Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh
Demon Duelist Legacy-Dark Soul Arc
Chapter 22: Da big gamble
Replica snickered and his form began to blur. "Who ever said that I was copying your strategy? I'm here to copy a different strategy. A strategy that, if it works, will bring out a Legendary Weapon Card for my master." As his form stopped blurring, he now had a golden mane of hair that went to his lower back, and his eyes had turned silver. "Soon the weapon of Grand General Jourgen will be mine. So get ready Wheeler!" He drew and smiled. "Because you've just lost..."
He slid his new card into his duel disk. "Now I activate Lord's Ascension, which will transform Dragon Demon Lord into a whole new creature!" The demon monster was engulfed in light and from within the light it began to shift forms.
When the light cleared a golden armored version of the Dragon Demon Lord was standing on the field. "Grand Dragon General (3000/2500) in attack mode!"
Joey shrugged at that. "My Maximum Six still has more attack points than your monster does though."
Replica sighed and shook his golden mane back and forth a little. "Fool. Don't you understand that I'm about to wipe you out. Reveal face-down card, Polymerization!" A vortex opened up on the field and it sucked both the Grand Emperor Dragon and the Grand Dragon General into its darkness. There was a blast of golden light and when it cleared a monster that could only be described as god-like was on the field.
It had golden hair that nearly went down to the ground. Its eyes glowed like the purest of silvers. It wore golden armor that made it look like one of the most regal knights ever to exist. It held a golden spear with a shimmering diamond affixed to one end. The monster lifted the spear and slid into a fighting stance. "I summon Dragon Knight Palidus in attack mode!" (3000/2800)
Joey shrugged. "It's still not tough enough to defeat my Maximum Six."
Replica pointed at the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. "Attack now!" The monster launched across the field and pierced the dragon through the chest.
Joey- 7100
Replica- 500
Replica fluttered a finger through his deck and drew the top card. "Whenever Palidus deals damage to a target, I draw a card." He looked at the new card and slid it into his disk. "End turn."
Joey drew and slid his face-down monster into the graveyard. "I sacrifice my face-down monster to summon Jinzo (2400/1500) in attack mode!" The metal monster appeared on his field and growled, the face-down cards on the field all floating lower to the ground. "And now that you can't use trap cards, I'll take you out. Maximum Six, attack Palidus!" The giant roared and charged across the field, fists raised to crush the Dragon Knight.
Replica flipped up his face-down card. "First I activate the quick-play magic card Payment's Knowledge! At the cost of half of my life points, I may take any one card from my deck and place it on top." He popped his deck free and casually selected the card. He shuffled his deck, placed the chosen card on top of it, and then inserted it back into his deck slot.
He tapped a button on his duel disk and flipped up his other face-down card. "Now I play Magical Textbooks. I discard my hand, of which I have none, and then draw the top card of my deck. If it is a magic card I may play it immediately." His smirk was wide. "So guess what Joey. You're about to get locked into a game I know you won't like." He drew the top card of his deck and popped open his field magic card slot.
Yami's eyes widened. "NO!"
Replica slammed the card into the slot. "It's too late to stop me Pharaoh! Activate Seal of Dark Souls!"
The ground around them shook and then Joey and Replica vanished as an orb of darkness sprang up around them.
Yami pounded against the barrier. "NO!! JOEY!!!"
Siegfried growled from deep within his throat, his tail flicking in agitation. "Damn it..."
And through it all Rikuo still remained unconscious...
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Joey looked around at the gloom that surrounded him and he frowned. "A darkness game?"
Replica snickered as his Dragon Knight Palidus gained the 500 attack point bonus from the Seal, making it strong enough to withstand the attack of Joey's Maximum Six. (3500/2800) The golden armored knight snapped its spear out and impaled Joey's monster, destroying it instantly.
Joey- 6700/7600
Replica- 250/8000
Replica drew his card from his monster's effect and his face twisted into a dark smile. "You're in trouble now Joey. How will you defeat me in this place? How will you avoid losing your soul?"
Joey looked at his face-down card and then at his Jinzo. ("As long as you're on the field, I'm in trouble.") "I don't got a choice. End turn."
Replica drew and slid his two cards into his disk. "First up is Dark Soul Negation. For this turn all Dark Soul Tokens are now drained. Then I play the equipment magic card Dragon Treasure, raising my monster's attack power by 300." (3800/3100) "Attack his Jinzo now Palidus!" The golden knight flew across the field and impaled the metal monster, blowing it to pieces instantly.
Joey- 5300/6200
Replica- 250/8000
Replica drew from Palidus's effect and slid the card into his duel disk. "Now I set one card face-down on my field and end my turn."
Joey drew and slid the next card into his duel disk. "I got the lowdown on this place thanks to Rikuo and Siegfried. So as long as I don't have a monster, you can't risk attacking too many times or you'll run out of soul points. End turn."
Replica drew and flipped up his face-down card. "Reveal Dark Soul Barrier! As long as this continuous trap card remains in play my monsters cannot be the target of the Dark Soul Tokens, so therefore your little theory is wrong! Palidus, attack his life points directly!" The knight raised his spear and charged across the field, intent on cutting Joey down.
"Don't you ever look before you leap?" Joey tapped a button on his duel disk. "Activate one of my newest trap cards, Defense Army! This will special summon the highest defense monster in my graveyard to the field in defense mode to take one hit from my opponent's attack." There was a bright flash of light and Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon appeared on the field in defense mode. It absorbed the hit from the Dragon Knight's attack and exploded.
Replica snickered and motioned to his Dragon Knight. "Palidus deals damage through defense, so you still lose 1800 life points." He also drew a card off of his deck.
Joey- 3500/4400
Replica- 250/8000
Replica looked at his newest card and slid it into his duel disk. "End turn."
Joey drew and looked his situation over. So far, he sat in one of the worst possible dueling situations a player could be in. ("Since his monster can attack creatures in defense mode, he can drain my life points even when I set monsters.") He looked down at his new card and blanched. ("Swordsman of Landstar?") (500/1200)
Replica saw the look that Joey was giving. "What's the matter Wheeler? Are you suddenly afraid of the dark?"
Joey slapped down his monster. "Nope, just plotting how I am going to take you down. I summon Swordsman of Landstar in attack mode." The little warrior appeared on the field.
Replica snorted and drew. "This is sad. It's like kicking a puppy. Just...too...easy." He slapped down his new monster. "I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode." A sapphire covered dragon appeared on his field. "Attack his Swordsman of Landstar!" The dragon howled and flew across the field, claws out to rip the little warrior apart.
Despite how grave the situation was for him, Joey smiled at his little victory. ("Gotcha.") "Reveal face-down quickplay magic card, Graceful Dice!" A little fairy appeared in the air over his field with a die in its arms. "Now I'm gonna roll this die, and whatever number it lands on will determine by just how much my Swordsman's attack is going to go up by. Go Graceful Dice!" The little fairy dropped its die, which hit the ground and bounced around insanely fast. It finally came to a stop on a six. (3000/1200)
The Luster Dragon realized too late that it was flying right into its death. It snapped out its wings and tried to stop its forward momentum, but it was already being cut apart by the Swordsman.
Joey- 3500/4400
Replica- 0/8000
Joey smirked and crossed his arms across his chest. "And that's the end of the duel for you, fake."
Replica snickered and motioned to his face-down card. "Not quite. I activated the trap card Last Breath. I may only trigger this trap card when I am about to lose because of a life point drain. My life points are set at 10."
Joey- 3500/4400
Replica- 10/6900
Joey bit his lower lip as he watched the Dragon Knight Palidus run his Swordsman through.
Joey- 2700/3600
Replica- 10/6900
Replica drew a card and slid it into his duel disk. "End turn."
Joey looked down at his deck. ("I need something to turn this around. I can't stall much longer.") He drew his card off the top and smirked. "Alright, let's draw." He slid his card into his duel disk. "I activate the magic card Treasure of Fate!" A white die appeared on the field and crashed about on the ground until it finally came to a stop on a two. "Not exactly the number I wanted, but I'm not gonna complain. First I draw two cards off the top of my deck." He drew his two cards and smiled. "Then I remove the top two cards of my deck from the game." He slid the two cards off and slid them into his pants pocket. ("Alright, these two cards will turn this duel around for me!") He slid them both into his duel disk. "I set one card face-down. End turn."
Replica drew and pointed at Joey. "It's over Wheeler! Dragon Knight Palidus, attack his life points directly and win me this duel!" The knight lunged across the field, weapon ready to cut Joey down.
Joey grinned. "Alright, time to see if I'm right. Reveal face-down trap card, Repeat Performance! At the cost of half of my life points, I may activate one card from my graveyard! So let's go Graverobber!"
Joey- 1350/3600
Replica- 10/6900
The little creature reappeared on his field, a card already in its hand. It spun the card around to reveal Replica's Mirror Focusing Blast.
Replica snickered. "Don't kid a kidder Wheeler. You couldn't have anything in your hand with enough attack power to defeat a 3800 attack monster."
Joey raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Wow...you're right. All I've got is a monster that has zero attack points. I guess I'd better discard it and hope for the best." He slid that card into his graveyard and the mirror that appeared on his field shuddered, before it unleashed a blast of energy that instantly consumed the Dragon Knight.
Replica's eyes widened. "No. That's not possible! You just said your monster had zero attack points!"
Joey nodded. "Yep. There's something about my monster you should know though. Its name is Copycat. (0/0) When I discarded it I activated its special ability. That allowed me to copy your monster's attack points when I used the mirror. Your creature was destroyed by its own attack force."
Replica looked down at his empty field and his stolen features turned pale. "....."
Joey looked down at his deck. "Alright, come on monster!" He drew and then looked at his deck again. "COME ON!!"
Replica still looked fairly pale, but nowhere as bad as he had before. "What's the matter Wheeler? Bad draw? That's a shame."
Joey slid the card into his duel disk. "I'm ending my turn by playing this."
Replica drew and grinned darkly. "Good-bye Wheeler! I summon another Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode!" Another of the sapphire encrusted dragons appeared on his field and roared. "Attack his life points!" The dragon lunged forward, only to get grabbed by tendrils of black smoke and pulled underground.
Joey held up his trap card. "I activated my Bottomless Trap Hole, which removed your monster from the game."
Replica was pale once more. "End turn."
Joey looked down at his deck, rapping on the top of it a couple of times with his knuckle. "Come on now; let's see you give me the win here." His hand reached down and he drew...
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Rikuo slowly opened his eyes and he saw the forest. Something was wrong though...
Everything was shadowy. Far too shadowy...
("It shouldn't be dark yet. I was unconscious at noon.") He slowly climbed to his feet and looked over at the area where everyone had been picnicking. Though he saw the darkness game, he felt no rage at the sight of the horrible sphere. There was feeling of unnatural calm over him. Picking up into an unsteady stumble, he approached the sphere with his sword drawn.
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Yami was clenching his fists so tightly he could feel blood begin to develop within his palms. ("If anything happens to Joey...I'll...I'll...")
He was knocked forward as Rikuo pushed past him. In his hands he held the now alight Howling Sword. "Rikuo? What are you doing?"
The wolf demon didn't hear him...
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He saw the phantom chains that wrapped around the sphere...
He knew that they needed to be removed...
Lifting his weapon, he howled along with his sword as it slashed against the sphere, the chains shuddering and then exploding in a flash of light that stole all thought from Rikuo's mind...
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Joey looked at the card he had drawn in surprise. ("I don't own this. In fact...") He knew that now wasn't the time to argue though. "I activate the magic card Replay! At the cost of half of my life points I'm allowed to activate a magic card from my graveyard. Go Treasure of Fate!" The white die appeared on his field and bounced around until it landed on a six. Joey smirked and drew his six cards. "You're in trouble now, fake." He took six more cards and added them to the two he had in his pocket. "Okay, let's end this!"
Replica felt his connection to the Seal of Dark Souls starting to break, but he knew that he still had an ability left to him. ("The Dark Soul Fiend can be special summoned to the field at any time, so I'll simply throw it out to take the hit for me this turn.")
Joey grabbed the first card to his winning combo. "I'll begin with Monster Reborn! Revive Dragon Knight Palidus in attack mode!" There was a flash of light and the magnificent knight was back on the field. "Now I play the magic card Lightning Blade, raising its attack points by 800." A blue blade of lighting energy appeared in the knight's hands, the weapon quivering with energy. (3800/2800)
Replica couldn't believe this boy's foolishness. ("Has he forgotten so quickly what I the Dark Soul Tokens do? Oh well, it's his funeral.") Now he just had to wait for his opponent to attack.
Joey smirked. ("This duel's mine!") "Dragon Knight Palidus, atta....." Something felt wrong about this situation. ("What's the matter with me? Now's not the time to suddenly be having second thoughts. I need to win this duel.")
("Joey. May I please make this decision for you?") A voice rang out in his head. It seemed to possess infinite calm, like that of a kind father.
("..........................................................................") Joey blinked a few more times, and then he looked all around his for another person. When he didn't see anyone he checked his person for microphones. ("Alrighty then....I've got a voice in my head. I think all of this supernatural stuff is starting to get the better of me. Maybe I need to lie down.")
Replica growled. "What's the hold-up!? Are you going to destroy me or not!?"
Joey knew the best way to confront this problem. He fainted...
("Oh by the gods...") The voice didn't want to do this, but...
Replica watched as Joey collapsed face-first to the dirt. ("I...guess I win?") He was about to declare himself the victor, but Wheeler's hand snapped up and slapped its owner soundly across the face a few times.
Joey came up sputtering. "OW!" He clutched at his red cheeks. ("Okay...why did I just smack myself around.")
("Joseph Wheeler,") The voice said, this time with a tinge of annoyance. ("Do you see the magic card at the end of your hand?")
Joey looked down at his hand and nodded, despite the fact he felt stupid at the moment. ("Yeah...")
("Insert the magic card into your duel disk. I promise you that if you do, I will go away.")
("That's it?")
("Well...almost. Play the other magic card in combination with it.")
Joey looked at the two cards and rubbed his eyes with a hand. ("Listen, I don't think that these two cards are going to have any effect on this duel. I mean...they both require monster's on my opponent's field.")
("Aim them at Palidus.")
("Are you crazy!? He's my best shot at winning this duel!!!")
A few seconds followed, and then a sigh resonated in his head. ("Please Joey...I promise you will not lose this duel.")
After a short debate with himself, Joey nodded to thin air. "Alright! I'll do it!"
Replica watched this entire little episode with a dead-pan expression on his face. "Are you done playing the village idiot yet?"
Joey stood up to his feet and slid the two cards he had been told to play into his duel disk. "Here goes. Go Metamorphosis and Soul Exchange!" On his field the two cards appeared. First the Metamorphosis card wrapped tendrils of light around the Dragon Knight on his field. A few seconds passed and then the tendrils withdrew, showing Palidus had been unchanged.
Joey stared at the unchanged monster. "What happened!? Wasn't he supposed to change into something?"
Another sigh resonated in his skull. ("Repeat after me. 'I activate Soul Exchange.")
Normally Joey wouldn't tolerate being treated like a child, but something about this voice told him that it was trying to do something really important. "I activate Soul Exchange!" The second card released a flash of white light. When the light cleared, Joey felt the presence missing in his brain. ("Where'd it go?")
His question was answered a second later when Palidus turned to look at him. "Joey. Thank you for your help. I have only one favor to ask of you now."
Joey stared at what was supposed to be a hologram with caution in his eyes. "Such as...?"
Palidus smiled gently at the boy's fear. "Play your remaining cards into your disk. I'll do the rest."
Joey knew, somehow, that this was the same voice he had been talking to before. "Alright man, I'll trust ya." He took the remaining two cards and slid them into his duel disk. "I activate the magic cards Arms Race and Call to Arms."
Palidus turned to look at Replica with that same gentle smile on his face. "This allows Joey to draw cards from the top of his deck until he comes to an equipment magic card, which he then may place into his hand. Normally he would be unable to play the card until his next turn, but Call to Arms fixes that problem." He looked over at Joey. "If you would please Joseph."
Joey started to draw from his deck. When he reached the last card in his deck he frowned. "If this isn't an equipment magic card then I lose, you know that right?"
Palidus rolled his eyes. "It's a bit late to warn me of anything."
The blond-haired duelist looked at the brown-backed card and held his breath as he drew it. He brought the card up to eye level, and then stared in confusion at it. "What in the..."
Palidus smirked knowingly. "Play it."
Joey nodded and slid the card into his disk. "I play the Legendary Weapon Card Grand Dragon's Pike."
Palidus watched as a glowing crystal spear exploded out of the ground and landed in his hands. He grasped the weapon and smiled warmly at it. "It's been a long time since I have felt this in my grasp. Grand Dragon's Pike allows me, instead of attacking you each turn, to deal you my attack in effect damage. And since it is effect damage, I doubt your little Seal will affect Joey's soul points." He lifted the weapon up above his head.
Replica stumbled back. "No...how did you!? That weapon was Ryu's......" He grew pale.
Ryu smiled from behind the eyes of his most powerful creature. "For daring to use my face and deck in such a dishonorable manner...you will pay." He looked back to Joey. "Shall I?"
Joey smirked. "Oh yeah. Dragon Knight Palidus, attack his life points directly!"
Ryu slammed his pike into the ground and launched himself into the air. He came down with weapon driving point-first into Replica's body.
Replica stared down at the hologram sticking through him and he shivered. "No..."
Ryu leaned in close and whispered into his ear. "Thanks for keeping my deck warm for me. Now give it back and do me a favor. Die."
Replica felt a sharp stinging pain and then nothing more.
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Rikuo slowly came to his feet to see the darkness sphere clearing away. ("Now let's see who won.") He walked over to the edge of it, weapon drawn and ready to cut down Replica if he was the one to emerge.
When the black and purple substance cleared to reveal Joey, Rikuo sheathed his weapon. "You won? I must admit that is impressive."
Joey flashed the victory sign to his friends, who were all giving him a healthy round of applause. "Well I couldn't have done it alone. I did have a little help."
Yami didn't like the implications of that. "Joey...I was partially serious when I said before to please don't turn into a demon. Are you...?"
"No he's not. I just needed to his help to get my body back."
Rikuo froze at the sound of that voice. He turned around slowly and found himself face to face with Ryu. "J...J...J...J...J...J...J...J...J..."
Ryu rolled his eyes and cuffed Rikuo in the side of the head.
The wolf demon had his skull snapped to the side, and then he slowly brought it back to normal position to stare at Ryu. "..........................."
Ryu smirked at the reaction. "Good to see you too."
For the first time since his awakening on The Asylum, Rikuo Amero was so surprised that he fainted.
To be continued...
Next Chapter: The Last Piece arrives