Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh.
Author's Note: This is it, the beginning of the end. Let's get this final party started!
Quote of the Day: 'Duel, n. A formal ceeremony preliminary to the reconciliation of two enemies. Great skill is necessary to the satisfactory obesrvance; if awkwardly performed the most unexpected and deplorable consequences sometimes ensue. A long time ago a man lost his life in a duel.' -defintion of 'Duel' in the Devi's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Reunion in the Rain
Ryu watched Yami walk steadily onwards, ignoring the white haired boy's pleas to slow down. Yami had been like this since the four-way duel, and there was no getting through to him. He was harsh and cold, and Ryou worried that if they met anyone soon, Yami might hurt them. "Yami I thi..." His words were cut off as he stared ahead, discovering only white.
Kevin, Mai, Hinata, Autumn, and Mokuba had been wandering aimlessly about on their horses, desperately hoping to find someone, anyone. But so far they hadn't seen hide nor hair of even a single living soul. Even the village of amazons was gone. It seemed that the number of people in this strange place had been thinned down to a bare handful.
The horses let out shrill cries of terror, and nearly bucked their owners off. Kevin and Mai, who were leading the two horses, both tried to calm the beasts, looking around for the source of the horse's terror. When they found it, they wished they hadn't. For the horses feared the blank white nothingness.
Duke and Tristan sat where they were, unable to move from the spot where Joey had fallen in battle. They couldn't comprehend what had happened. They couldn't see the point of moving on. What would they tell Serenity? How could they possibly tell her that the most important thing in her life was now gone, and empty soulless nothing.
When they suddenly discovered a wall of white surrounding them, they briefly contemplated fighting, or running. But there was nowhere to run, and no way to fight a simple color. And besides, what was the use? Let the white devour them, it wasn't as if they were important or anything like that. The white had more to live for then they did....
Serenity's sobbing was something of a focal point for Kai. Unable to figure out a way to deal with his owned confused emotions, he used Serenity's emotions to focus himself on a goal. He would make her feel better if it was the last thing he did. "Its not your fault. There was nothing you could have done to change it."
But how could he make her believe that? Drake's choice had been his own, but it had been highly confusing. He could have given himself those four thousand life points, survived that attack, and the duel's outcome would have been exactly the same. They would have won. So why did he sacrifice his life like that.
His contemplation was cut off by Serenity's sudden scream of terror, and he whipped around, bringing his fists up to fight off whatever had terrified the younger girl. But what he saw made him drop his fists. It was futile. Because it was everywhere. "Its so white...."
Dalin was used to abnormal things. After all, he had seen quite a number of strange things in recent time, in his recent memory...which was his only true memory. He had seen odd duelists, odd monsters, odd effects, and odd visions. But none of that prepared him to not be able to see anything at all.
He wasn't blind, not at all. He could see his hands and his body perfectly find. It was everything else that he couldn't see. Instead of walking through a dilapidated city with vine covered buildings, he now walked through....a world full of white. It was as if someone had taken white-out and smeared it over everything.
"Somebody is starting over....something is being changed. But what?" He never got the chance to consider an answer to his own questions. Moments after he thought up the questions, some divine force chose that second as the time to sweep the brush of white-out across his tiny little dot, and then there was more white.
Tea sighed and tried to curl up against the semi-warm inside of the tree. She was now residing within one of those odd trees that looked like a giant had scooped out the inside. It was odd certainly, but it was also the perfect place to hide from the rain, and that was what it was now doing.
There came an odd booming sound, and thinking it was thunder she shrugged it off. But when it came again, this time closer and obviously not thunder, she decided she should risk checking on the weather. Slowly she peaked her head outside, and what she saw shocked her.
Or rather, what she didn't see. She felt the rain pelting her head, wetting her head and making it stick to her face. She heard the distant explosion of thunder, and the odd booming sound. She felt the heat from nearby lightning. But none of that was there, it had all been consumed by an endless board of whiteness.
Loud and irritating laughter was what woke them up, all of them. Their eyes opened, and they found themselves grouped together. There weren't that many of them, a few dozen at best, and some of them were faces they didn't want to see, but they were all alive!
Yami looked around and spotted familiar faces. He saw Weevil, Rex, Espa Roba. He saw Bandit Keith, Mako Tsunami. He could see some of his friends, like Duke, Tristan, Mai, and even Tea. There in the distance was Dalin, and there a bit farther away was Hinata and Autumn. Mokuba was wandering around looking for his brother.
There was Rebecca, the young and highly unusual genius girl who had dueled Yugi a month or so back. Ryou was here with him, and he saw Serenity a little ways away with a young man he didn't recognize. There was another face he didn't recognize, a blonde boy of obviously American origin....but that was all.
There were so many faces that were missing. Despite the number of times he looked around he couldn't find them. There was no Joey, no Drake, no Kaiba. He saw no Kensai, nor did he even see the face he had most expected and most feared. Taichi was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't see hide nor hair of Ryu either.
For the first time since he had awoken he surveyed his surroundings instead of the people. It was a clear courtyard of marble tiles, and about one hundred feet away were far reaching and wide steps, leading up to a Greek styled temple, with colonnades and everything.
All around him was a paradise of varying fruit trees, and flowering plants. Roses of different colors, tulips, daffodils, every flower that one could imagine. If Eden existed, this had to be it. At least, if Eden stopped after about half a mile and suddenly turned into a blank white nothingness that boxed them all in.
Whatever kind of false paradise this was, he didn't care. It was the person responsible for its creation and for bringing them here that had him interested. He'd say Taichi under normal circumstances, but this false paradise wasn't Taichi's idea of an enjoyable place. This stuff would have made Taichi vomit out his own heart, if it was still there.
No, this was something, or someone, new. Whatever new terror was awaiting them, he would be prepared for it. There was nothing that could surprise him, nothing that could stop him. Because whoever was responsible for this, would be receiving the blame for the loss of Yugi and every other person whose face he did not see.
Slowly and cautiously, those who knew each other gathered together. Mostly it was the old gang, but a few new faces had also joined in. They made sure they were all okay with various comments of that nature, and then the true questions began. Everybody wanted to know whether any of the others knew why some of their friends were missing.
So in this way they all discovered the truth. Joey had fallen saving Duke and Tristan from a psychotic blue-haired man who believed to be from Atlantis. Yami felt a certain amount of satisfaction as he saw that this blue-haired man had not made it. He too had fallen at some point.
Kensai had gained some crazy new card called the Seal of Orichalcos, and using its power he had taken on Taichi. In a shocking display of honor and inner strength, Kensai had sacrificed his own life to finally defeat Taichi once and for all. Now Taichi was no longer a threat.
Drake had fallen in a difficult double duel against union duelists. According to Kai the decision Drake had made was unusual, as he had chosen to sacrifice his own life to increase Kai's life points, when saving himself would have also allowed them to win the game. His sacrifice didn't change anything. Yami could offer no explanation.
The one true mystery was the one that Hinata was so worried about. Nobody could seem to offer any explanation as to what had happened to Ryu, as nobody had encountered him in their travels. Whether he had been defeated in a duel or something else had happened, they couldn't be sure.
Turning his attention the American in the group, Kevin Hunter, he decided it was time to ask some questions. There was something about the boy that seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn't place it. Had he seen the duelist somewhere? "Kevin, for some reason you seem familiar to me, any insight as to that?"
The blonde duelist just shrugged and offered Yami a placating grin. "Sorry, can't help you with that. Guess I just have one of those really common faces that you see everywhere." Yami eyed the boy for several more seconds, as did Dalin, but finding nothing deceiving in his looks, Yami gave up. Perhaps Kevin was right, perhaps he was just imagining things.
Now it was Dalin's turn to start asking questions. He wanted a few things answered, and he was certain he knew where he could get those questions answered. "Its about time we got some answers. I'm heading up to that temple to find out the truth." So he set off, marching towards the temple with great purpose in his stride.
His march was halted by the voice of Kevin Hunter, who stopped Dalin with a very simple phrase. "I don't think going up there is necessary." Dalin blinked and turned around to face the other blonde, well aware that his large figure was highly intimidating. Again he thought he saw something in Kevin's eyes that was familiar, something he had seen before, but it was gone just as quickly as it had come.
"And what makes you think that?" Kevin just raised his arm and pointed over Dalin's shoulder. Everyone's gaze followed that arm, and found themselves looking up at the top steps of the temple, where two figures had just appeared. One of them was the highly distinctive form of Yami Malik (Yami cursed upon seeing him), and the other was....impossible!
"Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and respective midgets! You are the last standing in this deadly game, and you shall gain a great honor! You shall be the ones to worship my greatness....well at least some of you will be." These comments sent a wave of varying emotions through the assembled duelists, particularly from Rebecca and Mokuba, the two 'respective midgets.' But those who recognized the speaker, knew that this person was very serious.
Indeed, the last time the gang had seen her, she had been dishing out insults to their enemy, and she had then gone on to perform quite admirably as well. She was not one of the good guys, but nor could she necessarily be described as one of the bad guys. Who she was became a different question. They recognized her, but she had no name that they knew of.
"You have all survived the initial round of weeding. I admit that I didn't bring you all here, but upon discovering your presence within my home, I decided that I should make the best of it. Therefore I created the system that you all came to use, and now here you are, the best of the best....most likely." A fierce grin spread across her attractive features, and more murmurs passed through the crowd. Her violet eyes pierced out into the crowd, digging into the souls of those gathered.
"I understand that none of you know who I am. And since the best amongst you shall soon be worshiping me for all time, I believe it is necessary for you to have some name to call me by. In past times my name was different, but now I have taken up a new name. I am called Ihachi, but for you, you all can simply call me Goddess."
Yes, the group all recognized her, at least those who had been there. She was the strange spirit from within Drake who looked exactly like a younger version of Drake's sister. She was the spirit who had defeated Ryu and taken his Blue Eyes. She was the spirit who had taken over Drake and dueled Taichi when Drake had died. "Why the fuck would we worship you?"
Everyone's eyes were now on Bandit Keith, the rude blonde American whom nobody liked. Upon seeing the furious look in Ihachi's eyes, those around Keith moved aside, knowing something was about to happen. Ihachi's dainty arm rose, and with a flash of golden power Keith was hurled a dozen feet through the air, coming crashing down painfully on his back, unconscious for the moment. "That is why."
"While you have all survived the first round, in some cases that may be because you simply avoided dueling, and therefore survived. As that may be the case, there will be another round. The weak amongst you shall be weeded out, and duels will take place to do so." Her fierce grin was mirrored by her flunky, Yami Malik, whose twisted features were somehow less frightening when set next to her fierce beauty.
To everyone's surprise Yami chose this moment to speak up, despite what had happened moments earlier to Keith. Everyone thought he was insane. "You expect us to just pick opponent's and duel to your satisfaction and then worship you? You're no goddess, this realm is a god of its own, and it will consume you eventually!"
Yami was ready as her dainty arm rose again, this time aiming at him. He had a full barrier prepared to release using the magic of his Puzzle. What he had already forgotten was the incredible power that Drake had displayed, drawing upon her strength. The blast of magic struck his barrier and shattered it instantly.
The one-time Pharaoh was blasted backwards, his feet sliding across the ground, the tips of his boots barely touching. He fought the magic as the force continued, but it was like fighting against a tidal wave with one's bare hands. He couldn't even dent the enormous power flowing over him. And so he was swept aside, blasted into a row of trees where he fell helplessly to the ground.
"Don't you ever speak out of turn! You will speak when I give you permission to speak, so until then I suggest...NO! I order you to shut the hell up and let me talk! You'll get your turn to speak when the duels begin." Yami let out a groan, and tried to sit up, but found himself still flattened by her power. Tea ran over and drop to her knees next to him, trying to help him up. But she couldn't do anything.
"The rules are simple. Choose how you duel, in some cases choose who you duel, and the winners shall receive the right to enter the temple. Refuse to duel and you shall be punished, lose a duel and you shall perish. Its very simple. Now, let the duels commence!" She raised her arms above her head, and various explosions of multi-colored energy peppered the sky. It was fireworks with magic, a very impressive display as well. She knew how to throw a party.
Suddenly a deep voice rang out through the crowd. "I'd rather die then participate in this sick game of yours." Everyone located the source of the deep voice, and were astonished at what they saw. He was huge, easily reaching close to seven feet in height. He was extremely muscular, about the same as Dalin, and his blonde hair came down in nasty sideburns on his face. He wore a tight black muscle shirt that left his arms bare, and all together he was very intimidating.
But not to Ihachi. She simply looked at for a moment as though staring at an ant. In truth, to her that was what he was. Just an ant compared to her power. He had no strength of his own, no magic to speak of. He was a nothing, and she was a goddess in this place. "Raphael was it? Well, if that is your wish, then far be it for me to deny you it."
She raised her arm again, but this time she simply placed her middle finger and thumb together. Then she snapped her finger, creating an audible click. Raphael's screams echoed throughout the false paradise as golden fires erupted from his skin, consuming him from the inside out.
It lasted just a few seconds in truth, but to those watching and listening it took an eternity. It was a terrible way to die, and whoever he was, whatever he might have done, he didn't deserve that. Nobody deserved such a thing. Ihachi was out of her gourd, insane with power!
The thought crossed several minds as they watched the death of a bold soul. Each of them had that goal in mind. Yami, Dalin, Kai, Serenity, and others. Each of them was thinking the same thing. Each of them knew the same thing to be true. Ihachi had to be stopped, before more innocents suffered.
Ihachi was just too powerful to attack directly. If they were going to defeat her, they were going to have to do it her way. They'd have to enter that temple and figure things out from there. And that meant winning the duels they were forced into. And understanding the psyche of evil villains, they knew it wouldn't be easy, or simple.
"Now, if you little kiddies are done playing around, why don't we get started? As a matter of fact, I have the perfect duel in mind. One of my deputy's will duel first, but he won't choose who he duels. You will all get that honor to choose who faces him. But be warned, he won't go easy on you. Until you enter the temple, ciao!" With those last words she departed, returning to temple. Malik didn't follow, instead he remained standing there like a guard hawk.
In fact that was what he was. He was the last line of defense. Ihachi had told him that should the Pharaoh make it through his duels, and she said she had interesting plans for him, then he'd have to face Malik. If Malik was defeated, then all those left that had not perished in the games would be able to enter the temple. But the chances of him being defeated were slim to none, because his deck was second to none!
Murmurs could be heard throughout the group of duelists. They were awaiting the entrance of Ihachi's deputy, awaiting the decision of who would have the right to duel first. Whoever the deputy was, they were certain he would be someone just as freaky as Ihachi was, otherwise they wouldn't be in-league.
A flash of light and a crack of thunder alerted them to the gathering of a storm. Unable to cover themselves they found themselves getting drenched by the sudden downpour. It was the same storm that Tea had fled from, and now it was in this strange place, this fake Eden.
The deputy's entrance, coming out of the temple, was punctuated by a flash of lightning and explosion of thunder. For that moment they couldn't see him, nor recognize him. But when the next bolt of lightning came, his face was illuminated, and then they knew. But what they saw couldn't be...it just didn't make any sense.
Ryu Shigeru stalked down the steps of the temple, approaching the duelists quite casually. A vicious smirk filled his face, and his eyes pulsed red in the dim light. The rain battered his body, matting his hair to his head, making him look truly fearsome. On his left arm was a duel disk, deck already inserted, and the disk was already activated. All he had to do was begin the duel.
"So, who wants to be my first victim? Hurry up and form a line, I have to weed out the weakest of you before the day is out." Arguments burst out as duelists tried to decide who would face this duelist, who would face Ihachi's deputy. Different arguments raged amongst the hearts of those who had counted themselves amongst Ryu's friends.
"You traitorous bastard!" He caught the slap before it fell, clenching the slim wrist in his calloused hand with ease. He let his smirk drop as he recognized the face of the one who had attacked him, recognized it in a flash of light from the lightning. It was a face he knew almost as well as his own, a face he had bartered much for. And now this was what he got for it.
"Hinata....is that a challenge?" In response she swung at him with her other arm, but he simply ducked the blow. With that moment of distraction she performed a snap kick, aiming to shatter his right kneecap. With practiced ease he picked up his leg and caught the kick with his own foot, forcing her back and shoving with his arms, causing her to be thrown violently to the ground.
Screaming with rage the younger girl hurled herself at him, forgetting all her years of kendo training in a fit of rage. She swung wildly with her limbs, desperately trying to strike every inch of his body she could reach. She wanted to beat him within an inch of his life and then maybe beat down that last inch! He had betrayed their trust, betrayed her trust!
In her fury she didn't quite understand what Ryu did. But she found herself quickly in a heap on the ground, a nasty bruise forming on her cheek. Her stomach felt like it had been hit by a sledgehammer. Ryu certainly didn't care who she was, he just fought as he would anybody, and she had payed for that.
Clenching her fists, her knuckles white from the tightness of her grip, she rose to her feet. With a quick depression of a button her DD2 sprang open, now active and ready to go. Yami Malik smirked from his place high up at the top of the temple. The first duel was decided, and it would certainly be an interesting one.
Ryu had gotten himself into the position of Ihachi's deputy because he had wanted Hinata's soul freed. Ihachi hadn't told him that Hinata's soul was roaming the Shadow Realm with all the others, free as a bird. She hadn't had to do a thing, and she got a deputy who was sworn to follow her every command.
Ryu hadn't intended to follow up on his agreement. He had intended to deal with Ihachi as soon as Hinata was freed. But he had soon discovered that a deal made in the Shadow Realm couldn't be broken, not unless you were extraordinarily powerful. Now he had no choice but do as she said, and she said that he was to duel whoever she wanted him to. And now he had to duel Hinata....and she was practically his sister.
Shaken these thoughts from his mind and focusing himself on the aspect of his mind and soul that was a born killer, he brought up the cruelty and hatred that had made him so deadly in his years as a gang member. He had no fear of death, no compassion for life, nothing to care about. He was a ruthless killing machine, and his target was Hinata.
Both duelists picked up their cards, Hinata choosing to go first. She drew a sixth card and stared hard at the cards, anything to avoid looking at the creature that was her opponent. She had thought she had known him, thought she had loved him. But now he had become a deputy for some sick bitch who was willing to sacrifice hundreds of lives just to get some powerful worshipers!
"I set one card face down, and summon Maha Vailo(1550/1400)! Now take your turn you scum!" The blue robed and armored magic user rose onto the field, electricity crackling between her palms. A card appeared behind her, but it didn't matter. Maha Vailo mattered because its effect would let it overpower anything Ryu could summon, as long as she got the chance to equip it with something.
Ryu drew a card, the nasty smirk still on his face. Already he had a plan, and it was all based on how you read things. Luckily for him the duel disk system agreed with how he read it. As soon as she attacked she'd be getting a nasty surprise. "I'll place a card face down, and then set a monster in defense mode."
Now the fun part was about to begin. He had something very special planned, and it would be the end of her. Slowly he picked up his next card, and then slipped it into one of his magic zones. "Now I shall equip Fairy Meteor Crush....on Maha Vailo(2050/1400)!" This strange move brought confused moments from everyone, particularly Hinata. However Dalin had a strange look on his face, as if he was trying to remember something.
Hinata smirked and drew a card, ready to crush him for his foolish mistake. The red aura that now surrounded her monster gave it a trample ability, so she'd crush his defense monster and plenty of Ryu's life points in one swoop. "Apparently you've gone stupid, and I'll capitalize on that. But first I'll summon Gunman of Landstar(900/600) and equip him with Landstar Shot, raising his power to fifteen hundred!"
Her new monster was similar to Swordsman of Landstar, except it was dressed in more modern clothing and held a gun in its hand. It actually looked like something out of the Musketeers. "In moments I'll be going directly at your life points, so I'll double my Gunman's attack power for this turn using my deck master's special ability, Forbidden Technique!"
A bright orange aura erupted around the gunman, and suddenly its power shot all the way up to three thousand, making it equal with the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Now she could crush his defense monster and deal damage, and then strike a massive blow with her hugely powerful creature. "Equipping Fairy Meteor Crush on my monster was the last mistake you'll ever make! Maha Vailo, attack and destroy his defense monster!"
The magic user raised her arms to the sky, and a bolt of lightning shot down from the storm clouds above, charging her up. Then Vailo thrust her arms forward and shot off that lightning, sending it striking into his defense monster. The creature splattered, revealing the pathetic defense of Giant Germ. "Now that you've destroyed Giant Germ(1000/100) I can special summon the last one from my deck in attack mode. And you take five hundred damage!" (HLP: 7500)
She just smirked and raised one arm, ready to declare another attack. "You idiot! I may have lost five hundred points, but your monster has almost no defense power, so you'll be taking nearly two thousand points of damage!" Her laughter was cut off as instead of watching his counter drop, it was hers that was rapidly falling. And nobody seemed to understand except two people. (HLP: 5550)
It was Dalin who first spoke up, his voice rising above the crashing of thunder to provide an explanation. "Hinata, beware gifts presented to you! The exact text of Fairy Meteor Crush is that when its equipped on a monster and attacks a monster with weaker defense, damage is dealt to the opponent's life points. Its Ryu's card and you're his opponent, therefore you take the damage!" She grimaced, understanding that she had been given a gift that could potentially kill her.
"Fine, now I'll attack your pathetic germ with my Gunman!" The landstar raised his rifle and took careful aim, firing off a swift shot that burst straight through the attack mode germ. It was going to deal big damage to Ryu, but it also dealt damage to her from its effect. (HLP: 5050, RLP: 6000)
"And now that my turn is over, my Gunman is destroyed because it was doubled by my deck master's effect." The gunman let out a brief cry as it exploded into tiny little fragments. To Hinata's surprise Ryu's deck master responded. It opened its mouth wide and shot out a ball of fire, which struck her in the chest and knocked her over. (HLP: 4550)
Ryu threw back his head and started to laugh wildly. His dragon responded by letting out an ear splitting roar. "Fool! My deck master has a very powerful ability, much stronger then yours. Whenever one of your monsters is destroyed and goes to the cemetery, you lose five hundred life points! Feel lucky you don't take that damage from sacrifices."
Now as her turn ended, it back time for Ryu to take his turn. As soon as he drew his next card, he knew exactly what to do. His face down card was going to make things all to easy, all he had to do was use gone of his other cards first. Whipping away some water that had trickled into his eyes he played his card, and watched as it appeared. "Now watch the power of my Earthquake moves all monsters on the field into face-up defense mode!"
The rumble of thunder was suddenly drowned out by the shaking of the earth beneath their feet. Hinata was nearly unseated by dangerous movement of ground, but Ryu seemed unaffected. Her Maha Vailo dropped to one knee, now forced into defense mode. She didn't know what he intended, but it couldn't be good. "Reveal face down card, Micro Laser! This will drop your monster's defense down to zero!"
His card flipped up, and from it shot a bright blue laser beam. It slashed out at her monster, ready to cut its defenses down to nothingness. But she had no intention of letting him do so. She was no easy prey. "Activate face down card, Trap Negation!" She dumped a card from her hand into the cemetery to negate his trap's activation, and watched with satisfaction as the laser vanished before striking her monster.
"Trying to make it harder on me huh? Well it won't help, because I have a magic card to do similar. Its called Humble, and for the duration of this turn it drops your monster's current stat by one thousand points. Since Maha Vailo is in defense mode, it loses one thousand defense points!" His magic card pulled off its effect, and her Vailo started gasping for air, falling face first into the dirt. She was unable to pull herself up she was so weakened. And with only four hundred defense points she was easy prey.
"I shall summon Spear Dragon(1900/0) in attack mode!" The blue and white dragon was summoned to the field, and let out a sharp cry that irritated Hinata's ears. Worse yet, she was well aware of Spear Dragon's effect. It had a trample ability, and with her monster so weak, this wasn't going to end well.
Kai was the one who spoke up first, understanding exactly what was going on. He felt the need to alert this girl he didn't know to the problem facing her. Ryu's deck was a dangerous one, and she needed to know. "Be careful! He's using a Dark Trample Deck!"
"Spear Dragon, cut her monster to ribbons!" The dragon swooped down upon the sickly magic user and drilled into her stomach with its sharp beak. The beak speared straight through her gut, coming out the other side. It reared back, the woman still stuck on its beak, and whipped its head around trying to throw the woman off. It finally succeeded, and she fell to the ground and exploded into holographic fragments. (HLP: 2550)
The dragon moved into defense mode, and then it became Hinata's turn. Slowly she drew her card, contemplating exactly what she should do. The rain was helping her at the moment, because it let her pretend that all the water on her face was from the rain, and not from herself. "Monster Reborn to revive Maha Vailo!"
The blue-clad woman appeared on the field again, ready to devastate the puny defense of Ryu's Spear Dragon. With no defense power it was an easy target for her monster. "Now I summon Hayabusa Knight(1000/700) in attack mode, and activate my deck master's ability on it, doubling its power!" The bird-like warrior let out a war call as it grew in size by nearly two feet, making it very deadly, particularly with its special effect.
"Maha Vailo, obliterate Ryu's dragon!" Her Vailo opened one palm, revealing a ball of yellow electricity. It grabbed onto the sphere with its other hand and then hurled it at the dragon baseball style. The ball of electricity exploded on the dragon, shattering it into thousands of pieces. Now he was defenseless.
"Hayabusa Knight, attack with Ten-Thousand Blades!" The warrior charged across the field and slashed with its rapier. The blade moved at incredible speeds, going so fast that nobody could follow it completely. It seemed to be attacking from dozens of angles at once. And it did serious damage, cutting Ryu's flesh severely. He just ignored the pain, and started laughing. (RLP: 2000)
"I hope you know what you're doing, because if you beat me then my body and soul will be consumed by the shadows and I will cease to exist! And when my soul is consumed I'll never be able to return, I won't even be able to be reborn! You'll have been the cause of my eternal demise!" Hinata gasped, horrified at this news. The others all stared at Ryu in shock, uncertain how to respond. In that moment of heavy silence, punctuated only by the rolling of thunder, Hinata's bird-knight exploded. (HLP: 2050)
Now it was once again Ryu's turn, and he just looked at her horrified face as he started off. Ihachi had been right, it had been exactly what he needed. Now she'd be thrown off her game, uncertain whether she could really deal the final blow or not. "I begin by playing Foolish Burial to place a monster from my deck into the cemetery!"
He picked up his deck and fanned it out like a hand of cards, a massive one at that. He quickly spotted the monster he wanted and then shoved it into the cemetery. Finally he completed the move by reshuffling his deck and shoving it back into his deck holster. "Now I play the magic card, Nightmare Steel Cage!"
A black cage of spikes erupted from the ground, creating a dome over Hinata and her monster. Now she was unable to attack for two of her turns, and he was unable to attack for the same length of time. It was a stall tactic, but in that time he could torment her. "End turn!"
Hinata fiercely drew her card, desperately trying to come up with a solution to the current problem. Something wasn't right about this situation, but she didn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't just kill Ryu though, as much as she might think she wanted to. "Damn....what do I do? Screw it, I summon Gray Wing(1300/700)!"
The grayish dragon let out a roar as it flapped down onto the field and let off a little bit of fire. Finally it settled down onto its clawed feet, waiting for a command. Unfortunately it was trapped underneath the spiked dome, unable to do anything. "I'll place one card face down to end my turn!" She declared her move and emptied her hand, watching as the card appeared in the dome.
Ryu drew his card and smirked widely. He placed the card down onto the field casually, and grinned wickedly as he did so. All he needed was one more card to complete the strategy, and then victory would be his. "Come on girly, can't you take on my two cards? Don't tell me you're afraid to fight back against me....afraid to kill me. After all, I know the truth. You're in love with me!"
She grimaced, unable to make a reply to this comment. It was true, what he said. She was in love with him, and he just thought of her as a little sister. He didn't have the kinds of feelings for her that she had for him, instead he felt them for that little Autumn girl. Holding back her anger, partially, she slammed her newest card onto the field. "Mystical Knight of Jackal(2700/1200)!"
Her two monsters shattered as their power was given up to summon her strongest monster, the ferocious jackal wielding a deadly curved blade. Its effect would cause Ryu to reuse any monsters, and it would crush him easily. Not only was its strength great, but its effect was deadly as well. Any monster destroyed by it was returned to the top of its owners deck. "Since I can't attack I'll end my turn."
As soon as she ended her turn the cage faded away in a dark wisp of black magic. Now both players were free to attack, and unless Ryu got something stronger, he'd be finished for good. The dark duelist picked up his card and then let out a hollow laugh as he used his card. "Love is something that is lost on me. All I am is a killer. Therefore I shall be the one to kill you! And to do so I shall use Spell of the Devil's Resurrection!"
Yami gasped upon hearing that name, and suddenly he understood why Ryu had used Foolish Burial. He also knew exactly what monster had been placed in the cemetery. "Hinata, watch out, that card lets him revive one light type monster from either player's cemetery in face-up attack mode! It then becomes a dark type monster with a boost of five hundred points to both attack and defense!"
Ryu let out another dark laugh and slowly a fog rose up around him. A black clawed foot reached up from the fog and slammed down onto the ground, followed by another. Slowly a very familiar long-necked creature raised its head, its very black head. "That's right! And now I raise the monster that means the most to me, and I raise it in its new and most glorious form, darkened just as my soul is! SO RISE, BLUE EYES BLACK DRAGON(3500/3000)!"
The black dragon with blue eyes let out a fearsome roar, the sound of it shaking everyone gathered to their core. Saliva dripped from its razor sharp teeth, mingling with the rain. And as that saliva fell, steam issued forth. The saliva was like acid, and the ground was burning from it. "Attack with Black Burst Stream!"
A wave of black lightning exploded from its mouth, racing across the field. The black lightning collided with Hinata's jackal and vaporized it, taking with it a big chunk of Hinata's life points, and much of her will to fight. "Now the end is certain! Go ahead and take your turn Hinata, but nothing you do can save you from my dark soul and my dark dragon!" (HLP: 750)
She was on her knees, unable to comprehend what had become of the man she loved. He was going to kill her, and he was laughing. There was no way to stop him, and no reason to either. If she won then the man she loved would be gone forever. If she lost then her death would forever be on his soul. She wanted his soul to be pure, she wanted him to be happy. She didn't want him to suffer. "Pot of Greed."
The two cards she had drawn stared back up at her, and she knew that it was her only way to win. But could she really do it...no, this wasn't the final blow. That she would worry about later. For the moment all she had to do was strike out at him and get rid of the threat of his dragon. "Revival Game! At a cost of seven hundred life points I can revive one monster onto the field, but its destroyed at the end of my second turn." (HLP: 50)
Her Mystical Knight of Jackal reappeared on the field, this time ready to fight back. However the superior Blue Eyes Black Dragon wasn't ready to back down, and it issued forth a deafening roar that knocked her knight off its feet. "I play Beast Rage! This lets me increase one beast or beast-warrior's attack power by its defense power until the end of the turn. In return it loses its effect permanently!"
The black dragon was suddenly drowned out by the roar of the now fifteen foot tall jackal knight. Its power increased greatly, reaching a level of thirty-nine hundred, four hundred more then the black dragon's power. It was enough for the moment, and it would have to do. "Jackal Cutter!"
Two swift strokes of its sword were all that was needed for the jackal knight to cut Ryu's monster into ribbons. With its disappearance Ryu's field was cleared of everything but one face down card, and since he hadn't used it just then, it obviously couldn't be used in such a situation. (RLP: 1600)
Ryu deftly plucked a card free from the top of his deck, and as quickly as the duel had begun he knew that it was over. Now his final strategy could be completed. Now Hinata would be finished for good. She didn't stand a chance! "I'll just place one card face down lover. Now let's see if you have the guts to attack and finish me off!"
She slowly drew in her breath and drew a card, using it as soon as she had drawn it. Poison of the Old Man appeared, and her life points took a turn for the better as she drank one of the two potions the old man offered her. Her life points rose to a decent twelve hundred and fifty life points, enough to survive with. Now she had to decide whether to attack or not.
If she attacked then he would die forever. If she didn't attack then she might die forever. Could she really risk it. Could she....but no. She knew what she had to do. She could see it in his eyes that he wanted her to attack, and she knew that though he was unafraid of death, he didn't intend to die. He was ready to finish her off, and she knew what his down cards were, she was certain of it.
"Its all over. Jackal Cutter!" Her knight rushed forward, blade at the ready. Suddenly Ryu's two face down cards flipped up, and a ring of explosives appeared around her knight's neck. Everything was happening exactly as Ryu had expected.
"My two face down cards are Ring of Destruction and Trap of Board Eraser! Ring of Destruction will destroy your monster and deal twenty-seven hundred points of damage to both of us. Trap of Board Eraser however will negate non-battle damage done to me this turn, meaning I win and you lose! So now you die!" The ring started spinning at incredible speeds, and it started to go off. As soon as it exploded, the duel was over.
"Not quite! Activate placed card, Seven Tools of the Bandit!" Her life points dropped down to a meager amount, and a Swiss army knife shot out from her flipped card, heading straight towards Ryu's cards. (HLP: 250)
Ryu gasped in horror, his eyes opened as wide as they could go. As soon as that knife sliced through his Ring of Destruction he'd be finished. There was no way left for him to stop her attack and win this duel, her attack would crush him completely! "NO! DON'T DO IT!"
And then the knife sliced straight through the card that Hinata had intended for it to slice through. It cut straight through....Trap of Board Eraser! "What, what the hell?" Hinata gave him a small smile, and suddenly he understood. He knew the truth from that smile, from those eyes.
She had known all along what cards he had placed. Somehow she had known. Therefore she had attacked, knowing that he would use them when she did. She had chosen before her attack that she would rather die with Ryu, then die without him. In this they would be together. "I love you Ryu. I love you too much. So goodbye forever."
"DAMN YOU TO HELL! DAMN YOU BITCH, DAMN YOU FOREVER!" His words fell on deaf ears as the explosive force of his trap card ripped Hinata's monster apart, and showered the field in fire and destruction. Destruction, death, and chaos. Now they were gone, together.
When the fire had gone and the smoke had faded the two duelists were revealed. They both lay on their backs, seemingly unharmed. But their blank eyes stared up at the cloudy sky, watching the rain fall. So they watched the rain fall forever, together in this moment, together at last. Together under the falling rain.
Author's Notes: And yes, this is the beginning of the end. Hope you liked it, now read and review, as this is probably my last chapter to be posted for some time now. Luckily you got plenty over the last week.
Original Cards
Ryu: Humble, Spell of the Devil's Resurrection
Hinata: Trap Negation, Revival Game, Beast Rage
Other cards: Micro Laser is from the Sanctuary of the Sky set, and therefore will be released in America in the Ancient Sanctuary set. Gundman of Landstar and Landstar shot are used by Joey in the KC Grand Prix arc.
Author's Note: This is it, the beginning of the end. Let's get this final party started!
Quote of the Day: 'Duel, n. A formal ceeremony preliminary to the reconciliation of two enemies. Great skill is necessary to the satisfactory obesrvance; if awkwardly performed the most unexpected and deplorable consequences sometimes ensue. A long time ago a man lost his life in a duel.' -defintion of 'Duel' in the Devi's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Reunion in the Rain
Ryu watched Yami walk steadily onwards, ignoring the white haired boy's pleas to slow down. Yami had been like this since the four-way duel, and there was no getting through to him. He was harsh and cold, and Ryou worried that if they met anyone soon, Yami might hurt them. "Yami I thi..." His words were cut off as he stared ahead, discovering only white.
Kevin, Mai, Hinata, Autumn, and Mokuba had been wandering aimlessly about on their horses, desperately hoping to find someone, anyone. But so far they hadn't seen hide nor hair of even a single living soul. Even the village of amazons was gone. It seemed that the number of people in this strange place had been thinned down to a bare handful.
The horses let out shrill cries of terror, and nearly bucked their owners off. Kevin and Mai, who were leading the two horses, both tried to calm the beasts, looking around for the source of the horse's terror. When they found it, they wished they hadn't. For the horses feared the blank white nothingness.
Duke and Tristan sat where they were, unable to move from the spot where Joey had fallen in battle. They couldn't comprehend what had happened. They couldn't see the point of moving on. What would they tell Serenity? How could they possibly tell her that the most important thing in her life was now gone, and empty soulless nothing.
When they suddenly discovered a wall of white surrounding them, they briefly contemplated fighting, or running. But there was nowhere to run, and no way to fight a simple color. And besides, what was the use? Let the white devour them, it wasn't as if they were important or anything like that. The white had more to live for then they did....
Serenity's sobbing was something of a focal point for Kai. Unable to figure out a way to deal with his owned confused emotions, he used Serenity's emotions to focus himself on a goal. He would make her feel better if it was the last thing he did. "Its not your fault. There was nothing you could have done to change it."
But how could he make her believe that? Drake's choice had been his own, but it had been highly confusing. He could have given himself those four thousand life points, survived that attack, and the duel's outcome would have been exactly the same. They would have won. So why did he sacrifice his life like that.
His contemplation was cut off by Serenity's sudden scream of terror, and he whipped around, bringing his fists up to fight off whatever had terrified the younger girl. But what he saw made him drop his fists. It was futile. Because it was everywhere. "Its so white...."
Dalin was used to abnormal things. After all, he had seen quite a number of strange things in recent time, in his recent memory...which was his only true memory. He had seen odd duelists, odd monsters, odd effects, and odd visions. But none of that prepared him to not be able to see anything at all.
He wasn't blind, not at all. He could see his hands and his body perfectly find. It was everything else that he couldn't see. Instead of walking through a dilapidated city with vine covered buildings, he now walked through....a world full of white. It was as if someone had taken white-out and smeared it over everything.
"Somebody is starting over....something is being changed. But what?" He never got the chance to consider an answer to his own questions. Moments after he thought up the questions, some divine force chose that second as the time to sweep the brush of white-out across his tiny little dot, and then there was more white.
Tea sighed and tried to curl up against the semi-warm inside of the tree. She was now residing within one of those odd trees that looked like a giant had scooped out the inside. It was odd certainly, but it was also the perfect place to hide from the rain, and that was what it was now doing.
There came an odd booming sound, and thinking it was thunder she shrugged it off. But when it came again, this time closer and obviously not thunder, she decided she should risk checking on the weather. Slowly she peaked her head outside, and what she saw shocked her.
Or rather, what she didn't see. She felt the rain pelting her head, wetting her head and making it stick to her face. She heard the distant explosion of thunder, and the odd booming sound. She felt the heat from nearby lightning. But none of that was there, it had all been consumed by an endless board of whiteness.
Loud and irritating laughter was what woke them up, all of them. Their eyes opened, and they found themselves grouped together. There weren't that many of them, a few dozen at best, and some of them were faces they didn't want to see, but they were all alive!
Yami looked around and spotted familiar faces. He saw Weevil, Rex, Espa Roba. He saw Bandit Keith, Mako Tsunami. He could see some of his friends, like Duke, Tristan, Mai, and even Tea. There in the distance was Dalin, and there a bit farther away was Hinata and Autumn. Mokuba was wandering around looking for his brother.
There was Rebecca, the young and highly unusual genius girl who had dueled Yugi a month or so back. Ryou was here with him, and he saw Serenity a little ways away with a young man he didn't recognize. There was another face he didn't recognize, a blonde boy of obviously American origin....but that was all.
There were so many faces that were missing. Despite the number of times he looked around he couldn't find them. There was no Joey, no Drake, no Kaiba. He saw no Kensai, nor did he even see the face he had most expected and most feared. Taichi was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't see hide nor hair of Ryu either.
For the first time since he had awoken he surveyed his surroundings instead of the people. It was a clear courtyard of marble tiles, and about one hundred feet away were far reaching and wide steps, leading up to a Greek styled temple, with colonnades and everything.
All around him was a paradise of varying fruit trees, and flowering plants. Roses of different colors, tulips, daffodils, every flower that one could imagine. If Eden existed, this had to be it. At least, if Eden stopped after about half a mile and suddenly turned into a blank white nothingness that boxed them all in.
Whatever kind of false paradise this was, he didn't care. It was the person responsible for its creation and for bringing them here that had him interested. He'd say Taichi under normal circumstances, but this false paradise wasn't Taichi's idea of an enjoyable place. This stuff would have made Taichi vomit out his own heart, if it was still there.
No, this was something, or someone, new. Whatever new terror was awaiting them, he would be prepared for it. There was nothing that could surprise him, nothing that could stop him. Because whoever was responsible for this, would be receiving the blame for the loss of Yugi and every other person whose face he did not see.
Slowly and cautiously, those who knew each other gathered together. Mostly it was the old gang, but a few new faces had also joined in. They made sure they were all okay with various comments of that nature, and then the true questions began. Everybody wanted to know whether any of the others knew why some of their friends were missing.
So in this way they all discovered the truth. Joey had fallen saving Duke and Tristan from a psychotic blue-haired man who believed to be from Atlantis. Yami felt a certain amount of satisfaction as he saw that this blue-haired man had not made it. He too had fallen at some point.
Kensai had gained some crazy new card called the Seal of Orichalcos, and using its power he had taken on Taichi. In a shocking display of honor and inner strength, Kensai had sacrificed his own life to finally defeat Taichi once and for all. Now Taichi was no longer a threat.
Drake had fallen in a difficult double duel against union duelists. According to Kai the decision Drake had made was unusual, as he had chosen to sacrifice his own life to increase Kai's life points, when saving himself would have also allowed them to win the game. His sacrifice didn't change anything. Yami could offer no explanation.
The one true mystery was the one that Hinata was so worried about. Nobody could seem to offer any explanation as to what had happened to Ryu, as nobody had encountered him in their travels. Whether he had been defeated in a duel or something else had happened, they couldn't be sure.
Turning his attention the American in the group, Kevin Hunter, he decided it was time to ask some questions. There was something about the boy that seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn't place it. Had he seen the duelist somewhere? "Kevin, for some reason you seem familiar to me, any insight as to that?"
The blonde duelist just shrugged and offered Yami a placating grin. "Sorry, can't help you with that. Guess I just have one of those really common faces that you see everywhere." Yami eyed the boy for several more seconds, as did Dalin, but finding nothing deceiving in his looks, Yami gave up. Perhaps Kevin was right, perhaps he was just imagining things.
Now it was Dalin's turn to start asking questions. He wanted a few things answered, and he was certain he knew where he could get those questions answered. "Its about time we got some answers. I'm heading up to that temple to find out the truth." So he set off, marching towards the temple with great purpose in his stride.
His march was halted by the voice of Kevin Hunter, who stopped Dalin with a very simple phrase. "I don't think going up there is necessary." Dalin blinked and turned around to face the other blonde, well aware that his large figure was highly intimidating. Again he thought he saw something in Kevin's eyes that was familiar, something he had seen before, but it was gone just as quickly as it had come.
"And what makes you think that?" Kevin just raised his arm and pointed over Dalin's shoulder. Everyone's gaze followed that arm, and found themselves looking up at the top steps of the temple, where two figures had just appeared. One of them was the highly distinctive form of Yami Malik (Yami cursed upon seeing him), and the other was....impossible!
"Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and respective midgets! You are the last standing in this deadly game, and you shall gain a great honor! You shall be the ones to worship my greatness....well at least some of you will be." These comments sent a wave of varying emotions through the assembled duelists, particularly from Rebecca and Mokuba, the two 'respective midgets.' But those who recognized the speaker, knew that this person was very serious.
Indeed, the last time the gang had seen her, she had been dishing out insults to their enemy, and she had then gone on to perform quite admirably as well. She was not one of the good guys, but nor could she necessarily be described as one of the bad guys. Who she was became a different question. They recognized her, but she had no name that they knew of.
"You have all survived the initial round of weeding. I admit that I didn't bring you all here, but upon discovering your presence within my home, I decided that I should make the best of it. Therefore I created the system that you all came to use, and now here you are, the best of the best....most likely." A fierce grin spread across her attractive features, and more murmurs passed through the crowd. Her violet eyes pierced out into the crowd, digging into the souls of those gathered.
"I understand that none of you know who I am. And since the best amongst you shall soon be worshiping me for all time, I believe it is necessary for you to have some name to call me by. In past times my name was different, but now I have taken up a new name. I am called Ihachi, but for you, you all can simply call me Goddess."
Yes, the group all recognized her, at least those who had been there. She was the strange spirit from within Drake who looked exactly like a younger version of Drake's sister. She was the spirit who had defeated Ryu and taken his Blue Eyes. She was the spirit who had taken over Drake and dueled Taichi when Drake had died. "Why the fuck would we worship you?"
Everyone's eyes were now on Bandit Keith, the rude blonde American whom nobody liked. Upon seeing the furious look in Ihachi's eyes, those around Keith moved aside, knowing something was about to happen. Ihachi's dainty arm rose, and with a flash of golden power Keith was hurled a dozen feet through the air, coming crashing down painfully on his back, unconscious for the moment. "That is why."
"While you have all survived the first round, in some cases that may be because you simply avoided dueling, and therefore survived. As that may be the case, there will be another round. The weak amongst you shall be weeded out, and duels will take place to do so." Her fierce grin was mirrored by her flunky, Yami Malik, whose twisted features were somehow less frightening when set next to her fierce beauty.
To everyone's surprise Yami chose this moment to speak up, despite what had happened moments earlier to Keith. Everyone thought he was insane. "You expect us to just pick opponent's and duel to your satisfaction and then worship you? You're no goddess, this realm is a god of its own, and it will consume you eventually!"
Yami was ready as her dainty arm rose again, this time aiming at him. He had a full barrier prepared to release using the magic of his Puzzle. What he had already forgotten was the incredible power that Drake had displayed, drawing upon her strength. The blast of magic struck his barrier and shattered it instantly.
The one-time Pharaoh was blasted backwards, his feet sliding across the ground, the tips of his boots barely touching. He fought the magic as the force continued, but it was like fighting against a tidal wave with one's bare hands. He couldn't even dent the enormous power flowing over him. And so he was swept aside, blasted into a row of trees where he fell helplessly to the ground.
"Don't you ever speak out of turn! You will speak when I give you permission to speak, so until then I suggest...NO! I order you to shut the hell up and let me talk! You'll get your turn to speak when the duels begin." Yami let out a groan, and tried to sit up, but found himself still flattened by her power. Tea ran over and drop to her knees next to him, trying to help him up. But she couldn't do anything.
"The rules are simple. Choose how you duel, in some cases choose who you duel, and the winners shall receive the right to enter the temple. Refuse to duel and you shall be punished, lose a duel and you shall perish. Its very simple. Now, let the duels commence!" She raised her arms above her head, and various explosions of multi-colored energy peppered the sky. It was fireworks with magic, a very impressive display as well. She knew how to throw a party.
Suddenly a deep voice rang out through the crowd. "I'd rather die then participate in this sick game of yours." Everyone located the source of the deep voice, and were astonished at what they saw. He was huge, easily reaching close to seven feet in height. He was extremely muscular, about the same as Dalin, and his blonde hair came down in nasty sideburns on his face. He wore a tight black muscle shirt that left his arms bare, and all together he was very intimidating.
But not to Ihachi. She simply looked at for a moment as though staring at an ant. In truth, to her that was what he was. Just an ant compared to her power. He had no strength of his own, no magic to speak of. He was a nothing, and she was a goddess in this place. "Raphael was it? Well, if that is your wish, then far be it for me to deny you it."
She raised her arm again, but this time she simply placed her middle finger and thumb together. Then she snapped her finger, creating an audible click. Raphael's screams echoed throughout the false paradise as golden fires erupted from his skin, consuming him from the inside out.
It lasted just a few seconds in truth, but to those watching and listening it took an eternity. It was a terrible way to die, and whoever he was, whatever he might have done, he didn't deserve that. Nobody deserved such a thing. Ihachi was out of her gourd, insane with power!
The thought crossed several minds as they watched the death of a bold soul. Each of them had that goal in mind. Yami, Dalin, Kai, Serenity, and others. Each of them was thinking the same thing. Each of them knew the same thing to be true. Ihachi had to be stopped, before more innocents suffered.
Ihachi was just too powerful to attack directly. If they were going to defeat her, they were going to have to do it her way. They'd have to enter that temple and figure things out from there. And that meant winning the duels they were forced into. And understanding the psyche of evil villains, they knew it wouldn't be easy, or simple.
"Now, if you little kiddies are done playing around, why don't we get started? As a matter of fact, I have the perfect duel in mind. One of my deputy's will duel first, but he won't choose who he duels. You will all get that honor to choose who faces him. But be warned, he won't go easy on you. Until you enter the temple, ciao!" With those last words she departed, returning to temple. Malik didn't follow, instead he remained standing there like a guard hawk.
In fact that was what he was. He was the last line of defense. Ihachi had told him that should the Pharaoh make it through his duels, and she said she had interesting plans for him, then he'd have to face Malik. If Malik was defeated, then all those left that had not perished in the games would be able to enter the temple. But the chances of him being defeated were slim to none, because his deck was second to none!
Murmurs could be heard throughout the group of duelists. They were awaiting the entrance of Ihachi's deputy, awaiting the decision of who would have the right to duel first. Whoever the deputy was, they were certain he would be someone just as freaky as Ihachi was, otherwise they wouldn't be in-league.
A flash of light and a crack of thunder alerted them to the gathering of a storm. Unable to cover themselves they found themselves getting drenched by the sudden downpour. It was the same storm that Tea had fled from, and now it was in this strange place, this fake Eden.
The deputy's entrance, coming out of the temple, was punctuated by a flash of lightning and explosion of thunder. For that moment they couldn't see him, nor recognize him. But when the next bolt of lightning came, his face was illuminated, and then they knew. But what they saw couldn't be...it just didn't make any sense.
Ryu Shigeru stalked down the steps of the temple, approaching the duelists quite casually. A vicious smirk filled his face, and his eyes pulsed red in the dim light. The rain battered his body, matting his hair to his head, making him look truly fearsome. On his left arm was a duel disk, deck already inserted, and the disk was already activated. All he had to do was begin the duel.
"So, who wants to be my first victim? Hurry up and form a line, I have to weed out the weakest of you before the day is out." Arguments burst out as duelists tried to decide who would face this duelist, who would face Ihachi's deputy. Different arguments raged amongst the hearts of those who had counted themselves amongst Ryu's friends.
"You traitorous bastard!" He caught the slap before it fell, clenching the slim wrist in his calloused hand with ease. He let his smirk drop as he recognized the face of the one who had attacked him, recognized it in a flash of light from the lightning. It was a face he knew almost as well as his own, a face he had bartered much for. And now this was what he got for it.
"Hinata....is that a challenge?" In response she swung at him with her other arm, but he simply ducked the blow. With that moment of distraction she performed a snap kick, aiming to shatter his right kneecap. With practiced ease he picked up his leg and caught the kick with his own foot, forcing her back and shoving with his arms, causing her to be thrown violently to the ground.
Screaming with rage the younger girl hurled herself at him, forgetting all her years of kendo training in a fit of rage. She swung wildly with her limbs, desperately trying to strike every inch of his body she could reach. She wanted to beat him within an inch of his life and then maybe beat down that last inch! He had betrayed their trust, betrayed her trust!
In her fury she didn't quite understand what Ryu did. But she found herself quickly in a heap on the ground, a nasty bruise forming on her cheek. Her stomach felt like it had been hit by a sledgehammer. Ryu certainly didn't care who she was, he just fought as he would anybody, and she had payed for that.
Clenching her fists, her knuckles white from the tightness of her grip, she rose to her feet. With a quick depression of a button her DD2 sprang open, now active and ready to go. Yami Malik smirked from his place high up at the top of the temple. The first duel was decided, and it would certainly be an interesting one.
Ryu had gotten himself into the position of Ihachi's deputy because he had wanted Hinata's soul freed. Ihachi hadn't told him that Hinata's soul was roaming the Shadow Realm with all the others, free as a bird. She hadn't had to do a thing, and she got a deputy who was sworn to follow her every command.
Ryu hadn't intended to follow up on his agreement. He had intended to deal with Ihachi as soon as Hinata was freed. But he had soon discovered that a deal made in the Shadow Realm couldn't be broken, not unless you were extraordinarily powerful. Now he had no choice but do as she said, and she said that he was to duel whoever she wanted him to. And now he had to duel Hinata....and she was practically his sister.
Shaken these thoughts from his mind and focusing himself on the aspect of his mind and soul that was a born killer, he brought up the cruelty and hatred that had made him so deadly in his years as a gang member. He had no fear of death, no compassion for life, nothing to care about. He was a ruthless killing machine, and his target was Hinata.
Both duelists picked up their cards, Hinata choosing to go first. She drew a sixth card and stared hard at the cards, anything to avoid looking at the creature that was her opponent. She had thought she had known him, thought she had loved him. But now he had become a deputy for some sick bitch who was willing to sacrifice hundreds of lives just to get some powerful worshipers!
"I set one card face down, and summon Maha Vailo(1550/1400)! Now take your turn you scum!" The blue robed and armored magic user rose onto the field, electricity crackling between her palms. A card appeared behind her, but it didn't matter. Maha Vailo mattered because its effect would let it overpower anything Ryu could summon, as long as she got the chance to equip it with something.
Ryu drew a card, the nasty smirk still on his face. Already he had a plan, and it was all based on how you read things. Luckily for him the duel disk system agreed with how he read it. As soon as she attacked she'd be getting a nasty surprise. "I'll place a card face down, and then set a monster in defense mode."
Now the fun part was about to begin. He had something very special planned, and it would be the end of her. Slowly he picked up his next card, and then slipped it into one of his magic zones. "Now I shall equip Fairy Meteor Crush....on Maha Vailo(2050/1400)!" This strange move brought confused moments from everyone, particularly Hinata. However Dalin had a strange look on his face, as if he was trying to remember something.
Hinata smirked and drew a card, ready to crush him for his foolish mistake. The red aura that now surrounded her monster gave it a trample ability, so she'd crush his defense monster and plenty of Ryu's life points in one swoop. "Apparently you've gone stupid, and I'll capitalize on that. But first I'll summon Gunman of Landstar(900/600) and equip him with Landstar Shot, raising his power to fifteen hundred!"
Her new monster was similar to Swordsman of Landstar, except it was dressed in more modern clothing and held a gun in its hand. It actually looked like something out of the Musketeers. "In moments I'll be going directly at your life points, so I'll double my Gunman's attack power for this turn using my deck master's special ability, Forbidden Technique!"
A bright orange aura erupted around the gunman, and suddenly its power shot all the way up to three thousand, making it equal with the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Now she could crush his defense monster and deal damage, and then strike a massive blow with her hugely powerful creature. "Equipping Fairy Meteor Crush on my monster was the last mistake you'll ever make! Maha Vailo, attack and destroy his defense monster!"
The magic user raised her arms to the sky, and a bolt of lightning shot down from the storm clouds above, charging her up. Then Vailo thrust her arms forward and shot off that lightning, sending it striking into his defense monster. The creature splattered, revealing the pathetic defense of Giant Germ. "Now that you've destroyed Giant Germ(1000/100) I can special summon the last one from my deck in attack mode. And you take five hundred damage!" (HLP: 7500)
She just smirked and raised one arm, ready to declare another attack. "You idiot! I may have lost five hundred points, but your monster has almost no defense power, so you'll be taking nearly two thousand points of damage!" Her laughter was cut off as instead of watching his counter drop, it was hers that was rapidly falling. And nobody seemed to understand except two people. (HLP: 5550)
It was Dalin who first spoke up, his voice rising above the crashing of thunder to provide an explanation. "Hinata, beware gifts presented to you! The exact text of Fairy Meteor Crush is that when its equipped on a monster and attacks a monster with weaker defense, damage is dealt to the opponent's life points. Its Ryu's card and you're his opponent, therefore you take the damage!" She grimaced, understanding that she had been given a gift that could potentially kill her.
"Fine, now I'll attack your pathetic germ with my Gunman!" The landstar raised his rifle and took careful aim, firing off a swift shot that burst straight through the attack mode germ. It was going to deal big damage to Ryu, but it also dealt damage to her from its effect. (HLP: 5050, RLP: 6000)
"And now that my turn is over, my Gunman is destroyed because it was doubled by my deck master's effect." The gunman let out a brief cry as it exploded into tiny little fragments. To Hinata's surprise Ryu's deck master responded. It opened its mouth wide and shot out a ball of fire, which struck her in the chest and knocked her over. (HLP: 4550)
Ryu threw back his head and started to laugh wildly. His dragon responded by letting out an ear splitting roar. "Fool! My deck master has a very powerful ability, much stronger then yours. Whenever one of your monsters is destroyed and goes to the cemetery, you lose five hundred life points! Feel lucky you don't take that damage from sacrifices."
Now as her turn ended, it back time for Ryu to take his turn. As soon as he drew his next card, he knew exactly what to do. His face down card was going to make things all to easy, all he had to do was use gone of his other cards first. Whipping away some water that had trickled into his eyes he played his card, and watched as it appeared. "Now watch the power of my Earthquake moves all monsters on the field into face-up defense mode!"
The rumble of thunder was suddenly drowned out by the shaking of the earth beneath their feet. Hinata was nearly unseated by dangerous movement of ground, but Ryu seemed unaffected. Her Maha Vailo dropped to one knee, now forced into defense mode. She didn't know what he intended, but it couldn't be good. "Reveal face down card, Micro Laser! This will drop your monster's defense down to zero!"
His card flipped up, and from it shot a bright blue laser beam. It slashed out at her monster, ready to cut its defenses down to nothingness. But she had no intention of letting him do so. She was no easy prey. "Activate face down card, Trap Negation!" She dumped a card from her hand into the cemetery to negate his trap's activation, and watched with satisfaction as the laser vanished before striking her monster.
"Trying to make it harder on me huh? Well it won't help, because I have a magic card to do similar. Its called Humble, and for the duration of this turn it drops your monster's current stat by one thousand points. Since Maha Vailo is in defense mode, it loses one thousand defense points!" His magic card pulled off its effect, and her Vailo started gasping for air, falling face first into the dirt. She was unable to pull herself up she was so weakened. And with only four hundred defense points she was easy prey.
"I shall summon Spear Dragon(1900/0) in attack mode!" The blue and white dragon was summoned to the field, and let out a sharp cry that irritated Hinata's ears. Worse yet, she was well aware of Spear Dragon's effect. It had a trample ability, and with her monster so weak, this wasn't going to end well.
Kai was the one who spoke up first, understanding exactly what was going on. He felt the need to alert this girl he didn't know to the problem facing her. Ryu's deck was a dangerous one, and she needed to know. "Be careful! He's using a Dark Trample Deck!"
"Spear Dragon, cut her monster to ribbons!" The dragon swooped down upon the sickly magic user and drilled into her stomach with its sharp beak. The beak speared straight through her gut, coming out the other side. It reared back, the woman still stuck on its beak, and whipped its head around trying to throw the woman off. It finally succeeded, and she fell to the ground and exploded into holographic fragments. (HLP: 2550)
The dragon moved into defense mode, and then it became Hinata's turn. Slowly she drew her card, contemplating exactly what she should do. The rain was helping her at the moment, because it let her pretend that all the water on her face was from the rain, and not from herself. "Monster Reborn to revive Maha Vailo!"
The blue-clad woman appeared on the field again, ready to devastate the puny defense of Ryu's Spear Dragon. With no defense power it was an easy target for her monster. "Now I summon Hayabusa Knight(1000/700) in attack mode, and activate my deck master's ability on it, doubling its power!" The bird-like warrior let out a war call as it grew in size by nearly two feet, making it very deadly, particularly with its special effect.
"Maha Vailo, obliterate Ryu's dragon!" Her Vailo opened one palm, revealing a ball of yellow electricity. It grabbed onto the sphere with its other hand and then hurled it at the dragon baseball style. The ball of electricity exploded on the dragon, shattering it into thousands of pieces. Now he was defenseless.
"Hayabusa Knight, attack with Ten-Thousand Blades!" The warrior charged across the field and slashed with its rapier. The blade moved at incredible speeds, going so fast that nobody could follow it completely. It seemed to be attacking from dozens of angles at once. And it did serious damage, cutting Ryu's flesh severely. He just ignored the pain, and started laughing. (RLP: 2000)
"I hope you know what you're doing, because if you beat me then my body and soul will be consumed by the shadows and I will cease to exist! And when my soul is consumed I'll never be able to return, I won't even be able to be reborn! You'll have been the cause of my eternal demise!" Hinata gasped, horrified at this news. The others all stared at Ryu in shock, uncertain how to respond. In that moment of heavy silence, punctuated only by the rolling of thunder, Hinata's bird-knight exploded. (HLP: 2050)
Now it was once again Ryu's turn, and he just looked at her horrified face as he started off. Ihachi had been right, it had been exactly what he needed. Now she'd be thrown off her game, uncertain whether she could really deal the final blow or not. "I begin by playing Foolish Burial to place a monster from my deck into the cemetery!"
He picked up his deck and fanned it out like a hand of cards, a massive one at that. He quickly spotted the monster he wanted and then shoved it into the cemetery. Finally he completed the move by reshuffling his deck and shoving it back into his deck holster. "Now I play the magic card, Nightmare Steel Cage!"
A black cage of spikes erupted from the ground, creating a dome over Hinata and her monster. Now she was unable to attack for two of her turns, and he was unable to attack for the same length of time. It was a stall tactic, but in that time he could torment her. "End turn!"
Hinata fiercely drew her card, desperately trying to come up with a solution to the current problem. Something wasn't right about this situation, but she didn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't just kill Ryu though, as much as she might think she wanted to. "Damn....what do I do? Screw it, I summon Gray Wing(1300/700)!"
The grayish dragon let out a roar as it flapped down onto the field and let off a little bit of fire. Finally it settled down onto its clawed feet, waiting for a command. Unfortunately it was trapped underneath the spiked dome, unable to do anything. "I'll place one card face down to end my turn!" She declared her move and emptied her hand, watching as the card appeared in the dome.
Ryu drew his card and smirked widely. He placed the card down onto the field casually, and grinned wickedly as he did so. All he needed was one more card to complete the strategy, and then victory would be his. "Come on girly, can't you take on my two cards? Don't tell me you're afraid to fight back against me....afraid to kill me. After all, I know the truth. You're in love with me!"
She grimaced, unable to make a reply to this comment. It was true, what he said. She was in love with him, and he just thought of her as a little sister. He didn't have the kinds of feelings for her that she had for him, instead he felt them for that little Autumn girl. Holding back her anger, partially, she slammed her newest card onto the field. "Mystical Knight of Jackal(2700/1200)!"
Her two monsters shattered as their power was given up to summon her strongest monster, the ferocious jackal wielding a deadly curved blade. Its effect would cause Ryu to reuse any monsters, and it would crush him easily. Not only was its strength great, but its effect was deadly as well. Any monster destroyed by it was returned to the top of its owners deck. "Since I can't attack I'll end my turn."
As soon as she ended her turn the cage faded away in a dark wisp of black magic. Now both players were free to attack, and unless Ryu got something stronger, he'd be finished for good. The dark duelist picked up his card and then let out a hollow laugh as he used his card. "Love is something that is lost on me. All I am is a killer. Therefore I shall be the one to kill you! And to do so I shall use Spell of the Devil's Resurrection!"
Yami gasped upon hearing that name, and suddenly he understood why Ryu had used Foolish Burial. He also knew exactly what monster had been placed in the cemetery. "Hinata, watch out, that card lets him revive one light type monster from either player's cemetery in face-up attack mode! It then becomes a dark type monster with a boost of five hundred points to both attack and defense!"
Ryu let out another dark laugh and slowly a fog rose up around him. A black clawed foot reached up from the fog and slammed down onto the ground, followed by another. Slowly a very familiar long-necked creature raised its head, its very black head. "That's right! And now I raise the monster that means the most to me, and I raise it in its new and most glorious form, darkened just as my soul is! SO RISE, BLUE EYES BLACK DRAGON(3500/3000)!"
The black dragon with blue eyes let out a fearsome roar, the sound of it shaking everyone gathered to their core. Saliva dripped from its razor sharp teeth, mingling with the rain. And as that saliva fell, steam issued forth. The saliva was like acid, and the ground was burning from it. "Attack with Black Burst Stream!"
A wave of black lightning exploded from its mouth, racing across the field. The black lightning collided with Hinata's jackal and vaporized it, taking with it a big chunk of Hinata's life points, and much of her will to fight. "Now the end is certain! Go ahead and take your turn Hinata, but nothing you do can save you from my dark soul and my dark dragon!" (HLP: 750)
She was on her knees, unable to comprehend what had become of the man she loved. He was going to kill her, and he was laughing. There was no way to stop him, and no reason to either. If she won then the man she loved would be gone forever. If she lost then her death would forever be on his soul. She wanted his soul to be pure, she wanted him to be happy. She didn't want him to suffer. "Pot of Greed."
The two cards she had drawn stared back up at her, and she knew that it was her only way to win. But could she really do it...no, this wasn't the final blow. That she would worry about later. For the moment all she had to do was strike out at him and get rid of the threat of his dragon. "Revival Game! At a cost of seven hundred life points I can revive one monster onto the field, but its destroyed at the end of my second turn." (HLP: 50)
Her Mystical Knight of Jackal reappeared on the field, this time ready to fight back. However the superior Blue Eyes Black Dragon wasn't ready to back down, and it issued forth a deafening roar that knocked her knight off its feet. "I play Beast Rage! This lets me increase one beast or beast-warrior's attack power by its defense power until the end of the turn. In return it loses its effect permanently!"
The black dragon was suddenly drowned out by the roar of the now fifteen foot tall jackal knight. Its power increased greatly, reaching a level of thirty-nine hundred, four hundred more then the black dragon's power. It was enough for the moment, and it would have to do. "Jackal Cutter!"
Two swift strokes of its sword were all that was needed for the jackal knight to cut Ryu's monster into ribbons. With its disappearance Ryu's field was cleared of everything but one face down card, and since he hadn't used it just then, it obviously couldn't be used in such a situation. (RLP: 1600)
Ryu deftly plucked a card free from the top of his deck, and as quickly as the duel had begun he knew that it was over. Now his final strategy could be completed. Now Hinata would be finished for good. She didn't stand a chance! "I'll just place one card face down lover. Now let's see if you have the guts to attack and finish me off!"
She slowly drew in her breath and drew a card, using it as soon as she had drawn it. Poison of the Old Man appeared, and her life points took a turn for the better as she drank one of the two potions the old man offered her. Her life points rose to a decent twelve hundred and fifty life points, enough to survive with. Now she had to decide whether to attack or not.
If she attacked then he would die forever. If she didn't attack then she might die forever. Could she really risk it. Could she....but no. She knew what she had to do. She could see it in his eyes that he wanted her to attack, and she knew that though he was unafraid of death, he didn't intend to die. He was ready to finish her off, and she knew what his down cards were, she was certain of it.
"Its all over. Jackal Cutter!" Her knight rushed forward, blade at the ready. Suddenly Ryu's two face down cards flipped up, and a ring of explosives appeared around her knight's neck. Everything was happening exactly as Ryu had expected.
"My two face down cards are Ring of Destruction and Trap of Board Eraser! Ring of Destruction will destroy your monster and deal twenty-seven hundred points of damage to both of us. Trap of Board Eraser however will negate non-battle damage done to me this turn, meaning I win and you lose! So now you die!" The ring started spinning at incredible speeds, and it started to go off. As soon as it exploded, the duel was over.
"Not quite! Activate placed card, Seven Tools of the Bandit!" Her life points dropped down to a meager amount, and a Swiss army knife shot out from her flipped card, heading straight towards Ryu's cards. (HLP: 250)
Ryu gasped in horror, his eyes opened as wide as they could go. As soon as that knife sliced through his Ring of Destruction he'd be finished. There was no way left for him to stop her attack and win this duel, her attack would crush him completely! "NO! DON'T DO IT!"
And then the knife sliced straight through the card that Hinata had intended for it to slice through. It cut straight through....Trap of Board Eraser! "What, what the hell?" Hinata gave him a small smile, and suddenly he understood. He knew the truth from that smile, from those eyes.
She had known all along what cards he had placed. Somehow she had known. Therefore she had attacked, knowing that he would use them when she did. She had chosen before her attack that she would rather die with Ryu, then die without him. In this they would be together. "I love you Ryu. I love you too much. So goodbye forever."
"DAMN YOU TO HELL! DAMN YOU BITCH, DAMN YOU FOREVER!" His words fell on deaf ears as the explosive force of his trap card ripped Hinata's monster apart, and showered the field in fire and destruction. Destruction, death, and chaos. Now they were gone, together.
When the fire had gone and the smoke had faded the two duelists were revealed. They both lay on their backs, seemingly unharmed. But their blank eyes stared up at the cloudy sky, watching the rain fall. So they watched the rain fall forever, together in this moment, together at last. Together under the falling rain.
Author's Notes: And yes, this is the beginning of the end. Hope you liked it, now read and review, as this is probably my last chapter to be posted for some time now. Luckily you got plenty over the last week.
Original Cards
Ryu: Humble, Spell of the Devil's Resurrection
Hinata: Trap Negation, Revival Game, Beast Rage
Other cards: Micro Laser is from the Sanctuary of the Sky set, and therefore will be released in America in the Ancient Sanctuary set. Gundman of Landstar and Landstar shot are used by Joey in the KC Grand Prix arc.