soul being taken away don't you?" Ryu jumped to his feet, fists at the ready as he searched for the source of the voice. However all that was there was the nothing, the nowhere. Silently he cursed himself for using those words again to describe the same thing.
"Who the hell are you? Where are you? What do you want?" His voice echoed back to him across the....blankness. Yes, that was one he hadn't used yet, blankness. The only immediate response he got from the blankness was a low chuckle that echoed back at him through the blankness.
"Oh I'm here somewhere in the void (Ryu filed that one away for further use). I'm just a simple prospector looking for certain things. As to what I want...well I want to cut a deal with you." The low chuckle filled the void, carrying with it a sense of dread that prickled Ryu's skin. Whoever this person was, it was unlikely they were one of the good guys.
"What kind of deal?" Suddenly lights sprang up, casting aside the shadows of the void, the nothing, the nowhere, the blankness. Blankness was a stupid word. Screw blankness, he'd stick with void.
A figure stepped into view and Ryu gasped at the sight of this person, finally starting to understand exactly what was going on. Things definitely weren't looking up for him at the moment. "The deal is simple. I will get Hinata's soul free for you if you do what I ask of you. You will become my willing soldier, doing my bidding at each and every turn. You kill who I want, maim who I want, and whatever other things come up. How does that sound?"
Had anyone been listening in on this conversation they would have been leaning in to hear Ryu's response. They would have waited several seconds before he spoke again. They would have been deeply disappointed as the void swallowed up his answer, keeping it from their ears. And they would have heard the laughter that followed after.
Seto Kaiba had been stalking through the forest for nearly an hour, following the path of the black wind that had left after he defeated the last duelist. He had won another duel about fifteen minutes after that, and was now continuing on the path that the wind had taken.
The undergrowth snapped under his booted feet, cracking and tearing as he pushed his way past all the plants. He had his destination in mind, and it all revolved around a certain black haired boy. He wouldn't let anything happen to Mokuba, he had to rescue him from this crazy world.
He stopped in surprise as the forest simply stopped, and now he found himself in what was clearly the stadium he had been building, but completed now. He whirled around to see if there was anything like a holoprojector hidden to create this, but soon discovered that the forest behind him was gone. "What's going on here?"
Twin laughter spun him around, and he found to brown cloaked figures striding from the entrance across from him. He recognized the eye symbol on their cloaks as the same symbol that appeared on each of the Millennium items...and one the Rare Hunter's cloaks. "Rare Hunters. Just what I needed."
"Poor Kaiba, so desperate to find his little brother. Of course he could always get that information out of us, if he can beat us in a duel." Kaiba scowled as the two Rare Hunters activated the DD2s on their arms, and drew opening hands of five cards. These punks had already assumed that he was going to duel. But then again...it was his best chance to find Mokuba.
"Which one of you do I duel first?" When the two cloaked duelists started laughing realization struck Kaiba. They had said us, they meant us, and that meant they both wanted to duel him. Two on one. Knowing the Rare Hunters they'd at least be pretty good, and that meant he was in trouble in a two on one duel. He might be able to win, but they'd probably have decks designed to assist each other, giving him a disadvantage.
"Now dat's not exactly fair is it? How's about I duel you clowns too, and if we win you tell us both where our siblings are. Huh?" Kaiba whirled around at the sound of that voice, that damned Osaka accent. He knew before finishing his turn exactly who was stepping up behind him. The last person he wanted to see, Joey Wheeler.
The Rare Hunters laughed at this proposition and silently discussed it with each other. Finally they two broke apart, and nodded in assent. It would be a two on two duel, Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler versus the two unknown Rare Hunters. Kaiba understood the situation well enough that he willingly accepted the help.
Each duelist now had an opening hand, and Joey took the opportunity to draw a sixth card, choosing to go first in this duel. He surveyed his hand and quickly chose the cards he wanted to use. "I'll summon Mad Sword Beast(1400/1200) in attack mode. Then I'll set three cards face down. End turn." The armored beast appeared on the field and snorted at the Rare Hunters. Then three cards appeared behind it.
The first of the Rare Hunters selected his cards from his six and grinned beneath his hood. Then he carefully placed them onto the disk. "I'll place a monster in defense mode and two cards face down. End turn!" His cards appeared, and then the turn shifted to Kaiba who greedily drew his sixth card.
Kaiba surveyed his hand and looked over the other cards on the field, snorting at how ridiculous it was to start off so weakly. He started off strong, stayed strong, and that was why he would win. "I play Cost Down, discarding a card from my hand to reduce all monsters in my hand by two levels. Now I play Silent Death, reviving the Battle Ox I sent to the cemetery in permanent defense mode!"
The brown-skinned minotaur appeared on the field, crouching down in defense mode. Because of the effect of Silent Death it was impossible for him to go into attack mode...so Joey realized what Kaiba was intending at the same time the hunters did. "I sacrifice Battle Ox for hte mighty Blue Eyes White Dragon(3000/2500)!"
Battle Ox shattered, and with a flap of giant wings the virtually invincible engine of destruction appeared on the field in all its blue eyed white scaled glory. It let out a deafening roar, and Kaiba smirked at the sight of his mighty beast. "I'll set a single card face down and end my turn."
The second hunter drew his card and looked over his hand. A small smile appeared across his features as he picked out the cards he wanted to use. "I'll set two cards face down and play Polymerization to fuse Time Wizard and Baby Dragon into Thousand Dragon(2400/2000)!" The two creatures appeared on the field and merged into one, becoming the orange scaled massive dragon. An impressive first turn move.
Joey shook his head as he drew and then grinned in triumph as he recognized the card he had just drawn. This was gonna make everything so much easier. In fact it was gonna easily get him the exact card he needed. "I play Card in Hand, which lets me place a monster from my deck in my hand."
He ejected his deck and searched through, before finally coming across the monster that he had added when he created this deck the first time he dueled someone under these strange rules. It was going to be the first time he had used it, and the other card as well. "Go face down cards, White Dragon Ritual and Black Dragon Ritual!" The two cards flipped up, revealing very similar pots usually seen in ritual summoning.
"I offer Mad Sword Beast and Axe Raider from my hand to special summon Paladin of White Dragon(1900/1200) and Knight of Black Dragon(1800/1000)!" The two named monsters were sucked into the pots, and then moments later the pots shattered, revealing two very special monsters. A well dressed knight riding what looked like a baby Blue Eyes and a tall knight in black standing with no dragon.
"I'm gonna use the Paladin's effect and destroy your face down monster, so go Paladin attack and destroy!" The paladin swooped down across the field, ready to strike down the defensive monster. However at the last moment a face down card flipped up, revealing Negate Attack.
"I'll chain not only with Negate Attack, but with Reward of Negation! Every time our opponents are unable to complete a declared attack we may put one Polymerization or fusion material monster into our hand!" Joey grimaced as the first Rare Hunter started searching through his deck before getting the card he wanted.
However Joey's turn wasn't over, so he decided to use his Knight's effect. He was about to get out one of his deadliest monsters in one single stroke. "I sacrifice Knight of Black Dragon for its effect, special summoning Red Eyes Black Dragon(2400/2000) to the field!" The knight shattered, and Joey called forth the powerful spiky skinned black dragon. Its red eyes pierced through the Rare Hunter's cold gaze and made him step back momentarily in fright.
As Joey ended his turn by special summoning his own Blue Eyes, Kaiba could only think about the situation critically. He stood with the White Dragon and Joey with the Black Dragon, both counterparts of the other. One dark, one light. But in truth the situation was reversed between them. The darker one was Kaiba, and the lighter was Joey. Just likely Kaiba was a world class duelist and Joey was...
As the Rare Hunter drew his next card Kaiba was forced to shake that thought off, because it obviously wasn't true. Joey had beaten him fair and square, and that meant he wasn't just some third ranked duelist. He was a world class duelist, and perhaps it was time that Kaiba stopped avoiding that thought. "Nice move Wheeler, but not good enough. I summon Supply(1300/800) and then flip my face down Summoner of Illusions(800/900). Now I sacrifice Supply for its effect, to special summon Black Skull Dragon(3200/2500)!"
Both Joey and Kaiba stared in surprise as the newer monster vanished and was replaced by the towering black dragon, which flexed its skeletal wings and roared at the two of them. With it in play, things just got more difficult. "I'll set one card face down and then I have Black Skull Dragon attack the Blue Eyes!"
Kaiba grimaced as he saw the molten fireballs bearing down upon Joey's Blue Eyes. Hopefully that amateur would be able to stop the attack with his remaining face down card. "Activate Magic Arm Shield!" The card flipped, and a grabber launched out, pulling Summoner of Illusions in the way of the attack. It was incinerated by the attack and the Rare Hunter grimaced as his life points took a dip. (RH1LP: 5600) Finally the skull dragon was destroyed, according to the effect of Summoner of Illusions.
Now, once again it was Kaiba's turn. He drew his card, giving him a total of two cards, and smirked at the sight of his next card. This next move would certainly be an effective one. It would knock his opponent's life points down by quite a bit. "I summon Vorse Raider(1900/1200). Now I play Energy Absorber, sacrificing Vorse Raider to let Blue Eyes attack directly! Burst Stream!"
The Blue Eyes took the energy granted by the sacrifice of the Vorse Raider. It then opened its mouth wide and shot forth its beam of pure white energy directly at his opponent, who watched the blast from underneath his hood. "Activate Fusion Sacrifice! I can negate your attack by sacrificing one fusion monster, namely my Thousand Dragon. Thanks to my partner's Reward of Negation, I get to put a special card into my hand."
Kaiba ended his turn, and the other Rare Hunter gladly took his own, drawing a new card and giving him a total of three cards in his hand. He held up one card, displaying Pot of Greed, and then drew two cards. Unnoticed by Kaiba or Joey, he was not drawing from the top of his deck. Instead he drew from a special compartment which slid out the cards just like they would have been at the top, making it impossible to tell he hadn't drawn them in the normal manner. "Huh...looks like my strategy is starting to be worked out."
Kaiba quirked an eye, and then gasped as his opponent played his next card combo. "I play Fusion Gate, which will let us fuse monsters without Polymerization. Now I play Fusion Jetway! My partner and I draw two cards, and then in each draw phase, as long as Fusion Gate is in play, we both draw two cards."
He drew two more cards from his deck, bringing him to four cards and his partner to four as well. They both looked over their cards greedily, neither having taken them from the top of their deck. The second of the Rare Hunters, whose turn it currently was, grinned as the ultimate strategy came together. "I throw Versago the Destroyer and Dark Magician into the Fusion Gate in order to create the ultimate fusion monster...Black Flare Knight(2200/800)!"
Kaiba and Joey grimaced as they saw the monster appear on the field in all its glory. Both knew what it was capable of from Joey and Yugi's duel in the finals of Battle City. When that thing attacked, things would get ugly. "Now I play Fusion Rampage! This permanent magic card boosts all fusion monsters by 500 attack points, and grants them an extra 200 points when in battle with a non-fusion monster. So now, Black Flare Knight(2900/800), attack Kaiba's Blue Eyes!"
The knight's attack was barely underway before the Blue Eyes counter attacked with its Burst Stream, vaporizing the poor knight. But it would shortly be avenged by the gold-armored knight that was summoned in its place, with a boosted attack power of 3300, stronger then the Blue Eyes even without its effect. "Mirage Knight...Annihilate the Blue Eyes!"
The golden knight zipped across the field, scythe at the ready, as its power soared to a massive sixty-five hundred, far higher then the Blue Eyes. Worse yet, none of Kaiba's cards could stop the attack, and even if Joey wanted to defend, it wouldn't accomplish anything. With a quick slice of the scythe, Kaiba's Blue Eyes was no more, and his life points took a major dip. (KLP: 4500)
Kaiba sneered as his Blue Eyes vanished, knowing the truth of the situation. In moments they would have regained the advantage, because Mirage Knight had a serious flaw in its design. After attacking, at the end of that turn it would be removed from the game. "You fool! As soon as you end your turn your monster will be no more!"
The Rare Hunter laughed at this statement, and casually displayed the card that remained in his hand. It showed a man partially vanished, standing on a high-tech platform. Kaiba took back his words as he recognized the card. "You're not thinking strategically Kaiba. The removal effect of my monster can only take place if its on the field at that time. To keep that from happening I just get it off the field for the moment. To do that, I play Emergency Transporter, which will remove my monster from the game until the start of my opponent's next turn!"
The Mirage Knight flickered and vanished as it was teleported away. It would soon return to pose a continued threat at the beginning of Joey's turn. These Rare Hunters had discovered a way to keep the ultimate fusion monster...and that would mean certain disaster for Joey and Kaiba.
Joey drew his next card and looked down at it, hoping for something good. He grinned as he saw the card that he had drawn, a very useful card indeed. "I play Treasure of Destiny! Go dice roll!" All player's eyes watched the die bounce across the field, and Joey pumped his fist into the air in triumph as the die came to rest on a six, meaning he could draw six cards.
He drew his six cards and then looked them over, grinning as he did so. It was time for him to show these Rare Hunters exactly what he was made of. In fact, it was time to show Kaiba again what he was made of. "I'll start off by playing Foolish Burial, to place a monster from my deck into my cemetery. But since you've shown me dat our cards can work for our allies as well, I'll use its effect to send a monster from Kaiba's deck to da cemetery!"
Kaiba turned to his partner in outrage, and started to complain until Joey reached him, and whispered the card he wanted in the cemetery. Kaiba's outrage turned into a smirk as he realized what his partner was up to. A pretty clever move from Wheeler. "Now dat I got dat outta da way, I'll play Premature Burial, paying 800 life points to resurrect the Blue Eyes White Dragon from da cemetery!" (JLP: 7200)
The Blue Eyes rose onto the field, joining its brother and the Red Eyes Black Dragon. The white dragons didn't seem to get along with the black dragon, courtesy of their opposite natures. But that didn't matter, because Joey had a plan all set up. "Check dis one out. Giant Trunade!" A giant wind picked up, and all magic and trap cards were picked up off the field and tossed back into their opponent's hands, giving them back every card they had previously placed.
The Rare Hunters grimaced as Mirage Knight's power dropped to a mere 2800, not enough to stop the attack of a Blue Eyes. And since its effect only worked when it was the one doing the attacking...then they were in trouble. "Now I'll play Premature Burial again, reviving the Blue Eyes I sent to the cemetery using Foolish Burial!" (JLP: 6400)
The Rare Hunters cowered in fear as their almost totally clear fields were overwhelmed by the great power of the four mighty dragons, each one easily able to inflict massive amounts of damage to them. When they attacked...things would be bad. "Now I play Monster Reborn on the Black Skull Dragon that was destroyed!"
"I command all my monsters to attack!" Three streams of white energy speared out, two striking directly and one destroying Mirage Knight. A stream of red energy crashed into the second Rare Hunter and a ball of molten fire crashed into him as well, dropping his life points severely. The first was totally defeated. (RH1: 0, RH2: 2200)
The second Rare Hunter gulped in horror as his partner collapsed, unable to maintain his strength and remain standing. Since his partner was out of the running...that meant the turn would skip right to Kaiba...meaning he was open for yet another attack.
Kaiba drew his card and then smirked, before displaying it to the Rare Hunter. The Rare Hunter cried out in shock at the sight of that card...the card that was about to be his demise. "I play Polymerization to create Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon(4500/3800). Now my ultimate dragon, Ultimate Burst Stream!" The second Rare Hunter screamed as the enormous stream of energy collided with his body and picked him up off the ground, sending him flying.
The duel disks shut down and the two world class duelists approached their beaten opponents. Kaiba bent down and grabbed the first one by his shirt and pulled him up so they were face to face. "Now tell us, where are our siblings?"
Kensai had never really given women much respect...well not in the area of battle. When it came to the average lifestyle he gave women a lot of respect because they deserved it. However he had grown up believing that women had no place in battle, and that attitude had gotten him into trouble more then once.
But never before had it gotten him into as much trouble as this situation...which was potentially deadly. All he had been doing was wandering around, searching for Taichi, minding his own business, when he came across a small village. So he had gone into the village to inspect it and ask questions.
He had quickly noticed what made this village different then any other, and had sadly made a few stupid comments without thinking. Those comments allowed him to come to a very special understanding. Being chauvinistic amongst a society of warrior women is really really REALLY STUPID!
"Look I apologized! Isn't there any way we can avoid having me killed?" However his pleas seemed to fall on the deaf ears of a couple dozen angry amazonians. Never in his life had he expected to run into the legendary race of warrior women, nor had he expected to get attacked by a dozen and then tied up like a hog to be roasted on a spit.
"Outsiders are not allowed, and worst of all you are a MALE outsider. You will be punished for your intrusion by death!" The speaker was a tall blonde and very attractive woman who he had learned was the leader of this tribe of amazons. She hadn't been one of those who had attacked him, but she was certainly willing to strike him whenever he said something out of turn.
"That's not true. I know a certain tradition of the amazons that could let him live." Everyone in the village turned to see another blonde woman exiting a tent, following her were people who obviously weren't amazons. But the blonde woman was Mai! In fact, the others were Mokuba, a weakened Autumn, and Hinata!
The leader snorted as she looked from Mai and back to Kensai. Obviously she wasn't too happy about this idea being brought up. Perhaps she hoped that it wouldn't come up and they could roast him without interruption. "Besides, your tribe needs the ten victories as much as anybody else, so why not have him represent these three who aren't up for it. If you beat him you can get four victories in one."
The amazon leader quirked an eyebrow and then nodded her head. With a sharp hand motion she sent a command to the amazons holding him up. With a quick slash of a knife he was freed and dropped unceremoniously to the ground. He grunted and then pulled himself back up to his feet. "What are you talking about Mai?"
"Its simple. You just have to face off against one of the amazons in a duel. If you win all four of you get freedom, if you lose then all four of you get cooked. Fair enough right?" Kensai grumbled at this, but seeing no other options he started up his duel disk. The amazonian leader chuckled and motioned one of her warriors forwards, who activated her own duel disk.
"This duel will be a bit more complicated then that. We believe in fair play, so to represent the others you will duel four amazons total. You will duel them in succession, with no life points regrouping on your part. The first of you opponents will begin at 2000 life points, the second at 4000, then at 6000, and if you get far enough you will face me at 8000. You will start with 8000 life points."
Kensai gulped, but merely nodded in acceptance, as he had no other real options. It was either duel and win, or don't duel and die. Not much in the choices department at all actually. Both of the two starting duelists drew their opening hands and his opponent, a very muscular blonde amazon, drew six to start off. "I summon Big Shield Guardna(100/2600) in defense mode. End turn!"
Kensai drew his sixth card and looked down at his hand, grinning as he saw exactly what he had. This duel wouldn't be so hard after all, in fact he could finish it in no time if each of the amazons was as basic as this one. "I play Graceful Charity, drawing three and discarding two. Now I remove both monsters I discarded from the game to special summon Chaos Solider-Messenger of Creation(3000/25000)!"
His trump monster appeared in all its black and gold armored glory, wielding its curved blade with a skilled nature. With one strike he would end this duel. Easy as pie. "I set one card and choose to use my soldier's destruction ability. When he destroys a monster he can continue to attack! Chaos Blade Attack!" With a sweep of his blade the Chaos Soldier annihilated the shield wielding warrior, and then with a second sweep it knocked the amazon off her feet and down to the ground, her life points gone.
Immediately the second amazon stepped up, this one with dirty blonde hair and standing roughly six and a half feet in height. She wasn't as muscular as the previous one, but she looked equally deadly. If she dueled like the last one, he'd have no problems at all though. "I summon Amazoness Swords Woman(2000/1600), who gets a boost from our collective Deck Master, Amazoness Paladin! Our deck master boosts all female monsters by five hundred attack points!"
The new monster was a muscular amazon wielding a wicked looking curved blade. At the announcement of their deck master's effect, Kensai glanced back at his deck master, Matchless General Freed, whose deck master effect he didn't know. "I'll next equip her with two cards, one is Protective Amulet which cuts its attack power in half to protect it from all cards that would destroy it. Next is called Jewel of Amara, which lets any monster with 1000 points or under attack directly...and lets them attack twice in the battle phase! Double Sword Slash!"
The swords woman charged across the field and slashed the blade twice across Kensai's chest, knocking him backwards and making his life points take a significant dip. Apparently the first one had been testing him, but hadn't expected him to pull off as good a move as he had. (KLP: 6000)
He drew his next card, putting him up to five cards in his hand. At this point he started laughing, causing all the amazons to stare at him and wonder what he thought was so funny. "As good a combo as that was, its no match for my next move. I summon Blessed Knight of Emoria and then have Chaos Soldier banish your amazon for good!" With a single beam of chaos energy the sword wielding amazon was removed from the game.
"Now, Blessed Knight of Emoria, attack directly!" The white armored knight charged across the field and swung his mace with great force, catching his amazon opponent in the chest, smashing her to the ground and putting a dent into her life points. (A2LP: 2200)
His opponent struggled to her feet and drew a card, giving her four cards total. She grinned and picked up her first card, sliding it into her duel disk and thereby activating it. The card appeared on the field, revealing a magic card that depicted a man being dragged down by something heavy. "I play Will of Gravity! It equips onto a monster on the field, keeping it from using its effects for as long as Will of Gravity is equipped. So say goodbye to your soldier's effects."
Kensai grimaced as the increased gravity nearly caused his soldier's knees to buckle. Well, it looked like he wouldn't be removing any other monsters from the game anytime soon. "Now I summon Reflect Bounder, whose effect will make it too costly for you to attack it at all!" The monster was a machine whose body consisted of several mirrors, its effect would send any attack he made straight at his life points.
He drew his next card and glanced down at it before setting it on the field. It appeared quickly enough in front of him, face down. It was a nice little surprise for if she tried anything. "Guess you didn't know my knight's effect. Attack Reduction!" His amazon opponent looked shocked as his monster's attack power dropped to eight hundred, and it zipped straight past her machine and to her life points, smashing her again with its mace. (A2LP: 1400)
She greedily drew her next card, and then slammed it onto the field, revealing Lady Panther(1900/1300), boosted by her deck master's effect. The female panther in humanoid form roared at his knight and soldier, and brandished her weapon. "Lady Panther, destroy his knight once and for all!" The panther woman charged across the field and sliced his monster in two, dropping his life points by a bare amount. (KLP: 5900)
"Activate Attack and Receive!" His trap card flipped up and its effect went off, cutting her life points in half, making her easy prey for any attack he might make. She grimaced and set one card before ending her turn. (A2LP: 700)
Kensai took a deep breath, knowing that the others were counting on him to get them out of this mess...a mess that his idiocy had created. He drew his card and then held it above his head for a moment before bringing it down in front of his face to examine. Upon seeing it his face broke out in a grin and he played it. "I start off with Remove Trap to destroy your face down card!" Her face down card, a Magic Jammer, broke apart.
"I'll continue by playing Despell on your Will of Gravity! And then I'll play Warrior Mimic, which lets me copy any card in your cemetery as long as I have a warrior on my field. So I equip it as Will of Gravity onto Reflect Bounder." This time it was the machine who was dragged down by gravity, giving Kensai a nearly open path to her life points.
"I set one card, and then summon Swift Knight Gaia(2300/2100) because it's the only card in my hand. Then I attack with my monsters!" First the purple armored knight rode out onto the field, and then his two monsters charged forwards and cut down his opponent's two monsters, dropping her life points to zero and moving him on to the next duelist.
His newest opponent was attractive...but probably two feet taller then he was. Again, this one was blonde, just like the others. She smirked at him and drew an opening hand of six cards, and then started her turn by placing two cards face down, which appeared across from his. "I summon Unfriendly Amazon(2500/1000) and then equip her with Shooting Star Bow-Ceal, which reduces her attack by one thousand...and lets her attack directly!"
The armored woman appeared, holding a bow with an unearthly glow. She notched an arrow into the bow and let fly, striking Kensai in the chest and dropping his life points. "Now I play my own Will of Gravity on Chaos Soldier!" He grimaced as yet again his monster was brought down by gravity. (KLP: 4400)
He drew his card and laughed before setting a card face down. This one had done some serious damage, but she wouldn't be continuing that for much longer. He'd be dropping her to fifteen hundred life points in this turn, easy. "I activate my face down Rush Recklessly to boost my knight to 3000 attack, and then I go for the kill!"
"Activate face down cards, Waboku and Scapegoat!" Four little goat tokens appeared, and then a group of robed men appeared and blocked his strike with easy, keeping him from destroying any of his opponent's monsters. Not only that, but now she'd be able to make the upkeep of her Amazon.
She drew her next card and then slipped it onto the field. Then she followed up by sacrificing a goat token for upkeep and then summoning another monster onto the field. This one was Amazoness Chain Wielder(2000/1300) who was swinging her bladed chain around with deadly skill. "Direct attack!" Again Kensai was struck by an arrow, dropping his life points even further. (KLP: 2900)
He grinned and drew his card, knowing what he'd be doing next. He was about to take victory into his hand quite easily in this turn. "Activate Ice Prison!" Kensai grimaced as Chaos Soldier was wrapped up by ice. He knew this trap, he'd heard of it. He couldn't do anything with his soldier...and the only way to free it was to change its stats.
"I equip Chaos Soldier with Axe of Despair, boosting it to four thousand and freeing it from your prison. Then I activate Meteorain, and attack two goat tokens!" His soldier gained a demon headed axe and broke free, and then his two monsters charged across the field and sliced through one token apiece, dealing damage equal to the difference between their attack and the other monster's defense. (A3LP: 0)
He grinned as his turn ended, and watched as the attractive amazonian leader approached him, activating a duel disk and drawing an opening hand. Her life point counter rose to eight thousand, making it a fifty-one hundred point gap he'd have to make up for. Not only that, but she still kept the Unfriendly Amazon and its power to attack directly. "I sacrifice my two amazons for Cosmo Queen(3400/2400)!"
The new monster was a incredibly thin woman with...well a bulbous head. Either she was wearing some sort of crown, or her brain was huge, Kensai couldn't tell one way or the other. "I'll set one card face down. Now..." She looked over the two monsters and did the math in her head. Destroying his knight would deal more damage, but it wouldn't finish him. If he managed to get back Chaos Soldier's effects then it would be a huge threat. She had to eliminate it first. "I equip Cosmo Queen with United We Stand, now I destroy Chaos Soldier!"
Kensai discovered that it was indeed a huge brain when she fired off a wave of psychic energy that shattered his powerful soldier and dealt him a total of one thousand damage. He was even more behind now, and beating her with that much of a difference might be impossible. Even if she was a total amateur it'd be difficult...she had everything going for her, and he didn't even have any cards in his hand. (KLP: 1900)
He drew his card and grimaced at what he saw. He slowly set the monster in defense mode and switched Gaia to defense as well. That was all he could do for the moment, and hopefully she wouldn't manage to get two more usable monsters out in the next turn, or he'd be finished.
She drew her card and grinned, flipping up her face down card, Avatar of Apophis which created a snake warrior token for her to use as she saw fit. Yep, he was screwed. But to his surprise she didn't do what he expected. "I sacrifice my token for Amazon Lady(2600/2000), and attack your two monsters!"
The new monster was well-dressed, for an amazon. She wore flowing scarlet robes and had a tiara made from what looked like bones. She and the brainy Cosmo Queen charged forwards and cut apart his two monsters, leaving him without any defense. As he drew his card he knew he needed something good, or else he was finished. "Yes! Go Swords of Revealing Light! I knew this card would come in handy!" His opponent cursed as her monsters were locked down by the power of the glowing green swords, giving him three turns to prepare.
She grimaced and drew her next card, then slammed it onto her duel disk, revealing another Amazoness Swords Woman, joining the two other amazons on the field. Then she waved her hand, passing the turn back over to Kensai. He drew his card and then grimaced, setting it down on the field. It might help...but not by much. It was just another Attack and Receive.
The amazonian leader drew another card, and summoned the fierce and muscular Amazoness Fighter(1800/300), who also had the boost. Now her monster zones were full, and her Cosmo Queen had enormous power. She completed her turn by setting one card and using Remove Trap on his Attack and Receive.
He took a deep breath and drew his next card. He stared at it for a moment, and then glanced down at his face down card. It was a card he had in his deck because...well he wasn't sure why. It had been sitting there since turn one of this duel...and if he had his deck master's effect figured right then he had a plan. "End turn!"
His opponent drew her card and then shrugged it off, obviously not having gotten anything worth while. "Well male, it looks like you've run out of options. At the end of this turn the swords will be gonna, freeing me for attacking. So after your next turn, this duel will be over and you and the rest of these outsiders will be dead!"
He felt a flicker of anger at this, knowing that she was completely serious. She was ready to kill them if she won...and he couldn't let that happen. As he started his turn he felt a flicker of power from within the pocket of his jeans, but he brushed it off as his imagination. "I won't let that happen! So now I activate my deck master's special ability, Gathering of the Army! Instead of drawing I can put one warrior into my hand from my deck and then shuffle my deck. So here we go!"
He ejected his deck and started looking through it, and his grin widened as he came across the monster that he wanted. After adding it to his hand he shuffled the deck and put it back in. Now he just needed some luck in what was to come. "Alright, I summon Blade Knight(1600/1600) in attack mode!"
His monster was summoned to the field, revealing a knight in white armor revealing an impressive looking sword. However its power was nothing against that of any of her monsters, making it a seemingly weak creature. The amazon leader seemed to agree, as she threw her head back and started laughing uproariously as did the rest of the amazons. Even those who had been rooting for him seemed to despair at seeing it.
"That's the monster you selected? That's the best you can do? That pathetic thing will never accomplish anything, heck its weaker even then my Amazoness Fighter!" As she spoke this words all those watching saw as the monster's attack power rose to two thousand, and they looked to him in question, wondering how this was happening.
"When I've got two or less cards in my hand Blade Knight gets a power boost of four hundred, and when he's my only monster he can negate flip effects. But that bonus...I don't need it...not exactly. I play Card of Sanctity!" The card appeared on the field, revealing a man reveling in the joy of the coins that fell from the sky. Both of them started drawing their six cards, and as they did so everyone wondered why he hadn't used it the previous turn.
"Curious as to why I waited to use that card? This is why! Open face down card, Card of Last Will! Because my monster had its attack power reduced when my hand increased to six cards, I can now draw five more cards, bringing my total up to eleven cards!" Everyone gasped, and Mai nodded appreciatively, impressed by how well thought out the move was. It wasn't what she would have expected from Kensai, not after his performance against her.
He drew the next five cards, making his hand large enough that he had trouble holding all of them. He started looking through the cards, trying to decide which cards to use. Suddenly his eyes fell upon one of his cards and his eyes lit up. "It's time to show you a monster like no other. Just as my soldier brings the message of creation, this monster brings the message of the apocalypse. By removing one light monster and one dark monster in my cemetery I can special summon Chaos Emperor Dragon-Messenger of the Apocalypse(3000/2500)!"
A column of light erupted on the right side of Kensai, followed by a column of black energy on his left side. The twin columns converged in front of him and became a swirl of colors, before finally fading away. The bubble of energy burst, and out stepped a massive dragon of white, green, and orange, with a orange mane of hair. It let out a deafening roar which shook the entire village and then readied itself.
"This monster is like no other because it possesses an extremely powerful effect. At a cost of a measly one thousand life points I can destroy all cards on the field and in both player's hands, including the dragon itself. Not only that but for each card that goes to the cemetery from its effect you lose three hundred life points! And counting all the cards in my hand, on the field, and in your hand...I count twenty cards. So get ready...Apocalyptic Eruption!"
All the amazons backed away, readying themselves for the explosion. Mai pulled Mokuba and Autumn off to the side. His opponent raised her arms in defense as the dragon started glowing and then...it exploded. They were both caught up in the holographic blast, nearly blasted off their feet completely.
As the dust settled both duelists took their hands and deposited them into the cemetery slot, and the second part of the effect went off, dealing massive damage to his opponent's life points. She grimaced as she watched the duel disk counted down her life points, dropping her nearly to the defeat point. (KLP: 800, ALLP: 2000)
She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Despite the disadvantages they had given to him he had managed to drop her to within striking distance of defeat. A MALE! How could a male possibly do this to her, leader of the amazons? It wasn't possible! "Its not over yet male! I'm not beaten and you're open to attack!"
He grinned and motioned to his deck master with his hand. Her eyes widened as it floated out onto the field, readying itself for an attack, sword at the ready. She gulped, realizing exactly what the situation was. Her field was open, he had never had a battle phase this turn...and his deck master had over two thousand attack points. "Freed the Matchless General(2300/1600), Matchless Blade!"
The blonde warrior charged across the field and slashed his opponent's chest, making her stumble backwards. She grunted as her life points dropped to zero, granting him and his new companions victory. He had won out over adversity...even though his own stupidity had caused it in the first place. "Congratulations male...that makes only two males to ever win. The last one slaughtered three of our number and stole the soul of the amazon he faced after winning. That bastard..."
Kensai's eyes widened as he started to recognize the description of events, and he understood exactly who that person was. There couldn't be anyone else that sadistic...nobody. "What was his name?" The amazon leader just shook her head, revealing that the person who they had faced had never given his name. But Kensai knew...it had to be.
"His name is Taichi Nobuki, and he's done such things before. And I swore on my life that I, Takuya Shinomori, will find him and defeat him, bringing this insanity to an end once and for all! And I know exactly how I'm going to do it..." Again he felt a flicker of power from his pocket, and this time he accepted it, letting a trickle of that power flow into him, causing his anger to rise.
He would find Taichi and he would defeat him using the power of the Seal of Orichalcos...even if it cost him his very soul. He'd make sure that Taichi was beaten and sealed away for all time. "Do you have a horse?"
Several miles away a young man with dark hair and cold eyes walked through a quarry of rocks, whistling a happy tune. He knew exactly where he was going, knew exactly what he was doing. He had everything all laid out in front of him. Soon everything he had ever wanted would be his.
Yes it was indeed a good day to be Taichi Nobuki.
Author's Notes: Ummm...none really. There ya go!
Original Cards
Kensai: Warrior Mimic
Amazons: Will of Gravity, Protective Amulet, Jewel of Amara, (Ice Prison, or whatever its called for real, is from the anime, used by Raphael in the Doom Arc), Amazon Lady