Disclaimer- No I do not own anything that has to do with Yugioh. The only things I own are my characters and cards.
Chapter 16: The Magic Show
Daniel awoke to someone kicking his side. He grumbled something and rolled over. The foot hit him harder. He grabbed said foot and tugged, bringing the owner to the ground on top of him.
"Get up Daniel!" CJ helped Deondre up and brought Daniel to his feet. Daniel looked around tiredly and then collapsed on the ground snoring again. CJ face-fell, while Amy stomped up to Daniel's prone form.
"Get up you lazy bum! Or else I'll kick you off the team and give your sister the spot!"
Daniel was standing and fully awake by the time she finished the sentence. "Like hell you will!" He looked around in confusion and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, I fell asleep." CJ and Deondre both face-fell. Rebecca just rolled her eyes and walked past him.
"You better shape up and win us some points big brother."
Daniel grinned and flicked his COC to Amy. "We now have 30 dueling points. Team Topdeck is almost a third of the way to the finals."
Amy blinked at the cube and then looked at Daniel. "And when did you do that?"
Daniel whistled innocently and marched after his sister, his hands in his pockets.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Less than an hour later they came to a theater in the middle of the road. Daniel looked the place over and scratched the back of his head. "Think maybe we could get some more duel points in there?"
Deondre looked at his duel disk and frowned. "We had better. I'm getting really annoyed with this. The whole first day I had to sit on the sidelines. I am going to play in the next duel." He marched right up to the double doors of the old rustic theater and knocked. "Anyone home!?" When no one answered he kicked the doors a couple of times. "Open up!" Again no answer came. "You've got until the count of three to open the doors! One...two...three!" He braced his shoulder and charged at the door. Right before he got to it though a trap door opened right underneath him. To everyone watching it seemed like he had simply disappeared into thin air.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The second Deondre disappeared Daniel was on his guard. He sniffed the air and when he didn't smell any scents that reminded him of the emissaries, he relaxed a little.
CJ just walked up to the door cautiously and nudged it open. When they slid open he blinked and walked in, followed by the rest of the group.
Daniel held back a little to and closed his eyes. He felt his mind out and located the patch of darkness that represented Rikuo in the back of his head. He visualized himself there and after a moment of disorientation he found himself within the expanse of his mind.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Deondre woke up he found himself surrounded by darkness. "Hey! What happened!?"
Hysteric laughter reached his ears and he was blinded as spotlights flicked on. He looked around in confusion until someone dropped down from the ceiling, landing without a sound. One look at the new guy and Deondre wasn't sure whether he should run or laugh.
The man was wearing a black suit with a black top-hat. Around his shoulders was a black silk cape and covering his face was a mask that was half-smiling and half-crying. He stood slowly and did a flourishing bow to Deondre. "Greetings honored guest! Welcome to The Asylum's special magic show!" He waved his hand outwards and a huge curtain rolled back, revealing an enormous area full of chairs and stands.
Deondre glared at the man. "What was the big idea with the trap door!?"
The man turned and brought his gaze down upon Deondre. Violet eyes watched him appraisingly. He reached into the folds of his cloak and brought out a duel disk. "Prepare to duel for your life!"
Deondre's eyes went wide. "For my life!?" He decided that he didn't like the stakes of this duel. He turned to run but felt something whiz by his cheek, leaving a shallow cut. He froze and turned back to look at the man. He was holding a revolver in his hand and from the way the barrel was smoking Deondre could only assume it was loaded.
"Did I neglect the mention that if you attempt to escape I will shoot you anyway?" The man bowed once more and his disk clicked into place. "This will be an official Shadow Tournament duel! We each will be betting 20 points and one rare card. Oh, and our lives too." He cackled insanely and Deondre clicked his disk into place.
("Nowhere to run. I'll have to stand and fight.") "Let's duel!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel wandered into the darkness, scratching the back of his head. "Umm..Rikuo? You here?" When he got no response he feared that maybe the wolf demon had left. "Hey I'm sorry about the whole pissing you off thing!"
A growl from right behind him caught his attention. He spun to find himself face to face with Rikuo's golden eyes. Daniel didn't even have a chance to move before he found himself dangling in the air, Rikuo's hand curled around his throat.
"You have some guts coming back here puny human!" Rikuo snapped his arm back and then forward, throwing Daniel across the expanse of his mind. Rikuo followed from right behind him, snarls sliding free of his clenched teeth. "I should kill you on the spot for daring to try and control me!" His foot came down hard on Daniel's ribs.
("Oh boy...I'm about to die in my own mind,") Daniel thought dryly. He waited for Rikuo's claws to gut him, but the blow never came. The pressure on his ribs was relieved and he found himself hefted to his feet.
"I had some time to think about it though and I have decided that you made the correct choice. You are forgiven for now." For Rikuo, that was the best version of an 'I'm sorry' that Daniel was going to get.
Daniel nursed his ribs and glared at his darker self. "I hate you."
Surprisingly, Rikuo smirked proudly. "I know."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deondre watched as the masked man put his gun away and cackled once more. "Ready to begin?" He threw his COC against the ground. It bounced a couple of times and came up a 2.
The masked man clapped his hands together in delight. "That means both of us will only have 4000 life points! That should make this game quite fun!"
Deondre grimaced. ("4000 life points and then he shoots me. Oh how lucky I am.")
The man drew his five. "My name, by the way, is the amazing Clarice!"
Deondre drew his five and then his sixth. "It won't matter what your name is when I am done with you. I set one monster in defense and two cards face-down, end turn."
Clarice drew and waved his hand out to an imaginary audience. "Let's give them a good show, shall we?"
Deondre had only one thing to say, "Freak."
Clarice looked his hand over. "I'll begin with a bit of replenishment. I activate the magic card Graceful Charity. This lets me draw three cards and then I must place two cards from my hand into my graveyard." He drew three and then slid two into his graveyard. There was a flash of light and a clown in baggy clothing with a red hat appeared on his field in defense mode. "Just to inform you, when I discard Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200) I may search my deck for another one and summon it to my field. Now then, I will sacrifice my new Peten to summon Chaos Command Magician (2400/1400) in attack mode!" A magician wearing green and black armor appeared, scowling at Deondre. Next to him another Peten appeared in defense mode.
Deondre frowned at the sudden army he was facing. ("I could be in trouble.")
Clarice pointed at Deondre. "Chaos Command Magician, show the audience your Dark Magic Blast attack!" The Magician aimed his staff at Deondre's face-down monster. Right before he could fire though a prismatic ring of light appeared around his monster.
Deondre grinned and held up his face-down trap card. "I've got a magic trick of my own Clarice. Watch as my D.D. Ring makes your monster disappear from the game." His rejoicing was cut short though as the ring cracked and shattered.
Clarice cackled wildly. "Did you think that my monster wasn't ready for your parlor tricks? Chaos Command Magician's special ability allows him to negate one targeting effect used against him per game. Now as I said before attack!" The Magician fired his blast and Deondre's face-down monster disappeared. Clarice was about to start cackling again but his Magician faded away. "What!?"
Deondre held up his monster. "Okay, so one effect per game right? Well then my Dimensional Warrior's (1200/800) ability to remove the attacking monster from the game gets through right?" When Clarice screamed in anger Deondre took that as a yes.
Clarice looked his hand over and slid two cards into his duel disk. "Don't get too comfy! This duel has just begun!"
Deondre drew and scratched his chin in thought. ("Now...what to do? His face-downs are most likely traps, and I still don't know how Peten the Dark Clown works yet. Better play it safe and defend for now.") He placed a monster on his disk in face-down defense mode and slid two cards face-down on his field. "End turn."
Clarice cackled and pressed a button on his disk. "You'll regret defending fool! I reveal my face-down trap card Crystal Shards!" Deondre watched in horror as it rained spikes of crystal over his monster. The card was punctured and then it shattered. "You see my trap destroys all face-down monsters on the field."
Deondre grimaced and slid his monster into his graveyard. "You think that affects me at all?"
Clarice drew and looked his hand over. His violet eyes quivered with excitement as he slid a card into his duel disk. "Now for my next trick! Watch as I make your life points disappear with this continuous magic card, Hangman's Noose!" A rope appeared wrapped around Deondre's neck. "Now every time you play a magic card you will lose 500 life points!" Clarice slid another card into his disk. "Now I set this magic card face-down on the field, and then I'll set this monster card. End turn."
Deondre drew and grinned. "I'll play Pot of Greed to draw two new....urkk!" His sentence was cut off as the noose tightened instantly. For a moment he couldn't breath and then the noose loosened, leaving him sputtering for air.
Deondre- 3500
Clarice- 4000
Deondre glared at the rope around his neck and then at the wildly laughing Clarice. He muttered and drew his two cards. "I'll shut you up right now you freak of nature. I activate the magic card....urk!" He was cut off again as the noose tightened once more, eliciting another round of insane laughter from Clarice.
Deondre- 3000
Clarice- 4000
Deondre nursed his now very sore neck. "Like I was saying, I activate the magic card D.D. Beacon!" A glowing machine a little bigger then Deondre appeared on the field and started to beep. "Now I'll set a monster in defense mode. End turn."
Clarice drew and broke down into a helpless fit of laughter.
Deondre dead-panned, "Enjoying yourself?"
Clarice recovered and slid his two monsters into the graveyard. "The star of the show is here! I sacrifice Peten and my face-down monster to summon the Dark Magician!" (2500/2100) A magician in purple armor appeared and floated down onto Clarice's field.
Deondre kept himself stone-faced, though on the inside he smiling. ("He's gonna run right into another Dimensional Warrior. Then he'll be out one Dark Magician and I'll be home free.")
Clarice slid the last card he was holding into his duel disk. "Now I play the magic card Thousand Knives, which can only be used in combination with the Dark Magician. It allows me to destroy one monster on the field." The Dark Magician waved its staff and a storm of knives slashed Deondre's face-down Dimensional Warrior apart, leaving him wide open to attack. "Now Dark Magician, unleash the ultimate magic trick! Dark Magic Attack!" The Magician waved its staff at Deondre, but before it could attack one of Deondre's face-down cards flipped up.
"Hold on their chuckles, I trigger the trap card Dimensional Warp. This will remove your Magician from the field for a turn, meaning it won't be able to attack me."
The Magician grunted as he was sucked into a portal. Clarice screamed in rage again as the Dark Magician reappeared, meaning that Clarice had ended his turn.
Deondre drew and looked at his Beacon. It had one glowing mote of light over it, meaning he was one step closer to winning. "Alright, since magic cards will hurt me then let's try this instead. I'll set one card face-down and one monster in defense. End turn."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CJ threw another chair against the door to the stands, but once again it didn't budge. "I bet Deondre's in their too. If he's losing and I'm not there to rub it in his face I swear that someone is going to pay!" He went shoulder first into the door. The door held.
Rebecca sighed and shook her head. "This was the guy who had the strategy to beat an 18000 attack monster." From behind her Amy giggled.
"Why's CJ trying to kill the door?" Daniel asked from behind them.
Amy giggled again and Rebecca slapped her forehead with the heel of her hand. "We don't know why."
Daniel looked at the door quizzically. ("You smell that right Rikuo?")
("Tell the gorilla to move, now.") Rikuo dead-panned.
Daniel whistled at CJ. "Hey CJ move!" CJ frowned but complied, stepping out of the way. Daniel walked up to the door, felt the wood experimentally, and then punched a hole in the door right above the lock. He felt around for a second until he found the lock and he turned it. He pushed the now unlocked door open and strolled in, leaving a dumb-founded CJ, Amy, and Rebecca to wonder how he had just punched a hole in 3 inch thick wood so easily.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clarice drew with a flourish of his hand and cackled. "The next trick will require participation from my opponent. I play Painful Choice. This card lets me pick five cards in my deck. Then you select one of those five and the chosen card goes to my hand. The rest go to my graveyard." He snapped out his deck and with remarkable speed slid his five cards into his duel disk, holographic pictures of each one appearing on his field.
Deondre looked his choices over. ("Dark Magician, Monster Reborn, Magician of Faith, Magical Hats (Magic card version) and Magical Hats (Trap version)") "I choose for you to have the trap version of Magical Hats."
Clarice placed the trap on his field face-down and then slid the rest of his cards into his graveyard. "Now attack my Magician, and crush his defender!" The Magician shot across the field but right before it could attack it vanished again.
Deondre held up his trap card. "Sorry but I play another Dimensional Warp trap card. You're Magician is out of reach for another turn."
Clarice screeched in anger. "GRRAHH! Turn End!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The rest of Team Topdeck had already taken their seats and were watching the duel with interest. Daniel however was watching Clarice with interest. ("Where have I seen you before?") Something about him struck a nerve.
("Beware of that one, my idiot. He has the smell of insanity hovering about him.")
Daniel raised a mental eyebrow. ("Insanity has a smell?")
("Yes it does. Rather bitter though. I much prefer the sweet taste of fear.")
Daniel sighed and continued to watch the duel. ("You're a scary person, you know that right?")
("I'm not a person, idiot.")
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deondre drew and glanced at the card, and then he glanced at the D.D. Beacon, which had two motes of light over it now ("Just need to hold out for three more turns.") "I set one card face-down in defense mode. End turn."
Clarice drew his card. "I set a monster in defense mode and attack with my Magician!" The Dark Magician raised its hand and the air around Deondre's first face-down monster card became inverted. The card groaned in protest and then exploded into dust. "End turn."
Deondre drew and clicked his teeth his tongue. ("Great timing.") "First I'll flip up my face-down D.D. Warrior Lady!" (1500/1600) A woman in a grey bodysuit wielding a laser dagger appeared on Deondre's field. The D.D. Beacon beeped and another mote of light appeared over it. "Now I'll sacrifice her for a monster in defense mode. End turn."
Clarice drew his card and started to tremble with laughter. Finally he could no longer contain it and it echoed across the stage and stands, the very building itself seeming to laugh with him thanks to his echoes. "You..." He flipped one of his face-down cards face-up, "will..." The face-down monster and Clarice's Dark Magician were sucked into a black vortex, "lose." A new magician wearing black and gold robes and wielding a long ornate staff appeared on Clarice's field.
Deondre scratched the back of his head. "Am I supposed to be worried?"
Clarice smiled and bowed, the magician mirroring the action. "Say hello to one of the greatest magician monsters ever. Let's have a warm round of applause for our guest the Supreme Archmage Valgres (2950/1350) in attack mode! Now the show can truly begin! And when it is done my dear boy you will die!" His cackling began again.
To be continued...
Next Chapter: The battle of mages
Author's notes: Hey there everybody, hope you liked today's second chapter. I'm going to get started on the next one right now. Later.