Disclaimer/Author's Note
Well, in my searching of and my procrastination, I found yet another excellent author. This one goes by the alias of WolfGeneral and is the author of the Demon Duelist Legacy series. Look him up because I'm not sure what does to URLs or whatever...
He's better than me at making custom cards, which is truly saying something. A ton of the dragon cards in the fic starting now will be his creations. BTW yes, I have received permission from him to use these cards.
YuGiOh: Hallowed Darkness
Ryu the Sovereign
Adriel found himself in robes, lying sprawled on the stony, cold ground in a dark room. "Where am I?" he asked no one.
"You are in my realm," said a voice. Adriel pushed himself up and began to cautiously scan the room for any sound, smell, or sight that would alert him to another presence.
"Who are you?" Adriel asked.
"I am Ryu, and I am your master." Adriel was about to speak again before 'Ryu' cut him off. "To answer your next questions, I want you because you are a legitimate candidate to become my avatar. I was the one who talked to you earlier. Your friends are safe. I have no intention of harming them. I have no intention of harming you, either. I am everywhere in this room, but I will shortly materialize in front of you. I want to duel you. I will not take any cards from you if you lose."
Adriel fell silent and relaxed himself slightly as he felt something appear in front of him. A faint rustling noise could be heard, followed by a sharp cracking sound. A minute explosion illuminated the area around Adriel, and he saw that he was facing someone who was not human. The fire split into five tongues and flew into torches on the circular wall around the two of them, and the room slowly began to shift into focus.
"My name is Ryu," said the...creature, restating what he said before. "I am the sovereign of dragons." he said. Taking a closer look, Adriel realized that Ryu looked a bit dragonic himself.
"My deck..." muttered Adriel, not wanting to duel this anomaly.
"Is on your DuelDisk. Which is on your arm, if you hadn't noticed."
Adriel took the time to marvel at the lightness of his DuelDisk, which he had indeed not noticed. "Fine...I'll duel you. It's not like I have anything to lose," he said, activating his DuelDisk.
"Not true," said Ryu, producing his own deck and disk. "If you lose, you lose your body." the sovereign said.
"WHAT?!" shouted Adriel. "You said that if I lost, nothing would happen to me!"
"Again, you are a liar." said Ryu calmly, inserting his deck into his disk, which looked like it was made from a black metal. "I said that if you lose, you will not lose any cards."
"...Well, you said you have no intention of harming me!" Adriel shouted, a bit afraid but mostly angry.
"I don't. Separating your soul from your body won't hurt you. You just won't be corporeal any more." Ryu said, his disk now activated.
"Fine. I won't lose, though." Adriel said, drawing his five-card starting hand. "Freak." he added, drawing his sixth. The insult seemed to pass over Ryu's head peacefully.
"I summon Twin Dragon Eyes to the field!"(1500/1000) Adriel shouted as a pair of black eyes with stunning blue irises and no pupils appeared at his side. "Its effect allows me to-" he started. Once again, Ryu cut him off.
"Artificially attack," said Ryu. "I know that this monster's effect lets you 'attack' by doing 1500 points of damage to a monster, or in this case my life points. I told you, I am the sovereign of dragons. And I know what you intend to summon." Ryu finished as his life points dropped to 2500.
"Whatever. I set two cards and end my turn," Adriel said.
"I summon Gaius the Earth Dragon in defense mode. Then, I set three cards face down." (500/2200) said Ryu.
"Not much of a challenge so far." Adriel said. "I summon Swarm of Dragon Scales in attack mode!" (1500/2500) "Now I activate two of my Attraction of Shards trap cards to special summon Team of Dragon Claws and Gemini Dragon Wings to the field from my deck!" (2000/1800 1900/2200)
Suddenly, Adriel had four powerful monsters on the field and Ryu was left only with his Gaius. "But that's not all!" shouted Adriel, "I play my Polymerization card from my hand to fuse all four of my monsters to summon Dragon Monarch Husk to the field!" (2750/3000) Adriel discarded one of his three remaining cards to the graveyard. His four monsters arranged themselves in such a way that they appeared to be a dragon, although they were still obviously not bound together.
"What? No Dragon Animated monster to complete the fusion?" asked Ryu skeptically. "All you have is an empty husk! And you know that it can't attack, even if it can't be destroyed, either. I hope you have the soul in your hand, or I'll have to summon Rahu the Dragon Monarch myself."
Adriel scowled as he realized that Ryu wasn't bluffing. He actually did know every card in Adriel's deck, even if it was simply because he knew every dragon card in existence. "Well I can't summon another monster this turn, you idiot." said Adriel. "Besides, did you forget that control of the Dragon Monarch Husk can't change?" he said, confident that he had just found a gap in Ryu's knowledge.
"Hmm...this is normally true. But I have a card in my deck that overrides that little problem. Let's see..." Ryu drew, and Adriel held his breath in anticipation. "Ah darn, not it. But wait, could it be on the field? Perhaps. Perhaps not. However, I can still defeat you with ease. I activate Dragon's Gathering to special summon Infernus the Pyro Dragon to the field!" (2200/2000) Next to Ryu's prone earth dragon erupted a dragon that was alight with flame.
"Okay..." muttered Adriel. "Neither monster can defeat what I have on the field."
Ryu allowed himself to crack a smile. "That's where you're wrong. Because of the effect of my Dragon's Gathering trap card, Infernus and Gaius are forced to immediately fuse!"
Adriel watched with apprehension as Ryu's two monsters melded, the earth that composed Gaius cracking and splitting open to vent red-orange flames. Its entire body was glowing. "My two monsters have become only the first of my mighty dragons! Meet Magmus the Lava Dragon!" (2450/2100)
Adriel chuckled. "It's still not strong enough." he pointed out. Indeed, Magmus lacked a good 300 points to be able to even match Adriel's soulless corpse.
"That's why I will activate my monster's special ability." Ryu said calmly. "I can pay life points in multiples of 200 that are less than or equal to 1000 in total. Then, for every 200 life points I pay, your monster loses 100 attack and defense points while mine gains 200 attack and defense points. And I pay 400 life points!" (Adriel-3700 Ryu-1100)
Adriel watched as Magmus breathed a thick stream of molten lava at his monarch husk. The dragon parts didn't corrode, but they were clearly being taxed by the goo. (2550/2800) Similarly, this expunging of lava seemed to relieve a burden Magmus was carrying. (2850/2500)
"Now then, I attack your husk with Magmus!" shouted Ryu.
Adriel was defenseless as Magmus flew into the air and crashed into Adriel's Dragon Monarch Husk and lost form, molding itself into a molten sphere. This ball imploded, and the pieces flew back over to Ryu, reforming into Magmus. Adriel's monster was still standing. "It's my turn," said Adriel. "And since you brought it up during your turn, I'll summon Dragon Animate to the field and equip it to my husk!" (1900/1000) "Then, I'll fuse the two through Dragon Animate's effect to form Rahu the Dragon Monarch!" (3750/4000) A deep blue mist began to flow around Adriel's monarch, and it suddenly flew into the monster, filling all the gaps. The result was truly astounding. Rahu's original four parts had finally set in, and their ebony black tone contrasted starkly with the pulsating blue 'flesh' that had morphed Rahu into the monster it truly was. Rahu let out a gigantic roar that sent flecks of Magmus flying.
Ryu was unimpressed. "Like I've never seen that monster before. It doesn't matter, because I activate my quickplay spell card, Hireling!" On Ryu's side of the field, a spell card flipped up and a giant purse of gold appeared on his side of the field. "I now have to pay one card from my deck during each of my end phases, but your Rahu card is now mine!"
"Rahu shares the effect of my previous monster! Control of it can't change!" Adriel protested.
"I beg to differ. The effect of Hireling only works on monsters of level 9 or higher. Rahu is level 10. And Hireling negates the effects of any monster it targets. So as long as I can pay, Rahu is mine now."
Adriel grimaced and set a card. "I end my turn." he said.
Ryu drew. "I activate the spell card Fusion Gate!" As he said this, a swirling vortex appeared above the two duelists and a green grid enveloped the field. "Now I will create another fusion by tributing both Haze the Smoke Dragon and Shine the Light Dragon from my hand!" (0/0 0/0)
Ryu's two monsters flew into the air and into the vortex. The abyss flashed a few times before spitting out a monster made out of some combination of smog and light. (0/0) "What purpose did that serve?" asked Adriel.
"My monster, Shroud the Mist Dragon, has some very special abilities. It can't be attacked. Plus, it's used as an all-purpose defender. But we'll get to that later. Actually, we won't. You have no monsters on the field. I, on the other hand, have three, even if Shroud has no attack points. So it's been fun, but I definitely expected better. Attack, Rahu and Magmus!" Ryu's two monsters let off simultaneous attacks. Rahu's attack was a blue bolt of energy followed by a whirlwind of plasma created from one of its wingbeats, and Magmus attacked again with its bombardment tactic.
"Activate trap card Waboku!" Adriel flipped a card, and three robed priestesses appeared on the field. "Neither of your monsters will harm my life points this turn," said Adriel.
Ryu closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine, delay the inevitable. It's not like I have anything better to do. The dragonoid discarded a card from the top of his deck and ended his turn.
Adriel drew unsteadily. He stole a quick glance at his card before throwing it onto his disk. "I play Change of Heart!" he shouted.
"You know you can't get Rahu back, don't you?" asked Ryu. "My trap was an exception."
Adriel smiled weakly. "Yeah, but I wasn't aiming for Rahu. I want Magmus."
Ryu frowned. "You know Rahu's special ability makes that of Magmus fairly useless, right?" he asked.
"That's what I'm counting on." Adriel said as Magmus slid to his side of the field.
"Now I use Magmus' ability by paying 1000 life points!" Adriel's total slipped to 2700. "As per Magmus' effect, its attack is now 3450, since last turn's boost wore off. And Rahu is left with 3250, which is just enough for me to slip by! Attack, Magmus! Lava Impact!"
Magmus, who was looking extremely energetic, pounced upon Rahu and melted instantly, the monarch never having a chance to dodge. Adriel wasn't expecting Shroud to join the fray.
"What's going on?" Adriel asked.
"Well, one of Shroud's abilities is going off. It's seeping into Magmus' body, dismantling it into its two components. Which means both Infernus and Gaius just attacked Rahu."
Adriel paled. Infernus had 2200 attack, which was tolerable, but Gaius had a mere 500! Dolorous calculations revealed that Adriel had just lost 3800 life points, knocking him out of the duel. But for some reason, Adriel was left standing.
"You know, I really hate monster effects." moaned Ryu.
"Too bad," said Adriel, whose life points had only dropped to 1900. "Thanks to my Dragon Monarch Husk's effect, I can remove it from play to reduce any damage I might take by 3000."
Adriel knew he was alive for now, but his field was empty. "End turn," he said.
"You're finished!" shouted Ryu. "I draw, but that doesn't matter. Rahu, attack!"
The now-rejuvenated Rahu spewed a stream of energy at Adriel, only to have it completely dissipate along the way.
"I really, really hate monster effects..." whined Ryu through gritted teeth.
"What happened?" asked Adriel.
"Shroud's effect prevents me from attacking the turn after its effect is activated. So now I have to end my turn." Ryu discarded another card from his deck and signaled to Adriel.
Luck is on my side... thought Adriel, drawing. These two cards work perfectly together...but even that might not be able to stop Rahu. I guess I have to try though... he said. "I use the effect of your Fusion Gate to fuse the two cards in my hand. Now I choose to bring out Infusion Dragon!" (?/?)
Two dark forms shot into the vortex and one descended back onto the field. It was shapeless. "How can you even tell that's a dragon?" asked Ryu, although he knew what would happen. There's no way Adriel would know what to do... he thought to himself.
"I use the effect of Infusion Dragon to first take Rahu's power! Since I'm not actually taking Rahu itself, Rahu's effect is useless."
Some of Rahu's aura flew into Adriel's Infusion Dragon. "Surely you know what happens now," said Adriel in an almost mocking tone.
"Of course. Rahu loses half its attack and your monster gains that attack. Then, you will take the effect of Shroud and duplicate it into your monster. Finally, you can infuse your monster with your own life points to increase its attack." Ryu said, now confident that he would win.
"Precisely. So now that my monster has 1875 attack, I will infuse it with another 1100, which is exactly enough to kick you out of the duel!" (18751100/0)
"Attack Rahu now!" shouted Adriel. Infusion Dragon rose from the ground and took on a shadowy form that was a melding of Adriel, Rahu, and Shroud. It glowed intensely and let off a stream of white energy that looked like Rahu's basic attack.
But something went horribly wrong. Instead of counterattacking, Rahu crouched low to the ground and protected itself with its wings. "What?!" shouted Adriel, shocked.
"When you stole the effect of Shroud, you didn't know what you were taking! Shroud forces all monsters it attacks to go into defensive mode. So Rahu is now in defense mode with 4000 defense, while your Infusion monster only has 2975 attack points. Meanwhile, you only have 800 life points. So since you lost 1025 life points, you just-"
"Lost the duel. Again." said Adriel, knowing that this was the end for him. As his Infusion dragon was knocked back and Rahu counterstruck, Adriel closed his eyes, waiting for the end.