Chapter Two: Two Powers In Opposition
Drake drew his next card, giving him a total of five, and then he looked out at Rikuo's mostly open field. Even if it was a trap, it would most likely only stop one attack. So he'd be better off with having two monsters, and he knew just what monster to summon. "Get ready Rikuo, because these so-called 'little spellcasters' are about to make a bit dent in your life points. I summon you, Skilled Dark Magician(1900/1700)!"
Rikuo stood calm and confident even under the stealing gaze of one magician in blue and another in black. Together they had enough power to nearly cut his life points in half, and all he had was a single face down card. The duel was just getting started, but he was sure it was going to be an exciting one. He could already feel his pulse starting to race with the thrill of the duel. "Bring it on."
Drake smirked at his opponent and raised one arm in a declaration of attack. "Skilled Dark Magician, start us off by blasting away nineteen hundred of Rikuo's life points!" The black robed mage aimed his staff at Rikuo and let loose a magic attack that would cut down Rikuo's life points. And with only one card on Rikou's field, it was unlikely he could stop both of Drake's attacks.
"This one's in the bag! Open face down card: Attack Drawing Armor! This card will attach a devilish armor to your Illusive Magician and send the attack straight at it! So say goodbye to both of your monsters!" The attack swerved in mid-air as armor that looked like a jaw appeared around Illusive Magician. Drake reached for a card in his hand, but then shook his head and only watched as his magicians obliterated each other, leaving nothing but dust in their wake.
"Good move. I could have stopped the attack with Illusive Magician's special ability, but I figured it would be better just to let it pass. Since I don't have any monsters left to defend myself with I'm going to have to end my turn after placing a single card on the field." His card appeared face down, now being the only card on either player's field. So far they had been dueling pretty evenly, but who knew what could happen in just a short amount of time.
The wolf-demon general picked up another card off his deck and then immediately slapped a different card down onto the field from his hand. "Let's see how you handle Y-Dragon Head(1500/1600). Attack him directly my mechanical beast!" The red machined dragon opened its jaws wide and blasted out a stream of what looked like red energy standing in for fire. And it was barreling down on Drake ready to burn away his life points.
The magic user grinned and depressed the only usable button on his duel disk, activating his own set card. "Magister School, reveal yourself and create for me two Magister Tokens(500/500) in defense mode!" Two red robed magicians appeared crouching in front of Drake, and one of them was incinerated by Y-Dragon Head's attack. That left Drake with only one meager token to defend himself with and no face down cards.
"Thanks for killing a Magister Token. When one of them leaves the field in any fashion I get to draw a card. So you helped me out." Rikuo just snarled and placed a card down on the field, knowing that while he currently had the advantage of monsters, that could easily change. Particularly since as soon as Drake drew he'd have five cards to use while Rikuo would only have two cards in his hand.
Drake glanced at his newest card and then threw back his head, roaring with laughter. "Looks like I've just drawn what I need to crush your mechanical menace. Quick-Silver Magician(1400/1200) comes to the field specially whenever he's drawn, giving me a free monster!" A thin silver-robed magician touched down on Drake's field, spinning his thin little wand in between his hands like a baton.
"That's only part one of my plan. The second part is to sacrifice my remaining token to summon Chaos Magician(2400/1900), thereby letting me draw another card." He drew another card from his deck, satisfied as a powerful looking black robed magician took his place on the field, wielding a simple black staff. He looked like he could shit bricks and spit nails, he was that tough.
"Chaos Magic Attack!" The magician released his chaos attack straight at Rikuo's machine monster. The difference in attack points was nine hundred, so Y-Dragon Head didn't stand a ghost of a chance. However at the last moment the attack exploded and a line of fire raced along it to destroy the Chaos Magician, leaving Drake's only monster as the Quick-Silver Magician who was too weak to destroy the dragon.
"Widespread Ruin just trashed your strongest monster Drake. Now you can't attack me at all can you?" The punk duelist just shrugged this off and set up two cards on the field. He now had two cards and one monster, as opposed to Rikuo's one monster and no set cards. Yet still the duel was very even. Only fifty damage had been dealt so far.
Rikuo now held three cards, and he was faced with deciding whether or not to attack Drake while the magician duelist had two cards down on the field. So far Drake had played only two cards, and both had been quick-plays. Only one had been a real threat, so there was no telling what sort of cards the duelist had placed on the field. "To hell with it. Time to throw caution to the wind. Y-Dragon Head, attack his magician!"
Drake stood with his arms folded as the attacks stretched towards his magician. He seemed utterly confident, and in that moment Rikuo knew that his attack was going to fail. He didn't know what Drake was going to do, but he knew it wasn't going to work. "Reveal permanent trap card, Astral Barrier! This will direct your attack past my magician and straight to my life points!"
Rikuo face-fell as his attacked whizzed by the magician and collided with Drake. However unlike normal duelists Drake didn't even flinch, and the reason became clear when a glowing barrier shimmered into view around Drake. He hadn't been damaged at all. "How the hell are you unharmed? And why haven't your life points gone down?"
Drake motioned to his other card which was now also face up. "Astral Barrier is a pretty crappy card unless you desire to lose on purpose. But when combined with my second permanent trap, Spirit Barrier, it becomes a perfect combo. Because as long as I have a monster on the field Spirit Barrier protects me from monster damage." He smirked as the full extent of his barrier combo's power was revealed.
Rikuo saw just where the problem was. As a normal combination it was pretty useless since it required two cards just to negate attacks for a turn. But because both of the traps were permanent, it became an endless barrier that would protect Drake from attacks. 'Whenever I try to attack he'll just move the attack to his life points using Astral Barrier. And then because he has Spirit Barrier and a monster on the field, he won't take any damage. It's a perfect defense combination!'
"You've got quite a combo going there. But sooner or later that combo is going to break down, and then I'll be there to slip in and obliterate your life points. For now I can only place a monster face down and set another card down to defend myself. Just wait Drake, I'll bring your combo crashing down around you in due time." His two cards appeared, and then he crossed his arms, waiting for Drake to retaliate with his own move.
So far he was happy with this duel. When he had gotten the challenge he had figured Drake was just another upstart duelist who needed to be smacked down. But now that he was actually in a duel with the guy, he realized that Drake was a much more talented duelist than he had ever expected. The best part was, the duel was just getting started, so there was no telling what sort of surprised were in store for both of them. 'It's been a good long while since I had a real challenge. I'm glad this kid came along, otherwise I would have been stuck losing at fighting games to Jasmine. We never duel anymore because she got bored of losing. Of course there are other games we play...'
Drake quirked an eyebrow as he watched Rikuo gaze out into empty space, a funny glazed look in his eyes and a silly grin on his face. He waved his arms to try and get the wolf's attention, but he got no response. 'What the hell is this guy thinking about that's giving him that silly look? Shouldn't he be focused on the duel, or does he not take me seriously yet? If that's the case I'm going to have to teach him a lesson about my power.'
Rikuo chuckled idly, thinking about the last 'game' that he had Jasmine had played. That had been a very interesting one, and he wouldn't mind playing it again with her sometime. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't even notice when Drake tried to say something to him. At least until one thing was said. "Oi! Mutt! Snap out of it damn it! This a duel so no daydreaming. Save that for school!"
The wolf-demon's dark gaze fell upon Drake and suddenly Drake had this weird feeling of impending doom. It was like some evil creature had just marked him as lunch, and he got the impression that the evil creature was the one standing in front of him. "Nobody calls me a mutt! As soon as it's my turn I'm gonna kick your ass for that comment, just you wait!"
Drake rolled his eyes, now confident once again. He had faced crazy duelists before, and also really evil ones. After dying in his duel with Taichi where every lost monster and lost life point caused extreme agony, this duel would be a cake walk. After all, nothing was at stake here except pride, and that could be reclaimed. "At least you're paying attention now. You were off in la la land for a couple of minutes there. Now that the duel is back on, it's my turn. So I draw!"
The punk duelist grinned at the sight of his newest card, and he immediately played it. "This card is a new one for me, and it should make this duel more interesting. It's a normal magic card called Supply Lines. After activation both of us draw one card during our end phase. So we'll get two new cards each turn, only one of them will have to be saved for the turn after." Rikuo considered this, and decided that it benefitted them both equally, so he had no reason to complain. And it would make getting combos easier, so that wasn't a problem.
"I'll move my magician into defense mode just in case. Now I summon Refined Spellweaver(1600/1100) in defense mode. This little magician is going to show his power quite soon, so just you wait. Since that's all I can do at the moment, I'll just end my turn." His turn was over, but he wasn't done as he drew another card according to the effect of Supply Lines. Rikuo wasn't worried though. He might not be able to attack yet, but he could still build up a strong force.
Rikuo drew a card to give him two cards, but before he could continue his move Drake held up one hand, and then gestured with the other to his newest magician. The suit wearing magician bowed briefly to Drake, and then raised his wand, generating a magic aura that covered the field. "Don't do anything yet Rikuo, because Refined Spellweaver's effect is just kicking off. Since it's the standby phase we both draw from our deck till we reach a monster which is added to our hands. All other cards are reshuffled into the deck."
The wolf-demon grinned at this interesting effect and started drawing while his opponent did the same. After three draws of no monsters he finally managed to draw one on the fourth attempt. He hadn't been watching Drake so he didn't know how many it had taken him. Finally the two duelists took their drawn cards and shuffled them back into their decks. "That actually helps me, I don't know why you'd use it."
"You'll just have to wait and see won't you?" The wolf sighed and looked at his current hand of three cards. He silently cursed his deck for not providing him with an amassed army to take on Drake once he got rid of the barriers. Instead all he got were defenders and other useless cards. He couldn't even set this turn!
"I summon Gear Golem the Moving Fortress(800/2200) in defense mode. End turn." A giant machine with spikes and wheels appeared on the field, it's massive defense power making it a virtually unbeatable barrier for him. Rikuo drew another card, putting his hand back up at three cards, yet still he couldn't do anything. He'd just have to wait and see what happened.
Drake drew his next card, and then Refined Spellweaver raised his wind and unleashed a slightly different aura. It's color was green instead of a yellowish like the last aura had been. Rikuo grinned and placed his fingers onto his deck to start drawing for a monster. "Let's get this draw over with shall we? I need an attacker anyways for when I have a method of defeating your barrier combination."
"Don't be so hasty Rikuo. Didn't you notice that the aura in the air is different than it was during your standby phase? Well that's because Refined Spellweaver's effect has changed, and it will again during your next standby phase. Now instead of drawing for a monster we go for a magic card, hence the green color." Rikuo couldn't help but grin at hearing this. He could do with a useful magic card more than he could for a monster, so this was even better. He was also highly impressed with the effect of Drake's monster. It was truly versatile.
Rikuo picked up two cards before he reached a magic card, and Drake did exactly the same. Now both of them had more cards in their hand than before. Drake had five and Rikuo had four, but Drake's were more accessible in this turn than Rikou's were. Whatever magic card Drake had drawn, Rikuo could just hope it wasn't useful. 'This guy claims that he's strong. So far he's just defended himself effectively. Let's see if he can really go on the attack effectively or not.'
"Did I mention earlier that Quick-Silver Magician has the same effect as a Magister Token? So when he leaves the field I'll get to draw an extra card. I'll send him to the cemetery by offering him as a sacrifice for White Sorcerer(2200/2000)!" Drake's newest monster was a pale skinned human not wearing much. His body was covered by what looked like a flare out white skirt, and his chest was partially covered by a studded white vest. He didn't hold a wand, instead he held a ball of white energy in each hand. His eyes were covered by a white cloth, so all in all he didn't look very deadly.
"Okay Rikuo, I'm going on the attack. White Sorcerer, destroy his Y-Dragon Head!" The sorcerer placed his palms together, joining the twin spheres of magical energy. Finally he raised his arms above his head and separated his hands, revealing a boulder-sized energy ball. With minimal effort the sorcerer hurled it straight at Rikuo's weaker monster.
"Drake, your Refined Spellweaver helped me survive this attack, I just want you to know that. Because it let me draw one of the better cards in my deck. I'll activate my face down Call to Arms, which lets me immediately place an equip card from my hand onto a monster on the field. So I equip Y-Dragon Head with the Legendary Weapon Card Howling Sword!" The mighty blade appeared on the field, stabbed into the ground. Since the machine had no arms it merely placed a limb on the handle to gain it's power.
"The monster equipped with Howling Sword gains one thousand attack points, and then has it's attack doubled. So Y-Dragon Head hits five thousand points! Roast his pathetic White Sorcerer!" The mechanical dragon opened its jaws wide and unleashed a river of flame energy that collided with the white ball of magic. It forced it backwards until both attacks rammed into the White Sorcerer, blowing it to pieces. The force of the explosion rocked the building, forcing Drake to throw up his arms to cover his face from the smoke pouring over him.
Rikuo grinned at seeing Drake's monster go up in flames, but when the smoke cleared and he saw Drake standing there, unharmed, he remembered a very specific effect. 'Damn. I forgot about Spirit Barrier. Since he has monsters in play he didn't take any damage from that, otherwise I would have a substantial lead right about now. At least I did some serious damage to him.'
"Although that may have taken out a strong level six spellcaster, it actually hurt you Rikuo. Because when White Sorcerer is goes to the cemetery from the field you must take the top three cards of your deck and remove them from the game. So say goodbye to some of your cards." The wolf-demon growled and snapped three cards off his deck, barely even looking at them before shoving them into his pocket. It figured that the damned spellcaster would have some kind of annoying effect.
"That's not all Rikuo. By discarding a card from my hand I can special summon Black Sorcerer(2200/2000) from my deck when White Sorcerer dies in battle. Of course it can't attack this turn, but that's just fine with me." Drake's replacement monster was identical to the previous, except instead of wearing white it wore black clothing. Rikuo could only assume that it had a similar effect to it's brethren's ability.
"I gotta admit though Rikuo, that move was pretty cool. And that Legendary Weapon of yours is the most powerful equip card I've ever heard of. It's even deadlier than United We Stand. I can only imagine the sort of power you could get with it if you equipped it on something stronger than your dragon, like a Buster Blader or something like that. The power possible is astounding." Drake flashed his opponent a grin, and Rikuo gave him a toothy smile in return. No reason to have animosity between the two. After all, it was just a duel for fun and for pride as a duelist.
"You're pretty tough yourself Drake. And I have to admit I was shocked by your skill and power as a duelist. But so far we seem to be pretty evenly matched. I can only guess that this duel is just starting to get heated up. There's no telling what awaits us throughout the rest of it." He cracked his knuckles, grinning like an idiot. His heart was starting to pound with excitement just from the thought of the potential the duel held.
"Rikuo, I bet this duel isn't even close to getting started. Neither of us has unveiled even half of our power I bet. So why don't we stop holding back and truly unleash our power upon each other? No reason to play the wait and see game. We should both give it everything we've got and hope to have to give it more. Because if I'm right about you, then you could be my chance at achieving my desired goal." The wolf-demon gave his opponent a confused look, not knowing what he was talking about.
"What is it you want to achieve from this duel? It is just for fun isn't it? There isn't some dark and hidden agenda to this whole thing is there?" Drake chuckled at this, obviously not realizing how many times that Rikuo had ended up in a situation where there really was a dark and hidden agenda to the duel. Despite their common bonds as duelists and fighters, the two didn't know a thing about each other.
"My goal since I became a duelist. One simple thing I desire. To experience the ultimate duel where both players exceed their limits! Show me your full power and I'll show you mine, and together we can achieve that greatest height of dueling! I'm certain that this will be the ultimate duel that I desire!" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Author's Notes: Huzzah! More exciting dueling. Funny note about this, upon finishing chapter one I had only fully scripted four turns of the duel. Which meant I couldn't go any farther in the last chapter, not really. But now it's all scripted! And it should be quite fun for everyone.
Void Templar: Nah, this is a duel fic, so other than Dalin, Drake, Rikuo, and Jasmine no other characters from either story will make a cameo. Perhaps a mention, but that's all. Oh, and I think longer duels are really exciting, sorry if it's confusing.
Time Mage: In fact you did. No, Drake is going to find that this duel is a whole new experience for him, but so will Rikuo.
John: Not. Really. But. Whatever. Floats. Your. Boat.
Wolf General: Believe me, both of them will be in top form throughout the whole duel.
Original Cards(unless I say otherwise all of Rikuo's original cards are created by Wolf General)
Drake: Magister School, Quick-Silver Magician, Supply Lines(by Vaurnut), Refined Spellweaver, White Sorcerer, Black Sorcerer
Rikuo: Call to Arms, Legendary Weapon Howling Sword
Anime Original Cards
Rikuo: Attack Drawing Armor