Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh
Demon Duelist Legacy-Dark Soul Arc
Chapter 4: Dueling with the life of a loved one on the line
He picked it up and read where in neat hand-writing someone had written down: We have her. If you want to see her still amongst the living then be at 7862 Flamingo St. tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m.
Daniel frowned and flipped the piece of paper over. It wasn't a piece of paper, it was a photo. Daniel wiped some mud from it and gasped. As he stared at the picture the message on the back of it played over and over in his mind.
In the picture, sitting in a chair, was his mother, with a gag around her mouth and a gun held against her head.
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The rest of the day passed like a blur to Daniel. He didn't show any of his friends what he had seen on the photo. After all, there wasn't any reason to get them involved. ("No...I'll do this myself. Whoever Saito works for is going to regret daring to involve my mother. I'll kill him with my own hands if he dares to hurt her...")
Throughout the rest of the day Rikuo had been fairly silent inside his host's mind, but eventually curiosity go the better of him. ("Let's start with this. Are you sure that it is even her in that photo?")
Daniel turned his head to look out the window of the classroom. ("I don't care. It might be too big of a gamble for most, but I've got nothing to lose.")
Rikuo scoffed and started to tick off things on his proverbial fingers. ("Now let's see...you have Rebecca, your friends, your future, ME! Of course you have things to lose!")
Daniel winced at the intensity of his other self's voice. ("Point taken....but...")
Rikuo's snarl of disgust stopped him before he could make an excuse. ("You're playing the martyr in this. What about your mother? Can you alone save her?")
Daniel frowned slightly and sarcastically replied, ("Well I am the Centennial Wolf.")
Rikuo growled and his voice started to fade. ("Without me you're nothing but another weakling human. If you want my help in this then you had best talk to your friends. Otherwise, you can deal with this entire situation on your own.")
Daniel returned the growl loudly, startling most of the class. He leapt up out of his chair and grabbed his backpack. "Fine Rikuo! I'll deal with the entire situation myself!!" He stomped right past his teacher and threw the door to the classroom open.
Almost as an afterthought he looked behind him and said, "Teacher, I'm going home for the day. Sorry if I interrupted your lesson." Then he turned and left.
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The minute Daniel had returned home he went up to his room and made a call to Rebecca's school. After making sure that she had a ride home he took out his deck and got to work. ("They're going to be expecting me to use the strategies that beat Giovan Garlin. They'll be in for a surprise.")
Recently Daniel had acquired some new cards and now he was ready to actually look them over and see if he could use them. ("By the time I am done they won't stand a chance of winning against me.")
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Hours later, Daniel finally looked up from the piles of cards in front of him. He stared at the hundred card deck in front of him for a few seconds...then he stood up and went over to his window. Sliding it open, he put his head out of it and screamed loudly into the night. Then he closed the window and went back to his desk.
As he disassembled the stack of cards in front of him, he put his palm to his forehead and sighed. Normally he could do this easily, but something was wrong with him as of lately. He felt unfocused and tired. ("Maybe it's some kind of side effect of Rikuo cutting himself off from me.") He clenched his fists and got back to work. His deck wasn't going to make itself.
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He looked at the final product of his deck and nodded weakly. ("That's as good as it's gonna get.") He stood up and collapsed in his bed. He had been at this for at least ten hours and now it was time to sleep.
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That next morning he was awoken by Rebecca, who was screaming at him to get up and drive her to school. He nodded, yawned, and then fell back asleep.
Rebecca narrowed her eyes and came back into his room with a cup of coffee. She gave him one warning and when he didn't comply she upended it over his head.
Twenty minutes later a very tired, unhappy, and now sticky Daniel dropped his sister off from school and went home. He looked at his clock, set the alarm to go off at 4:00, and then collapsed in a heap on his bed. ("Sleep...") Seconds later, he was snoring again.
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When the alarm went off, Daniel proceeded to throw the screeching device against the wall and trudge into the shower. Half an hour later, he was cleaned and ready, though he still felt exhausted. ("Maybe I should ask Rikuo.....")
He stopped that train of thought right there. This was his battle and he was going to get it done on his own. After eating a heavy meal to refill a stomach that hadn't eaten for twenty-four hours, he grabbed his duel disk and got into his truck.
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When he arrived at the location that the photo had told him to go, he pulled his truck up at the curb and climbed out. Grabbing his duel disk and the leather-sheathed Howling Sword from his passenger seat, he sluggishly thought, ("Here we go...")
He saw the numbers on the side of the building and nodded. Attaching the disk to his arm he walked up to the door of the building, which looked like it was originally a gymnasium of some kind. He looked around the cavernous and dark area casually. After a few minutes of silence he looked at his watch and saw that it was exactly 6:00. ("So where's my mother!?") He screamed from within his head.
As if on cue bright light flooded the area from the overhead lamps and a cold voice casually said, "Greetings Daniel Pilkington."
Covering his eyes with his hand to avoid being blinded by the sudden change in light, Daniel couldn't tell where the voice was coming from. "Where's my mother!!?"
As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw who he was confronting. It was an aged Japanese man in a black suit. He ran his wrinkled fingers through his graying beard and snickered. "You seem surprised."
Daniel's eyes adjusted quickly and his hand reached to the sheathed Howling Sword at his hip. "Shut up. Show me my mother or I swear I will cut you down right now."
The aged man nodded and snapped his fingers. A monitor rolled down from the celing right above his head. The picture is showed was of a video feed of some kind of steel room, where his mother sat tied to a chair, gagged, and blind-folded. "There she is boy."
Daniel's duel disk was already clicking into place. "I already know what your want. So let's get it over with."
The man bowed his head a little. He lifted his right arm, which was wearing a silver and black duel disk. "No friendly banter at all? That's fine with me. I am a member of the Shadow Corporation board of directors. You may call me Aishito."
Daniel drew his hand of five. "I could care less. Once I've beaten you then you will die."
Aishito drew his five. "Alright, but that means if you lose your mother will die. So let's begin."
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Deondre yawned and glanced at his watch. ("6:00? Wow, I spent way too long at Tim Boal's Comic Oasis.") Not that it wasn't time well spent. He had managed to collect the rest of the cards he needed for his new strategy.
As he pulled his car around the corner of the street though, he saw something that made him skid to a stop. ("Daniel's truck? Here?") He drove a little ways down the street and parked. Grabbing his backpack from his passenger seat, he hopped out of the car.
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Daniel drew his sixth and fought off the wave of dizziness that threatened to bring him to his knees. ("I must be more tired then I thought.") He looked his hand of cards over. He knew what every card did, but he was having trouble remembering the combos. One card caught his eye though. ("Quicksilver Orb. That'll do as a starter.") He took the card out of his hand and slapped it onto his disk. "I summon Quicksilver Orb. (0/0) End turn." A plain metal ball appeared on his field.
Aishito drew his sixth card and gently placed down one monster. "I summon Shiraku the Mystic (1600/1500) in attack mode." A man dressed in white robes appeared on Aishito's field and began to chant in a heavenly voice. "Now Shiraku, attack his Quicksilver Orb!" The spellcaster raised his palms and aimed them at the metal ball. He chanted a short spell and a ball of white light flew across the field to instantly blast the little orb into nothing.
Daniel smiled weakly and grabbed a card out of his hand, slapping the card onto his disk. "Nice play, but that triggers the effect of my Quicksilver Orb. It allows me to summon one monster from my hand to the field." A metal humanoid in green armor appeared on his field. "That means now you're going to have to get through my best monster, Jinzo!" (2400/1500)
Aishito chuckled darkly. "Do you even realize what your mistake has been yet?"
Daniel rubbed his eyes and tried his best to glare at aged man. "What are you talking about? What mistake could I have possibly have made?"
Aishito sighed. "Look at the life point totals."
Daniel glanced down at his disk and his sunken eyes widened.
Daniel- 6400
Aishito- 8000
Aishito scratched at his beard in interest. "You didn't even realize that you played your monster in attack mode?"
Daniel snickered. "Of course I did. It's all part of my plan." ("I CAN'T BELIEVE I MADE SUCH AN AMATEUR MISTAKE! ARGH!")
Aishito looked at Daniel's Jinzo for a moment and snickered, sliding a card from his hand into his disk. "You're losing your touch boy. How did you beat Giovan anyway?"
Daniel drew and frowned. He still felt as scatter-minded as ever. ("What's wrong with me!? Why can't I concentrate?") "I beat him the same way that I am going to beat you." He slapped a monster onto his disk next to Jinzo. "I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) in attack mode! Fire!" A yellow and blue robot appeared on his field and fired a blast of white energy at Aishito's Shiraku.
Pressing a button on his duel disk, Aishito cackled. "Reveal Offerings to the Doomed! This will destroy your Jinzo instantly!" The flipped up card spat out a beam of red light that immediately blew Daniel's favorite monster apart. As he slid the card into his graveyard Aishito snickered. "And all it costs me is my next draw step. A small price to pay all in all, wouldn't you say?"
The blast from Daniel's X-Head Cannon collided with Shiraku the Mystic, blowing him into pieces. "And now the special ability of my destroyed monster is activated. At the cost of a measly 1000 life points I may activate any magic card from my graveyard. So I reactivate Offerings to the Doomed, this time targeting your X-Head Cannon!" His graveyard slot spat out another beam of red light. It struck the yellow and blue monster, blowing it apart as well. "And you know what the best part of it all is. I'm only losing one draw phase for the price of two of your monsters."
Daniel- 6400
Aishito- 6800
Daniel grimaced and looked down at his hand. ("Now that Jinzo is gone I can use these two traps. But still....".) The way this guy was playing was very clever. He knew how to manage his cards properly. "Alright Aishito, let's see you follow-up with your move. I set these two cards face-down and end my turn."
The dark-suited man looked at his hand and nodded. "If that's what you want, then let me be giving for once in my life." He snatched a card from his hand and slid it into his disk. "First I'll play Pot of Greed to replenish my lost cards."
Daniel grinned tiredly at his luck. "Thanks for letting me draw two new cards Aishito."
Aishito glared. "What are you going on about boy? Pot of Greed says that I draw two cards, not you."
Daniel motioned to his one of his face-down cards, which immediately flipped face-up. "When I activate my Spirit Mirror it allows me to change the target of one magic card that targets a player. Your Pot of Greed effect just back-fired on you." He slid his trap into the graveyard and then drew two cards from his deck.
Aishito slid a card from his hand into his disk. "Oh really? Let's make you regret that action. I play the magic card Give and Take. At the end of this turn you are going to have to discard a card from your hand for every card you have drawn."
Daniel bit his lower lip in frustration. He quickly racked his brain for what two cards to discard, but he still couldn't remember his combos very well.
Aishito slid his second to last card into his disk. "Now I set this card face-down and summon another Shiraku in attack mode." The white-robed form of his spellcaster reappeared on the field, chanting in its heavenly voice once more. "End turn."
Daniel frowned and couldn't decide which two cards to get rid of. Finally he just grabbed the two left ones and slid them into his graveyard. Then he drew one card off the top of his deck and immediately regretted discarding those two cards. ("There was a combo I could have used against him if I had thought about my actions. Why am I so tired all of a sudden!? I got a good few hours of rest, so I shouldn't be this bad off.")
Aishito snickered once again. "Maybe you should have thought before you acted, hmm?"
Daniel growled and slapped down a monster. "I set one monster in defense. End turn."
Aishito drew and cackled once again. "Get ready to experience the power of my deck's special weapon." He slid the card into a slot on his duel disk. "I play the magic card Living Nightmare. This continuous magic card allows me to pay 1000 life points to force you to discard a card in your hand."
Even in his drained state Daniel knew that didn't bode well for him. "If you really want to go and drain your life points, who am I to stop you?"
Aishito flipped his other face-down card. "By playing the continuous magic card Spell Economics, I don't have to pay life points for any magic card costs. You know what that means right?" He sneered darkly as Daniel slid his hand into his graveyard. "That's right. This two card combo forces you to discard your entire hand on each of my turns." His voice had risen to a fevered pitch. "In other words boy, your mother will die before this night is done!"
As much as Daniel wanted to protest, he just didn't have the strength anymore. ("I...can't....lose...")
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Deondre had tried to get into the gym from the front, but the door had been locked. When he had gone around the back way though he had discovered something interesting. There was a helicopter up on the roof of the building, with a rope ladder leading down the wall to the back of the alley. ("Hmm....what's all this about?")
"Well look at what we have here. If it isn't Pilkington's cheering squad." A voice from behind him said.
Deondre spun around and saw that his exit out of the alley had been cut off.
Saito smirked and tossed a steel grey gauntlet at Deondre's feet. "Master Aishito told me to deal with all interlopers, so let's see if you have the guts to accept my challenge."
Deondre narrowed his eyes. He took off his backpack, removed his deck from one of its side-pockets, and then tossed it aside. He picked up the gauntlet and slid his deck in. "Trust me, I'm up for it. However, if I win you're going to give up those three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Kaiba may be a lot of things, but even he doesn't deserve to have his favorite card stolen from him."
Saito snorted derisively. "I never stole his dragons. He gave them to my real master, who in turn gave them to me for safe-keeping."
Now it was Deondre's turn to snort. "Please tell me that you don't think I am so stupid as to believe that. He would never give up his precious Blue-Eyes White Dragons."
Saito smiled coolly. "It's true. You'd be surprised how eagerly he did it too. I can understand why though. He either gave us his dragons or we kill one of our hostages."
Deondre echoed, "Hostage?"
Saito nodded. "Mokuba Kaiba was too easy to kidnap from right under Kaiba's nose. As long as we have him the smug bastard has no choice but to obey our ever whim."
Deondre's hands trembled at his sides. "You monsters." His fists clenched tighter and tighter. "Now that I know that piece of information, I can't lose. You hear me Saito? This will be an all-or-nothing duel! The loser dies."
The grin on Saito's face widened. "This is rich! Are you telling me that you challenge me to a darkness game?"
Deondre's face was set in stone. "That's right. Saito Hiroshi, I challenge you to a darkness game!"
To be continued...
Next Chapter: A sudden burst of power
Author's Notes: Wow, I think Daniel and I are having the same problems. While I was typing from his POV I felt kinda tired myself. I think I get way too involved in my own stories. Anyway, review please!
Also, I have a couple of advertisements for you. The first one is the fic "Master of the Cards" by Chuck ZFB. It's a story about three kids who get transported to something like an AU version of the world of Yugioh. A little bit of the idea from my Spirit Duel rule settings came from that, so I thought in the spirit of fair play I give him an advertisement.
The other is for my sister's story, Angel Duelist's Legacy. It's a fic that has all of the same characters as Demon Duelist Legacy, though the POV is more from Rebecca's side of it all. It happens two months after the Shadow Tournament arc of my story. As a little side note, her story doesn't possess any spoilers involving Season three, if that is a worry in your mind. I proofread all of her work myself before she posts it. It might not be up yet, so if you want to read it put RoseAngel82 on author alert.