Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Legends of the Demon Duelist-Chaos Arc

Chapter 7: Balance and Flames

Rykiel slid a card into his disk. "Go Flames of Hell. This magic card requires that I sacrifice a monster on my field." The Dark Judge roared in pain and burst into flames. "When I do so, I may special summon Master of Inferno; Diablo (2000/1700) in attack mode!" A red-skinned devil holding a spiked whip appeared on the field. "And when summoned to the field Diablo immediately activates an equipment magic card from my deck called Necrowhip." Removing a card from his deck, the demon inserted it into his disk. In the hands of Diablo a whip made of red muscle tissue appeared.

Rikuo felt sweat slide down his face. ("That card lets Diablo revive as many monsters from his graveyard as he has empty monster spaces each turn…")

Roaring in rage, Diablo cracked the whip onto the ground. There was an explosion of fire as four forms rose up out of the ground.

Rykiel looked his new field over. "Dark Salamander, Dark Judge, Jinzo, and a monster that I discarded that is known as Dark Cerberus." (2800/2000) A huge three-headed wolf appeared on the field behind all of the revived monsters. "This creature has the special ability that makes it the only monster you can attack as long as it is in play."

Rikuo didn't like these odds. Now he was stuck with one useless card in his hand and staring down not only five impossibly strong monsters, but his own Jinzo as well. ("Which means that I can't activate traps.")

Rykiel glanced over at Diablo and then at each of his assembled monsters. "This is more than enough attack power to kill you next turn. End turn, since Diablo prevents me from attacking the turn it is summoned."

Rikuo stood there, suddenly unsure what to do. ("I should have expected this…I mean, this guy is the culmination of both my skill and Jourgen's….") His lips lifted just a tiny bit. ("Finally, someone to force me past my own limits.")

Rykiel waited patiently for his opponent to move.

Rikuo met the demon's gaze and snickered. "Let's see what I can pull out of my hat, shall we?" He drew. "Card of Demise lets me draw cards until I have five in my hand. The only downside is that in five turns I must discard my whole hand." Rikuo snapped four cards off of his deck.

Rykiel closed his eyes. ("Let's see how well you do without the help of your other half.")

Rikuo glanced at all of the cards and smirked. "I sacrifice White Cyber-wolf and Black Cyber-wolf to summon out this!" A humanoid made entirely of gears appeared on his field. "Irios the Steel Monarch (2700/2300) in attack mode! Irios special ability activate! When he is the only attacking monster during the turn he is tribute summoned, his attack doubles!" (5400/2300)

Rykiel opened his eyes. "Perhaps you are better than I thought."

Rikuo pointed at the Cerberus. "Go Irios!" The steel humanoid launched across the field and punched a huge hole through the chest of the monster.

Rikuo- 2100

Rykiel- 1500

"End turn." Rikuo held up the four cards in his hand and smirked. "It looks like the advantage is mine, eh?"

"Not quite, or did you forget something?" Rykiel drew. "Necrowhip special ability go!" The ground behind him exploded and the form of the Cerberus returned. (2800/2000) "I can use Necrowhip every turn."

Rikuo made a strangled choking noise…

Rykiel pointed at Irios. "I overestimated your power. Die, Rikuo Amero." The Cerberus opened its three jaws and released a triple blast of fire that blew Irios apart.

Rikuo- 2000

Rykiel- 1500

Rykiel slid a card into his disk. "Today must be your lucky day, because using Necrowhip prevents me from attacking with more than one monster during that turn. So I set this card face-down on the field and end my turn."

Rikuo drew slowly. ("I can't submit…I'm doing well enough so far.") He looked at the drawn card and slid it into his disk. "Go Junk Dealer! This magic card lets me revive two machine monsters from my graveyard to the field in attack mode with half of their attack points!" A yellow metal tank and a blue and yellow robot appeared on his field. "Be reborn, X-Head Cannon (900/1500) and Z-Metal Tank (750/1300) in attack mode!"

Rykiel already knew what was coming.

Rikuo threw a card onto his disk. "Go Union Supplement (0/0) in attack mode!" A metal sphere appeared on the field in between his two monsters. "This monster can only be used if I have two parts of a three part fusion on the field. I may sacrifice it to special summon out the third piece of that fusion!" The sphere exploded and was replaced by a red mechanical dragon. "Go Y-Dragon Head!" (1500/1600) "And then I fuse these three monsters together with their special ability to create XYZ Dragon Cannon!" (2800/2600) The three machines broke apart and combined into a hover-tank like vehicle. "This creature lets me discard one card from my hand to destroy one card on the field!"

Rykiel didn't look very surprised. "Necrowhip?"

Rikuo nodded as the whip exploded. "And when Necrowhip leaves so does all of the monsters it summoned to the field!" The returned monsters all broke apart into dust. "Now you're Diablo is all alone! Go XYZ Dragon Cannon, Hyper Destruction!" Numerous ports opened up all over the body of the tank, revealing numerous weapons. Each of the weapons started to charge up…

Rykiel pointed to his face-down card. "Go Unholy Calamity. This card activates when my opponent declares an attack again me. It sends all monsters on the field to the graveyard." A wave of black smoke sprayed out of the now face-up card. The smoke swallowed up the field and when it cleared both Diablo and XYZ Dragon Cannon were gone.

Rikuo sucked in his breath and slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

Rykiel drew. "I play Card of Sanctity!"

Rikuo snarled quietly, his ears flicking in irritation. ("With that effect, we both have to draw until we hold six cards. In his case though…he gets to use those cards all at once, while I have to wait until his turn ends to use mine.") Reaching down, he removed five cards from his deck.

Rykiel held up his new hand. "Amero, I hope your single trap is capable of saving you, because I go on the attack right now!" Grabbing a card from his hand he slapped it onto his disk. "When I draw this monster through the effect of a magic card I may special summon it immediately! Come out Blood Jell!" (0/100) A crimson red blob appeared on the field. "Then I sacrifice this monster to the graveyard so that I can summon Dark Controller!" (2000/2500) A huge-winged demon appeared on his field. "Direct attack!"

Rikuo snickered and snapped his fingers. "Reverse card open! Widespread Ruin is a trap card that destroys the highest attack monster on your field!" An explosion of fire gushed out of the ground and consumed the demon.

Rykiel closed his eyes and slid three cards into his disk. "I set three cards face-down on the field and activate the effect of my Dark Controller! As long as he is in the graveyard I can once per turn activate any magic card in my graveyard! Go Card of Sanctity!" He drew five more cards. "Then I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

Rikuo drew. ("As long as Dark Controller is in his graveyard he has the perfect combo to defeat me. I have to either kill that thing or kill him right now!") "I play the magic card Heavy Storm! Since you've been so nice as set up five targets, I can destroy all magic and trap cards on your field!" A huge windstorm started to build…

And then just as quickly died. Rykiel shook his head. "You are pitiful…Imperial Order is a continuous trap that I activated when you played your card. As long as it is in play magic cards are invalid. However, when you declare the activation of your card my Spirit of Balance lets me play one card from my hand. So I'll summon Sangan (1000/600) in defense mode." A three-eyed fur-covered fiend appeared on his field.

Rikuo growled and slapped a card onto his disk. "I'll show you! Go Gold Wind-up Knight (1500/1500) in attack mode!" A gold-colored mechanical knight appeared on his field. "Attack the Sangan now!" Making a couple of clanking noises, the machine charged forwards and slashed the little fiend apart.

Rykiel's lips slightly. "And that's the end for you."

Rikuo narrowed his eyes slightly. "Explain."

"There is no need." Rykiel waved his hand over his field. "I'll let my cards do the explaining for me! Go Deck Devastation Virus and Deck Destruction Virus! These two traps infect my Sangan and then when you destroyed it you infected your hand, field, and deck!"

Rikuo knew the effect of these cards all too well. ("Those two cards force me to discard all cards from my hand and deck, as well as destroy all monsters on my field.") Growling, the wolf demon removed two cards from his hand and his Gold Wind-up Knight, placing them all into his graveyard. Then he went through his deck and emptied it of everything but magic and trap cards. "I set three cards face-down on the field and end my turn."

Rykiel drew. "Why so calm? You no longer have monsters…and with Imperial Order in play magic cards are also unavailable to you. With odds like that victory is impossible. Which reminds me, I must pay 700 life points to keep Imperial Order in play."

Rikuo- 2000

Rykiel- 800

"We'll see," Rikuo had gone emotionless. Now he was taking this duel seriously. ("Darkness Game or not, I'm not losing to you.")

Rykiel held up a card and inserted it into his hand. "When Sangan was destroyed I was allowed to search my deck for one monster card with 1500 or less attack points." Then he slapped a card onto his disk. "I summon Dark Horseman (1800/1900) in attack mode." A centaur in black armor appeared on his field. "Attack now!" It charged forwards and slammed right into Rikuo's chest, sending him stumbling. "End turn."

Rikuo- 200

Rykiel- 800

Rikuo continued to stumble for a few moments….and then started to laugh.

"Is there something you find funny about the fact that you are losing?" The genetically engineered demon was curious now. Very rarely did anyone ever laugh after having his combo used on them.

Rikuo slowly brought his head up and smirked. "You're getting sloppy."

Rykiel narrowed his eyes.

The wolf demon drew. "Magic card activate, Pot of Greed!"

Rykiel actually got a weak chuckle out of that. "Did you forget so quickly that I have Imperial Order in play? With that out you cannot play any magic cards and neither can I."

Rikuo snapped his fingers. "It's a damn shame you are wrong! Go Royal Decree!" One of his face-down cards flipped up. "As long as this card is in play all traps all null and void!"

Rykiel smirked and slid a card into disk. "I play my own Pot of Greed then, since Spirit of Balance is back in effect."

Both of them drew two cards.

Rikuo didn't even need to look at them. ("It's time to go for the jugular.") "Quickplay magic card go! Mystical Space Typhoon destroys your Imperial Order!" A sharp wind blew the trap apart. "Go Card of Sanctity!" He drew six cards, while Rykiel drew none. "Anything you'd care to play in response?"

Rykiel smirked and shook his head.

Rikuo didn't waste any time then. "Go Monster Reborn, reviving XYZ Dragon Cannon!" The hybrid tank appeared on his field.

Rykiel waved his hand over his field. "I activate the magic card Raigeki! This rare card will destroy all monsters on your field!" A thunder bolt fell from the sky and blew the machine monster apart.

Rikuo slid two cards into his disk. "Reverse card open! Activating my Emergency Provisions quickplay magic card lets me sacrifice magic and trap cards on my field to raise my life points by 1000 per card! I sacrifice the two I just set and the Royal Decree!" All three cards exploded and Rikuo's life points launched upwards.

Rikuo- 3200

Rykiel- 800

"Life point gain won't help you for long." Rykiel passed on doing anything in response to that.

Rikuo slammed a card into his disk. "I play the magic card Premature Burial! At the cost of 800 life points I revive one monster from my graveyard! Be reborn, my mighty Irios!" The Steel Monarch reappeared on the field.

Rikuo- 2400

Rykiel- 800

Rykiel threw a card into his graveyard. "Trap card Power Wave activates! This triggers when you summon a monster. All cards on the field will be destroyed, unless we discard cards to save them at a one to one ratio!" He discarded two cards to save his two.

Rikuo frowned and discarded one card. His XYZ Dragon Cannon exploded into dust.

Rykiel raised an eyebrow. "So that face-down card is worth more to you than a powerful monster?"

Rikuo's frown faded. "Activate the magic card Exchange of Soul! This card switches our graveyards until the end of the turn!"

Rykiel held up a card form his hand. "I know your plan. I play the magic card Reviving from a Crisis! When played this card lets you draw two cards and lets me pick up one monster from my graveyard!" He removed a card from his graveyard and held it up for Rikuo to see. "Dark Controller will not be used by you. I have far too many useful magic cards in my graveyard."

Growling, Rikuo drew twice. "I'm not finished yet!" He slid two cards into his disk. "If I can't draw cards thanks to you then I'll just use Exchange of Soul in a different way! I activate the magic card Capture Nanites! This card lets me revive as many of your machine monsters as I can from your graveyard."

"So you'll get back Jinzo? It doesn't matter, because that magic card summons the monsters in defense mode and they can't attack anyway." Rykiel blinked a couple of times as he saw the combo.

Rikuo smirked and held up five cards. "Exchange of Soul switched our graveyards for the turn, so I have more than enough fuel for this fire!" He slid the cards across his disk. "Irios, Gold Wind-up Knight, Black Cyber-wolf, White Cyber-wolf, and Machine King all return to my field in defense mode!" The five called monsters appeared on his field in crouching positions.

"That card only keeps these new monsters in play for one turn. Then they return to the graveyard. And since you have no monsters left in your deck you can't have any in your hand." Rykiel's logic was sound.

But Rikuo was never one to believe that logic always worked. "I activate the magic card Monster Reincarnation! By discarding one card from my hand I can pick up any monster in my graveyard. And my target, since your graveyard is mine until the end of the turn, is Jinzo!" Grabbing his best monster, Rikuo slid Machine King into the graveyard. "Then I sacrifice my monster to summon Jinzo out! Come forth, my mightiest monster!" The green-armored form of Jinzo reappeared on the field and chuckled coldly. (2400/1500)

Rykiel held up a card from his hand. "In response I activate the magic card Reverse Effect. This negates the effect of Capture Nanites and sends all monsters brought out through that effect back into the graveyard." All four of the remaining monsters disappeared. "Then I play Necromancy! This magic card lets me revive monsters from your graveyard to the field in defense mode. Since you have my graveyard, I'll be reviving these random monsters now!" Four random monsters appeared on Rikuo's field. "Then I play the magic card Crumbling Defenses! This destroys all defense mode monsters on the field!" All of Rikuo's new monsters were blown apart. "And when a monster revived by Necromancy is destroyed then your monster will lose 600 points!" (0/1500)

Rikuo blinked and growled angrily. "You're cheating! Where did the Dark Controller go?"

Rykiel held up his deck. "When returned to my hand or field from the graveyard Dark Controller is sent into my deck and I draw one card."

Rikuo stood there, and then smiled slightly. ("I was so close…I almost had him…") "End turn."

Rykiel drew. "I take back what I thought about you, Rikuo Amero. I thought you were good enough to go all the way and defeat me on your own. Now I know the truth…and I dislike what I see." His hand flipped the drawn card over. "I activate the magic card Dark Charge. This magic card raises the attack power of my monster by its defense points, though it will be destroyed at the end of the turn. Go Dark Horseman!" (3700/1900) The black-covered Centaur charged and ran Jinzo through, blowing it apart.

Rikuo- 0

Rykiel- 800

Rikuo felt the backlash of Jinzo's death hit him like a hammer blow. He fell to his knees and dropped the single card in his hand to the dirt.

Rykiel wasn't smiling…in fact, he seemed enraged. "I thought you could finally show me that I could be defeated in a fair battle. But no…all you did was prove to me that I have no equal…and for that I will make you pay!"

Rikuo felt little tingles in the air and he grimaced. ("This was a darkness game…but much more subtle. The energy was meant to be stealthy…I guess they didn't want Jourgen to feel this energy and show up to interfere.") He raised his chin defiantly and stood up so that he was face to face with Rykiel. "By all means, send my soul into the dark abyss. I'll find my way back and teach you a lesson in manners."

With lightning speed Rykiel grabbed Rikuo by the neck and squeezed tightly. "Actually…I have something far crueler in mind for the prideful likes of you, Amero."

-

Daniel glanced over at the door to Ichigo's room as it slowly opened. "Hello?"

"Hi!" Sammy poked her head in. "Is Ichigo awake?"

"Yeah…" Said half-demon groaned quietly and propped himself up.

Grinning, the girl walked in. Following her was Ashley, who was close to literally dragging Eri into the room as well. "We just came by to thank you for saving us from that guy."

Ichigo grinned and gave them the victory sign. "Hey, I'm a hero. It's what I do."

Ashley looked over the numerous bandages that were applied to the half-demon's body and frowned. "Who did this to you anyway?"

Ichigo went silent and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "Well…heheheh….Mr. Amero."

Both Sammy and Ashley looked over at Eri.

The demoness blushed slightly. "I didn't tell him to do it."

"Then why are you blushing?" Sammy prodded.

Ichigo suddenly became very interested in the ceiling fan.

Daniel just smiled and looked out the window again. ("Ah, my son the lady killer.")

Before either of the girls could press the two for answers, a knock came from the door. "Excuse me, is Professor Pilkington in?"

Daniel slid out of his seat and walked over to the door. "Yes?"

"Well, we had security check out this reported disturbance and found this guy on the site. I was wondering if maybe you knew who he belonged to?"

Daniel opened the door and poked his head out. "Who is…OH DEAR GOD!"

Everyone in the room stared at Daniel's back for a few moments, and then the half wolf-demon passed out and fell to the ground so that they had a clear view of what was outside. What they saw didn't really register as strange to Sammy, Ichigo or Ashley. For Eri though, she looked like she was about to pass out herself.

Right outside the door there was a nurse holding onto a sleeping young boy of maybe about seven or eight years old. This boy had a head-full of messy raven-black hair and golden-amber eyes. On top of his head was a pair of small little wolf ears of the same color.

-

"So did you deal with your business?" Ken crossed his arms across his chest and watched as Rykiel approached the dark grove where they had landed the helicopter.

"Though I would have preferred to have killed him, I did as Chaos ordered and came up with a more creative punishment." Snickering, the genetically-engineered demon held up his trophy, which was a black leather jacket with a wolf's head embroidered on the back. "Perhaps by the time Amero reaches a dueling age he can defeat me. If not…oh well."

Ken tapped a feet a couple of times against and tree stump he was sitting on. "And now we wait for Basil to finish his job."

"I've got nothing but time on my hands," Rykiel sat down cross-legged and went into a deep meditation. There was one other being that he still had to defeat before he could truly be satisfied. ("That being isn't far though, so I'm in no hurry to start my hunt.")

To be continued…

Author's Notes: For those of you who are confused about Rykiel, keep in mind that he is originally from the Reunion Arc.

To Seeker of the Soul: He isn't supposed to be amazingly brilliant. It doesn't need to be.

To Adriel: I bet you miss a lot, don't you?

To Isumo: This guy came from a certain man who I will not mention because it isn't important for you to know. As for the cloning? Keep in mind not every enemy just flat-out challenges our heroes face-to-face. Sometimes they need time to prepare.

To Hogwarts-Knight: Go back and count the number of Seals Midnight talked about.

To Mario: If you mean the chain-letter ones it is because I sorta dislike those.

To whitewolf: In the next chapter your wish will be my command.

To Bobbomp: Three? Who are these three, for I must kill them.

To Anime Albino: I've been smoking the finest Cuban cigars.

To Chaos Anubis: Uhuh….I suppose you are welcome to your opinion about Rykiel.