Disclaimer: No, I do not own Yugioh.

Demon Duelist Legacy-World Tour Arc

Chapter 24: To insanity and back

Sestros drew. "Since you're not doing anything, I'll take this as you're passing your turn." His lips curled into the smile of a predator going in for the kill. "It's been fun, my little weapon. Now though, I have a world to decide the fate of. Curse of Torture, attack now!" The blue-skinned demon howled an unearthly cry and launched across the field, diving to drive its nails right into Rikuo's skull.

And he was too busy trying to keep his sanity in check to care...

Halfway across the field, the Curse of Torture was stopped in place by an explosion of lightning energy that threw it through the air.

Rikuo had found a lifeline...a single thread that remained of his sanity. He weakly came to his feet. "One of the five monsters you sent from my deck to the graveyard with your spirit trap was Electric Turtle. (0/1800) When it is in the graveyard, then I may trigger its special ability, which negates your battle phase." The wolf demon looked horrible. He was disheveled, and his eyes were twitching. "I....will not...fall..."

Sestros sighed and threw his cloak back. "Whatever you say, Rikuo. End turn."

Rikuo looked down at his deck, his tired eyes barely able to stay open. ("My last hope rests on the next card I draw.") He drew slowly, and held the card up with shaky hands. "I play the magic card Shield of Revealing Light." A glowing forcefield of green light appeared around him. As long as this card is in play, I cannot be attacked. And even though it costs me life points to use, if I play this Spell Economics card, then I won't have to pay at all." He tried to smile, but couldn't bring himself to do it. There was nothing to be happy about. "End turn."

Sestros drew. "You think your little light screen will keep me out?" Looking at his new card, he frowned. "End turn."

Rikuo drew, and a small flicker of hope appeared in his mind. ("His deck is down to eight cards. If I can keep this up...") Glancing at the card, he felt a small surge at the sight of a monster. "I summon Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600) in defense mode." A red mechanical dragon appeared on his field, its metal wings folded around its front. "End turn."

Sestros drew. "I know what you are thinking. Trust me, I have a way in my hand to replenish all of my lost deck, if I so choose. End turn."

Rikuo could tell that Sestros wasn't lying...and every hope he had was gone.

"Rikuo," Sestros sneered and motioned to the arena around them, "Just so you know, take a look at some of the additions to the dueling arena."

Out of morbid curiosity, Rikuo looked. And he immediately wished that he could just slip into insanity and get it over with. Strung up along the walls were the corpses of his friends. At the sight of each one in turn, Rikuo felt another bit of his single life line begin to break.

Sestros saw it. He saw the single step needed to push Rikuo over the edge. Willing the dark chorus of his bone organs to play louder, the final push he needed appeared on the field in front of him.

Daniel's crucified form hung in the air next to the Curse of Torture. "Rikuo, do you see that. Say your good-byes, because I'm about to remove the last reason you have for existing." Sestros held up his arm, a ball of black energy pulsing within his grasp.

Rikuo's grasp on the life line was all but gone, and yet... "Don't do it..."

Sestros tossed the ball, and in one blast of energy, Daniel's body was gone. "Do you see what I imply? I can do anything I wish to you at any time of my choosing. You're my toy, Rikuo. However, I have grown bored of you, so it is time to go." Sestros threw back his head and laughed insanely.

Until a single roar of pure anger exploded from out of Rikuo's throat. The wolf demon came to his feet, red and black energy flowing around his form.

Sestros stared in confusion. ("He should be gone...his mind should have cracked...")

"Sestros....what do you have against me? Why do you torment me? But most of all...." Rikuo drew. "...how does it feel to have victory slip away from you!?"

"What!?" The Torture King still couldn't understand how this was possible. "How do you still have the will left to fight!?"

"I have the will left to fight because you just had to keep pushing, didn't you!? Well you got your wish, Sestros..." Rikuo slid the card into his hand. "You've pushed me past my limit. And unluckily for you, I've surpassed it! End turn."

This was exactly what Sestros had been hoping wouldn't have happened. ("Damn...he's been revitalized. I have to take him out, before it is too late!") Drawing, his saw that option was still out of reach. "End turn."

Rikuo sneered insanely. "What's the matter Sestros!?" He drew. "Are you starting to understand just how stupid it was to push me over the edge!?" The wolf demon threw back his head and laughed wildly, the sound strained and crazy. "I guess I should end my turn, eh!?"

Sestros drew, frowning. ("Damn...he's stark raving mad.") "End turn."

Rikuo drew, his eyes wild and glowing crimson. "Let's see what I drew, shall we!? Ah, that's a shame. I guess I have to end my turn!"

Sestros drew. He didn't fear Rikuo, but he knew that he had to be careful. In a way, this was the perfect advantage, because now the Torture King couldn't even begin to try and second-guess his opponent. "End turn."

Giggling crazily, Rikuo drew his next card. "Preeeetttyyy....." The fire in his eyes seemed to be dying rapidly.

Sestros, a master of torture, fully understood what was going on. And he felt relieved. ("Good, he's losing his grip on reality...I can win as long as I keep dragging this duel on.") "Well Rikuo, are you going to make a move?"

Rikuo was staring at the card he had drawn, his eyes wide and the crimson glow in them fading. ("D...dan...iel....") His eyes, golden again, came up to meet with Sestros' blood red irises. "Murderer....I...will...kill...you." Snapping the card around, he showed a green face with a big red button in the picture. "I play the magic card Reboot! This will end my turn and restart the game! So shuffle up Sestros, because this is where the duel gets dicey." He smiled, his sanity restoring itself rapidly. "Believe it or not, this was a gift from Daniel to me. 'To get me out of a tough situation,' as he put it. And now I remember why I can't lose to you!" The field shimmered and then faded away. "So start shuffling, and hope for luck."

Sestros shuffled his cards together, his expression dark and angry. ("Damn it, I removed six monsters from my deck thanks to my magic and trap cards. He knows this too.") Drawing his five, the Torture King grew pale. ("Not a single monster...wait, I still get to draw.") He drew the top card off of his deck. "I set one monster in defense, and then I set two cards face-down. Now bring on your best, you fool."

Rikuo chuckled and drew. "I understand now...it's amazing what a taste of insanity can give you in the insight department."

Sestros growled, the darkness around him intensifying. "What are babbling about!?"

Smirking, Rikuo slid his cards into a pocket. "Well, while I was out of my mind, I simple thought went through my head that answered all of my problems." He tapped his chin. "Now, the winner of this duel gets one wish, right?"

Sestros growled even lower. ("Shit, he figured it out.")

Rikuo pulled his hand free. "That was a pretty clever deception, Sestros. You tried to make me think that I couldn't bring them back because the Phoenix Wings were gone. All I have to do is beat you and I can wish everyone back to life." He waved his finger in the air at his ex-tormentor. "Sneaky little rascal, aren't you?"

"You...you bastard!" Sestros roared into the darkness, an explosive wave of force throwing Rikuo to the ground.

The wolf demon hopped back onto his feet and brushed off his suit. "Careful, I got this thing cleaned recently. Now then," He looked his hand over. "I'll set two cards face-down and summon Silver Wind-up Knight (1000/1000) in defense mode." A little toy knight made of silver appeared on his field in a crouching position. "End turn."

Drawing, Sestros frowned at the knight. ("What does that thing do!?") Since he still only had one monster card, he couldn't risk attacking. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

Rikuo drew. "Sestros, thanks to you, I've gotten a lot of insight into my reason for existing. Thanks for your help." He smirked. "I'll repay you by making this quick. I summon Bronze Wind-up Knight (500/500) in defense mode." A bronze knight that was only half as big as the Silver Wind-up Knight appeared on the field next to its brother-in-arms. "Back to you, Sestros."

The Torture King roared, the ground cracking with his rage. "You insolent little punk! How dare you!!! It was bad enough that you thought I didn't hurt you, but for you to suggest that I helped you....that's crossing a line!!" His form lined in black, the king drew. "Damn it!!"

Rikuo chuckled. "Maybe you shouldn't have removed quite so many monsters from your graveyard?"

"End......turn...." Sestros looked about ready to murder someone.

"Draw!" Rikuo drew his next card. "And now it's time to get started on our Sestros smashing. I summon Gold Wind-up Knight (1500/1500) in attack mode!" A golden toy knight appeared on the field. "And now I activate that special ability of my three monsters! Combine together, and form my ultimate union monster!"

Sestros motioned to one of his face-down cards. "What makes you think that will work? Reveal Fusion Cancel!"

Rikuo tapped a button on his duel disk. "Reveal Royal Decree, meaning that all trap cards will be negated!" The Fusion Cancel trap card shuddered and its face was covered by shadow. "Now, as I was saying, I union Gold Wind-up Knight, Silver Wind-up Knight and Bronze Wind-up Knight together!" The three metal knights exploded into pieces, and then the pieces all combined into one spot, forming a single towering toy knight. "And that creates Super Toy Knight (3000/3000) in attack mode!" The mechanical monster drew its sword.

Sestros snorted at the monster. "How ridiculous. What's that little piece of scrap metal going to do to me?"

Rikuo slid a card from his hand into his duel disk. "I'm so glad you asked. You see, I'll first play the magic card Sacrificial Boost, which allows me to discard one monster card from my hand to gain a bonus of life points equal to its attack points." Taking a card in his hand, he slid it into his graveyard. "So I'll discard my Irios the Steel Monarch (2700/2300) to gain 2700 life points." He was surrounded in a golden light as the magic card recharged him.

Rikuo- 5750

Sestros- 6000

Sestros didn't understand what that had to do with the Toy Knight. "I don't think you've fully recovered from your insanity yet."

Rikuo slid the last card in his hand into his duel disk. "Just watch, you'll see. Now I equip the magic card Holy Sword of Light to my Super Toy Knight!" The metal knight' normal sword was replaced by a blade made of pure emerald green light. "This will raise his attack power by 1000 points, and it will also give him a special ability that I don't think you will like at all!" (4000/3000)

He pointed at Sestros' face-down monster. "Super Toy Knight attack!" The metal monster jerkily stomped across the field and slammed the weapon right into the Torture King's monster, destroying it instantly.

Sestros sneered and revealed the destroyed monster, which leapt through the air and drove its dagger right into the body of Rikuo's monster. Both creatures exploded into digital dust. "That was my Night Assailant (200/500) and when he dies, he kills one monster on the field. Whatever you had planned won't work now."

"Sestros, what I wanted to happen occurred the second my creature destroyed yours. You see, I get to revive one monster from my graveyard, thanks to the effect of my Holy Sword of Light. So I summon Irios the Steel Monarch to the field!" A humanoid machine made of gears appeared on the field. "Attack his life points directly!" It made a strange metal screeching noise, and then shot across the field to slam its fists down on top of Sestros' face, bringing him to one knee.

Rikuo- 5750

Sestros- 3300

Rikuo snickered at the sight of the Torture King in pain. "End turn."

Sestros slowly came to his feet, growling. "You should have stayed insane, because now I'll have to hurt you for insulting me!" He drew and added the card to his hand. "Prepare to burn, as I play the magic card..."

Rikuo smirked and flipped up his face-down card. "Not so fast Sestros! I play the quick-play magic card Guessing Game! Now I try and guess what card it is you are about to play. If I call it right, your card gets negated and I draw two cards. If I'm wrong, then you gain 2000 life points and get your card to go off."

Sestros smirked. "Thanks for the 2000 life point boost. You'll never be able to guess what card I am going to play."

Rikuo rolled his eyes. "Now let's look at the facts. You said, 'Prepare to burn." And only one card has that stigma with you. I bet you were going to play Hell Meteor!"

Sestros' eyes snapped wide open and he watched in horror as his beloved magic card faded away. "Damn you!"

Rikuo drew his two cards. "Tell it to someone who cares. Anything else? Or can I commence with pounding on your ass with Irios?"

"I play the magic card Grave Hand, sending your monster to the graveyard!" A huge red hand exploded out of the ground and pulled the steel monster out of sight. "And then I set one card face-down. End turn." The Torture King's eyes burned with unholy flames of rage.

Rikuo drew. "First I play Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards." He drew his two next cards and smiled. "Sestros, I'm about to knock you for another loop. Ready for it?"

"You'd better wipe that smug smile off of your face, you little punk!" The Torture King growled angrily and lifted his hand up, a ball of black flame glowing in his palm. "I'll kill you, I swear it!"

Rikuo stuck his tongue out at Sestros. "Bleah! Just try it!"

Roaring in rage, Sestros threw the ball across the field. Right before it hit Rikuo, it disappeared. "What!?"

Sighing, Rikuo placed a monster onto his duel disk. "Sestros, if this game is as important as you say it is, then you can't just hurt me directly like that. Now I summon X-Head Cannon and I attack your life points directly!" A blue and yellow robot appeared on his field, and then it sprayed a wave of energy over to the Torture King, blasting him right in the midsection.

Rikuo- 5750

Sestros- 1500

Rikuo slid a card into his duel disk. "I set one card face-down on my field and end my turn. Do your worst, my dear 'friend'."

Sestros snapped the top card off of his deck and snarled. "You're so confident that you will be able to bring them all back if you win. What happens if you lose!?"

Rikuo shrugged. "I'll worry about that if it happens. And from the look on your face, it doesn't seem very likely."

Sestros slowly went from angry to amused. "I see..." Throwing back his head, he roared in laughter. "You're such a fool. You think you can win, simply because you understand what the prize is!?"

Rikuo nodded seriously. "You have a problem with that?"

Barely able to hold in his laughter, the Torture King managed to breathe out. "Oh...not really...it's just that you won't be beating me!" Holding up the two cards in his hand, the demon king smirked. "See?"

Rikuo grimaced at the two cards. "Don't think that those will save you!"

Sestros calmed down, though he still smiled darkly. "We shall see, won't we?"

To be continued...

Author's Notes: Alright, I've read a lot of reviews/feedback where people have been getting pissed at me for killing all of the characters off like that. Well I just need to ask you all to calm down and keep reading. In the end, have I ever led you astray?