Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh

Demon Duelist Legacy-World Tour Arc

Chapter 30: Endgame (Part 4)

Looking at the card, Rikuo's eyes widened in horror. "You're kidding me...no..."

Yami Knight looked back at him. "Well!? What did you draw?"

Sestros felt his fear fade away. ("I know that look....") Throwing back his head, he laughed triumphantly.

Dropping the Howling Sword card to the ground below him, Rikuo cried. ("I'm sorry...I failed...")

Sestros laughter echoed across the ears of the whole world.

Rikuo could hear the mixture of wails of despair from some of the people and roars of anger from some others. "I'm sorry everyone, I didn't draw the card I needed. I won't ask for your forgiveness, but I'll ask that you please say your last goodbyes."

"You coward!" Yami Knight ran across the field and slapped Rikuo across the cheek. "What are you saying!? What about your promise to Daniel!?"

For a moment Rikuo's eyes lit up with anger. "What part about 'I didn't draw the card I needed' did you not understand!?"

Yami Knight fell to his knees, dropping his sword to the ground with a clatter. "I understand...but I can't believe it. The light is supposed to win in the end."

Continuing to cry, Rikuo barely registered that Sestros was still laughing.

"This is too perfect!!!" The Torture King lowered his head enough to look at the loser of this duel. "You're telling me that you didn't Topdeck the card you needed? After all your speeches, you still couldn't draw the winning card?"

Rikuo sobbed just a little louder, his long raven-black hair still hiding his face from view.

Sestros laughed again. "Do you hear that Hellblade? This duel is over."

"I am delighted for you, Master Sestros." The Ultimate Swordsman didn't sound like he was delighted. If anything, he sounded like he was also on the verge of crying.

Sestros continued to laugh, his voice echoing across the planet as it was projected in the minds of the entire human race. "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present to you your savior, Rikuo Amero!" Pointing at the exhausted figure in front of him, the Torture King snickered. "He was last hope, and now he has lost. Rikuo, do the world a favor and say 'I end my turn."

"I...end my turn." The wolf demon cried louder, his face still out of view.

"Good dog." Smiling, Sestros threw his hands up into the air. "Besides, even if you had drawn the necessary card, would you have been able to use it?" Walking onto his field, the Torture King rested an elbow on the shoulder of his Ultimate Swordsman. "After all, this cute little guy of mine is your other half. Would you have sacrificed his life just to save everyone else's?"

Rikuo continued to hang his head dejectedly. "No...I can't hurt Daniel..."

Sestros readjusted the mental 'channel' so that he could listen in on the cries and wails of the human race. A dark smile found its way onto his face. ("This is exactly what I wanted...torture on a worldwide scale! The entire world is suffering...and it's all thanks to me!") His smile grew even deeper and darker. ("Now it's time to say my final words to the Mutt.") He drew, not even bothering to look at the card. "Rikuo, I know you can still hear me."

The wolf demon continued to sob, his shoulders heaving.

"I just wanted to tell you something that I know you'll just love." Sestros was ready to spring the final surprise. "Your friends are not dead."

"W...w...what?" Rikuo had stopped sobbing, his face still out of view.

"I never killed them. All you saw was a cleverly arranged play on my part. It's just lovely that you are giving up, just when you know that there was something worth fighting for. Because, you see...." He bared his fangs. "I'm going to kill them personally for your loss!"

Rikuo didn't have any tears left to shed; all he could do was stay silent.

Sestros slid the card he had drawn into his duel disk, his body stretching and growing as he revealed his true form. The remains of his robes fell away, the being that was left resembled an even more horrible version of Sestros' favorite card, the Torture King. "And now, it's time for the ultimate irony. Daniel, strike down Rikuo and become my new 'little weapon'."

"As you wish, Master Sestros." Lifting his swords, Hellblade pointed one of them at Yami Knight. "Prepare yourself, my friend. You join your brother now."

Yami Knight picked up his sword and slowly came to his feet. "I...I will make sure that I go down fighting!" Sliding into a combat stance, the Knight prepared himself for his last battle. "Come then, and let us see who the better swordsman is."

"Enough banter Hellblade, just kill him," The horrible creature that was Kilomet Sestros rumbled.

"I come!" Roaring a battle cry, Hellblade charged. "This is your end!"

Yami Knight looked back at Rikuo. "Though our time together was short, I was glad to make acquaintances with you, Rikuo Amero. And don't worry, my brother and I do not hold our deaths as your responsibility."

Rikuo continued to sob again.

Sestros rumbled happily, the sound almost like a form of laughter. "This duel ends here, with your death! DARKNESS BLADE STRIKE!!!"

Hellblade leapt into the air, his leading blade aimed right at Yami Knight. "Goodbye!"

Yami Knight lifted his sword up in some semblance of a defense, even though he knew it was over. ("Despite my best wishes, his monster is far too strong for me to match in battle.") "However, I will die with honor!"

"Then die, and know that you were struck down by the better warrior!" roared Hellblade.

And then Rikuo's sobbing stopped...

"Sestros..." It was replaced by laughter.

("What?") Sestros growled angrily, flexing his huge claws. "What are you laughing at!? You've lost!"

"Are you so certain?" Rikuo slowly raised his head, a sly smile on his face.

"Of course! You said it yourself! The card you had drawn wasn't the one....." Sestros went silent, a deep sucking noise coming from his mouth as he drew in breath. "Shit..."

Cracking his knuckles, Rikuo tapped a button on his duel disk. "That's right...the card I needed has been face-down the whole time. And now I activate it...reveal Attack Redirection Armor!" A suit of demonic-looking steel armor appeared on the field and then flew over to Sestros' field, where it floated in the air in front of the Torture King. "This changes the target of your monster's attack to you!"

Hellblade lowered his sword, his face landing inches from Yami Knight's. Though he had stopped his attack, he didn't make any move to attack Sestros either.

Sestros rumbled deeply. "Fool, Hellblade is unaffected by the effects of his opponent's magic and trap cards. That means you really have lost!!!" His rumbling laughter shook the very stone that surrounded them. "IT'S OVER!!! HELLBLADE, ATTACK YAMI KNIGHT!"

But the warrior didn't make any attack. He just stood there silently.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? ATTACK!!!" Sestros stomped forward a step, spreading his wings and roaring angrily. "CRUSH RIKUO!!!"

Rikuo had forgotten about the effect of Hellblade, and had truly been expecting the worst. Now though... "What's going on?"

"That's what I would like to know!" Sestros stomped another step closer, shoving the Attack Redirection Armor aside. "Hellblade, I order you to attack him!"

Hellblade continued to stare at the ground, his eyes blank.

"Is he broken?" Yami Knight took a step back, keeping his sword between him and the dangerous demon warrior.

Sestros was slowly traveling across the field now. "I will get to the bottom of this personally!" His steps shook the whole room as he got closer and closer.

Meanwhile, Rikuo was staring at Hellblade. ("Why did you stop? What is going on here?")

Sestros rumbled deeply. "Fool, Hellblade is unaffected by the effects of his opponent's magic and trap cards."

Rikuo couldn't believe it. ("He's in there, and he's trying to figure out who his opponent really is. If I am, then Attack Redirection Armor will have no effect and it will be over for me. However...") "Remember the times! Don't let him steal away your memories of life and friendship!"

Any further words were stopped as a ball of black energy hurtled across the field and exploded against the Nightmare Wheel, blowing it apart and sending the now burning form of Rikuo flying forwards to land right at Sestros' enormous feet.

The Torture King chuckled, the sound horrible on the ears of everyone listening. "What are you trying to do? Convince him to remember the times of the past?" His laughter intensified, the earth cracking at his feet. "FOOL! Just for that, I'll personally crush you!" His foot lifted up into the air, the thing just a little smaller than Rikuo's whole body. It started to drop, but then slowed to a stop... "Actually..."

Rikuo tried to lift his head, but he had no strength left. "Damn it...I can't move..."

"How unfortunate for you, however..." Sestros' claw curled around Rikuo's body, lifting him into the air until he was just a few inches away from the demon king's face. The fetid breath that washed into Rikuo's nose was enough to make him retch, yet he just couldn't find the strength to even hold his breath. "...how fortunate for me. Guess what, my little weapon?" Lifting a single nail point, Sestros began to dig the sharp digit into Rikuo's chest, the smell of fresh blood flowing around the arena. "I'm going to catch up on old times. Now, what part of this little body of yours can I scar first?"

Rikuo's screams of pain were by far the most hellish on the ears of the world...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deondre slammed his fist into the invisible barrier that was just a few inches from the entrance to cave that led to the arena. "We have to help him!"

"Esmin, isn't there a..." Siegfried started, but he was cut off when the fox demon shook his head.

"No, there is no way to get past a barrier of that strength. Rikuo must fight this battle alone." Esmin closed his eyes, only to open them seconds later to try and drown out the horrible images of what Sestros was doing to Rikuo at the moment.

Jasmine was on her hand and knees, tears flowing unabashed from her eyes. "DAMN YOU SESTROS!!! STOP!!!"

CJ threw another small boulder at the forcefield, watching it slam into the barrier and then slide to the ground. "We're not getting in...are we?"

Esmin shook his head sadly. "All we can do is pray for him to die soon, so that he doesn't have to suffer anymore."

Everyone hung their head down, silence reigning over the area, except for the occasional sob from Jasmine or scream of pain from Rikuo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sestros licked some more blood off of his claws, smirking at the fresh strips of skin and muscle tissue that hung from one huge arm. "I wonder how much more of you I will need to flay before you pass out...oh wait; you can't pass out, can you? Your training forbids it!" Throwing back his head, he roared in delight. "I haven't had this much fun in years!"

Rikuo, through all of the blinding pain, feebly kicked Sestros palm. "Screw....you...."

"Tsk tsk tsk," rumbled Sestros, the thumb and forefinger of one mottled hand pinching Rikuo's left leg. "Guess what? Just for daring to try and hurt me with that leg, I'm going to break it, okay?"

Yami Knight felt the last of his control snap when he heard the sickening crack of bone and the scream of true pain, pure and unveiled, explode from Rikuo's throat. "I can take no more of this!" Spinning around, the knight monster picked up the duel disk that Rikuo had lost in the explosion.

Ignoring the bloody stains across its white and blue surface, Yami Knight drew the last card. ("So this is what he was waiting for?") Sliding the card into the duel disk, the demon knight raised his hand into the air. "Activate Spiritual Fusion! This will fuse one monster on Rikuo's field and one monster in his graveyard together. He chooses to use the Yami Knight on his field and the Hikari Knight in his graveyard!" Snatching up the Howling Sword card off the ground, Yami Knight slid it into the duel disk. "And he also uses Howling Sword to maximize the attack points of his new monster, by adding 1000 points to his creature and then doubling its attack! Now, go Spiritual Fusion!" Dropping the duel disk, Yami Knight faded away.

Chuckling deeply, Sestros drank in the waves of pain that radiated off of Rikuo's body. "I forgot how much fun this really was! Now, what should I break next!?"

"You will break nothing, monster!" yelled a voice from over on Rikuo's field.

"Eh?" Sestros looked over to see who had spoken.

Standing in the spot where Yami Knight had been shortly before stood a new warrior. His armored body was in pure shades of black and white, and in his arms rested a golden shield and silver sword. From beneath his helmet a single golden eye and a single brown eye glowed. "I am Balance Knight, (20000/20000) and you will be destroyed by my power and the power of the Howling Sword!" As if on cue, his sword exploded into phantom flames as the Howling Sword Legendary Weapon Card charged up his weapon. (41000/41000) "And now, prepare to be destroyed! Howling Balance Wave!" Slamming his sword into the ground, Balance Knight unleashed a wave of phantom flame so big that it instantly engulfed Sestros. "And now you are no more, monster."

A single ball of black flame flew through the smoke, slamming right into Balance Knight and sending him flying backwards. "FOOL!" The smoke cleared to reveal Sestros, completely unharmed by the attack. "I am immune to the power of the light. Your attack might have been enough to kill any normal demon, but I have already been killed by the light once before. I cannot be killed by it again!" Lifting his claw upward, he charged up a ball of black flame that was so big it seemed like a miniature sun. "Now BURN!" He threw the blast, consuming and destroying the Balance Knight instantly.

Something fell out of the smoke cloud, landing right at his feet. "Why look Rikuo, it's your father's sword. The weapon you killed me with before." Another ball of black flame appeared in Sestros' open palm. "Now it is no more!" Holding onto the ball, the Torture King slammed it right into the ground on top of the Howling Sword. There was a momentary struggle of powers, and then the sword was gone. "That was better than a lifetime's worth of therapy."

Rikuo growled low in his throat, expending what was left of his energy to do so. "My father's blade...you bastard...I'll..."

"YOU'LL WHAT!?" Sestros roared right into Rikuo's face, nearly killing the wolf demon right there through sheer force of will. "I AM BEYOND YOU!!! I AM BEYOND ALL OF YOU!!!" His breathing came in ragged gasps, Sestros' energy sapped from destroying Balance Knight and the Howling Sword. "And now you bore me, Rikuo." Lifting a single nail up, he chuckled deeply. "So I'll kill you in the same way you first killed me. I'll rip your heart right out of your body!" His nail shot downwards...

"Grand Emperor Dragon, Solar Stream!" A golden wave of energy slammed into Sestros back, sending him to his knees.

Spinning around, the Torture King roared in anger. "Who dares to interfere with me!?"

"Who do you think, worm?" Ryu smirked from atop the head of his mighty golden dragon. "Jourgen Politumas interrupts your fun, you sick freak of nature."

Growling, Sestros dropped Rikuo to the ground and stomped forwards, wings extended and fangs bared. "Why can't you die like a normal living being!?"

Shrugging, the dragon demon pointed at his true enemy. "I'm smarter than your average dragon. Now, Solar Steam!" The Grand Emperor Dragon opened its jaws and fired another wave of energy, the blast slamming right into Sestros' body again.

Roaring in rage, the Torture King launched forwards and slashed right through Ryu's monster, destroying it in a blast of black energy. "I am invincible!"

Ryu leapt through the air and landed at the other end of the arena, his duel disk on his arm. "I beg to differ. I will show you a god more powerful than you could ever hope to be!" Drawing seven cards off the top of his deck, Ryu threw them all of the air. "Awaken my dragons! Activate Monster Reborn, reviving Grand Emperor Dragon!" There was a huge explosion of light and when it cleared, all of Ryu's elemental dragons were in front of him.

Sestros narrowed his sickly blood-shot eyes. "So that's it. You plan to summon Bahamut against me? Foolish plan. I will crush your false god beneath my heel!"

Ryu drew the top card off of his deck. "I beg to differ! In fact..." He looked at the card to be sure, and then threw it into the air. "Go Fusion Gate!" There was a huge explosion as the dragons fused together to create one single ball of golden light. "And now, I summon you forth, my almighty dragon god. Awaken Bahamut-King of Dragons; Lord of Judgment..." The orb shuddered and then exploded open, revealing the mountainous silver form of Ryu's most powerful fusion.

Sestros knew he could defeat Bahamut, and yet he felt tired... ("It must be a side effect from all of the energy I have expended so far. Oh well, I can still win.") Roaring, Sestros charged another miniature sun of energy within his cupped claws. "Prepare yourself, Bahamut!"

The Dragon God understood the challenge, and it opened its jaws wide. Within the titanic jowls, a small ball of blue-white energy was being developed.

Ryu's expression became stern and concentrated. ("I know exactly what I must do.") "Bahamut, Omega Flare!"

Roaring so loudly that the earth of the entire island began to crack; Bahamut finished charging up its attack, which was now a miniature sun itself.

Sestros had also finished charging up his ultimate attack. "Abyssal Sun!"

Ryu spoke for Bahamut, while the dragon did the blasting. "Omega Flare!"

The two attacks collided midway between their owners, creating a huge pulsing core of energy. At first it flowed towards Sestros, then it flowed towards Bahamut, and then it returned to being between them.

"One of us will fold first...and it will be you...JOURGEN!" Sestros pushed forwards even harder, his blast of energy gaining impossible amounts of force behind it.

Ryu had mixed his very essence in with Bahamut, and yet it didn't seem to be enough. ("Please Bahamut, try harder!") Releasing every ounce of his energy, the dragon demon mixed his power with that of his god's, trying to reinforce Bahamut's efforts. ("We...must...succeed!")

Sestros pulled up all that remained of his energy supply, placing it into his attack. Their struggle held on for another few seconds, and then the impossible happened...

Sestros won out...

There was a huge backlash as Sestros' Abyssal Sun engulfed Bahamut's Omega Flare. The two forces surged against each other for one more second, and then it all came back at Bahamut in a mixture of black and blue energy.

Ryu closed his eyes, pain etched on his face. "Bahamut, forgive me!"

The Dragon God let out one roar of pain. And then it was consumed by the Abyssal Sun. Its voice exploded into one of anguish as it was blown apart.

Ryu was thrown through the air, slamming face-first into the ground and skidding for a good hundred feet before he crashed into the wall at the end of the chamber. With one last gasp of pain, he collapsed.

Panting, Sestros threw back his head and laughed tiredly. "I...win! I win and there's nothing any of you can do about it!" Taking one more shuddering breath, the demon king came to his feet and roared into the dark haze around them. "I am God Supreme!!! Now I'll go and kill all of Rikuo's friends, and then I'll kill everyone who ever dared to oppose my might!" He grinned coldly. "Maybe I'll start with Daniel's little bitch of a sister?"

His rumbling laughter echoed across the world. "I win the Level 10 darkness game, and that means the fate of the world is mine to choose!!" A strange smile came across his hideous face.

"And I'm sure all of you saw what I just did." His echoing voice addressed the people of earth. "So if you dare to oppose me, then all you will be doing is wasting your time. Even now, I have the power to crush even the most powerful human weapon with ease!" Spreading his wings, he laughed into the darkness.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deondre fell to his knees, pounding the ground. "And we can't even help!"

CJ and Allon continued to hurl random objects at the force field, trying to knock it down.

Jasmine was beyond reach, as was Amy. Both of them had been crying for various reasons, but now they were beyond tears.

Esmin watched the darkening sky impassively. "Well...I can honestly say this sucks." From next to him, Janeam nodded solemnly.

Siegfried slammed himself shoulder-first into the barrier again and again. "You cannot determine the fate of the world through the actions of one! Let...us...in!" He punctuated each word with another tackle.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All across the world the sky was dark, and everything was being plunged into darkness. The Purge already knew exactly what Sestros was going to wish for, and in preparation it had summoned forth hordes of demons from its depths to perform this task. At the moment, these demons stood on edges of every city on the planet, waiting for Sestros to make his wish and order them to slaughter every living member of the human race.

People cried, non-believers became believers...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In another part of the world, a certain ancient Pharaoh was just on the verge of defeating a certain Atlantian Prince, but that is a tale someone else will tell...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In another part of the world, Viper watched the gathering darkness with a smirk on his face. ("It's over, and we've won.")

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sitting in a bell tower somewhere, Clarice looked up from his table and his deck. Glancing out at the darkness, he sighed. "Looks like it's gonna rain hell...and I forgot my umbrella too..." Shrugging to himself, he sat back down. ("Deondre, you and I will duel soon.")

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone cowered in fear, stood in defiance, or happily accepted the hordes that waited to attack.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cackling crazily, Sestros roared into the night around him. "The Purge, hear my command! I wish for the end of the human..."

"Is an angel watching closely over me?"

The Torture King stopped in mid-sentence, as did most of the world, demon hordes and all...

"Can there be a guiding light I've yet to see?"

Sestros slowly lowered his arms, and stared around him in confusion. "What? What is going on?"

"I know my heart should guide me but..."

"There's a hole within my soul..."

The darkness thickened, and tired laughter came from across the arena. "Sestros...this duel isn't quite over yet."

"What will fill this emptiness inside of me?"

"Am I to be satisfied without knowing?"

The Torture King turned around, and growled at the sight of Rikuo sitting on top of a huge piece of stone. "So you still have some fight left in your, eh? I suppose all the years that you spent as my test dummy made you rather resilient against my torture techniques."

"I wish, then, for a chance to see..."

"Now all I need..."

Rikuo, his arms behind his back, matched gazes with his nemesis. "I suppose I could ask why you are doing all of this, but honestly, I don't want to know. A million questions are coming up in my mind, but they all seem to have one suitable single answer. Your death. So what do you say we end this right now, and then the winner never speaks of the loser again?" His tone was strangely civil.

Rumbling angrily, Sestros flexed his claws. "You understand that even in my weakened state I could crush your body like the insect that it is. And without your father's weapon, you certainly cannot hope to defeat me with the power of light. So you're all out of tricks, Mutt!"

"Sestros...tell me of your sins...give me all the reasons I have to hate you." Rikuo's eyes never wavered, though considering all of the damage he had suffered; he shouldn't have been able to see straight at this point.

Chuckling, the Torture King started to slowly stomp towards his prey. "I'll give you a short version, since we don't have hours to talk. In fact, I have enough just involving you."

"Then let's hear them." Something seemed odd about Rikuo. His anger was gone.

"Very well then. Let's see, now I've defeated your uncle in battle and threw his corpse into a ravine."

He was ten steps away. "I've killed your mother and then raped her body."

Nine steps. "I killed your father."

Eight steps. "I stole away your childhood innocence."

Seven steps. "I made you my personal little weapon."

Six steps. "I forced you to kill without mercy, until I damaged your psyche so badly, that you could never hope to return to anything near innocent ever again."

Five steps. "I broke your honor bond to Jourgen, and ate the flesh of his children and wife."

Sestros was four steps away now. "I killed you."

Three. "I turned your other half into my puppet."

Two. "Thanks to my mental influence, Seren killed your other self."

With one final, crashing stomp Sestros towered over the very being whose existence he hated completely and utterly. "Finally, I'm going to destroy the human race."

Rikuo slowly smiled; the expression dark and terrible. "Good job, but that last one won't be happening."

"Oh and how will you stop me? The power of light cannot kill me." Sestros knew he was in the perfect position to kill Rikuo and end this all. Lifting his claw up, the Torture King had one question still in his mind. "Why did you ask me to list my sins?"

"Desperately..."

"Is my star to come..."

The dark smile on Rikuo's face grew deeper. "So that a certain friend of yours could come to a decision. By the way, it's my turn." His arm lifted up to reveal Sestros' duel disk attached to his arm. Drawing the top card of the Torture King's deck, he flicked it aside. "Oh, and last I checked my Attack Redirection Armor was still in play." Right above his head, the demonic suit of steel armor appeared. "And you're still the target."

Eyes wide, Sestros drove his claw down. "Damn you!!!"

Rikuo prayed that he was faster on the draw. "Hellblade, direct attack!" From out of the darkness behind him sprang Sestros' ultimate warrior, which blew right through the Torture King's chest.

Stumbling backwards, Sestros stared at the hole in his chest where his heart had been. ("All of my plans...") He continued to fall backwards, crashing into the ground. While his blood pooled around him, the Torture King managed to mutter something. "Re....v...ea...l...........Da...r.....k...ne....s....s.......A...b........y........s............s........"

Kilomet Sestros felt the remains of his life drain away, and he knew it was over. His legacy was to die with him.

Standing over the quickly cooling body of his ex-tormentor, Rikuo couldn't stop himself from saying it. "Funny how history repeats itself, eh?" Tossing Sestros' duel disk aside, Rikuo began the slow and painful walk to go and make sure that Ryu was alive.

If he had been paying attention, he would have noticed that right before the holographic representations had shut off, the face-down card that Sestros had set was face-up on the field.

To be continued...