Do I really need a disclaimer at the beginning of every chapter?
::sighs::
Well, better safe then sorry, I suppose…
I don't own Yugioh. There. Like anyone reads the disclaimer line, anyway…
Chapter 53
"Keep it up!" Seto shouted as they continued the barrage on the side of the castle. He ducked as an arrow went whizzing over where his head used to be, and muttered something under his breath. He threw up a barrier as another barrage of arrows came flying down upon them. Suddenly, a spell hit his barrier, causing him to flinch and strain to keep it up.
The sorcerer who had cast the spell was then taken out by a combination attack…a Great White launched a Seven Colored Fish into the air, and the fist snapped its sharp teeth at the sorcerer. The first attempt missed, but the second one had the sorcerer half-inside the fish. The fish went back under the water, eating the rest of the sorcerer as it did.
Seto grinned at Shinbu, "Thanks."
Shinbu just nodded, then focused his energies on the battle.
It still amazed Seto that the man could summon so many creatures…Shinbu had five water-based creatures in the water, and two earth monsters behind them to give support. Seto himself could only summon two monsters at a time…or use his magic. It was one or the other. Suddenly, a powerful blast hit and his barrier shattered, some of the energy tearing through him. He gave a shout as he was thrown back, wincing as he hit the dirt.
"Are you alright?!" Shinbu spared a glance over to him.
"Y-yea…," Seto winced, glancing at himself and seeing if anything was broken. His entire body didn't want to respond, and he gritted his teeth, "My body's completely numb, though!"
"Look out, kid!"
Seto looked up and saw another blast heading his way, then winced. When it didn't hit him, he saw Jumo standing in front of him, the warrior's shield completely melted from when he had blocked the attack. He had some burn marks on him.
"Jumo?!" Seto exclaimed, his body tingling as he sat up and feeling started to come back from the shock of the lightening attack he was hit with.
"I'm okay," Jumo dropped the superheated shield, "I owed you one, kid."
Seto smirked, "Thanks."
Jumo nodded.
"Heads up! They brought reinforcements!" called one of the healers that was behind the warriors, watching with some binoculars.
"Can you still fight?" Jumo asked Seto.
"Can fish still breathe underwater?" Seto smirked, rolling back his torn sleeves and getting ready to chant a spell. "They'll have to do better then that to get rid of me."
Jumo grinned, and hurried back to where the other warriors were waiting for their chance to storm the stronghold.
* * *
Malik yelped as he went flying back from a barely-blocked sorcerer's attack.
"Are you alright?" a soldier asked.
"Yea," Malik nodded, standing up and pointing his staff at the sorcerer team on the castle walls, then cast a spell that shot out from the rod and into the team, taking out some of the sorcerers and knocking the others off.
The other sorcerers followed Malik's lead, and the Kurayami group's defense was completely shattered.
"Go for it, Ryou!" Malik shouted, "Now's your chance!"
Ryou nodded and pulled out a card, concentrating, "Boar Soldier!"
A giant, armored boar with a large, rock mallet appeared and roared.
"Attack the castle!" Ryou commanded it. He turned to the already summoned Giant Soldier of Stone, "Help him!"
The soldier of stone nodded and lumbered over and started to take swings at the wall, making the entire castle shake.
The sorcerers and archers that were up on the walls couldn't stand still enough to cast a spell or aim their bows, and they eventually abandoned their posts when the aimed attacks of the sorcerer's on the Hikari Senshi hit their marks and downed a good ¾ of the defense team.
There was a crack, and the wall suddenly exploded…but not inwards. Instead, it exploded outwards from a force created on the inside. A dark power lanced out and easily destroyed the two monsters, then slammed into the Hikari Senshi force. Some of the Senshi were killed on the spot…others ended up with missing limbs, and some were just engulfed in the darkness, screaming for mercy.
"Malik?!" Ryou, who had used his power to defend himself, looked around for the boy.
A different voice spoke up…a very familiar one. "He's alright. Just knocked out. Look to your left, stupid."
Ryou glanced down to his left and saw Malik there, unconscious. He was a bit scratched up, but was breathing, and otherwise was fine. Ryou blew out a breath of relief before he was able to identify to whom the voice belonged to as a figure approached from the smoke that was kicked up in the attack. "No…"
Bakura snickered as he looked up, "So, you've learned how to summon…and you're fairly good at it, too. Care to test it? Your powers against mine?"
Ryou gulped, and held his deck at ready.
"I can feel your spirit is in this fight. You'll need it," Bakura sneered, holding up a deck of cards, "That is, if you can stomach my new monsters. They're gravely appalling."
Ryou glanced at Malik briefly, and didn't even want to see what was left of the troop he was supposed to be leading. He angrily turned back to the other boy, "I accept!"
Bakura sneered, "Well, then…let's arrange the stakes of the fight. If I win, then anything goes. This is a war, after all. But we can make it more interesting. After all…we aren't fighting a war like you Earthians fight. You and your stupid weapons and despicable fighting habits. We fight wars with wagers…in the Shadow Realm. Did you know, Ryou? That the entire Kurayami base is located in the Shadow Realm? The soil you're on is contaminated with our presence!"
"You're the ones who are making the land cry," Ryou whispered.
"Who gives a damn?" Bakura growled, "Wager time, Ryou. We go to the death."
"We what…?!"
"You're in no position to argue," Bakura pointed to what was left of the troop, "Since about two of your guys are in semi-decent fighting condition."
Ryou growled, "Fine! So what's the deal?"
"We go to the death," Bakura shrugged, "In other words, whoever can't summon anymore or is overpowered and killed along with their monster will die. You can't use the same monster more then once, obviously."
"Obviously?"
"Haven't they taught you anything about summoning?" Bakura shook his head, "Look, you lowlife…when a monster is injured, it returns to the card form…and stays injured until its user has enough energy left to heal it. In other words…summoning it again will kill it."
"Oh."
Bakura continued, "So, if I win…your platoon has to give up. And, I keep the boy." He indicated towards Malik.
"Are you insane…?!" Ryou exclaimed, "What do you want with him…?!"
"Easy…under the right influence, he can help us instead of you," Bakura sneered, "Once he sees that you are dead and everyone else is, too, and that his sister is on the side of the Kurayami, he'll have no choice but to surrender to us. He's powerful, Ryou. He'll turn the tide of battle that your friends are fighting so hard to keep the lead in."
Ryou gritted his teeth, "Involving family…I can't forgive you."
"Do you agree?" Bakura interrupted.
"What if I win?"
"What if you win?" Bakura raised an eyebrow.
"You want me to declare the stakes?" Ryou looked confused.
"I told you…this is part of the Shadow Realm. Both sides have to be in agreement if they can both use the same basis of the powers. And, this isn't like a war on your Earth. Both sides, when an arrangement is made between them, must make the stakes for their win. Got it, Earth-boy?" Bakura looked annoyed, "And hurry up with it! I don't want to stand here and talk deals all day! You're wasting my time!"
Ryou, not wanting to provoke the insane boy, immediately went to thinking, "If I win, your group has to release Isis from its grasp."
Bakura glared at him.
"A person for a person," Ryou stated, "You want Malik…and I want Isis." Tears welled up in his eyes, "I want my cousin back! This may mean nothing to you except for gaining a win and another follower…but for me and the others, it means our lives! It means being able to live in peace with our families! My father's dead…and my mother is imprisoned! My elder cousin is brainwashed by you people, and my younger cousin was nearly killed in that last attack!"
"Spare me," Bakura rolled his eyes sarcastically, "Fine. I agree."
"Then so do I," Ryou hissed, a fire in his eyes. His entire body glowed with the aura and energies inside of them.
Bakura was momentarily taken aback. Impossible…he can't be that powerful…can he? Convincing himself that he was seeing things, he pulled out his first card, "You saw the battle between myself and Yami back in Egypt…this is similar! One monster each turn can be played, magic and trap cards are useless!" He threw the card out, "My first card is Skull Servant!"
The skeletal specter appeared, its teeth chattering in a silent laugh.
Ryou pulled out his first card and threw it down, "And my monster is Griggle!" The little creature with what looked like a bush for a head appeared. "Attack!"
Griggle leapt at the skeleton.
Ryou waited. Griggle has an attack of 350, while the Skull Servant only has an attack of 300. With the boost from the mountains around it, the Griggle's attack points went up to 650. The shock wave should knock Bakura back.
Bakura smirked, "Fool!"
"What?!" Ryou blinked.
Griggle bounced harmlessly off of the skeleton, wincing as it hit the ground and looking up.
The Skull Servant was glowing with a dark aura, and grinned back at the little Griggle.
"You are stupid," Bakura laughed, "Don't you get it? Weren't you listening to me? We're in the Shadow Realm! Skull Servant is a dark monster that also happens to be an earth monster since it's a zombie. So, it gets a bonus from the mountains and a bonus from the darkness! I think you can do the math, but let me spell it out for you anyway. My Skull Servant now has an attack of 900! Which is stronger then the 650 attack points of your boosted Griggle." His eyes glinted as he pointed, "Now, Skull Servant! Attack with Bone Boomerang!"
The skeleton chattered, and pulled out one of its bones, then thrust it at the Griggle. The Griggle gave a yelp as the boomerang hit it. It turned to tiny bits and then glowed, returning to card form as the boomerang continued and Ryou was barely able to dodge it.
Skull Servant caught the boomerang and put the bone back, its teeth chattering once again in its silent laughter.
Ryou gritted his teeth at the pain in his arm where the boomerang had skimmed him and blood was seeping into his shirt sleeve.
"Understand now?" Bakura sneered, "You have no hopes of beating me."
"I do," Ryou looked up, pulling another card out, "Because I'm not fighting to win the war! I'm fighting to get my family back!" He threw the card out.
The Hitotsu-Me Giant appeared, the monster resembling a Cyclops. It roared and looked at its opponent. With the boost, the giant had an attack of 1500. It lunged at the skeleton and completely smashed through the bones.
"Looks like this round belongs to me!" Ryou stated.
Bakura smirked, "Look again. Remember…my creatures are zombies. You saw the battle between Yami and me. You can't kill a zombie with a normal attack."
To Ryou's horror, the bones were picking themselves up again and reforming into the Skull Servant.
"And," Bakura continued, "with every time it's destroyed, it returns with a bonus of half the attack points of the monster that destroyed it added to its own attack points! And since your Giant's attack points is 1500 because of the terrain boost, that adds 750 points to my Servant's attack, making its attack a total of 1650!"
Ryou swore in his mind.
"Not only that…," Bakura pulled out a card, "But since we get to play a monster each turn, I can still play a monster! Your attack ends your turn and begins mine! So…now I play The Thirteenth Grave. It, too, is a darkness and earth zombie. That boosts its power from 1200 to 1800!"
Ryou gulped and raised his aura like Seto had shown him for a defense as the two monsters attacked.
The bone boomerang tore through the Giant, and slammed into Ryou's arms, which were raised to add to the defense, just giving him a nice bruise. The bone club of the Thirteenth, however, came across hard. There was a 'snap', and Ryou cried out and clutched his left arm in pain as it swelled up from having the bone broken as he fell to the ground.
"Done already?" Bakura raised an eyebrow.
Ryou winced in pain, put his hand on his deck to take another card.
"How long can you last? Having to put up a defense with your power and using the same power to summon a monster?" Bakura sneered, "Give up."
"N-never," Ryou gritted his teeth, "I may not be that brave…but traveling with Yugi has taught me one thing. Never give up. Yugi never gave up…not ever. Not even when we thought he would lose. Not even when it looked like he would lose. Even when it seemed like hope had run out. He never gave up."
"He's a weakling."
"Physically, maybe," Ryou stood up, still clutching his left arm, "But mentally, he was the strongest one of all of us! He fought…even when he was afraid! He's shown courage I've never seen before…that I thought was only a dream! But it's not! Everyone has that courage! And so do I! And that's why I'm not giving up! Not on Gaia, not on this fight, not on my family, and not on myself!"
There was a silence between the two that was only interrupted by the sounds of battle from the other parts of the castle as they glared at each other.
Bakura broke contact and sneered, "How very sweet…almost makes me want to puke!"
Ryou winced, and started to draw his card, "You aren't as evil as you think…you just don't know it!"
"Stuff it!" Bakura snapped. How many times is this boy going to tell me I'm not evil?! He fucking tells me every time we see each other! Even after what I do to him!
"I'm not giving up," Ryou whispered, and concentrated, "Please…my monsters." He pulled out a card and smiled at it. "Thank you."
"Just make your move, asshole!" Bakura, who was getting aggravated more at himself and the thoughts he was having that were crashing into one another, shouted.
"Very well!" Ryou threw the card out with his good hand, "I summon the Ancient One of the Deep Forest!"
A goat-like creature appeared with horns and small wings coming out of its back, five fluffy tails spread out as it stood its ground.
Bakura laughed, "Even with the bonus, giving your monster an attack of 2100, it still can't harm my zombies…"
"That's what you think," Ryou stated, "I heard a story about the Elder…and the Ancient One is an elder! That means that it has its own magical powers!"
"What…?!" Bakura exclaimed.
"Go! Use your Ancient Magic!" Ryou pointed.
Ancient One let out a noise that sounded like a mix of a wolf and a goat, and its tails spread wider, balls of green flame coming from each one and pulsing with electric energy that spread out to the two skeletons standing on Bakura's side.
Bakura gave an exclamation of surprise and pain as the energy destroyed both his monsters and slammed into him. He fell to his knees, the energy pulsating in him and making it feel like he was on fire. He had to roll in the dirt to get the fire to go away, and breathlessly got to his feet, burned in a couple places. He glared at Ryou and pulled out a card. Glaring at it, he threw it in disgust.
The Stone Ogre Grotto appeared, its attack raising to 1900 with the boost from the mountain terrain.
Ryou decided to conserve energy, and didn't summon a monster. Instead, he just had his Ancient One attack. The beast used its powerful horns and a little magic in them to destroy the Grotto with a headbutt.
Chunks of rock went flying, some of them slamming into Bakura despite the barrier he put up to defend himself. Wincing in pain and bleeding as the stones turned to ash and glowed to become a card again, he put his arms down from their defensive position, glaring at the boy the entire time. I don't understand…how is it that he's got the upper hand now?! My zombies and rock monsters should be indestructible! A normal beast can't do damage to a rock! Yet…his Ancient One is able to! Growling, Bakura threw out his next card, hoping it was something he could use.
The Armored Zombie appeared, its rotting flesh creating a stench and its armor glistening with rust. Bakura smirked as the Zombie's attack went up 600 points for both bonuses of the field, putting it at 2100.
"Attack!" Bakura shouted, "Get rid of that creature!"
The Zombie made an 'ungh' noise, and swung its sword as the Ancient One met the attack with its horns. Both powers slammed into each other, destroying both monsters. There were two glows, and they returned to their cards.
"I know I left myself open to your next attack," Bakura snickered, "But now that your powerful monster is out of the way, whatever you play next will be meaningless!"
Ryou gulped and pulled out his next card. Wincing at the pain he would take next turn, he summoned his creature.
The Petit Moth hit the field, and looked like a giant green caterpillar. With the bonus of the mountains, its attack was only 600 points.
"Go!" Ryou pointed. Even if it was just a little damage, it could make a difference. He found that his power had been depleted somewhat by his Ancient One. And he knew that the damage that Bakura was taking was weakening the boy's power as well.
The Moth headbutted Bakura, who just fell back, gasping for breath.
Ryou's eyes widened. He didn't buffer himself with his powers! He let that attack hit him normally so he wouldn't use up his aura! Ryou gritted his teeth.
Bakura stood up, still slightly winded, and pulled out a card. He sneered at Ryou. "Play time is over, boy! Take this!" He threw the card out. "I summon the Skull Knight!"
Ryou's eyes went wide as he looked at the bone-covered, armored creature that had just been summoned. He didn't pay attention to the drain it took from Bakura's power, because he didn't even know if it would matter. The creature was supposed to be a fusion monster…but Bakura didn't use any fusion cards. Then, realization hit Ryou. It was because of Bakura's power that the monster fused on its own. He was able to summon a fusion monster because of the vast amount of dark power that Bakura had.
And, since the monster's attribute was darkness, Bakura was able to pull it off.
Ryou didn't have much time to contemplate that as he stared at the monster. Its normal attack of 2650 went up to 2950…almost as powerful as one of the most powerful monsters in the 'game'.
"Say goodbye to your monster and your life!" Bakura shouted, "Skull Knight…! ATTACK!"
Ryou could only stand, frozen in fear and horror, as the very visage of death descended upon him.
TO BE CONTINUED…
::Hides from possible incoming projectiles::
I know! I finally get a new chapter up, and it's a cliffhanger! I'm sorry!
But, I hope it was enjoyable for the most part…and I apologize again for the slowness of the chapters getting posted. Thank you for your patience.
::bows::