Intermission Ended…
Ichigo closed his eyes as light flashed across them. He free-fell and finally landed noiselessly to the ground. Slowly he opened his eyes and blinked in surprise at his new surroundings.
He was standing in a huge empty steel chamber. Lights and numerous different kinds of mechanical devices made humming noises as they ran.
And at the far end of all of it was a single red electric eye that was built into the wall. "Hello there."
Ichigo quickly recovered from his surprise. "Errr, hiya."
"I've been waiting for my chance to duel you."
Ichigo heard the magic word again. "Oooo baby, let's do it!" His duel disk hummed to life.
"But first I have to ask you a question." ALICE's synthesized voice echoed across the chamber to Ichigo's ears. "Tell me, why do you duel?"
"Why?" Ichigo smiled. "Because it's fun! And because I'm a hero…and because most of the life-risking situations I have been in have involved dueling." He stopped smiling and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Then again, I suppose that last one isn't that much fun."
"A life-threatening situation…" ALICE's numerous mechanical parts started to speed up. "I understand…excuse me a moment."
Ichigo blinked a couple of times as the red mechanical eye dimmed. "Hey…wait a second…" He realized his mistake. "I didn't mean that this duel had to be…."
The eye lit back up. "I have set the duel risks to your accommodations. I have hacked into the United States' defense network and have taken control of their nuclear launch sites." On the side of the wall a screen appeared showing a space-side view of earth. And in the top right corner of the screen there was a timer set for one hour. "In one hour ten nuclear missiles will launch. Each one is aimed is at different location on the planet. The blast will wipe out thirty percent of Earth's population. The remaining seventy will suffer an estimated fifty percent loss of population from the changes caused by those explosions."
Ichigo stood perfectly, his whole body white. "N...n…n….nuclear? What's the matter with you?"
"Duel start." The eye released a single pillar of light hit the ground. And from within it emerged a tall beautiful female form wearing all leather, with a leather coat and numerous different kinds of buckles and collars all over her body. "I am Alice. I am Duel Monsters. And I have decided my deck for this battle. If your life points reach zero or the timer reaches zero then planet earth will pay for your loss."
Ichigo gritted his teeth. "You're insane."
"Impossible. I cannot be insane because I am a machine. And as such…" Alice smiled slightly. "…I am better than any human."
"I'm a half demon." Ichigo glanced nervously at the timer, which had yet to move from the one hour mark. "And you cannot be serious. You'd want to wipe out humanity?"
"Wipe it out? There will be enough humans remaining to find duelists for me to battle." Alice waved her hand at the screen.
Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to win anyway, so I guess it really doesn't matter huh? Let's duel then!" He truly looked at Alice then. And frowned by her stance. It reminded him of someone…someone that any duelist would fear and respect. "Yugi Moto…"
"Indeed. I have evaluated all of the decks in the world…and have found that there is a form of intelligence to the Duel King's deck that was worth research." She frowned. "However, I experienced something that humans would call distaste at the concept of copying his deck. So instead…" She smiled confidently, as if she considered herself the hero of this duel. "…I have created a new deck. A new deck that will push you to your limits and beyond. However, out of basic respect for you I have not researched any more than to determine its name. Cyber Shadows…let's see what they can do. Prepare yourself Ichigo Pilkington, because if you fall in this situation then you will know that your best wasn't enough! Duel…"
Ichigo's hand held a spot over his deck. He had nerves of steel…but this was serious. If he failed… ("No, I can't fail.")
"…begin!" As soon as Alice said this the timer started to count down.
Alice- 4000
Ichigo- 4000
"It's my turn first!" Ichigo drew. ("Good start!") "Cyber Shadow-Guardian (0/2200) in defense mode!" A blocky silver-colored humanoid robot appeared on his field in a crouching position. "End turn."
Alice drew. "I set one card face-down and one monster face-down. End turn."
Ichigo drew. "I summon Cyber Shadow-Sentinel in attack mode!" (1500/1300) A silver legless robot appeared on the field and its single visor for eyes shimmered. "Attack the set monster now!" It released a blast of prismatic from its eyes that shattered the set monster.
Alice- 3000
Ichigo- 3000
Alice held up her destroyed card. "Mecha-Dog Marron's (1000/1000) special ability is that when it is destroyed as a result of battle we both take 1000 life point damage. Also, I reveal Explosive Reprisal!" Her face-down card flipped up. "This trap card triggers when a machine on my field is destroyed as a result of battle! Now you take 1000 life points of damage!" The card released a blast of fire that washed over Ichigo and sent him flying into the back wall of the chamber.
Alice- 3000
Ichigo- 2000
Stumbling to his feet, Ichigo smiled weakly. "That's the best you have? I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Alice drew. "You are not as impressive as I had hoped. From my hand I play Dark Core. By discarding one card from my hand I will remove one of your monsters from play." Guardian shuddered and disappeared. "Also I set a monster face-down and a card face-down. End turn."
Ichigo drew. "Go Sentinel, attack the set monster now!" The machine released a blast of prismatic light from its eyes that shattered the set card.
"Brain Jacker (200/900) attaches to your monster and forces it to obey me!" The Sentinel's eye visor shimmered red and it floated over to her field.
Ichigo looked at his hand and frowned. "End turn."
Alice drew. "I summon Magical Scientist (300/300) in defense mode." A balding man in a white lab coat appeared on the field in a crouching position. "Sentinel attacks you directly!"
"Wrong!" Ichigo pointed at his set card. "Reveal Truce of Opposing Forces! This trap card sends all monsters on the field back to their owner's hands." Both monsters on Alice's field disappeared.
Alice didn't look worried. "End turn."
Ichigo drew. "I summon Cyber Shadow-Strongarm (1900/1300) in attack mode!" A huge muscled humanoid appeared on his fist and pounded its fists together. "Attack directly!" It launched forwards and punched Alice in her midsection. "End turn."
Alice- 1100
Ichigo- 2000
Alice drew. "I set one monster face-down. End turn."
Ichigo drew. "Let's bring this to a close! I summon Sentinel and attack with Strongarm!" The monster charged forwards and punched the set card. It froze and then spun around to face Ichigo.
"You hit another Brain Jacker." Strongarm stood in front of Alice protectively.
Ichigo snarled. "End turn."
Alice drew. "I set a monster and attack with Strongarm!" The burly warrior punched the machine and it exploded immediately. "End turn."
Alice- 1100
Ichigo- 1600
Ichigo drew. "During my standby phase Brain Jacker raises my life points by 500!"
Alice- 1100
Ichigo- 2100
Looking at the drawn card, Ichigo immediately got an idea. "I summon Cyber Shadow-Kuriboh!" (300/200) A little brown furball in a tuxedo appeared on the field and chirped happily. "When I discard one card from my hand this monster gives me the top card of your deck in exchange! Go Cuteness Espionage!" The little furball touched something on its watch and it teleported next to Alice. After grabbing the top card of her deck, it waved to her and then reappeared next to Ichigo.
"And I've drawn the magic card Mecha-Reproduction Factory. Now I take one machine monster from my graveyard to my hand!" He caught Sentinel and added it to his hand. "Now I play Monster Reborn to revive the monster I discarded!" A tall muscular humanoid with strange blades attached to its forearms appeared on the field. "So I have been summoned to defeat this machine? So be it…"
Alice had heard that, but she wasn't surprised.
"Cyber Shadow-King of Swords!" (2600/2300) The warrior brought its prismatic eyes over the set card and smiled. "And since he deals damage through defense, then your set Magical Scientist just cost you the game!" King of Swords shimmered out of existence and the set monster fell apart.
"Reveal Nutrient Z!" Alice's face-down card flipped up. "This trap card activates right before I would take 2000 or more life point damage! First I gain 4000 life points!"
Alice- 2800
Ichigo- 2100
Ichigo smiled. "But King of Swords will crush whatever you bring out. So I end my turn."
Alice drew. "I summon Fusilier the Dual-Mode Beast." (1400/1000) A huge red dragon-tank appeared on her field. "Strongarm attacks the Kuriboh." The titanic warrior leapt at the furball. It squeaked in fear and cowered right before it caught a body-sized fist and blew apart. "End turn."
Ichigo drew. "I gain 500 life points. Now King of Swords, attack Fusilier!" The warrior shimmered and the huge mechanical dragon-tank exploded. "End turn."
Alice- 1600
Ichigo- 2600
Alice grimaced and drew. As long as King of Swords remained on her opponent's field she wouldn't have any way to beat him. As she looked at the drawn card though she saw the way to get rid of the meddlesome warrior. "From my hand I play the continuous magic card Tribute Substitute. This card activates when I sacrifice a monster for a tribute summon. It will be destroyed and another tribute will consider to be fulfilled."
("Now she can summon a high-level monster.") Ichigo glanced at King of Swords and smiled. ("As long as King of Swords is out I've got the firepower advantage.")
Alice pointed at Strongarm and at Tribute Substitute. "Become my sacrifice, so that I can summon something stronger." Both cards disappeared. The ceiling above them became covered by black clouds that swallowed up all light. From within the darkness a winged form slowly lowered onto the field. Throwing back its head, its roar had such power behind it that both Ichigo and King of Swords had to brace themselves against the black winds that washed over them.
"What is that thing?" Ichigo gulped as the dragon roared once more, and then its blood-red eyes met his.
Alice pointed at the monster and it roared again. "Darkstorm Dragon!" (2000/2000) The dragon snarled at King of Swords. "Monster special ability activate. When this creature battles with a warrior monster it gains 1000 attack points for the fight."
Ichigo's eyes widened. "No way…"
"Darkstorm Dragon attacks King of Swords, Unholy Mega Flare!" (3000/2000) The dragon opened its jaws and spat out a blast of black fire that slammed into King of Swords. The mighty warrior cried out in pain and then blew apart. "End turn. Now that my dragon is in play you cannot hope to win."
Alice- 1600
Ichigo- 2200
Ichigo drew. "We'll see about that!" His eyes glanced at the drawn card and he smiled. ("I got it!") "From my hand I play the magic card Spiritual Fusion! This magic card fuses one monster on my field with one monster in my graveyard!" A swirling vortex appeared on his field. "I fuse Cyber Shadow-Shield Bearer and Cyber Shadow-Strongarm together to create…" The two monsters he named appeared in the air above him and were sucked into the vortex. What emerged was a giant man holding a huge shield in front of it. Over its shoulder rested a rocket launched. "Cyber Shadow-Big Blaster in defense mode!" (1200/3000) The warrior landed onto the field in a kneeling position, its shield in front of it. "End turn!"
Alice drew. "You're good. However…" She snapped the card around. "Unholy Mega Smart Shot!" The Darkstorm dragon snarled and charged up a fireball within its jaws. "This magic card allows my monster to attack directly during this turn! Unholy Mega Flare!" The dragon spat out its fireball, which launched across the field and dropped down on top of Ichigo.
Ichigo managed to resist it for a few moments…and then his strength gave out. He fell to his knees as the dark flames latched onto him and he screamed for all he worth. It refused to let up though.
Alice smiled confidently. She knew that her power could no be defeated by anyone.
Ichigo kept screaming, the sound unheard to him. All he could hear was the black fire as it burned away at his body and soul. Finally the fires extinguished themselves, and Ichigo dropped face-first to the floor.
Alice- 1600
Ichigo- 200
Alice lifted up the other card from her hand. "I activate Puppet Control. This magic card forces one monster on the field to switch modes. Big Blaster switches into attack mode." The warrior stood up. "And not only can it not attack now, but it cannot changes modes again for the rest of this duel. End turn."
Ichigo coughed weakly…and finally stumbled to his feet. "I…have to…fight…"
Alice pointed behind her. "Don't forget, you're running on a time limit."
Countdown- 50:34
Ichigo looked at the clock…and he felt it. It was something he'd never felt before. It was pure rage. "It's…my turn…now…." He screamed in rage as he drew, his eyes burning right into Alice's. "DRAW!" The top card snapped off of his deck and became a brown blur as his arm finished the drawing arc.
Brief Intermission
To Gryphinwyrm: I hope this was up to your expectations.
To falcon demon general: I'm glad someone finds them interesting. I honestly couldn't get into that last duel.
To Rex: Right. And I guess that says the Cyber Shadow Kuriboh is now the top vote.
To Erestor: Nope. One of the five warrior decks won't be in this movie.
To Mad Bless You: Thanks a lot. It's always good to get words of encouragement from other authors.
To G.O.T. Nick: Oh yeah, the mighty power of Ultima. And yeah he did win much easier that Griff did. But at the same time, what you are reading now was the reason why.
To Seeker of the Soul: Yup. I suppose Raphael would have crushed Krieger.
To Bobbomp No, it wouldn't feel pleasant.
To Anime Albino: Everything in a duel by ALICE is simulated to be real.
To Star: That wasn't Raphael though.
To Voidtemplar: Cobra? What in the blue blazes is that?