Disclaimer/Author's Note
Heh...sorry...that took forever...I have writer's block like you don't even know. Even you, RS, even though I know you don't read this. A three way duel between the Hunter and Mystic/Adriel. Can they stand up to it? We'll see. Remember that Adriel's deck has been jacked up a bit and Mystic...well, Mystic has his own tricks.
For anyone who is interested, the Hunter uses old-school dragons (dragons that exist in the TCG) while Adriel uses new-school dragons (stuff I make up) as well as other cards that match. Oh, I forgot to mention. The Hunter's deck is my own. With a little bit added in, and by a little bit I mean custom cards, of course....ah heck, I'm done with the chapter now and as I look back I notice that it's a ton different from my deck.
And a personal note to Mystic himself...I'm using most of your bio from last time, and I'm including the part about the supernatural obsession.
YuGiOh: Hallowed Darkness
Student and Master
By now, a circle had formed around the group of duelists. Each player drew five cards. "Since I was the one who challenged you, you can go first," said Adriel calmly.
"Great. I'll start things off by summoning a card in defense mode, along with two cards face down." said the Hunter, the turn control given to Mystic.
"Well I'm going to set a card in defense mode as well, and place one card face down." Mystic said.
"I guess I could let you take your turn," said the Hunter to Adriel, turning the duel into a triangle rather than a trading of blows.
"Bad mistake. I summon Team of Dragon Claws in attack mode!" (2000/1800) "And to keep this card on the field, I have to remove one card in my graveyard from play during each of my end phases, or this card gets sent to the graveyard. To meet this requirement, I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards into my hand, bringing my total count to 6 again. And I'll place two of those cards face down." As Adriel ended his turn, Pot of Greed appeared on the field again as the team of claws slashed it through vigorously, removing it from play.
"And now it's my turn again," said the Hunter a bit too cheerfully. "I flip my Masked Dragon into attack mode and sacrifice it for Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6!" (1400/1100 2300/1600)
"But wait," said Adriel. "I thought that you had to play a weaker monster to first summon that Level 6 thing!" he said in confusion.
"Silly idiot, that's only the most advantageous way to do it! You can still summon this monster normally. Anyway, I attack your stupid dragon claws and eliminate them!" As the Hunter's monster breathed a stream of black fire upon Adriel's claws, the attack was absorbed into an ornate cylinder and thrown back at the Hunter, dropping his life points to 1700.
"That was my Magic Cylinders," said Mystic confidently. "My my, you lost half your life points already?" he teased.
"You can't do that! My rules state that you can't defend your partner!" the Hunter raged.
"And yet I could. Because we never said we'd play by your rules." Mystic explained.
"Fine! I set a card and end my turn!" shouted the Hunter.
"And now it's my turn." said Mystic. "To get your dragon off our backs, I flip Old Vindictive Magician and destroy it!" Mystic shouted. (450/600) An old, feeble looking magician in red armor appeared on the field and poked the dragon with its staff. The Horus monster's armor began to crack and it fell apart completely.
"To add insult to injury, I now summon Chaos Command Magician and attack you directly! This was the fastest duel in history!" Mystic said, not even bothering to look at his monster. (2400/1900)
"Things aren't over yet," said the Hunter. "I activated Sakuretsu Armor which destroys your attacking monster. So now neither of us has a monster to defend with," he said.
"Well it's my turn again," said Adriel. "And I summon Spirit of the Zodiac!" (1200/1200) Adriel slapped a monster onto his DuelDisk. Behind it was a glowing image of the Chinese zodiac. "Even though this isn't a dragon monster, it works well with the theme. Because I can sacrifice it immediately to summon a monster from your graveyard! But I lose 1200 life points in the process. It doesn't really matter, because now I get your Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6!"
The Hunter visibly blanched as his own monster was resurrected on Adriel's field. "Furthermore, I'll play Monster Reborn to return Chaos Command Magician to the field!" (2400/1900)
"Are you afraid, Hunter? I have three monsters, all of which have over 2000 attack points. You have no monsters. So I attack now!"
As Adriel's monsters flew across the field, a shining blue barrier erected itself in front of the Hunter. "You just triggered Mirror Force! It destroys all three of your monsters, regardless of power! And since it's my turn..." said the Hunter ominously as Adriel's three monsters exploded, "You'll be sorry you attacked. I summon Red-Eyes B. Chick and immediately tribute it to summon Red-Eyes B. Dragon in attack mode!" (2400/2000)
Adriel and Mystic both unconsciously backed away from the new threat. The Hunter decided to save Mystic, who had an empty field, for later. "Now I attack you, Adriel, since you're so arrogant for a nobody!" The Hunter's dragon let off a glowing red ball of energy that crackled with black lightning as it struck Adriel, removing all but 400 of his life points.
"Adriel!" shouted Mystic.
"I'm fine...just draw something useful!" Adriel shouted.
"Okay..." said Mystic, drawing his card. "I think I might have drawn just the thing. I'll play one of my favorite cards! It was given to me by my homeland's government before I left to make sure I-" Mystic said, suddenly cut off by the Hunter.
"Shut up and play it already!" the other boy shouted.
"Fine, I will. I remove from play Chaos Command Magician and Old Vindictive Magician to special summon Dark Druid-Envoy of the Past!" (3000/2500)
The Hunter immediately realized that if he were to win, this would be his ultimate prize. A card exclusive to Australia, the third Envoy burst onto the field. The Dark Druid was yet another member of the Dark Magician family, wearing deep purple hooded robes fringed with gold, a suit of darker purple armor with a matching gold etching over the garments. His staff was made of a purple metal with golden rings hovering both above and below his hand, a sparkling yellow orb on top, caged by four rounded prongs. As always, the signature hat of his family was perched proudly on top of his head.
"As with the other two envoys, this one has a few special abilities. First of all, you can no longer activate spell cards, unless you pay 500 life points first. Also, you can't activate trap cards period, as long as I remove one of my own face down cards to get rid of your trap. Second of all, I can discard either a spell card or a spellcaster monster from my hand to allow this monster to attack again any time during my battle phase, but just once. Now I'll aim for your dragon! Go, Dark Druid! Dark Chaos Magic Attack!"
The orb on the druid's staff began to glow white, and a beam of energy fired from it, inverting the appearance of the area around it. When it hit the Hunter's dragon, the other monster began to devolve back into the Red Eyes B. Chick, and even back into an egg, until it was finally no more. With a popping noise, a burst of energy flew out of the spot where the Hunter's dragon used to be, and the dragon was no more. The Hunter's life points were dropped down to 1100.
"I'll stop you," said the Hunter, seething.
"No you won't," retorted Adriel. "It's my turn. And as long as I draw a monster, you're finished!" Adriel closed his eyes and drew a card. "This will work nicely. I'll summon Twin Dragon Eyes to the field!" (1500/1000) "Unlike my other monsters, I don't have to pay anything to keep this one on the field. Then again, it's pretty weak in comparison, but since you have no way of stopping me, I see that won't be an issue. So I attack you now, and eliminate you from this duel! Give us back all the cards you've unfairly taken from any duelist!" Adriel shouted as the two eyes glowed and shot off a beam of fiery red energy.
"Not so fast," said the Hunter. "I play my face down card, Messianic Dragon Conversion!" Adriel's dragon eyes instantly vanished.
"What does your card do?" asked Adriel, confident that even if his monster was gone, the attack would go through.
"It allows me to take the attack points of your monster, double them, and summon a dragon monster with an attack equal to the doubled value or less in attack mode. Lucky you, though, because your attack is negated and I can't attack the turn after my monster was summoned. However, I also get to take away life points from one of my opponents equal to one hundred times twice level of the destroyed monster. And it says on the card that your eyes were level four. Since it wouldn't be fun to get rid of you...I bring down Mystic's life points to 3200. And now for my monster..."
Adriel grimaced as he performed the said operation, multiplying 1500 by two and getting...3000. "Oh no..." he said, knowing what would come next.
"Oh yes!" shouted the Hunter. "I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" (3000/2500)
What was once a legendary beast a little over a half century ago burst onto the field. That wasn't to say that the Blue Eyes White Dragon wasn't still a fearful sight, but ever since Seto Kaiba I died, cards such as the Blue Eyes began to be mass-produced.
Adriel ended his turn, his field now empty except for his two facedown cards with five cards in his hand.
"And now it's my turn." said the Hunter. He drew his card and looked as if he had already won the duel. "I tribute my Blue Eyes White Dragon to summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6!" he shouted.
Everyone watching looked confused. "Why?" asked Adriel, not knowing why one would tribute a stronger monster for a weaker one, especially when a monster like Mystic's druid was on the field.
"You'll see," said the Hunter.
"Not quite!" shouted Adriel, snapping out of his funk. "I play Bottomless Trap Hole to remove your monster from play!"
The Horus dragon boomed onto the field, only to be sucked into a bottomless pit and disappear.
"Oh well, that wasn't my plan," said the Hunter. "My plan is to use my dragon to summon my own envoy!" he shouted
"No!!" shouted Mystic, instinctively knowing which envoy was in the Hunter's deck.
"Yes!" shouted the Hunter. "I remove from play Blue Eyes White Dragon and Red Eyes B. Dragon to special summon Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End to the field!"
The spirits of the Hunter's previous dragons could be seen flying into the card the Hunter had in his right hand as he slapped it down onto his disk, and a dragon even more fearsome than the Blue Eyes White Dragon appeared on the field.
"Tremble in fear! I activate my monster's effect! By paying 1000 life points, I can destroy every card in all of our hands and fields to inflict three hundred points of damage times the number of cards destroyed to both of your life points! And that comes out to...3300!" he shouted after doing a bit of math.
Adriel and Mystic both stared in shock as their fields were blown away, and their life points both fell down to zero, Mystic's by a mere 100 points.
"We lost...we both lost..." muttered Adriel.
"Of course you did!" shouted Leo from the sidelines. "No one can beat our boss!" he jeered.
"Now hand over your best cards so we can leave," said the Hunter. Sadly, Mystic handed over his druid as Adriel gave the Hunter an equally rare card.
"Later," said the Hunter, leaving with Leo and Orion.
"It's okay..." said Aarion, trying to find some way to comfort his friends.
"No it's not...I keep on losing. WHY DO I ALWAYS LOSE?!" shouted Adriel, screaming at the top of his lungs. A few duelists who were watching the duel panicked and ran off.
"We're going back to my place," Mystic announced.
"Why? Just so I can lose more of your cards?" Adriel cursed at himself, noting that the card he lost was originally Mystic's.
"I don't care. Honestly, I don't. Apart from my deck, all the cards I brought with me were given to me by the government." Mystic said, not wanting to let Adriel give himself more reason to feel sorry for himself.
"...Fine." said Adriel, getting up and shoving his disk rather roughly back into his backpack. No one dared to stop them when Mystic, Adriel, Aldrai, and Aarion walked right out of school.
The knob of Mystic's door clicked as the key was turned, and Mystic opened the door, walking into his apartment. He passed through the living room and into his bedroom, fetching his briefcase of cards. "Help yourselves...whatever makes your strategy better."
Aldrai and Aarion dug right in, totally gutting the case of cards. Adriel, however, took a seat on Mystic's bed and stared blankly into space. A half hour later, Mystic finally gathered up enough courage to try and talk to Adriel. "Adriel? You alright?"
Mystic got no response. He tried again. "Adriel, please respond..." Still nothing. The Australian sighed, but suddenly tensed.
"What's up, Mystic?" asked Aldrai, noticing Mystic's rigid posture.
"There's some sort of presence in here..." Mystic replied.
"No matter what I do, I'll always keep on losing." said Adriel to himself, focusing on nothing.
"I'm not good enough. I can't play the game." he thought. He didn't even notice the darkness that clouded his vision.
"If failure is what you fear, then follow my voice..." said someone.
"Who are you..." asked Adriel apathetically.
"Someone who can bring you great power. Someone who will pull you out of this bog of defeat." the voice said in a promising tone.
"And why would you bother helping me..." said Adriel, still completely uncaring.
"Because you are a rare yet perfect match for the source of power that I control." the voice answered.
"...Fine." said Adriel, not really wanting to move from his self pity.
"Look into the light...I'll take care of the rest." the voice said soothingly. Adriel's vision slowly became a blinding shade of darkness.
Mystic was up in a defensive position, while Aldrai and Aarion were slowly inching backwards. "Mystic...what's happening?" asked Aarion, unknowing but still aware of the presence that was in the room.
"Someone has overtaken Adriel's soul." Mystic responded as Adriel was suddenly swallowed in some sort of black sheet.
"What is that?!" shouted Aldrai.
"No clue," said Mystic. "But I have a feeling that I know what happens next."
The sheet around Adriel began to constrict while twisting itself. Small tears began to appear, and as Adriel rose into the air, curled up in a fetal position, the cloth ripped completely, forming a faded black, hooded cloak that hung over a purely black set of robes. His entire garb looked extremely worn and tattered, and the aura of darkness that was emanating from the boy felt incredibly weak as well.
"He's undergoing some sort of transformation. We have to snap him out of it." said Mystic, producing a dream catcher from under his pillow.
"One of those things?" questioned Aarion.
"Yes, one of those. I did a bit of research and according to the legends that are associated with dream catchers, different gemstones are associated with different healing aspects. Mine has been blessed with stones that cleanse the spirit. So if I use this in a way that the Native Americans didn't figure out, I might be able to bring Adriel back."
Mystic closed his eyes and focused, the stones on his dream catcher glowing slightly. The darkness around Adriel began to subside, and Mystic sighed, opening his eyes again. "That was weird, but it should be over now." he said, reassuring Aldrai and Aarion.
Mystic turned to face his two friends, whose jaws were both dropped. They were staring at the figure behind the Australian. "What? Did I blow him up or something?" Mystic asked.
"Not quite," said a harsh voice. Mystic spun around to see Adriel floating in front of him in a posture that displayed his full power. Adriel's clothes were suddenly more impressive, his robes and cape both changing from their rough, punctured fabrics to smooth, flawless ones, both retaining their original color with an added luster.
"Who are you?" asked Mystic tensely.
"Not one to trifle with," said Adriel as he telekinetically strapped his DuelDisk onto his arm, attached his deck box to the disk, swiped a few cards, and jumped out of the window.
"What the-" shouted Aldrai, running to the window with Mystic and Aarion. Even though the apartment was twenty some stories off the ground, Adriel had already vanished.
"Adriel..." muttered Mystic softly, wondering what had happened to his friend.