Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh

Chapter 45: Daniel/Rikuo vs. Yugi/Yami

Finally Yami broke it. "I am curious to see just how powerful of a duelist you really are Rikuo. I've never seen you or your host duel before. How about we have a little game?"

The wolf demon chuckled as his duel disk clicked into place. "Sure."

Yami's duel disk clicked into place and he nodded. "Let's duel!"

Rikuo drew his five cards and smirked. "I think it would only be fair to have you make the first move, oh great pharaoh."

Yami drew his five and then his sixth. "Enough theatrics demon." He looked his hand over and smiled softly. "I hope you are a very good duelist, because my deck has just given me the necessary cards to put you in your place."

Rikuo snorted. "I hear talking, yet I see no Egyptian Gods on the field. Perhaps you should save the trash-talking until you actually have played me for a few turns."

Yami smiled and nodded. "Very well. I play Queen's Knight (1500/1300) in defense mode." A woman in a suit of knight's armor appeared on his field. "Then I activate the magic card Swords of Revealing Light." Glowing green swords of light slammed down across Rikuo's field. "Now for the next three turns you cannot attack me. End turn."

Rikuo drew his next card with a heavy heart. ("Well damn it...I was hoping to just not give him a chance to summon his Egyptian God Cards, but now I see that isn't an option.") He frowned and looked his cards over. ("Nothing that can get rid of his Swords of Revealing Light, and so far I don't see any of my combos meant to kill his God Cards.")

Daniel's voice rang inside his mind. ("We're best off playing defensively until we can get past his Swords.")

Rikuo mentally frowned at his host. ("By then it might be too late.") "I set one card face-down on my field and summon Nightmare Machine (800/2000) in defense mode." A demonic machine that looked a little like a snack food dispenser appeared on his field. "End turn."

Yami drew and threw a cocky smile at Rikuo. "I see that you are already in trouble, hmm?"

Rikuo snarled quietly, one of his fangs bared and glinting in the light. "Make your move or pass."

Yami slapped down his next card. "As you wish. I summon King's Knight (1500/1600) in defense mode." A man in knight's armor with a blond beard appeared on his field.

Rikuo growled low in his throat. He knew what happened next.

Yami popped his deck free of his disk and looked it over. He found the monster he was searching for and played it. "Because of my King's Knight's special ability, I may special summon Jack's Knight (1900/1400) from my deck to the field." A tall man in knight's armor appeared next to the other two knights. "Take you turn demon. Just remember that next turn you will face the wrath of a god."

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From up in his chair Giovan was silently cheering Yami on. It wasn't that he liked the pharaoh at all, but nothing would be sweeter to him than to watch Rikuo be destroyed by the might of an Egyptian God Card. ("Let's see you worm your way out of this one, mutt.")

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Rikuo drew and he got a small measure of relief when he looked upon his newest card. ("Perhaps we aren't as screwed as I thought.") He inserted the card into his hand and motioned to his Nightmare Machine. "Now the ability of my machine activates. Nightmare Machine special summons one Demon Slime (1000/1000) to the field in attack mode." The jet black robot made a few screeching noises and then it spat out a blob of black and red slime that slithered over next to its creator.

("This is going to take incredible luck on our part.") Rikuo was ready to place his life in the hands of fate though. "I sacrifice my Demon Slime to summon Wolf Demon Lord (2400/1000) to the field in attack mode!" The armored demon samurai appeared on the field and howled to his master.

Yami watched his opponent make his moves with uncharacteristic interest. It wasn't that he wanted to lose this duel, but he always found it exciting to take on new opponents and see what their strategies were capable of. ("I wonder if he can pull this off.")

In the back of his head Yugi mentally nodded. ("It seems like he has some kind of plan to deal with our Egyptian God Cards.")

Yami didn't reply. Rikuo was about to make his next play.

Said wolf demon looked his hand over one more time to make sure he had his combo remembered correctly. A few moments passed, and then he was satisfied. "I set two cards face-down. Now bring on your God Card Yami."

Yami drew his card and slid his three knights into the graveyard. "As you wish Rikuo. I sacrifice my three monsters to summon Saint Dragon Osiris in attack mode!" The three knights faded off of the field and somewhere in the distance lightning crashed.

The only thing was that there was no Egyptian God on the field.

Rikuo glanced around warily. "So, where's the dragon?"

Yami pointed at the roof. As if on cue, the stone started to crack. "He's coming demon. Be patient."

With one thunderous roar the double-mouthed head of Yami's Egyptian God broke through the stone of the ceiling. The holographic image flew into the room, its hundreds of feet of length wrapping around the dueling field.

Rikuo flexed his claws nervously as some of the coils of the dragon wrapped around his side of the field. ("This is....")

("Don't even bother being scared Rikuo. You knew that we would face this thing eventually.")

Rikuo's eyes widened as he realized he was being chastised. ("SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I know that we were going to face this beast! Don't console me like I am nothing but a pup, you ass!")

He narrowed his eyes at Yami. "So pharaoh, this is the almighty Saint Dragon Osiris?" He made a point to look around at the different lengths of the dragon that draped across the field. "I'm not impressed at all."

Yami rolled his eyes at bluff. "You will be once you understand that Osiris's attack total is equal to the number of cards in my hand times 1000." He held up his hand of fanned out cards. "I have five cards in my hand." (5000/5000) Behind him, the head of Osiris roared down at the demon, its yellow eyes glowing in the dim light of the room.

Rikuo glanced at his three face-down cards, knowing they were his best hope now. "I really don't care how powerful your monster is. I'll beat it all the same."

Yami pointed at the Wolf Demon Lord. "We'll see Rikuo. Now Osiris, attack his Wolf Demon Lord with God's Lightning!" The dragon opened its massive first set of jaws wide and began to charge up a huge ball of electrical energy.

Rikuo pressed a button his duel disk right before the dragon released its torrent of energy. "I reveal Negate Attack! This will protect my field from you for this turn!" A swirling vortex appeared and barely managed to absorb all of the energy of Osiris's attack.

Yami shrugged nonchalantly to Rikuo. "A clever save, but it will only keep you from destruction for one turn."

Rikuo drew and slid his card into his duel disk. "Pot of Greed should even the score between us, don't you think Yami?" He drew two cards off the top of his deck and his eyes lit up confidently.

"Yami, are you so sure that your gods will be enough to beat me?" At his opponent's questioning look, Rikuo picked up his Nightmare Machine card and slid it into the graveyard. "Allow me to elaborate. I sacrifice my Nightmare Machine to summon Jinzo (2400/1500) to the field!" The green armored form of Daniel's favorite monster appeared on field and crossed its arms, chuckling coldly.

Yami smirked and pointed at Jinzo. "I don't know what you have planned but you've just triggered Osiris's special ability! Go Summon Lightning Impact!" The second set of jaws on Osiris's opened and a purple blast of explosive energy engulfed Jinzo. When the smoke cleared the metal monster looked like it was nearly on the verge of collapse. (400/1500) "Osiris's special ability drains your monster of 2000 points from whatever mode it is in. Luckily for you Jinzo is strong enough to withstand the attack though."

Rikuo frowned and looked at his hand. He didn't know that Osiris had a special ability like that. ("Not that it matters though. This is the only combo in my hand and if it doesn't work I am finished regardless.")

He slid a card into his duel disk. "Before I make my next move I need to set this card face-down. And now..." He slid another card into his duel disk. "I play the magic card Polymerization to fuse Jinzo and Wolf Demon Lord together!" The two monsters were slammed into each other and a swirling vortex of energy appeared on Rikuo's field.

Yami pointed at the swirl. "Because fusion counts as a summon, you once again have triggered Osiris's special ability! Summon Lightning Impact!" The enormous dragon opened its second set of jaws once more and unleashed another ball of purple destructive energy.

Rikuo flipped up the card he had just set. "I'm ready for it this time Yami. Activate Guardian Shield!" A steel shield appeared in front of the vortex and absorbed the blast of Osiris's attack. "This will defend my creature from any attack. So your Summon Lightning Impact won't touch my new monster!"

The steel shield faded and the vortex was gone. In its place was the Wolf Demon Lord, though he was covered in the green armoring of Jinzo and now had a much bigger greatsword. "Meet the perfect combination of demon and machine, the Steel Wolf General." (3400/2000)

Yami didn't look afraid of the monster, but he was curious. "What's so special about your new monster?"

Rikuo sneered. "You shall see. For now though I end my turn. That means you're up pharaoh."

Yami drew and watched as Osiris's attack power increased. (6000/6000)

"You're about to lose quite a lot of life points Rikuo. God's Lightning!" Osiris charged up a torrent of energy and unleashed it at the Steel Wolf General.

Rikuo grinned and flipped up his face-down card. "It's time slay your god Yami! Go Limiter Removal!" One of his face-down cards flipped up. "This magic card doubles the attack power of all machine monsters on my field for one turn. The only downside is that they die at the end of that turn." The Steel Wolf General howled as energy rippled along its body from the magic card's effect. (6800/2000)

The Steel Wolf General charged through the lightning, emerging from it unfazed. The mechanical demon went into a high leap and came down with a slash of its sword, instantly beheading Osiris. The entirety of the Egyptian God shuddered and then exploded into digital bits of dust.

Yami- 7200

Rikuo- 8000

Yami smiled slightly. "That was a fairly impressive move Rikuo. Not many have ever defeated my Egyptian God Cards in direct battle before." He looked at the stockpile of cards in his hand. He had an empty field now that his Swords of Revealing Light had been dropped, so he was going to have to duel the old-fashioned way until he could get his hands on another one of the Egyptian God Cards in his deck. "To finish my turn I set two cards face-down and one monster in defense." The Steel Wolf General groaned weakly and exploded as the effect of Limiter Removal took its toll on the monster.

Rikuo drew and motioned to his field. "Now the special ability of my Steel Wolf General is triggered. When it is destroyed my Wolf Demon Lord returns to the field in attack mode." The ground in front of him quivered and the armored form of the demon lord sprang free of the earth.

Rikuo looked at his hand and a strange expression crossed his face. It almost looked like he was recalling something. Then he looked up at Giovan and growled loudly. "By the time I am done with you, there won't be enough of a body left for any kind of burial."

Giovan snickered and pointed to Yami. "I'd suggest you focus on the task at hand, mutt."

That brought Rikuo's attention back to the duel. "Alright Yami, I set two cards face-down and attack with my Wolf Demon Lord! Howling Sword!" The demon slammed its sword into the ground, a wave of phantom blue-white flame traveling along the ground and threatening to consume Yami's face-down monster.

The pharaoh didn't look worried though. "You're walking right into my trap. Reveal Spell-Binding Circle!" The trap card flipped up, but before it could activate it shuddered and exploded into dust. "What!?"

Rikuo held up one of his three face-down cards. "Remove Trap denies you that liberty."

Yami wasn't done yet. "If that's the way you want to play this game, then I reveal my other face-down card, Mirror Force!" A blue barrier sprang up on his field and absorbed the blast of flame. It pulsed and then unleashed a peppering spray of energy that annihilated Rikuo's Demon Lord.

The wolf demon looked at his two remaining cards and knew that he was running out of options. "End turn."

Yami drew and he smirked. "I summon Myth Speaker (200/1500) in defense mode." A man holding a golden harp appeared on the field in a crouching position. "Then I set two cards face-down. Take your turn Rikuo."

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Giovan snickered quietly as he watched Yami summon the monster that possessed the power to summon any monster from Yugi's deck every turn. ("I wonder how Rikuo will respond to facing down Obelisk the Tormentor.")

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Rikuo drew and didn't pay the weak monster that Yami had played any mind. ("I'm more concerned about his face-down card.") He threw down the monster he had drawn. "I summon Wolf Demon Soldier (1400/1200) in defense mode and I end my turn."

Yami smiled and pointed to his Myth Speaker. "I see you do not know what my monster does then?"

Rikuo glanced over at the toga wearing creature before bringing his attention back to Yami. "Should I?"

"Myth Speaker's special ability allows me to special summon any monster from deck each turn. All I have to do is not draw a card." His deck spat out a card, which he caught and slapped onto his disk. "Get ready Rikuo, because I summon Obelisk the Tormenor (4000/4000) to the field!"

The ground behind him shimmered and a huge form began to materialize. It quickly gathered up shape and formed into an enormous blue giant with red eyes. Obelisk brought his gaze down to look at Rikuo and released a huffing noise that sounded a lot like a snort of irrtation.

Rikuo growled angrily. ("Damn....that means Myth Speaker will be able to give him his other Egyptian God Card too.")

Daniel was more worried about something else though. ("Can we worry about the God Card that is already on the field!?")

Rikuo matched glares with Obelisk. His stern expression slowly turned into a fanged smile. "Yami, don't attack if you know what is good for you."

Yami smirked and pointed at the Wolf Demon Soldier. "Obelisk, attack with God Hand Crusher!" The huge giant cocked back its fist and threw it towards the monster...

To be continued...

Next Chapter: The war of the Egyptian Gods

Author's Notes: Sheesh, writing Egyptian God episodes are exhausting on the brain. I'll hurry and get the next installment going though.

Read and Review please.