Disclaimer: No I don't own Yugioh.
Chapter 21: The Darkness Game and its consequences
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."
Looking his hand over, Rikuo realized that he didn't have a single way to turn this duel around in his favor yet. "I have no choice but to end my turn."
Giovan drew and grinned. "I'll set two cards face-down and one monster in face-down defense." He held up his empty hand. "End turn."
Rikuo braced himself as all of Giovan's Torture Machine's went off. The Torture Machine- Juicer squealed in protest and exploded, taking his X-Head Cannon with it. Then the Torture Machine- Flayer snapped out its red-hot hooks and tore the Y-Dragon Head into a weakly screeching mass of metal. (0/1600)
("Here it comes...") He braced himself as the Nightmare Wheel went off, sending spurts of pain into his very soul. He barely managed to keep a straight face as he felt the wheel tear at him spiritually.
Rikuo- 7000
Giovan- 8000
The final effect went off as Torture Machine- Splicer sent a drill right into the skull of Rikuo's Z-Metal Tank. The yellow mech thrashed around and then finally went still.
Rikuo watched in anger as the top four cards of his deck faded away. ("At this rate he's going to wind up wiping out my deck before I get any farther in this duel.") He drew for his turn and frowned. "I'll set a monster in defense and I'll end my turn."
Giovan drew. "What's the matter Rikuo? Are you tired? Drained? Do you feel like surrendering?"
Rikuo lifted his right hand and gave Giovan the bird. "Piss off Sestros."
Giovan feigned shock. "Such language out of you dear boy! I'll have to teach you a lesson with this special little monster. I summon Torture Master (1000/2000) in defense mode." A man in black leather appeared in a crouching position. He had a whip and was grinning evilly. "As long as this monster remains on the field all life point damage you take from trap effects is doubled. End turn."
Rikuo braced himself as the Nightmare Wheel went off again, and he stumbled this time. No matter how hard he tried now he couldn't fight off the exhaustion that was engulfing him. He was getting more and more tired by the second. His soul was being grinded by the Nightmare Wheel. Considering he had already been in control of Daniel's body for far too long anyway it was starting to wear on him. ("I...need....a way to end this right now.")
Rikuo- 6000
Giovan- 8000
The Torture Machine- Splicer came next, drilling deeper into the head of his Z-Metal Tank. The mech thrashed in pain and then went still. The top four cards of his deck faded.
He drew and smiled weakly. "Sorry Sestros, but I'm about to show you just how weak you really are. Your strategy is nearly flawless. It has one fatal flaw though, and I'm going to exploit said flaw right now. I play Mystical Space Typhoon! This will take out your Mask of Restrict Trap card. Then I can sacrifice my weaker monsters to summon a more powerful one, and that will get rid of your traps too." A sharp wind began to pick up around the Mask of Restrict on Giovan's field.
Giovan shook his head tiredly and flipped his face-down card. "Gods you're predictable. I flip up my face-down Magic Drain trap card. Now you must discard a magic card from your hand is you wish for your Mystical Space Typhoon to still go off."
Rikuo shrugged and slid a card from his hand into his graveyard. "That was easy."
Giovan sneered, "Yes it was. For now I reveal my other face-down card Pain of Loss. It can only be activated when you choose to discard a card from your hand willingly. Now you must discard the rest of your hand!" Even though he had lost his Mask of Restrict, it didn't matter anymore. Rikuo didn't have anything to sacrifice his monsters to.
Snarling in feral anger, Rikuo slid his hand into the graveyard. "End turn."
Giovan drew and looked his field over. "I sacrifice my face-down monster to set a new creature in defense. End turn."
Rikuo braced himself as the jolt of pain from the Nightmare Wheel hit him again.
Rikuo- 5000
Giovan- 8000
Then the Torture Machine- Splicer went off and he growled as another four cards faded off of his deck. He drew and felt like throwing the useless card he had drawn into the graveyard. "End turn."
Giovan drew and sneered as he looked his opponent's field over. "You're finished Rikuo. Your face-down cards are most likely defensive traps, which is something that I have no intention of running into anytime soon, because I am not attacking. As for your single card that you are holding, I can only assume it is a magic card that cannot help you at all." Giovan slapped his new monster down in face-down defense position. "End turn."
Rikuo bit his tongue to avoid crying out in pain from the Nightmare Wheel's effect.
Rikuo- 4000
Giovan- 8000
He already knew what was going to happen next, as the drill from the Torture Machine- Splicer slid into his Z-Metal Tank. After the top four cards of his deck faded he drew. In three turns he would lose because his deck would be empty. In four turns he would lose from the Nightmare Wheel. ("I'm running out of time and these useless cards aren't helping me any.") "End turn."
Giovan drew and grinned. "I end my turn."
Rikuo braced himself as the effects of Giovan's Torture Machine and Nightmare Wheel went off together, draining him of life points and taking cards off the top of his deck. He stumbled weakly, unable to keep up the bravado he had projected before.
Rikuo- 3000
Giovan- 8000
He drew weakly and a smile crossed his lips. "It's good to see you again old friend. We're in trouble aren't we?"
Giovan raised his eyebrow questioningly as his opponent held a conversation with a card.
Rikuo slide his Z-Metal Tank into the graveyard. "Now I'll sacrifice the Z-Metal Tank to summon Wolf Demon Lord (2400/1000) in attack mode." The samurai demon that was Rikuo's physical avatar appeared on the field and howled.
Lifting his hand slowly, Rikuo pointed at the Torture Master. "Attack...now..." The Wolf demon lord charged, weapon held up high to slay whoever was threatening its master.
Giovan let that cruel smile of his reach his face. "I activate the trap card Brain Surge. It will destroy your monster and the top five cards of your deck." The Wolf Demon Lord skidded to a stop and howled in pain, right before he exploded into pieces.
Rikuo felt the last of his strength disappear with his favorite monster. He slumped to one knee and with glossed over eyes dropped the other two cards in his hand to the dirt. They were both useless anyway. "End....turn...." ("I've failed.....again.")
Giovan drew and chuckled. "Since you are in such pain I think I'll just end my turn so that my Nightmare Wheel can wipe you out."
Rikuo felt more of his soul destroyed as the Nightmare Wheel that hung above his head turned.
Rikuo- 2000
Giovan- 8000
The drained wolf demon drew off the top of his deck and looked at the card he had picked up. It was blurry to him. His vision was starting to darken.
("Do you want me to take over?")
("No......")
Rikuo knew that if he ended his turn that Giovan would most likely pass, just so he could immediately satisfy his hunger for suffering. ("I'll....show....him....")
"I sacrifice.....my....Y-Dragon.....Head.....to summon.....whatever this card is....." Amazingly he still had enough co-ordination to pick up the monster card he was sacrificing and slide it into the graveyard. He one last burst of strength he slapped the monster onto his disk. As it formed he recognized it. "Jinzo. (2400/1500)" He smiled once more before his energy ran out and oblivion claimed him.
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For what seemed like the fiftieth time Deondre had to physically restrain CJ from running all the way back to the graveyard to confront Giovan Garlin.
"Let me go Deondre! We can't let that scumbag get away with taking innocent lives!"
Deondre had his arms holding CJ in a firm full nelson, but at this point he wasn't sure if it was enough. The larger duelist was still matching progress in the direction of the area, Deondre's feet leaving behind furrows in the ground as he got closer and closer. "CJ stop! Think about it! We've already walked for an hour away from the graveyard! We're closer to the castle. Let's just get this tournament over with. Once we are in the finals we will have a free shot at Garlin! Stop!"
CJ slowly stopped moving. As he relaxed Deondre let go of his arms. "You're right Deondre." He turned to look up at the shadowed form of the castle that symbolized the end of this madness with all of these small fish. The big target was above them, not below them. He nodded to no one in particular and charged past Deondre, Amy and Rebecca, leaving dust in his wake as he ran towards the castle screaming, "We're coming to get you Garlin!!"
Deondre sighed and shook his head. "At least he's going in the right direction now."
Amy and Rebecca both nodded. The three turned and continued their march.
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Giovan felt a dark feeling that could almost be considered actual joy go through his body at the sight of the mighty general who had killed him collapsing in defeat. Even as Rikuo hit the ground though, his hair was withdrawing into his skull. Giovan knew the duel wasn't quiet done yet. Rikuo's last act had gotten Jinzo onto the field, and with the trap negating monster in play Giovan would be unable to defend from attacks by monsters anymore.
Daniel slowly came to his feet. He hurt everywhere that it was possible to hurt. The torment that Rikuo's soul had been put through was starting to reflect on their collective body. ("I'm running out of steam and I haven't even played a card yet.") "Alright Garlin, let's see you stop me now. I activate Monster Reborn!" He slid one of the two 'useless' cards from his hand into his duel disk. "Now I'll summon back the Wolf Demon lord!" The demon samurai hit the field and howled, looking almost beyond enraged at the fact that his master had been struck down. "I'll pick up where Rikuo had left off. Jinzo attack the Torture Master and Wolf Demon Lord attack the face-down monster on the right!" The two monsters complied and then Daniel smiled. "Alright, I end my turn."
Giovan stayed expressionless on the outside, though on the inside he was snarling. He knew that Pilkington had only card left in his deck, which meant that he had one turn left. He had seen the boy perform some impossible comebacks though, and this might be one of them. Giovan drew his card and set it in defense mode. Then he placed another card face-down. "End turn." ("Alright boy, let's see you pull out of this duel as the winner.")
Daniel drew and was suddenly very glad that Jinzo had negated the Nightmare Wheel trap card. He very much doubted that he could take the pain of having his soul grinded. Unlike the spirit he shared a body with; he was still an ordinary human. ("Or would I be a half demon now?") He shook himself out of his ponderings and looked his cards over. "Ready to lose Garlin?"
Giovan rolled his eyes. "Don't brag fool."
Daniel shrugged nonchalantly and flipped his face-down card. "I reveal the magic card Replay. At the cost of half of my life points I may use any magic card in my graveyard. I'll use Monster Reborn to revive Barrel Dragon." (2600/2300) A huge metal dragon with three gun barrels for a head and arms appeared on the field.
Daniel- 1000
Giovan- 8000
"Now I'll flip up our face-down monster Reflect Bounder into attack mode." (1700/1000) A machine covered in mirrors appeared on Daniel's field. He slid a card from his hand into the duel disk.
"Now I play Tribute to the Doomed! By discarding the last card in my hand I may destroy one monster on the field." A clawed hand reached up and dragged Giovan's face-down monster into the graveyard.
Giovan's eyes went wide. There was only one way that the boy could win now. ("Let's see if I am right.")
Daniel grinned. "Now I attack with the Wolf Demon Lord. Clear the way for our victory!!" The demon samurai happily obliged, slashing the face-down monster to pieces. "And now that you are wide open Giovan, let me reveal Limiter Removal! This magic card doubles the attack power of all of the machine sub-type monsters on my field.
Jinzo (4800/1500)
Barrel Dragon (5200/2300)
Reflect Bounder (3400/1000)
"Now Jinzo, Cyber Shock attack!" The green armored monster built up a dark ball of energy in between its cupped hands, and then when the ball was properly formed, he hurled it across the field.
Giovan started laughing as the ball headed towards him. "It's been a good game boy. Now that your hopes are so high, it's time to bring them crashing down. I reveal the magic card Dark Wall of Air, protecting me from all direct damage this turn." A wall of black air appeared and blocked Jinzo's attack.
As the darkness ball faded, Daniel stared in mute horror. He collapsed to his knees. ("Just like that...I've lost.") His turn ended and all of his machine monsters exploded, leaving him with only the Wolf Demon Lord on his field.
Giovan drew and without even looking at his card ended his turn.
Daniel had no cards left in his deck. Since he couldn't draw a card he lost the duel. He was so numb with shock that he didn't even hear Garlin's approach. All he could feel was the sadness at having failed, and the understanding that he would never see his friends or family again. ("I won't let myself die honor-less though.") He knew that Rikuo must have been rubbing off on him more then the demon would let on. If this had been a week ago he would have run away screaming in fear, like Spirit had done.
Yet he only felt regret...
Giovan stood in front of him, the ex-demon king sneering down at his fallen adversary. "Are you ready to accept your punishment boy?"
Daniel lifted his head up, chin held high. He knew that tears were streaking his face, but it didn't matter. "I'm ready to face my death."
Giovan raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had expected the boy to plead with him, or maybe call upon Rikuo for help. He hadn't expected actually be facing the boy when he inflicted out his punishment. "As you wish." His open-palmed hand came in line with Daniel's forehead. "Your life is at its end."
Daniel felt the energy gathering around Giovan's palm and he closed his eyes, praying that it would be a swift and merciful end. ("I'm sorry CJ....Deondre....you two are going to have to pick up where I left off and win the tournament. I'm sorry Amy, for not getting to know you better. Rebecca...I'm sorry....forgive me....") Then all he felt was flame and death as his body was ripped apart.
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Giovan Garlin strolled out of the graveyard whistling a little tune that he had heard on the radio this morning while he had been showering. It was that good of a day. ("Rikuo Amero and Daniel Pilkington are both no more.") He wiped a little bit of blood from his hand and looked at his duel disk appraisingly. ("Since I have unveiled my deck strategy I had better rework it this evening. Tomorrow will be the starting day for the finals of the tournament after all.") He chuckled to himself.
Tomorrow was the day he got to watch the best of the best in the world of Duel Monsters fight it out just to come and meet him, expecting to get their requests fulfilled. Little did they know that this entire tournament was mostly a cover-up for his plan. A plan that no one could interfere with now that his ex-general of war was out of the way.
It had been a perfect day after all....
He found himself whistling that tune again as he disappeared into the mists towards his castle....
End of Season 1
Next Chapter: Season 2; Episode 1- Gaining entrance to the Castle of Giovan Garlin