Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Legends of the Demon Duelist-Chaos Arc

Chapter 14: Heart of a Hero

Ichigo looked down at his deck. ("There has to be an answer…I know it. What can I use in my deck to defeat him if I don't have fusion?") Then the answer hit him. ("It's a long shot, but I've got nothing to lose.") Closing his eyes, he called upon every drop of strength in his luck to give him a draw necessary to call out the most powerful monsters in his deck.

"What're you getting so focused about?" Richard smirked. "You can't use fusion, and therefore your strategy is useless."

"Not quite…" Ichigo's eyes opened and he drew, holding the drawn card up and adding it to his hand. "It's time for me to wake them."

"Wake who?" Richard's smirk slowly wilted.

"The Steel Titans."

"The Steel Titans?" Richard frowned slightly…and then his smirk returned. "You mean the set of machine monsters that tend to damage their owner as much as the opponent? With only 1000 life points left I doubt you'll do much more than wipe yourself out if you summon one."

"Not quite." Ichigo held up a single card in his hand. "First, Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh! Defense mode!" (300/200) The little tuxedo-wearing furball reappeared on his field. "Now I discard Polymerization for his effect! Cuteness Espionage!" Giggling, the Kuriboh disappeared. Moments later it reappeared swinging on a rope past Richard's deck. Then it returned to Ichigo's field and handed him the card it had stolen.

Growling, Richardglared at the monster. "I hate that thing."

"Don't worry; he'll be leaving in a minute." Ichigo flipped the card over to reveal Pot of Greed. After drawing two cards heheld one up. "Now I play the magic card Change of Tactics! This magic card lets me take one monster from my hand and one other card as well. They are shuffled into my deck and I take a monster from my deckinto my hand that is the same level as the shuffled monster!" He shuffled two cards into his deck and removed one.

"So what did you shuffle back into your deck?" Richard was only mildly curious, because his opponent had already summoned during this turn.

Ichigo looked at his new card and nodded slightly. "I shuffled Steel Titan-Rex back into my deck. Instead…I'm going to summon somebody different to the field!"


"A different Steel Titan?" Griff blinked in surprise at that declaration. "There are others?"

"Yes." Stanhope nodded. "There are four in total. And so far Ichigo has only shown two of them. Let's see which of the other two he searched for."

A low growl behind them took their attention away from the duel. All of them turned around slowly to see an RV-sized wolf sitting calmly just a few feet away.

Griff and Krieger both yelled and leapt backwards.

Stanhope just smiled. "Hello there Eri. Out for your evening walk?"

"Yes." The wolfess brought her eyes to the dueling field. "Did he stop acting stupid?"

"Well…he's trying now." Stanhope swear-dropped and looked back to the duel.

"H..h…h…h…h……h….how?" Griff pointed at Eri. "Who are you and why do you sound like Eri?"

"I sound like Eri because I am Eri." Eyeing the brown-skinned boy coldly, she continued to watch the field.

"You can't be Eri, because she isn't….er…."

"Are you so stupid to think that wolf demons, like all other demons, don't have real forms?" Not waiting for an answer, her eyes returned to the duel.


Ichigo slid another card into his disk. "Go Soul Exchange! This magic card allows me to sacrifice monsters on your field to summon my own! So I'll sacrifice your two monsters and Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh to summon out Steel Titan-Ray!" (2500/2300) A single scream of rage shook the earth and from the nearby ocean a huge steel form emerged. "This monster can only be special summoned, and requires no sacrifices to be called out. However, if I did so then I'd lose 3000 life points. So I sacrificed three monsters to negate 1000 points of damage per summon!"

The Titan was a single army-green, with peg-like legs and a body more accustomed to fighting in the water than on the land. Despite that however, it looked more than capable of fighting. "Steel Titan-Ray special ability activates! Now I will special summon Ray Tokens (2500/2300) equal to the number of monsters I sacrificed to negatehis damageeffect!" Three copies of the towering steel monster appeared on the field. "Because of Soul Exchange I can't attack, so I'll set one card face-down and end my turn."

Richard drew, trying the ignore the drops of sweat that were starting to bead on his forehead. "So…you think that your pitiful metal trashcans will be able to…" Whatever else he was going to say was drowned out by the enraged screams of the four Rays.

"I wouldn't make them angry if I were you. Rex might be dangerous, but at least he's got his temper under control. These guys are much worse." Ichigo looked dead serious.

"You talk about them like they are real. How pitiful." Richard smirked and held up a card. "My last Polymerization…and it will be the last time I'll need to call out a monster anyway! Now watch as your metal monsters all disappear! I fuse Divine Agent-Betrayer (1350/1700) and Divine Agent-Soldier (1600/1500) to create…the leader."

"The leader?" Ichigo's eyes widened slightly.

"Yes. A monster capable of matching and even surpassing the strength of Boss herself!" The warrior that formed on his field was a humanoid in a gold and white power suit. Its face was uncovered and revealed a white-haired man with a scar over one eye, which was squeezed shut. "Divine Agent-Solidus!" (2000/1500) Solidus looked up at each of the towering monsters with his one good eye and calmly flexed his fingers.

"Solidus?" Ichigo narrowed his gaze at the new monster. "He's powerful…but Ray is stronger."

"That will change in but a moment." Richard motioned to his face-down cards. "Open equipment magic cards!" Two of the three cards flipped up. "First the equipment magic card Laser Katana will raise the attack power of my monster by 500 points. Also, now I cannot take damage from its death." A glowing blue sword appeared strapped to the warrior's side. (2500/1500) "I'm not done yet though, because I also equip him with the magic card Supreme Machine Gun! This card will allow him to attack all monsters on the field!" A hi-tech gun appeared in the left hand of Solidus.

"That means…" Ichigo gulped.

"Right," Richard pointed at all four of the Steel Titans. "Die!" Solidus turned into a living blur, seeming to be everywhere at once as he attacked. Then he reappeared on Richard's field.

Ichigo braced himself as all four of his Steel Titans were blown away. "How…" the rest of his words were drowned out as smoke and fire consumed him entire field.

"If you are wondering how Solidus didn't die, it is because his effect makes him impossible to destroy in battle."


"Ichigo…" Eri looked over at Richard and growled angrily, baring her teeth. ("Incredible power…but he can't actually think that it is over yet.")

"Oh man, Ray was destroyed before it got a chance to attack." Griff looked over at Solidus and shivered. "Without the power to fuse, how is Ichigo going to beat something like that?"

Stanhope looked over at Ichigo's field and narrowed his eyes. "There's still a chance…but only if Ichigo is willing to risk it all."


Richard started to laugh loudly into the night, the explosions that continued to shake Ichigo's field drowning his sound out slightly. "Do you understand now fool? My monsters are the true warriors!"

His voice was silenced by a single roar of rage that echoed from within the cloud. Slowly, a steel shape rose up out of the darkness and brought its eyeless head down to aim at Solidus and Richard.

"Impossible…" Richard whispered breathlessly.

"Trap card activate!" The smoke cleared to reveal Ichigo. "Battle Replacement lets me special summon a monster with the same level as the destroyed monster. However, the summoned monster has no effects. Steel Titan-Rex is my choice." (2800/2000) The metal monster roared and slammed a foot into the ground, shaking the earth.

Gritting his teeth, Richard looked at Ichigo. "End turn."

Ichigo drew. "I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

"As you should." Richard drew. "I flip up my trap card! Go Attack Boost! This will raise my monster's attack points by 500 permanently. Attack Rex now!" (3000/1500) Solidus blurred again and Rex roared in confusion as it was suddenly chopped in half. "Ha! I knew your face-down card wasn't a trap!"

Ichigo- 800

Richard- 400

Ichigo pointed at his set card. "Actually…" (With Ray and Rex gone, there are only two Steel Titans left for me to play. One is Arsenal, but it is a fusion and therefore won't be able to help me. As for the remaining one…") The card flipped up. "Encore Performance activates now! This trap card repeats the effect of the last card I played! So activate Battle Replacement!" An echoing screech echoed through the sky. "My last Steel Titan has come. He may not have an effect, but he has come!"

The monster that landed on Ichigo's field had a body built for flight, with huge jets attached to its back and aframe resembling a bird's body. "Steel Titan-Crane in attack mode!" (2000/2000) Tilting back its head, the metal monster screeched into the night. "Because of Battle Replacement his effect doesn't activate."

Snickering, Richard slid a card into his disk. "Then this duel is done. Solidus will wipe you out in the next turn."

Ichigo closed his eyes and trembled quietly. ("Even the Steel Titans can't beat this guy….what's left that can make the difference?") He couldn't think of any card capable of turning this around now. His deck had fusion and the Steel Titans, and without either of them he possessed no methods that could win. ("Unless…") He drew. One look at the card told him what he needed to do. "It's time to finish this, Richard."

"I couldn't agree more. So play your last card." The blond-haired boy couldn't believe that he was going to win. ("I thought too much of you, Ichigo Pilkington.")

Looking at the drawn card for a few more moments, Ichigo slid it into his disk. "I activate a magic card. One of the most dangerous magic cards I could play at this point. If it works then I will have the necessary method to defeat your monster…and if it fails then I lose. Go Fate's Call!" An angel in golden robes appeared over the field. "Now she selects to either destroy my monster or deal me its attack in damage, or she will allow me to send it back into my deck and special summon out one monster of the same level as it."


"So this is what comes down to." Stanhope rubbed his beard nervously. He really wanted hisnew card packsback.

"I know you can do it Ichigo!" Krieger shouted.

Griff gulped audibly.

Up near the front, Eri closed her eyes. ("Please let him win.")


The angel giggled and flew down to land in front of Ichigo. Smiling, she nodded and disappeared.

Richard paled.

Ichigo smirked and caught a card that was spat out of his deck. "It's time for me to summon Snake!"

"Snake?" Richard yelled. "He's a fusion you fool!"

"That's the normal Snake…but this one is the one who has experienced the world and learned its secrets." Ichigo held up the card. "The ultimate Cyber Shadow! Come out now, Special Operative-Solid Snake!" (2800/2500) Snake appeared on his field…and yet somehow he was something more. There was an aura of experience around him that radiated focus.

And behind him, Ichigo's eyes reflected the same hard strength. "This battle is finished, one way or another!"

"The only personwhose battle is finished is you! Your monster doesn't have enough power to fight mine!" Richard pointed at Ichigo's empty field. "And since you have no other cards it's obvious who will win a straight battle."

Ichigo pointed at Solidus. "Snake's special ability activates right now! Final Confrontation!"

Snake cracked his knuckles and met eyes with Solidus. "You would betray Boss, Solidus? Why?"

Richard's eyes widened. ("Did his monster just speak?")

Solidus lifted his gun and aimed it at Snake. "Because she is wrong! To fight in the darkness is cowardly, and I am going to wipe away the darkness that dwells in the hearts of our men."

Snake sighed quietly. "Then you are lost. So be it. Prepare to battle!" He glanced back at Ichigo and nodded.

Returning the nod, Ichigo drew a card. "Here's how Final Confrontation works. First off, our life point totals disappear."

Richard blinked in surprise as the life point counter on his disk vanished.

Ichigo slid the drawn card into his disk. "I play the equipment magic card Special Operative Weapon-Socom!" A complex pistol appeared in Snake's hands. "This card allows the equipped monster to reduce the attack of an opponent's monster by 500 points up to ten times!" Snake pointed the weapon at Solidus and fired.

Snickering, Richard caught onto the rules of the new game. "Solidus has a special ability, you fool! It negates target magic and trap effects!" With expert movement Solidus snapped his sword up and deflected the bullet. "I hope you can do better than that Snake!" Solidus relaxed slightly, seeing that he the advantage.

Ichigo frowned but nodded to Richard. "Your draw."

Richard drew. "So, I've heard of this but never thought I'd get to see it in effect. Neither of us can summon new monsters, correct? And if we draw a monster card then it is discarded and a new card is drawn. We may only play one card from our hand per turn as well."

"Both of our monsters have a life total now, which is equal to five hits." Ichigo pointed at Snake. "When they battle the weaker monster loses one point. First to reach zero loses."

Glancing at the drawn card, Richard slid it into his disk. "I set one card face-down and attack!"

Solidus lifted his gun and released a stream of bullets that Snake was barely able to avoid. "Come now Snake, I know you can do better than that!"

Snake- 4

Solidus- 5

Ichigo drew. "I activate the magic card Emergency Boost! This card will let me sacrifice Snake's Socom to increase his attack points by 1000!" Leaping to his feet, Snake didn't even flinch when his gun exploded into dust. (3800/2500) Launching forwards, his fist slammed into the side of Solidus' face and sent the Divine Agent stumbling backwards. "I'm not done yet!"

Snake- 4

Solidus- 4

Richard drew. "I'll set one card face-down on the field and end my turn without attacking."

Ichigo drew. "Attack!"

Snake dove in, ready to bring down his enemy.

Richard motioned to his face-down card. "I activate the continuous trap card Power Enhancement! This card will raise the targeted monster's attack points by 1000 as well, and it gains the ability to attack twice in a row!" A pair of steel tentacles appeared on Solidus' suit. "Counter-attack!" (4000/1500)

Solidus swung his tentacles upwards and belted Snake in the ribs, sending him flying back to Ichigo's field. "There's no chance that you'll be able to win against me Snake! If I can surpass Boss then there is no way you can surpass me!"

Snake- 3

Solidus- 4

Ichigo looked at his drawn card and then at Snake, who didn't look all that well. ("He's taking some pretty heavy hits…but we can still win.") "I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

Richard drew. "I discard a monster." He drew again. "Now I'll play the magic card Cold Wave! This effect will prevent either of us from activating magic or trap cards during this turn or the next!" Ice formed over his magic and trap zone, as well as Ichigo's. "Now take this!"

Solidus leapt forward and released a snapped his sword in rapid number of arcs, leaving numerous cuts along Snake's body as the agent tried to dodge the attacks. "You're too weak!"

Snake- 2

Solidus- 4

Without skipping a beat the Divine Agent drove his knees upwards with impossible force and blew all of the breath out of Snake's body with one gut strike. Then, with his opening secured, he placed the barrel of his gun to Snake's forehead and pulled the trigger. Though if it had been real life Snake would have died, it still looked painful to watch as the spy was sent flying backwards under a hail of bullets.

Snake- 1

Solidus- 4

Richard licked his lips. ("This is it…it all ends here.") "End turn."

Solidus eyed the now limping and badly injured Snake disdainfully. "Is that all you have? The mighty Solid Snake is supposed to be invincible. Such a shame that you're nothing to me."

Snake stumbled to his feet and looked back at Ichigo. Then he slowly returned his eyes to his opponent. Spitting some blood onto the dirt, he growled. "You're not one to talk about being nothing, Solidus! Now…I'll show you that legends aren't ever what they appear to be! A true hero doesn't have to be a legend; he just has to have the heart to win above all things and to fight for what he believes in!"

Ichigo drew. "End turn." The ice over both of their fields shattered.

Richard drew. "End this Solidus!" Roaring a battle cry the super-charged warrior barreled forwards, sparks spraying across the ground from his sword, which he was holding point down into the dirt. "Die Snake!"

Ichigo and Snake both smirked. "Trap card open!" Snake rolled aside and Solidus shot past him like an out of control rocket. "Narrow Escape negates an attack against a Cyber Shadow monster and lets me set one card face-down on the field. That card can be activated immediately." Ichigo slid the card he had drawn into his disk.

Frowning angrily, Richard slid his drawn card into his disk. "End turn."

("It's final jeopardy time.") Ichigo looked down at his deck. ("Snake…Titans…all of you….thank you. No matter what happens next, understand that each and every one of you have fought with loyalty and bravery. I look up to all of you.") Images of each of his monsters flashed through his thoughts. ("Thank you.")

Richard and Solidus gasped in surprise at what they now saw on Ichigo's field.

Standing as a group was phantom images of every single fusion monster and monster that Ichigo had in his deck and fusion deck. All of them silently watched on as their best went head to head with the best of the Divine Agents.

Snake looked back at all of them. "All of you…"

All at once they saluted.

Ichigo and Snake both nodded, returning the salute.

"What kind of crap is this? How are you doing this?" Richard's voice bordered on panicked now.

Ichigo and Snake turned to look at Richard and Solidus. "This ends here! Draw!" Ichigo snapped the top card off of his deck, looked at it, and smirked. "I've finally found the card to defeat you!"

"What?" Richard gasped as the phantom images disappeared.

Ichigo held up the card. "I activate the magic card Legend's Reminder! This magic card lets me revive monsters from my graveyard as long as they are Cyber Shadows. They cannot attack however and they return to my graveyard at the end of the turn!" He removed four cards from his disk and slapped them all down. "Return to me Cyber Shadow-Trainer, (300/1200) Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh, (300/200) Cyber Shadow-Soldier, (1600/1600) and Cyber Shadow-Assassin (1000/800) in defense mode!" The four called monsters appeared on his field in crouching positions. "And because of Trainer's effect, Snake gains 500 attack points!" (4300/2500)

"So what? That bonus will only last for one turn, and that won't be enough time to end this." Richard and Solidus both sneered.

Ichigo pointed at his set card. "That's what you think! Reverse card open!" The card flipped up. "Final Mission!"

"Final Mission?" Richard irises narrowed to near pin-points.

"This magic card means I lose at the end of this turn. However, I now select one Cyber Shadow on my field! This monster will gain 1000 attack points and will attack a number of times equal to the number of monsters I have on the field other than itself! Now I sacrifice all other monsters besides the selected!" His four special summoned monsters exploded into dust and Snake's eyes burned with a new fire. "Solidus, it's over!" (4800/2500)

Solidus stumbled backwards, but was unable to stop the fist that broke a hole in the stomach plating of his armor.

Snake- 1

Solidus- 3

Snake withdrew his fist and slammed his forehead down against the Divine Agent's nose, crushing the bone instantly.

Snake- 1

Solidus- 2

"You...bastard…" Solidus gasped out. Growling, he leapt forward and swung his sword in an arc to behead Snake.

Stepping out of the way of the attack, Snake kicked the sword out of Solidus' hands and in one smooth motion relieved his enemy of the Supreme Machine Gun. Lifting the weapon, he unloaded the whole magazine of it into Solidus' armor.

Snake- 1

Solidus- 1

At this point Solidus wasbarelyableto fight back anymore. "I…I…will kill you…" Roaring, he launched forwards with impossible speed and tackled Snake, sending the spy flying away from him. "Prepare to die!"

For a few moments Richard actually thought that Solidus might somehow win this fight. Then those thoughts left his mind as he heard a beeping.

Solidus heard it too…

Snake stood up and revealed an item he was holding in his hands. It was a detonator. "Whatever works, right?" Pressing down on the trigger, he waved.

The explosion woke up the whole island.

Snake- 1

Solidus- 0


Richard stood there, dumb-founded. "I…lost? How? My deck is better…and you couldn't use fusion. It doesn't make any sense!"

Ichigo held up his hand to point at his fallen opponent. "A hero always wins. That's my only answer for you. Now give back the cards and leave."

Richard numbly removed the five cards from his deck and dropped them all to the ground. Slowly he came to his feet and met eyes with Ichigo. "I'll get you for this. I am not done yet! So I suggest you prepare yourself, because next time I won't hold back!"

A rumbling growl behind him stopped him in mid-silence. "You steal from mister Stanhope, and try to play it off like the cards were yours to begin with? That's called stupid theft, and out of the many things I dislike stupid theft is up near the top."

Richard turned and came face to face with a set of razor-sharp fangs. "Oh…" Paling, he turned and ran away as fast a humanly possible.

Eri huffed at the retreating Richard. "If I wanted your stupid human hide, then I'd have killed you already."

"Aw, let him go." Ichigo walked over and picked up the cards. Then he walked up to Eri's side and rested an elbow against her front left leg, using it for a support. "Thanks for the pep talk, by the way."

Eri smirked slightly and moved, leaving him to fall face-first to the ground. "I have no idea what you are talking about." Turning, she padded off into the night. "Now if you will excuse me."

Stanhope watched Eri leave and then walked over to Ichigo, who was brushing himself off. "That was an amazing duel. You showed that even without access to fusion or Steel Titans you could still win."

Ichigo handed the cards to the store owner. "Here, you keep them for now. Honestly, I'm happy with my deck as it is."

Nodding, the old man slid the five cards into his shirt pocket. "They'll always be here if you want them."

Griff ran up and slapped Ichigo on the back. "Now that was awesome! I can't believe you've been holding out on us for all this time!"

After nearly coughing up a lung from the force of the slap, Ichigo blinked at Griff in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Those Steel Titans and all those cool cards you have in your deck we've never seen before! Why didn't you ever use those against some of your opponent's in the past? I'm sure that would have helped you beat Eri, and Hitokage, and…"

Ichigo glared at his roommate. "It's because I never drew them during those duels!"

"What's that have to do with anything?" Krieger walked up behind Ichigo calmly.

The half-demon turned around to face his other roommate. "It has everything to do with it! Do you think I choose which cards I draw?"

"With the way you Topdeck all of the time I'd say yes." Griff and Krieger both nodded to each other.

Ichigo face-fell. ("No respect…I get no respect at all!")

To be continued…

To Rex: The Titans did their job, but in the end it was the power of the Cyber Shadows that finished the duel.

To Nanashi Minimino: Because Daniel wasn't paying attention when Jennie named their son. And Rikuo likewise with Jasmine.

To Darkstar: Glad you liked the battle, and I hope you liked the end.

To Lance Murdock: You've seen them all now, but Crane's effect is going to remain a mystery until I feel the time is right to unveil it.

To Gryphinwyrm: I hope it was fun for you.

To Adriel: If there is going to be a Steel Titan-Luna, I wouldn't tell you so until I revealed it.

To G.O.T. Nick: ; His prediction wasn't a prediction. I told him what Ichigo was going to use before I finished the chapter.

To Seeker of the Soul: Eri can do that because she learned just about every trick Rikuo knows, and that is a trick Rikuo is capable of doing.

To Star AJT: I'd say they were a lot of good, circumstances of how they were countered aside.

To Bobbomp: Well it looks like Richard is quite 'toasted'? Toasted? Considering where I left the last chapter, I wouldn't apply the term toasted to him. But speak as you will.

To Anime Albino: The Kuriboh Siblings can only be called out with Five Star Twilight. And as for Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh, what do you expect? He only has 200 defense points.

To whitewolf: You are forgiven for second-guessing.