Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh. Stop making me repeat myself.
Chapter 19: United We Stand, Divided We Fall
Spirit drew and nodded to Stone. "You are ready?" When he nodded she waved her hand and one of her face-down cards flipped up. "Then I reveal my face-down trap card Destiny Board." A ghostly board appeared above her field with a ghostly letter D hovering right above it. "At the end of every one of Rikuo's turns I may play one Spirit Letter from my hand or deck onto the field. When I manage to spell DEATH, we instantly win the game."
Stone nodded. "And with my defensive cards you cannot hope to get to my partner and her life points. In just four turns the duel is ours."
Rikuo and CJ paled visibly.
"Damn," CJ muttered.
"My sentiments exactly," Rikuo replied.
Spirit waved her hand dismissively at CJ. "I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn."
CJ muttered a few select curses under his breath and drew. "I'll start by sacrificing my D.D. Crazy Beast and my face-down monster card to summon Mystic Knight of Jackal (2600/1200) in attack mode." A jackal-headed sword wielding monster appeared on the field and howled. "Now let's upgrade him with one of my face-down magic cards, Excalibur. This'll double his attack points!" The Knight's normal sword vanished and was replaced by a thin ornate blade. (5200/1200)
CJ pointed at Stone's Aztec Statue. "Attack now with Holy Wave!" The Knight slammed the weapon into the ground and a golden wave of light ripped across the earth, heading for Stone's monster.
One of Spirit's face-down cards flipped up. "I reveal another one of my Dark Spirit of the Silent trap cards." An orange ghost appeared from out of the card and blocked the attack from CJ's Knight. Then the ghost slammed into Rikuo's Wolf Demon Lord. The demon samurai howled and released a blast of ghostly flame from its blade, which dissipated harmlessly when it hit the statue.
Rikuo- 800
CJ-2800
Spirit- 8000
Stone- 8000
Rikuo snarled. They weren't going to win with monsters. Spirit and Stone had been given too much time to build up a proper defense against their attacks. ("There must be another way to win.")
CJ flipped another one of his face-down cards. "Let's try this then. I activate Exchange! This allows me to pick a player and then the two of us trade one card from our hands. I'll go after Spirit."
Rikuo gave a genuine smile of relief. ("That means that if she has a Spirit Letter in her hand the Ape can take it and then she can't complete her combo.")
Spirit frowned and flipped her last face-down card face-up. "Don't get too cocky. I reveal my face-down trap card Spirit Mirror. This allows me to re-direct the target of one magic card that targets a player to another player. So I'll switch your target to your partner. Since he has no hand your magic card is wasted."
Rikuo sneered, "Now hold on dear. I activate my own Spirit Mirror to change the target of the Ape's Exchange card back to you."
Stone flipped one of his cards. "I reveal my trap then. Seven Tools of the Bandit allows me pay 1000 life points to negate one trap, namely your Spirit Mirror."
Rikuo-800
CJ- 2800
Spirit- 8000
Stone- 7000
Rikuo flipped another one of his cards. "Then let me just activate my Jinzo substitute. I activate Royal Decree. This trap card is continuous and as long as it remains on the field all other trap cards are considered useless. Therefore the stack of cards we have activated will all be negated and the Ape's Exchange effect will go to its original target."
Stone flipped his last face-down card. "I reveal another Seven Tools of the Bandit. By paying another 1000 life points I can negate you Royal Decree."
Rikuo snarled and slid his cards into his graveyard. Their best chance at winning had just been lost to them.
Rikuo- 800
CJ- 2800
Spirit- 8000
Stone- 6000
CJ looked the field over and then looked at his last face-down card. ("This may work....but....") He looked over at Rikuo. "Buy me three turns and we'll win."
Rikuo arched an eyebrow. "We only have four turns to live."
CJ rolled his eyes. "Just do it."
Rikuo snarled a little at being ordered around, but for the sake of the win he'd bite back his pride. "Very well. Don't blow it human."
CJ nodded and then looked to Stone. "I end my turn."
Stone drew and looked at his trap-less field. ("This may be a problem Spirit.")
She glanced at him. ("We will be fine. We have them spooked enough of our strategy that they won't attack. Just set your magic card and end your turn. They'll buy it.")
Stone slid his card into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Rikuo drew and looked the field over.
CJ had two cards in his hand. He also had his Knight of Jackal on the field with Excalibur equipped to it, and one face-down card.
Stone had three cards in his hand. He had a monster in face-down defense, his Stone Statue of the Aztecs in defense mode and one card face-down.
Rikuo only had one card in his hand. He had one card face-down and his Wolf Demon Lord in attack mode.
Spirit had two cards in her hand, a defense monster and her Destiny Board trap card in play.
("Now that I am done mentally reviewing the field, let's see what I can do with my options.") He looked at his new card and grinned enough to let one fang slide free of his lip. "I set one card face-down and attack Spirit's monster with my Wolf Demon Lord." The samurai demon charged and in one slice Spirit had an almost open field. "End turn."
The Destiny Board on Spirit's field started moving and then spat out another letter. Now there were D and E on her field. Rikuo growled from deep within his throat. (Three more turns and it's over for us.")
Spirit drew and a card floated onto her disk. "I set one monster face-down." Then a card from her hand floated into the disk. "And I'll set one card face-down. End turn."
CJ drew. "Watch this Stone. I activate the magic card Mystical Space Typhoon on your face-down card, instantly destroying it." A sharp wind picked up and blew Stone's face-down card to pieces. "Now Knight of Jackal attack!" The Knight leapt forward and slammed Excalibur down onto Stone's Aztec Statue. It cracked and then exploded into dust. "And thanks to my deck master's special ability all of my creatures have the power to deal damage through defense. End turn."
Rikuo- 800
CJ- 2800
Spirit- 8000
Stone- 3800
Rikuo was staring is disbelief at CJ. "For the love of.....YOU COULD HAVE USED YOUR CARD TO DESTROY THE DESTINY BOARD!!"
CJ continued to smile, ignoring him.
Stone shook his head at their opponents' continuing lack of teamwork. "How sad it is to watch you make fools of yourselves." He drew. "I set one monster and end my turn."
Rikuo have CJ one side-ways glance and then drew. "I attack with my Wolf Demon Lord. Crush Spirit's defender!" The samurai demon howled once more and cut the monster to pieces. "And as always thanks to its special ability your beast does not get its effect. End turn."
The Destiny Board creaked and spat out the letter A. Spirit looked at her board and couldn't help but smile. "Two turns to go General. I'll set a monster and end my turn."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------On the sidelines the rest of Team Topdeck were on the edge of their proverbial seats.
"If they lose we are going to be out quite a lot of points," Amy said, biting her thumbnail nervously.
Deondre was busy watching the duel and trying to figure out what CJ had needed three turns for. ("What does he have planned?")
Rebecca though was watching Rikuo duel. She found it hard to believe that the guy she was looking at had originally been her brother. For one thing Daniel would never let that red hair of his get down to his back. Rikuo also had golden-amber slotted eyes. Yet another thing Daniel shouldn't have. ("Is their connection magic? And how long has Daniel been keeping this from us?") Then she noticed something else about Rikuo that hadn't been there at the start of the duel. "Ummm, guys?" Both Deondre and Amy looked at her. She lifted her hand and pointed at Rikuo/Daniel. "What's that?"
Deondre and Amy both looked at Rikuo appraisingly, trying to figure out what Rebecca had been talking about. Then at the same time they had figured it out.
Rikuo had sprouted a tail.
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CJ drew. "Alright, time to start my winning combo." He glanced over at Rikuo and went pale. "Umm....Daniel....Rikuo....whoever...."
Rikuo looked over at CJ. "What do you want Ape?"
"What's that...thing behind you?"
Rikuo snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like I'm going to fall for that." He looked back at his opponent and noticed that Spirit looked faintly surprised at something too. ("Maybe the Ape wasn't joking.") He looked behind him and for the first time in a long while the wolf demon was actually surprised. "How interesting. I thought I would never see my tail again."
Swaying behind him was a long, black wolf's tail. He reached out his mind and the tail responded to his thoughts, curling around his waist right above his suit's belt. He looked back over at CJ and glared. "Stop staring and finish the duel. If you can win then do it already."
CJ nodded. He couldn't let himself get distracted. Team Topdeck was too close to either victory or defeat. ("This is going to be an all or nothing duel.") "Alright here we go! To start my combo I'm going to need my partner to activate his face-down card." He looked over at Rikuo, who was pre-occupied watching his long lost tail. "HEY! STARE AT YOUR TAIL LATER!"
Rikuo snarled over at CJ and tapped a button on duel disk. "Fine you big baby. I activate my face-down trap card Pyro Clock of Destiny, which moves the turn count forward by one."
Spirit watched as her Destiny Board groaned and spat out Spirit Letter T. "We now have D, E, A, and T on our field. Was there a purpose to that plan except to strengthen our position?"
CJ nodded. "The card I set face-down needed to have some kind of turn-changing affect go off to trigger. I reveal the trap card Time Sword!" A blade with a clock in the cross-piece appeared and landed in the grasp of CJ's Mystic Knight of Jackal. "This magic card increases the power of my monster by 500 for every turn that has passed since the start of the game. Since this game has been going on for 6 turns thanks to Rikuo's trap, my monster gains 3000 attack points." (8200/1200)
Stone understood what this meant. CJ's monster had enough attack power to wipe out his face-down Labyrinth Screen. (0/4500) And thanks to the ability of CJ's deck master Stone would still take damage even though his monster was in defense mode. ("Spirit, I have failed.")
Spirit tittered within his mind. ("Calm yourself Stone. There is no way that they can knock me down by 8000 life points in one turn. You have done your job.")
CJ pointed at Stone's face-down card. "Now attack with Chrono Holy blast!" The Mystic Knight of Jackal slammed both blades into the ground and sent a blast of gold-green energy into Stone's face-down monster. "And thanks to the ability of my deckmaster, that's the end of you Stone."
Rikuo- 800
CJ- 2800
Spirit- 8000
Stone- 0
Stone nodded solemnly and took a step back off the dueling field.
CJ slid the last card he was holding into his duel disk and nodded to Rikuo. Then he flipped up the other card he had on the field. "I activate the magic card United We Stand! This raises the attack points of my Knight by 800 for every monster on my field. End turn." (9000/2000)
Rikuo drew and smiled. "Ready to lose Spirit?"
Spirit raised an eyebrow and coldly said, "I highly doubt it. Can you wipe me out in one turn?"
Rikuo nodded to CJ. "Show her."
CJ pressed a button on his duel disk. "I activate the trap card Collected Power. This lets me transfer all equipment cards on the field to one target. I choose to transfer all of the cards on my Knight to Rikuo's Wolf Demon Lord. First though I'll choose the order in which they transfer. I'll transfer United We Stand first!" (3200/1800)
"Then I will transfer Time Blade." (6200/1800)
"And for the finale I will transfer Excalibur." (12400/1800)
Spirit looked un-impressed. "I have a monster in defense mode and a trap face-down. High attack power doesn't impress me."
Rikuo looked unconcerned. "Reveal face-down card, Mystical Space Typhoon! This allows me to destroy your face-down trap card."
Spirit narrowed her eyes. "Why aren't you after my Destiny Board?"
Rikuo and CJ nodded together as her face-down card exploded. "Because it isn't necessary. You'll be finished right now." He slid the card he was holding in his hand into his duel disk. "I play the equipment magic card Divided We Fall! When this is equipped to a monster that has United We Stand on it the monster gains 4000 attack points, the ability to deal damage through defense, and to add insult to injury the power to attack twice." The Wolf Demon Lord roared, the very graveyard around them shuddering with the force of its attack power. (16400/1800)
"And now Wolf Demon Lord, show the emissaries that I can win even when my partner is an Ape." He ducked a punch that CJ had thrown at his head. The samurai demon launched in and in two cuts Spirit's face-down monster was destroyed and her life points gone.
Rikuo- 800
CJ- 2800
Spirit- 0
Stone- 0
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Spirit stood there, completely speechless. Her mouth hung open and she stared across the field. She felt her eyes shift into the realm of the spirit world.
Ever since she had been a child she could control the very ghostly spirits around her. Yet this demon before her somehow had overcome what her spirits had told her.
As all of the color around her changed to the ghostly tones of the spirit world, she now saw her opponent for what he really was. She could see the aura of darkness that surrounded him and the power that he possessed that had allowed him to unknowingly win his duel with ease. She fell to her knees and for the first time in ten years she cried. She knew what was coming. She knew he was coming. And he showed no mercy to failures.
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CJ clapped Rikuo on the back. "Good job Daniel...er...Rikuo."
Rikuo would have brushed CJ off of him and told the Ape to shut up, but he was too busy sensing the approach of something. He couldn't pinpoint it though. It seemed so very all-consuming....so dark...so cold...so... ("It's him.")
From within his mind Daniel asked, ("It's who?")
("Quiet Daniel.")
("Hey! You called me by my name. I think we're finally starting to bond!")
("Fine. Whatever. Just shut your thoughts.")
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Emerging from the mid-morning mist, Giovan Garlin tugged on his business suit and made sure his black hair was slicked back. ("No need to present myself as a mess. Especially to some of our honored guests.")
He couldn't help but smile as he considered exactly who he was about to meet. ("The famous Demon General Rikuo Amero. It's been so long I've almost forgotten what he was like.") He scowled as his memories came to him. He knew that for the sake of keeping this meeting in a business-like manner he should shut his thoughts from them....but he wanted to remember just what it had felt like....
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Sestros chuckled coldly and leaned in near to the dying face of his ex-general. "Such a savage beast you are Rikuo. You weren't ever worthy of anything more than death. I'm just surprised it took so long for you to snap."
Rikuo glared back. His heart was starting stop and he knew that in just a few short seconds he would be dead. He didn't have the strength to move his limbs...
Sestros leaned in even closer and sneered. "You will die with no honor left. You will regret ever crossing me." He had expected more rage from the dying wolf, but Rikuo suddenly went deathly calm.
"If there is one...thing you should...remember Sestros..." He murmured the last part.
Sestros blinked in confusion and leaned in even closer so he could hear what Rikuo had said. That was his last mistake as Rikuo's claw shot up and drove straight into his chest, ripping his heart out. He stared dumbly, eyes wide at the impossible act.
Rikuo's eyes started to glaze over as he finished his sentence. "...is that...I am strong...and...you...ar..e...w..ea..k..." Rikuo slumped to the ground, followed seconds later by Sestros.
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...Every time that Giovan thought about the act a phantom pain would throb in his chest. He remembered the event all too well. ("This time though Rikuo...The one who will have their heart ripped out is you.") He took one more step and came face to face with his ex-general. It had come down to this. After over 5,000 years he would finally get his revenge on the treacherous dog that had killed him. He would get his revenge and so much more than that. Eternal life and the power of the demon lords would be his.
"Greetings Rikuo. It's been too long hasn't it? But I'm sure no matter how hard you tried you wouldn't be able to forget me."
Rikuo snarled, his claws and fangs bared. "How could I forget you? I try and forget you every time I go to sleep. Yet every dream I have ever had always consisted of one of your thousands of horrible acts from the past. You linger in my memory like a disease."
Giovan Garlin took a deep bow. "That's right Rikuo. The king of blood has returned." His brought his hand up and pointed right at the traitor. "This time though....I will have you whimpering at my knees by the time I am done with you."
To be continued...
Next Chapter: The King of Blood and the General of War
Author's notes: Ugh, I had to cut myself off before I put too much into one chapter. That's right ladies and gentlemen the plot thickens. You didn't think that Rikuo's past was going to leave him alone just because Ryo lost to him did you?
Anyway, keep your eyes peeled because the next chapter will soon be on the way.