Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Yugioh. Wish I did. Really...really...really...wish I did.
Chapter 20: The King of Blood and General of War
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."
Rikuo lifted his head haughtily. "I'd like to see you try Sestros." He wasn't so sure that the bluff would work, but he had to try. While he might be stronger than any human in existence, he was still a long ways off from his original position of power when he was a complete demon.
Giovan would have responded to Rikuo, but Stone walked up to him and bowed low. Though the giant of a man towered at least a foot above Giovan, at the moment he looked like a child who knew that he was about to be punished.
"Greetings milord. I apologize for our failure against the traitorous general and his friends." Stone's voice was tinged with fear.
Giovan glanced at him and raised his hand up, looking like he was going to pat his Emissary on the back, tell him he had given it his best, and then tell him to take Spirit and return to the castle for further orders.
Wishful thinking.....
Giovan's hand continued to rise until it was in line with Stone's forehead. The larger man didn't even get a chance to ask what his master was doing until it was too late.
Agony burned through his skull, and he felt his entire body quiver and start to break. He howled out in pain and then to the disgust and terror of everyone, Rikuo and Garlin excluded, he exploded in a burst of gore that splattered across everything within ten feet of the explosion.
Rikuo didn't even flinch as a hunk of muscle tissue his suit. He gingerly plucked it free and tossed it aside. "Still as merciless with your lackeys as ever I see."
Garlin, somehow untouched by the gory mess he had created, shrugged casually. "It gets the job done. The Emissaries know I do not tolerate failures amongst my employees."
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Deondre, CJ, Rebecca, and Amy had already appropriately retched in different areas of the graveyard.
CJ and Deondre were the first to recover, watching the exchange between the two demons with interest. They had tried not to let what they had just seen sink in too much...not yet at least.
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Spirit on the other hand had already let the entire event sink into her brain. She had every intention of running right now. She didn't want to die. Springing to her feet she turned and ran out of the graveyard, tears steaming down her face.
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Giovan glanced at the retreating form of one of his Emissaries. "If you would excuse me a moment Rikuo." He lifted his hand up and had it facing palm out at small dot that was Spirit in the distance.
Rikuo watched disinterestedly, though on the inside he was calculating his chances of slitting Sestro's throat from where he was standing. But the demon king was as wise as ever. He never dared to take his attention off of his ex-general. He knew too well what Rikuo was capable of in a desperate situation.
Giovan let a wisp of a dark smile cross his lips. From his palm a small ball of purple-black flames began to develop. "Bang." The ball launched down the path, and in one explosive scream of pain Spirit was gone. Giovan lowered his hand and returned to matching stares with Rikuo.
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CJ clenched his fists in anger. There wasn't much he could do at the moment except watch as this business-suited psychopath started killing off his own people.
Deondre shared CJ's sentiments, the two of them both ready to spring against Giovan at a moment's notice if the bastard decided to go after any of them next.
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Rikuo coolly said, "You know, I never understood what your fascination with torture was. It seemed like a waste of a lifetime to me."
Giovan shrugged slightly, not letting any emotions betray his feelings on the situation. "I am what I am. Just like you are what you are. I am the King of Blood, and you are the Dog of War."
Rikuo allowed himself to frown at the use of that hated nickname. "I should kill you for saying that you know."
Giovan sighed tiredly and reached into the content's of his suit, sliding free a jet black duel disk. Slipping the machine onto his arm it clicked into place. "Stop embarrassing yourself with these pitiful bluffs Rikuo. It sickens me to think that you still believe you can match me. My power has not decreased at all since my untimely...demise." He spat the last word out in anger.
Rikuo clicked his duel disk into place. "How about we have a little wager then?"
Giovan raised his eyebrows slightly. "Go on."
Rikuo lifted his upper lip enough to reveal a fang. "The winner of this duel determines the fate of the loser. An all or nothing duel."
Giovan pondered it for a moment and then nodded. "Agreed. Though I suggest you tell your..." He couldn't help but let another wisp of a smile touch his lips, "...friends to leave. This duel won't be like any duel."
Rikuo glanced back at the rest of Team Topdeck. "You heard him. Leave."
CJ growled and stomped forward, nearly screaming at Rikuo. "Like hell we will! You're going to need our help!"
Rikuo fixed him with a glare that stopped him in his tracks. It was the glare a killer. "Leave or I murder you in cold blood."
CJ trembled in rage, but Deondre walked up behind him and patted his shoulder. "He's right. This isn't our battle." CJ make a strangled noise of anger and stomped past Rikuo. He took the longest possible path to get around Giovan.
Amy went next, staring at Rikuo. "Is Daniel really in there?"
Rikuo snorted. "Don't ask stupid questions woman. Go."
Amy glared angrily at him and slapped him on the cheek before stomping right past Giovan, unafraid of the man.
Rebecca came up next. "If you get my brother killed I'll never forgive you." Rikuo snorted again and twisted his head to the side to look away from her. She walked past him and Giovan.
Deondre was last. He looked Rikuo right in the eyes and nodded solemnly. "Don't let him get away with what he did. No one deserves to take a life like that."
Rikuo nodded imperceptibly to him. "Don't worry. He'll pay for what he did soon enough. Make sure that you continue to work towards the finals of the tournament. I will be there."
Deondre gave him one last nod and left. "You'd better."
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Giovan waited until Deondre had walked out of sight to begin. He rolled his eyes at Rikuo. "Was it really necessary?"
Rikuo shrugged. "Feh."
Giovan raised his hand again. "And now it is time to begin. Prepare yourself for the power of the Darkness Game."
Rikuo narrowed his eyes. "The what?"
Giovan snapped his fingers and the air around them shifted and changed. "A little trick I picked up in ancient Egypt. Think of it as something like a contract. This way neither of us can escape from our respective fates." The air became misty and a black-purple dome appeared around them.
Rikuo chuckled, "Alright then. So who should begin?"
Giovan drew his five. "Since I am the king I'll begin."
He drew and gave Rikuo a menacing stare. "Do you remember some of my...toys?"
Rikuo sneered. "Who could forget your sick toys? Even for a demon you were considered to be excessively cruel."
Giovan bowed shallowly. "Thank you for your compliments. I'm sure you remember that one device of mine. Can you recall what the Juicer did?"
Rikuo growled. "Is this going anywhere Sestros? Or are you just trying to make me retch?"
Sestros placed a card onto his duel disk face-up. "I summon Torture Machine-Juicer (800/1200) in defense mode." A machine appeared on his field that looked like a trash compactor with legs.
Rikuo glared at the creature. ("Just like him to make cards of his toys.") "Am I supposed to be terrified or something?"
Sestros shrugged. "I loved how this thing worked. Don't you remember how much blood it used to give me for the kitchen? I used to take my most powerful foes as prisoners and crush them into a paste. Quite a delicacy, especially the Dragon demons."
Rikuo bared his fangs. "Stop trying to make it sound like we were friends Sestros. We were enemies and you know it."
Sestros looked thoughtful. "How true that is. Oh well, I suppose I'll just set one card face-down and end my turn."
Rikuo drew and looked his hand over. "You should stop dwelling in the past and look towards the future Sestros. I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) in attack mode." A blue and yellow robot appeared on the field. "Now attack his demented piece of metal!"
The X-Head Cannon fired a pair of lasers, but right before the beam hit the Juicer opened a pair of fanged jaws and swallowed the energy.
Rikuo stared in confusion. "What the hell was that?"
The Juicer wasn't done though. It lunged across the field and in one chomp swallowed the X-Head Cannon whole. Then it landed on Rikuo's field with a dull thud and sat there, unmoving.
Giovan shook his finger at his opponent. "You shouldn't have been so blood-thirsty Rikuo. My creature attaches to your creature and becomes an equipment magic card for it. In three turns both of our monsters will be sent to the graveyard. Plus your creature is out of reach to you until then."
Rikuo growled and slid two cards into his duel disk. "You won't stop me forever Sestros. End turn."
Giovan drew and calmly slid two cards into his duel disk. "I set two cards face-down and then I'll summon Torture Machine-Flayer (800/1200) in defense mode." A metal table with movable legs appeared.
Rikuo flinched when he saw this device. He remembered it all too well. He quickly hardened his resolve though. It wouldn't suit him to show fear to his opponent. "Thinking to dig up bad memories in me? Think again."
Giovan shrugged. "End turn."
Rikuo drew and felt some drops of sweat trickle down his cheek. He wasn't afraid...but he was tired. He wasn't used to being in control of Daniel's body for so long. ("I need to end this quickly.")
In his skull Daniel whispered out, ("Time to break out the big guns?")
Rikuo smiled. "I sacrifice my X-Head Cannon to summon...."
Giovan flipped his face-down card. "Denied! I activate the trap card Mask of Restrict. As long as this continuous trap card remains on the field you cannot sacrifice any monsters for any reason."
Rikuo stopped in his tracks, eyes wide. ("That's not good at all.")
("We don't need to sacrifice monsters to create more powerful ones.")
Rikuo nodded. "Fine then I'll summon Y-Dragon Head in attack mode." A red mechanical dragon appeared on his field. "Now I'll get rid of your monster."
The dragon unleashed a blast of energy that struck the table. When the smoke cleared though it was unharmed. Creaking, it floated over to Rikuo's field and spat out spiked chains that fastened the Y-Dragon Head to it.
Giovan shook his head sadly. "How did you win all of those wars for me? Like my Torture Machine-Juicer, my Torture Machine-Flayer attaches to whatever monster attacks it. Now each of your standby phases it will begin to slowly peel your monster apart. That means it will lose 1000 attack points every turn."
Rikuo snarled. "End turn."
Giovan drew and flipped up his face-down card. "Next I reveal the trap card Nightmare Wheel. This will put your monster through an extended amount of pain. Since your X-Head Cannon is cut off, I suppose your Y-Dragon Head will have to do." A bone wheel appeared over the Y-Dragon Head. "As long as this continuous trap card remains in play you will lose 500 life points with each passing turn."
Giovan looked his hand over and placed another monster card horizontal and face-up on his disk. "Now I summon Torture Machine-Splicer (500/1400) in defense mode." A metal chair appeared on Giovan's field. "End turn."
Before his hand even reached his cards, Rikuo winced in pain as the Torture Machine-Juicer made compressing noises. Then the Torture Machine-Flayer shot out red hot metal hooks that started to pull the Y-Dragon Head apart. The machine monster screeched in simulated pain as its attack power was dropped. (500/1600)
Then Giovan's Nightmare Wheel started to turn. Rikuo felt pain burn through him as the wheel somehow tore away at his life points and his soul at the same time.
Rikuo- 7500
Giovan- 8000
His breath now coming in ragged gasps, Rikuo drew. ("Now we've got him.") "I summon Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300) in attack mode!" A yellow tank appeared on Rikuo's field. "Now attack his monster!"
The tank fired a laser blast that hit the chair. It took the blast and emerged unharmed and then floated over to Rikuo's field. It shot out leather straps that immediately restrained the Z-Metal Tank and pinned it to the chair.
Giovan sighed tiredly. "You make it too easy. Now each of your standby phases you will also lose the top four cards of your deck."
Rikuo shook his finger at Giovan. "No I won't." When the black-suited man gave a questioning look he yawned casually. "You're deck is scary, but too easy to beat. Yeah I cannot sacrifice monsters, but what about combining them? You see I can fuse X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank together to create a monster of unbelievable power." The three Torture Machine's started to quiver as Rikuo's three creatures were about to break apart and reform to create one of his ultimate creatures, the XYZ Dragon Cannon.
Giovan chuckled coldly. "So that is what you had planned? Sorry, but no chance. I flip up my face-down Fusion Cancel." The three Torture Machines slowly stopped quivering. "As long as this continuous trap remains on the field union and fusion effects are now useless. Therefore you now have three useless monsters on your field. And soon enough the other horrors of my deck will be revealed! Prepare to lose your soul!"
Rikuo summed his feelings on the matter into one word, "Shit."
To be continued...
Author's notes: There was too much I could have done with this chapter, but eventually I got around to this. Obviously this isn't over yet, but you have to ask yourself. Now that Rikuo has been locked out from summoning most powerful monsters, can he still win?