Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh
Demon Duelist Legacy-Dark Soul Arc
Chapter 23: The Last Piece Arrives
Envirius took a sip of his coffee and smiled to his four guests. "Let's get down to business, shall we? I have called you all from your respective posts because at the moment a large portion of our goal in is sight. Our tournament guests currently possess five of the twelve Legendary Weapons, and we possess a scarce three. This means that I have no choice but to call in my best to help me deal with these interlopers."
Seren looked up from his tea, his white hair and crimson eyes labeling him as a demon. "What about Aishito? It's not like we're going to need his help in winning this. I mean he lost horribly to Rikuo the last time they dueled."
The older Japanese man next to him gritted his teeth. "That was before. This time, I will crush Rikuo beneath my heel."
Shinja brushed back her long red hair and readjusted her wire-frame glasses. "Poor Aishito. He most likely would have lost to the wolf's host too. Such a sad strategist."
From next to her, Kryen chuckled and rubbed his bald head with a handkerchief from his coat pocket. "Aye, that he is. Yer such a bad duelist Aishito."
The aged man growled and clenched his fists. "If you could do any better, then I'd like to see it."
Envirius rolled his eyes. "Don't take Rikuo or his friends lightly. Or should we all look back at the example that Giovan Garlin left behind?"
That brought an uncomfortable silence across the room. Ever since one of Envirius's Elite Ten had been brought down, most of the Shadow Corporation had been placed into something of a precarious standstill. They had stopped most of their current projects, knowing that first they were going to need to deal with Rikuo Amero and the threat he posed to their plans.
The silence was broken by the sound of Seren sipping his tea. Finally, he finished and lowered the cup, smirking. "The dear General didn't seem that powerful."
Envirius frowned. "You're partially right. I know that I could take him on if he was alone, but those other damned demons that he has with him now are the biggest problem."
"Siegfried Reinhardt, CJ Anderson, and Jourgen Politumas. The first two are new to being demons, but Jourgen poses one of the worst problems. He and Rikuo are both our superiors in general power. We also cannot discount the fact that the Pharaoh is here. As long as he is part of the equation, then we may be sorely outmatched." Seren had gone over this information while his plane had been enroute to the island. "Perhaps we should rethink our strategy. Sending duelist after duelist to them has gotten us nothing except for a sudden decrease in resources."
Kryen added in, "Tis a good idea. We'd be best off getting ready fer their arrival ere, instead of tryin ta stop em as they approached."
Envirius nodded. "I've already implemented that strategy. By the time they arrive we will be ready for them. I want you all to prepare your decks with the necessary cards. They should arrive here by tomorrow at the rate they are traveling."
The four nodded and left. They had a long night ahead of them, for tomorrow they would begin a battle that was definitely going to press them hard to succeed against the demons.
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Ryu tapped his hands together and stared at the fire in front of him. "So that's what they are after? They want our old weapons?"
Rikuo nodded as he finished telling his fellow ancient demon the factors behind why they were here. "That's right. They want all twelve of the Legendary Weapons, though I'm still not sure why. The weapons are powerful, but why go to all of this effort to get them?"
Ryu shrugged and tossed another log into the fire. He looked back over at the gathered group of sleepers who were a good distance from the fire. Joey, Yugi and CJ were all crashed out across the ground. Siegfried had decided that he felt more comfortable in a nearby tree, and since it was a strategically sound maneuver, no one had argued with him. "Who knows Rikuo? Who knows why humans find it necessary to gather up such an excessive amount of power?"
The wolf demon sighed and fingered the hilt of the Howling Sword. "If I ever meet the person who can answer that question for me, I'll let you know." He brought his golden-amber eyes to look at Ryu. "By the way, how exactly did you revive yourself? I thought that Sestros had destroyed you completely."
Ryu smirked, his face still away from the flame. "Never underestimate the power of a demon that had five millennia of time to leave behind preparations for himself. I've got hundreds of back-up plans for myself."
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The next morning the sleepers were woken up early by Rikuo, who gave them his customary kick in the ribs as a wake-up call. After a light breakfast, they packed up their supplies and continued on their way. They had a lot that needed to get done before they could try and enjoy the beauty of the wilderness.
During their march, they did encounter some random packs of Duel Monsters, though this time Rikuo and Ryu easily destroyed them. They finally broke for camp near when the sun began to settle in the distance. They were almost at the end of the valley, and by their hopes, there had to be something of incredible importance at the end of the valley.
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Rikuo lounged in his spot up in a tree, his tail flicking erratically while he chewed on his beef jerky. ("This is the life. A nice handful of my beloved beef jerky, a beautiful sunset to watch, and....no Daniel.") His light mood was gone instantly as he remembered why he was here in the first place. ("I'll get you back. I won't let them get away with such an unforgivable act. By the time I am done, they won't be able to do something like that ever again.")
A sound from down below him brought his attention down to the forest floor, where he saw a pair of shadowed forms approaching the group. ("Oh come on! I'd think by now our mystery enemy would have learned to stop attacking us.") He drew the Howling Sword casually and dropped out of his perch to land right in front of the two, the strip of beef jerky hanging out of his mouth. Dropping the flat side of the blade to his shoulder, he continued to chew while lazily getting ready to cut them down.
Kaiba glared at Rikuo angrily. "Put the sword down before I call Animal Control on you." He was sweaty, dirty, disheveled, etc. You name it; he most likely looked it at the moment. His glare was something that made even Rikuo step aside for him. The CEO trudged past the wolf demon and plopped down with the rest of the duelists. He ignored most of their questions, but instead grabbed a bowl of food that Joey had planned on eating and attempted to inhale the food whole in a manner that seemed dignified.
Rikuo stared at the CEO's back for a few seconds, and then he snickered. "Poor ningen baby." He turned to look at the other shadowed form. As his eyes took in the newcomer's form, he finished swallowing his jerky and growled.
Everyone, Kaiba excluded, looked over at the approaching and currently ranting form of Rikuo.
"....then I lost Daniel! Now I'm stuck working with a Horse Demon, a Cat Demon, and by far the worst insult to my kind ever!" He stomped past everyone and grabbed a nearby boulder, hurling the rock through a grove of trees and knocking them all down.
Deondre collapsed next to Kaiba and grabbed CJ's food, wolfing it down. Between mouthfuls of food, he noticed that everyone was staring at him. They had good reason though, considering that he had a pair of pointy black ears on top of his head. Add in the fact that his eyes were now a golden-amber similar to Rikuo's and that he had claws, and everyone had every reason needed to stare at him.
Meanwhile, Rikuo was still busy going into a rage, cutting down the surrounding trees like he was lawnmower and they were blades of grass. "First a Cat demon! Now a Dog Demon!?!?!? WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST ME!?" Up above him, the sky offered no answers.
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Deondre sighed and looked down at the gold-faced card. "Shattering Fang..." He knew the weapon was powerful, but to think that it was actually a real sword. "Wow...it's mine huh?"
Ryu nodded and looked over at where Rikuo continued to destroy the surrounding landscape to vent his frustrations. "That's right. I suggest you get used to the idea of being a demon too, because our enemies are not going to play by the conventional rules of the game."
Deondre glanced up from his card and over at Ryu. "Duel Monsters?"
Ryu shook his head, wincing at the sound of rock shattering and scream of fury in the distance. "Life."
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As the sun rose once more into the air, Rikuo finally felt a little better. That didn't stop him from glaring at Deondre every once in a while though. Occasionally while the group walked, he would also randomly tell Deondre, "I hate you." Eventually Ryu had to cuff him in the side of the head again and tell him to stop being a bigot.
"Keh! I'm not a bigot. I hate all three of them equally." Rikuo lifted his head haughtily, only to get cuffed by Ryu again.
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Finally they arrived at the first unnatural looking building anyone had seen in the last few days. It was a huge stone temple, which looked to be almost of Mayan creation.
The sound of footsteps from within the inner hallways of the building brought everyone on guard. Slowly Envirius strolled out of the entryway and smiled to the collected duelists. He tugged on his black tie and brushed his raven hair back from his fair features. "Are you ready for the tournament finals?"
"What are you talking about? When did the tournament even start?" Siegfried threw in coldly.
Envirius rolled his eyes. "The moment you all arrived the tournament started. Now all that remains is one last duel for each of you. Inside there is a door with your name on it. Go inside when you are ready for your duel." He chuckled and faded into smoke right before Rikuo could tackle him.
The wolf demon came up spitting out dirt. He snarled and charged into the temple, disappearing from sight almost instantly.
Yami took over for Yugi and sighed. "I suppose we should go in." He marched into the temple, ready for anything.
Ryu nodded. "It's that or stay out here and miss all the fun." He followed the Pharaoh into the building.
Siegfried narrowed his eyes and walked in next. ("Crystal...I'll save you...")
Kaiba started to walk in, and then looked back at Deondre and Joey. "You two mutts coming?" He turned and was next to disappear inside the temple.
Joey charged in seconds later. "Who you callin a mutt Kaiba!?"
Deondre frowned as the insult hit a little closer to home than he wished it had. He looked down at his deck and addressed the Shattering Fang. "You better be worth having to put up with all of this stuff."
CJ patted him on the shoulder. "Come on D, let's go and get this over with."
Deondre smiled at him and the two walked in. As soon as they were out of sight, the stone doors of the temple slammed shut.
To be continued...
Next Chapter: A duel between warriors
Author's Notes: Submitting this to Kazuki Takahashi? I don't think Demon Duelist Legacy is that good of a series. Of course, perhaps I might be wrong. Once again, please submit your reviews and tell me what you think. I'm going to go and start writing the final duels. By the way, keep in mind that though each of these duels will be one after another in the story, they are all going to be starting at the same time. Later.