Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Legends of the Demon Duelist-Chaos Arc

Chapter 8: The Knight of Life

"Ashley! Stop poking my father's ears!" Eri growled and flexed her claws across the bed that Ichigo had abandoned for Rikuo.

"But they're so cute!" The blond-haired girl giggled as the little wolf ears flicked each time she poked them. Rikuo was still unconscious, but he wasn't injured otherwise.

Daniel wondered if it was too late to start drinking. "At least now he'll start acting his age."

"Take that back!" Eri somehow lunged across the room and pulled Daniel's face just a few inches from hers in less than a second.

Daniel's eyes slowly traveled down to her hands, which had his suit bunched up within them. Then he gave her the coldest stare he had given anyone in his entire life. "This suit is my nice business suit. You're currently wrinkling the collar of my nice business suit."

Ashley and Sammy both had their attention on the two now. They'd never heard Professor Pilkington ever speak to anyone like this before.

Ichigo, who was almost completely recovered from most of his wounds, had his eyes wide and looked like he was about to throw himself out the window. He'd once made the mistake of damaging his father's good suit. Though no physical violence had been involved with that situation, he'd quite literally wanted to shrivel up and die after all had been said and done.

A few seconds passed and Daniel's voice picked up again. "I see your hands are still wrinkling my nice business suit." The soft brown color of his eyes turned a violent red color. "Take your hands off the suit, now."

Eri didn't even realize she did what he said until she held her hand fall to her side.

Standing slowly, Daniel brushed himself off and glared at Eri. "I'm going to go get Ryu and see if he can help us out. All of you will stay here and make sure that Rikuo doesn't destroy anything if he freaks out."

-

Kenshin Anderson had always developed his father's innate ability to wander without any purpose. Even on a beautiful day like today he would somehow manage to disappear from the eyes of everyone and take in the sights of the island without ever being found.

Smiling at the sweet smells that reached his nose, the Crusader stretched his arms and felt all of his muscles pull tightly for a few moments. ("I love the feeling of the air on my ears. And to think that I live on this beautiful planet without a care in the world. My life is good. I have a good woman, my own strength and accomplishments…and someone out there my ultimate target waits for me to reach him.")

Long ago, he had seen his father battle during the World Tournament. During that time he had seen the man that he thought was invincible meet his match. ("Rikuo Amero…and you've been here all this time. Unlike Erika Amero's insane grudges, I do not plan to destroy you. However…before I can face my father on the field of battle I must test your strength out for myself.")

His lips curled into a weak smile. ("However…you far overshadow me in not just skill, but power. Your deck is the deck of a champion, with monsters such as the mighty Steel Wolf General that destroyed the creature I thought was my father's undefeatable monster.") Though he had been young, he remembered that entire duel all too well.

-

"Rikuo!" Deondre held up his hand and pointed right at the wolf demon from across the field. "I know you're here and you think that the final duel of this tournament will be between you and Daniel."

Rikuo didn't respond. He just smiled slightly.

Deondre smiled slightly as well. "However…" His disk clicked into position and the thousands of people watching them in the stands went silent. "I have every intention of facing him. And unlike most, I fully understand what you can do with your deck. That's why I have been working hard to surpass your deck's power." He lifted his arm to hold the face of his deck pointing towards the wolf demon. "This is the result of years of work. The power of my Dimension Command deck will defeat you. Just you wait and see!"

"Keh!" Rikuo clicked his disk into place. "We'll see just how tough you are, won't we? After all…I've never had the pleasure of facing you directly. So, give me the pleasure of showing you the flaws in your so-called 'mighty' deck."

-

"Give it up Rikuo, I've got you locked down. With the current monsters I have on my field there is nothing you can do but let me remove your monsters from play and gain 500 life points every time I do it." Deondre smirked just enough to show that he understood all too well that Rikuo wouldn't win now.

After all, he had three cards in his hand. Also, there were two set cards on his field and his Soul Absorption magic card in play as well. That with the fact that he had his greatest monster, the Dark Magician of Chaos in play, gave him the perfect advantage. "After all, so far I've removed both your Wolf Demon Lord and Jinzo from play."

Rikuo only had one card in his hand and one card face-down on his field. His face was dead-serious now. "Ore no time…draw." He slowly slid a card off of his deck.

Deondre didn't understand what Rikuo had just said. It had been a while since he'd ever heard anyone speak in Japanese before. ("I think he said that it was his turn…")

Rikuo looked at the drawn card. "Mahou kado O hatsudo! Inochiketsuri No Housatsu!" Holding up the card, Rikuo slid it into his graveyard and drew four cards.

("Card of Demise…") Deondre didn't feel quite so confident about his lock anymore.

Holding up his new hand, Rikuo grasped one card and slid it into his disk. "Sara ni mahou kado O hatsudo! Kou Yuku Na Tsubo!"

("And Pot of Greed?") Deondre felt Rikuo's momentum building, and he didn't like it one bit.

Drawing two cards, the wolf demon pointed down at the set card on his field. "Trap kado O hatsudo!" The card flipped up to reveal one of the few faces that Deondre didn't want to see right now.

("Reverse of Reverse…which lets him use any face-down card on my field as his own.")

Rikuo pointed at the center card and it flipped up, revealing Return from the Different Dimension. "Jinzo Ningen Psycho Shocker sara ni Okami Demon Lord shookan!" Both the Wolf Demon Lord and Jinzo shimmered onto the field. "Sara ni Yuukou O hatsudo! Tetsu no Okami Lord shookan!" The two monsters were pulled into a swirling vortex of energy and the being that emerged looked like the Wolf Demon Lord covered in the armor of Jinzo.

From his seat in the audience, Kenshin's eyes widened. ("What an amazing monster…its attack points are so high…")

Rikuo smirked slightly. "I always feel better when I talk a bit of Japanese. It helps remind me of what I am, after all. Go Steel Wolf General, attack!"

-

Kenshin frowned at the memory. ("That wasn't the end of the duel, but it certainly didn't look great for my father after that part. Before I can ever say that I am truly the best, I must defeat both my father and Rikuo Amero.")

-

Basil frowned and looked down from his perch at Kenshin. ("May as well see if this guy has the necessary power to trigger the Seal.") Reaching into his pocket, he removed a small bracelet covered with numerous multi-colored jewels. Holding the item up to his face, he started to speak quietly. "Power of Chaos, hear my call. Awaken the death that rests in this item and release the capture soul that rests within. As per the pact, if this soul can defeat who I tell him to, then he will be free."

Light shimmered out of the bracelet and the area around Kenshin was immediately swallowed up by shadows.

-

Kenshin's eyes glanced back and forth slowly, and then he frowned. "A Darkness Game? Interesting indeed…." He already knew the program. Reaching down, he picked up his disk and slid it onto his arm. "This is very strange…why would a Darkness Game form around me?"

"Because you have been challenged by me," A tired voice spoke though the shadow. "Now let the dueling begin. I am Thaun, the duelist of the grave. Long ago I was defeated by a group of hooligans calling themselves the Chaos Riders. Now I am their prisoner until I can defeat a duelist, and then that defeated duelist will take my place. So now prepare yourself, because I will not lose." The being that emerged from the shadows was an old man in rotted brown clothing. He looked more like a drifter than a high-level duelist.

Thaun- 4000

Kenshin- 4000

Kenshin didn't fully understand why this was happening, but he knew what he had to do. "You may start then, since you seem so determined to win."

Thaun lifted his deck and drew. "Tell me…do you believe in life after death?"

"I believe that the dead should stay dead. They have had their time in this dimension and that is all they need."

"That is such a shame, because I believe quite the contrary." Thaun slid a card into his disk. "And I set a monster in defense mode. End turn."

("Was that whole question nothing but a method of keeping me off-guard…or was it something relevant?") Kenshin drew. "It matters not! Go Queen's Knight!" (1500/1600) A woman in knight's armor appeared on the field. "Attack now!" She launched forwards and slashed the defense monster in half.

Thaun's shoulders heaved slightly. "Fool. You destroyed my Pyramid Turtle (1200/1400) and its effect lets me special summon one undead sub-type monster from my deck to the field. So I'll take my Vampire Lord (2000/1500) and special summon it out." A blue-skinned man in strange black clothing appeared on the field. "This monster possesses the power of Undeath in its best form. Prepare to lose."

"We'll see about that, won't we?" Kenshin slid a card into his disk. "I set this and end my turn."

Thaun drew. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! Now your set card will be destroyed!" A sharp wind blew the set card apart. "Also, I summon out Demon Butcher (1600/600) to the field!" A blue-skinned devil holding onto a huge knife appeared on the field. "Attack now!" Screeching, it leapt through the air and cut the Queen's Knight in half. "When my monster destroys another creature the destroyed creature is removed from the game and I draw one card!" Snapping a card off of his deck, he then pointed at Kenshin. "Vampire Lord, attack his life points directly!" Smirking, the blue-skinned vampire launched forwards and swept its cloak across Kenshin's face.

Thaun- 4000

Kenshin- 1900

"And that isn't all, because when Vampire Lord damages your life points I may call one card type and you must discard a card of that type from your deck. So I'll call trap." Thaun and the Vampire Lord both continued to smirk while Kenshin discarded a card into his graveyard. "Finally, I end my turn."

Kenshin closed his eyes. ("This man is good. But like all people…I will surpass him!") He drew. "I discard one warrior monster from my hand to activate the effect of Quickdraw Samurai!" (200/300) A little warrior in samurai's armor appeared on his field. "By discarding a warrior this monster can special summoned. Then I play the magic card Premature Burial! At the cost of 800 life points I'll revive the monster I discarded, which is Axe-Wielding Knight!" (1700/1150) A burled armor-covered knight wielding a huge battle-axe appeared on the field.

Thaun- 4000

Kenshin- 1100

"Don't you think that you are running out of life points?" Thaun snickered slightly, and the Vampire Lord mirrored the action.

Kenshin held up another hand card. "Activate Emblem of Dragon Destroyer! This magic card lets me move Buster Blader from my deck or graveyard to my hand!" Removing a card from his deck he slapped it down. "Then I sacrifice Axe-Wielding Knight and Quickdraw Samurai to summon Buster Blader!" (2600/2300) A tall armored warrior with a huge two-handed sword appeared on the field.

Thaun gritted his teeth. ("Vampire Lord's special ability only revives it from effects, not battle.")

"Buster Blader, attack the Vampire Lord!" Kenshin pointed at the Vampire Lord and his sword-wielding warrior charged.

"Trap card open!" Thaun's face-down card flipped up and a white ghost wrapped around his Demon Butcher. "This trap card redirects your attack to my Demon Butcher instead of Vampire Lord." The warrior veered in mid-charged and slashed through the demon.

Thaun- 3000

Kenshin- 1100

Frowning, the Crusader slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down on the field. End turn."

Thaun drew and then his smirked returned. "Now I know that I cannot take any chances with you, boy. From my hand I play Pot of Greed." He drew two more cards. "Now I play this magic card! Go Tribute to the Doomed! By discarding one card from my hand I can destroy one monster on your field!" An explosion of mummy wrappings tied up the Buster Blader and dragged it out of sight. "Vampire Lord, direct attack!" The black-cloaked monster sneered and with a wave of his hand released a scythe of dark light that hurtled towards Kenshin.

Kenshin motioned to his face-down card. "Go Mirror Force! This trap card will negate your attack and destroy your monster!" A glowing barrier of light sprang up, blocked the attack, and then reflected it back at its owner. In a few seconds the Vampire Lord was no more.

Licking his lips, Thaun slid a card into his disk. "Continuous magic card activate! Call of the Mummy can once per turn let me special summon an undead monster from my hand if I have no creatures in play. Go Master Kyonshee!" (1750/1000) A blue-robed monk-like creature with an ofuda stuck to its forehead appeared on the field. "Then I set one card face-down and one monster as well. End turn."

Kenshin drew slowly. ("Vampire Lord's special ability will let him return it to the field at his standby phase….I mustn't let that happen.") "Go Card of Sanctity!"

Grimacing, Thaun drew six cards.

Kenshin held up another card. "Pot of Greed go!" He drew twice. "Then I play Monster Reborn to revive Buster Blader!" The warrior reappeared on his field. "Go Fallen Knight!" (1800/1500) A warrior in pitch-black armor wielding a pair of toothed scimitars appeared on the field. "Go Buster Blader, attack Kyonshee now!" The warrior roared out a battle cry and charged.

Thaun motioned to his set card. "Shield of Dead Spirits go! This trap lets me remove an undead or demon monster from my graveyard to negate your attack." A wall of white ectoplasm sprang up and stopped the attack.

Kenshin pointed at Kyonshee again. "Go Fallen Knight!" The dark warrior smoothly leapt forward and cut the zombie in half. "Then I set three cards face-down on the field. End turn."

Thaun- 2950

Kenshin- 1100

Thaun drew. "Vampire Lord returns to my field at my standby phase when he is destroyed as the result of an effect." The black-cloaked monster reappeared in play. "Then I play Magic Shard Excavation! This magic card lets me discard two cards from my hand to select one magic card in my graveyard and pick it back up." Holding up the card, he discarded it and another card. "Then I replay Tribute to the Doomed." Another explosion of mummy wrappings launched up and buried the Buster Blader.

Kenshin closed his eyes and bowed his head. ("Forgive me, Buster Blader.")

"Go Vampire Lord!" Thaun's monster leapt forward and slashed the Fallen Knight in half. "You monster is gone and I call trap!"

Thaun- 2950

Kenshin- 900

Kenshin discarded another trap card from his deck and slowly opened his eyes. "Trap card go! Mirage Warriors! This trap card can only activate if all monsters on my field are destroyed during a battle phase because of battle! Return Fallen Knight!" The dark knight shimmered back into existence. "Also, in response I activate the magic card Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your Shield of Dead Spirits!" An explosion of wind blew the trap card apart. "And in response to that I play Emergency Provisions! This quickplay magic card will let me sacrifice all magic and trap cards on my field besides itself to gain 1000 life points per card!" Mystical Space Typhoon and Mirage Warriors disappeared.

Thaun- 2950

Kenshin- 2900

Thaun frowned and slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down on the field and set one monster in defense mode. End turn."

Kenshin drew. "I set one card face-down and order Fallen Knight to attack your defense mode monster." The dark-armored warrior leapt across the field and slashed one of the set monsters apart.

Holding it up, Thaun smirked. "Another Pyramid Turtle. So I'll special summon another undead monster with 2000 or less defense points from my deck to the field." Taking a card from his deck, the man slapped it down. "Come out now, Dragon Zombie Infused!" (2400/2000) A rotted dragon appeared on his field. "This monster gains 1000 attack points when it battles against a light monster!"

Kenshin had expected as much. "I go to my second main phase. First I'll set one card face-down on the field. Then I'll play the magic card Driving Memories. This magic card will let me shuffle one light attribute monster from my hand into my deck to pick up a different light monster from my removed from play pile or graveyard. So I'll shuffle King's Knight (1600/1500) into my deck and pick up Queen's Knight! Then I'll summon her to the field in defense mode!" The female knight appeared on his field in a crouching position. "End turn!"

Thaun drew. "You're nearly defeated, and then you'll take my place in this hell. Go Vampire Lord, attack the Fallen Knight now!" The vampire waved his hand and another scythe of dark light cut the warrior in half. "So discard another trap card from your deck and we can continue."

Thaun- 2950

Kenshin- 2700

Kenshin smirked and motioned to his face-down card. "Go Knights of the Round! This trap card lets me pay half of my life points when a knight is destroyed in battle to let me special summon three more knights from my deck, as long as they are level four or lower!" He removed four cards from his disk and slapped the first one down. "First I special summon King's Knight in defense mode! When this monster is summoned to the field and Queen's Knight is in play then I can special summon one Jack's Knight from my deck to the field!" A bearded warrior in yellow armor and a young-looking warrior in blue armor appeared in crouching positions on both sides of Queen's Knight.

Thaun- 2950

Kenshin- 1350

Kenshin threw down two more monsters. "Then I special summon two Gearfried the Iron Knights (1800/1600) in defense mode!"

Growling at the fact that he suddenly had five monsters to deal with, Thaun pointed at Jack's Knight. "Zombie Death!" Opening its jaws, the Dragon Zombie Infused released a cloud of black smoke that destroyed the warrior. "I set one monster in defense and end my turn."

Kenshin calmed his breathing. ("I cannot defend for much longer…so I must figure out some way to fight back.") "Draw!" He looked at the new card and slid it into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Thaun drew. "I sacrifice my two face-down monsters to summon Despair From the Dark!" (2800/3000) A towering dark shape rose up out of the ground and started to let out a booming laughter that shook the field. "Go now, my monsters! Destroy them all!" Each of his three monsters launched forwards and destroyed all of Kenshin's monsters but his Queen's Knight. "One of the monster's I sacrificed was Sangan (1000/600) so I'll search my deck for a monster with 1500 or less attack points." Adding a card from his deck to his hand, he licked his lips. "I can taste my freedom. End turn."

"All you can taste is my life gain!" Kenshin's face-down card flipped up. "Go Sacrifice of the Fallen Knights! This quickplay magic card lets me gain life points equal to the attack points of all monsters with knight in their title that have been destroyed because of battle this turn!" A white glow surrounded him.

Thaun- 2950

Kenshin- 6500

Kenshin looked down at his deck. ("This is my last chance…if I can't recover now then I truly am finished. His hand touched the card and he felt tingles of energy run through his arm. ("I feel your power. It is you. For all this time you have been sleeping in my deck, but now you wish to fight.") His lips curled and he drew. "Very well, you may fight. I sacrifice a light monster and a dark monster from my graveyard!"

("A light and dark monster from his graveyard?") Thaun knew of only a few cards that had that requirement.

Kenshin held up Jack's Knight and Fallen Knight. "These two leave play…and their sacrifice summons this! Come out, Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning!" (3000/2500) A blue-armored magnificent warrior appeared on his field. It slowly raised its helmet and looked at the three zombie monsters with disgust in its eyes. "I agree, my friend. Let's clear this trash off of our island!" The Soldier's sword started to glow. "Black Luster Soldier special ability activates! This will remove your Dragon Zombie Infused from play!"

"Are you so sure?" Thaun snickered and his face-down card flipped up. "Darkness of the Grave will seal your monster's power away permanently. I know all too well what the Black Luster Soldier can do, and now he can no longer remove a monster on the field from play."

Kenshin gritted his teeth and pointed at the Vampire Lord. "He has more powers than that! Go Soldier!" The warrior leapt forward and slashed the vampire in half. "Attack Despair from the Dark!" With no effort the warrior turned on his heel and slashed the towering shadow apart as well. "When Black Luster Soldier destroys a monster as a result of battle he can attack again. However…now I end my turn."

Thaun- 1750

Kenshin- 6500

Thaun drew. "Nice try, but I won't let myself lose to that creature's power again."

"Again?" Kenshin echoed.

Thaun shook his head slightly and set a card onto his disk. "I set one monster in defense mode and order Dragon Zombie Infused to attack the Black Luster Soldier!" Opening its jaws, the dead dragon sprayed the chaos warrior with a black smoke that instantly destroyed him. (3400/2000)

Thaun- 1750

Kenshin- 6100

Thaun chuckled. "End turn. Let's see you win without that card under your control."

For the first time in a long while, Kenshin felt pain. ("My father's gift…it fell.") That card had been given to him by his father, and for it to fall so easily…

Thaun frowned. "Draw or surrender."

Kenshin's thoughts went from sad to angry. "You will pay! Draw!" He snapped the top card off of his deck and his eyes widened. ("What is this?") Then it occurred to him that this wasn't the time to question. "I sacrifice my Queen's Knight to summon out this creature! Awaken…Silver Knight of Purity!" (2300/1700) A warrior appeared on the field. This creature was unlike any other warrior though, and that was because its pure-silver armor gave off a radiance of peace and tranquility.

"Silver Knight of Purity?" Thaun felt some kind of energy coming from this new creature that was damaging the darkness around them.

Kenshin nodded and pointed at the Dragon Zombie Infused. "Go!" Lifting its sword, the knight charged.

"You fool, your monster will lose!"

"Are you so certain?" Kenshin, his expression dead serious, held up a card from his graveyard. "Silver Knight of Purity special ability go! By removing one light monster from my graveyard, I can seal the effect of your monster." A yellow glowing seal appeared on the forehead of the dragon.

"It doesn't matter, because my father is obviously stronger!" Thaun snickered as his Dragon Zombie opened its jaws. "Prepare for the end."

Kenshin closed his eyes and smirked. "You think the card I am holding is the monster I am removing from the graveyard for the seal effect? Actually…" He flipped the card over to reveal the Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning. "Silver Knight of Purity special ability number two go! By removing a warrior from my graveyard I can give its attack and powers to my knight!" (3000/2500) The knight slashed downwards and cut the dragon in half.

Thaun- 1150

Kenshin- 6100

Thaun stumbled slightly, but quickly recovered. "Attacking again won't help, since my other monster is face-down and in defense!"

"Wrong," Kenshin pointed at the set card and it flipped up to reveal a reaper in purple robes. "Spirit Reaper (300/200) eh? I suppose that makes sense. But the effect of Silver Knight of Purity forces all monsters that battle it to go into attack mode for the fight!" The warrior slashed through the reaper. "Though your monster isn't destroyed, your life points are finished."

Thaun- 0

Kenshin- 6100

Thaun went silent and dissipated into the air. All around Kenshin the darkness faded away as well.

Smiling slightly, Kenshin shuffled his deck and walked away with a slight smile on his face. He wasn't going to question how the Silver Knight of Purity got into his deck. Very rarely did he wonder about the source of a benefit.

-Basil stood and stretched. "Bloody finally. I thought I was going to have to take a nap."

-

Eri and Ichigo sat across from each other in the hospital room. Sammy and Ashley had both gone to bring the group back some food. Neither of them spoke. They just watched each other warily.

Finally Ichigo broke the silence. "Listen…um….about what you did before…"

The demoness closed her eyes and seemed uninterested in the current conversation topic, though Ichigo could see the fact that the insides of her ears were glowing bright red.

Ichigo frowned slightly and swallowed his fear. "I promise never to speak or think of it again, if you want me to. After all, only the two of us were there at the time!" A quiet yawn from the bed brought his fear back. "Well…your father was there too. I'm sure he'd be glad if we never spoke of it again though."

Eri's breath was so erratic, at least to her own ears. ("Could it be possible that I actually care? He's just an insolent hanyou that I could just as easily kill….right?") She hated it when she couldn't decide how to handle a situation.

("Let me ask you something.")

Eri's heart stopped for a few seconds. The concept of a voice in her head immediately brought back memories of Negative.

("It's Ahran, in case you were wondering.") The voice of her half-brother continued to speak in her head. ("I know that this is cheating, but let me offer you into a little insider info about what Ichigo is thinking right now.")

The honorable part of Eri wanted to tell Ahran to get out of her head and leave her alone. However, that part of her wasn't paying attention. ("…..")

Ahran took that as she wanted to know. ("I can't say for sure whether or not he loves you, because a feeling like love doesn't apply to girls yet. At least not in the same way that Ichigo loves dueling, etc. However…he deeply cares about you and wants to make sure that you are safe. I'm quite sure that this isn't new information to you, but allow me to put all of this into context for you. Amongst the things that he has been thinking about in the last week, you are at the foremost. His strategies as a duelist…his love of his father and friends…all of it was shadowed by one simple thing, you.") Then Ahran's prescense disappeared in her head.

Now Eri's eyes were open…and she stared into Ichigo's eyes with a mix of pain and appreciation. Her anger towards him was gone for now, and instead her hate was focused inwards. ("After all of the horrible things I did to him…he still cares about me. How could I have been so cruel?") Then she realized he had been talking all of this time, rambling onwards…

"And therefore, I think you should not kill me for accepting the kiss." Ichigo was talking out of his ass at the moment, but it seemed to be working. She looked to be moved. ("Now for the final blow.") If there was one thing that the half-demon knew would work, it was his special pity play. That's right; he put on the puppy-dog eyes.

Eri blinked as she was being given a look that both Ashley and Sammy would simply melt over. It didn't have that affect on her though. In her eyes…he looked like he was trying to impersonate his Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh.

"So what do you say?" Ichigo truly looked to the entire world like a puppy who was begging to the best of his ability.

Eri's hand snapped out and grabbed him by the collar. Her eyes shimmered pure gold in the light, with all of the crimson that normally tinged them gone. "Shut up, stupid." A short tug later and he was suddenly moving face-first towards her.

("We're gonna….") He didn't even realize that he was suddenly no longer in the room until pain spiked through his face.

Eri blinked a few times. She wasn't even sure what she had planned on doing, but it had ended the moment Ichigo disappeared. Slowly her eyes turned over to look at where the hospital bed had been. It was no longer there. And her father was awake.

"I'm out for a few hours and wake up to you two at it again!" The little wolf demon's rage faded as he heard his voice. "Eh?" Then he blinked widely as he realized that his daughter quite literally towered over him. "………."

Eri crouched down so that she was eye to eye with Rikuo. "Dad…please don't freak out."

Amazingly, Rikuo just closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Please tell me that you had one huge growth spurt." He silently cringed with each word that came out of his mouth. His voice was never so high-pitched.

"No…let me explain." He mouth opened and she started to speak.

Rikuo heard her loud and clear, but now his mind was focused towards one thing. ("Rykiel….you will lose your throat to my claws….I swear it.")

-

Terra growled down at the hole in the side of the building. ("Did you have to throw the whole damned bed at the boy? You nearly hit me in the process!") He let it slide though, because nothing was more approving for him than to see the high and mighty Rikuo Amero as a little child.

Then he sensed it. It was something like a flux in the energies of the darkness realm. ("Someone is trying to be a stealthy bastard and enter this world undetected. It's a damn shame that whoever they are didn't expect another thief of the darkness to be anywhere nearby.") Slowly the wolf demon stood up from his perch in the tree and leapt down. Moments later he was gone. ("I'd better deal with this potential rival now, before things get out of hand.")

To be continued…

To Seeker of the Soul: Indeed, and good reviews as well.

To Chaos Anubis: Rykiel is evil like Rikuo is evil. The big difference is that Rykiel doesn't possess morals or honor to weigh him down.

To Adriel: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..I swear I'll sic Snake on you.

To Hogwarts-Knight: Now all this is left is the Seal of Water.

To Cartoon Freak: I work on that when I can't think of things for this.

To Rex: I'm surprised that I never thought of that connection.

To G.O.T. Nick: So well put in so few words.

To Isumo: Read above.

To gohan11: Yes, I made Rikuo a kid. You got a problem with that?

To Agent Smith: BY SPEAKING IN CAPS I WILL NOW MOVE FASTER! NICE THOUGHT PROCESS! BAKA!

To White wolf: I had that entire duel, drawn cards and all, right in front of me while I typed. Irios was blown away by the Cerberus at the start of Rykiel's turn. Then on Rikuo's turn he summoned XYZ Dragon Cannon, destroyed the Necrowhip, and then attacked to walk right into the trap card.