Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Legends of the Demon Duelist-Rival School Arc

Chapter 5: A rude awakening

Ichigo growled low in his throat and cracked his knuckles. "I don't know who you are…but I suggest you tell her to restore Eri's demon blood."

Nevan slid off of Vincent and the dark-clothed boy slid into a fighting stance. "I'll tell you what…if you can make me move five feet from this spot, I'll tell her to restore the bitch's blood."

Ichigo closed his eyes and sighed. "Don't cry when I make a fool out of you."

Vincent would have said more but he was suddenly moving as quickly as he could just to avoid getting struck by the flurry of fists that went towards him. ("What incredible power!")

Ichigo didn't want to break his new Duel Arm on accident, so he kept it behind his back while his left arm took a few casual (to him) swipes at his opponent. "Care to save your ego and give up?"

Vincent narrowed his eyes and took one step back to put him out of range of the immediate threat.

Ichigo lowered his arm and lifted up his Duel Arm. "That's one step." He took another step forward, catching Vincent's leg as it snapped for his head. With one tug he brought the boy to his back, and then pushed his leg and him backwards three more feet. "One left."

Vincent growled and leapt up, his fist striking Ichigo in the side of the head. "What are you?"

Ichigo had caught the punch right before it had touched his face. It had been close though, to the point that his knuckle was touching his cheek. "You're pretty quick for a human."

"Who ever said that I was human?" Vincent snarled and his other fist launched up to shatter Ichigo's jaw.

"I assumed too much then." Ichigo snapped up his leg and brought it down, hitting Vincent's fist with its sole and forcing the boy to his knees. "Now release Eri's blood."

"I still have one step left!"

"True." Ichigo cocked back the fist of his Duel Arm. "Hold your chin still for a second."

Vincent's eyes widened as Ichigo slammed his fist right into the boy's mouth. Yet he didn't budge. A few seconds passed and he lifted his eyes to look right into Ichigo's. "That hurt…"

Ichigo frowned and lined up his fist again. "This time you won't be awake to feel the pain."

"We'll see about that!" Vincent snapped his arm free from under Ichigo's foot and leapt to his feet.

Ichigo blinked in surprise as the assault that was launched at him actually forced him to pay attention. "You are definitely good."

"I'm better than you think!" Vincent pressed his attack, actually gaining back two feet. And then he lost those feet as Ichigo punched him right in the ribs and sent him stumbling backwards.

Daniel sighed and threw his jacket onto a chair. "Is there a reason you called me out here in the middle of the night, King?"

"Yes there is." The gold-robed professor stood on the floor of the Obelisk Blue arena. And he had his Duel Coat on. "Are you ready to begin?"

"Begin?" Daniel rolled his eyes. "Why would I want to duel you?"

"Because I challenge you. The winner is the chaperone who goes with the group of students to the meet." Midas smirked. "Would you turn down such a challenge?"

Daniel sighed and picked up his duel disk from its place in his duffel bag. "Fine, whatever. If it'll shut you up on the subject of the damned meet."

"That's your problem! You don't fully understand how dangerous North School is!" Midas waved his hand over the motion reader of his disk and it spat out five cards. "Let's begin!"

Daniel stepped onto the arena and drew five cards. "I think you are taking this whole thing far too seriously."

Midas waved his hand over the reader and it spat out a card. "I'll show you the truth. You must have pride in this school for you to hold your own against North School! First I play Pot of Greed to draw cards!"

("I can't forget that…his deck is based on drawing cards.") Daniel looked down at his hand and then up at his opponent. "Is that it?"

"No. I also set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Midas smirked as a horizontal brown-backed card appeared on his field.

Daniel frowned and drew. ("He's conserving his hand.") "I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Midas waved his hand over the reader and caught his new card. "I'm not done yet. Now you feel the power of greed! I flip up Magician of Faith (300/400) into attack mode!" A blue-robed female magician appeared in play. "When this monster is flipped up I pick up one magic card from my graveyard. So I pick up Pot of Greed and play it again!" He caught two new cards and added them to his hand, giving him nine cards total. "Also, I summon Giant Rat!" (1400/1450) A huge gray rat appeared on his field. "Attack the set monster now!" Screeching fiercely, the beast leapt across the field and tore the set card apart. "Also, Magician of Faith attacks your life points directly!" A golden light shimmered over Daniel. "Then I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

Daniel- 3700

Midas- 4000

Daniel drew. ("He made one big mistake that I'm about to capitalize on.") "I set one card face-down and summon Dark Catapulter (700/1500) in defense mode." A black turtle-like robot appeared on his field in a crouching position. "End turn."

Midas drew. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon on your set card!" A blast of wind shattered the set card. "And then I flip up Reckless Avarice! This trap card lets me sacrifice my next two draw phases to draw two cards right now." He slid two cards off of his deck. "I switch my monsters into defense mode and set a monster face-down. Also I set one magic/trap card face-down. End turn."

Daniel drew. ("I've got your number. You're biding your time until you can get your Enraged Muka Muka into play.") "Dark Catapulter, once per turn, gets a turn counter onto it while it is in defense mode. I remove this counter and the monster in my graveyard to destroy the set card on the right! Burning Shot!" A blast of flame launched off of the metal turtle and shattered the set card. Then it immediately reformed on Midas' field.

"When you do this I activate the targeted card. It is the quickplay magic card Reload, and it lets me shuffled my hand into my deck and draw an equal number of cards." The professor shuffled his hand into his deck and drew six cards.

Daniel took a deep breath. "End turn then."

Midas pointed at his deck and the motion reader beeper. "One more turn without a draw phase. So I set two cards face-down and flip up my next Reload. My hand goes into my deck and I draw a new hand of four cards." He drew four new cards and pointed at his set monster. "I flip up another Magician of Faith, and once again use Pot of Greed." He drew twice.

"You'll deck at this rate." Daniel knew that while Midas could only stall for so long.

"That's what you think. I'm not so stupid." Midas slid a card into his disk. "So I play the continuous magic card Draw Cycle. This card works so that whenever I draw cards outside of my draw phase, I place the bottom card of my graveyard on the bottom of my deck. Then I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Daniel drew. ("That's better.") "I play the magic card Reinforcements of the Army. So I search my deck for one level four or less warrior and add it into my hand." He took the drawn card and slapped it onto his disk. "I summon Elemental Hero Wildman!" (1500/1200) A brown-skinned man in a loincloth with a heavy sword strapped to his back appeared on the field. "Now attack the Magician of Faith! Wild Slash!" Grunting, the superhero leapt forwards and slashed the attack mode spellcaster apart. "End turn."

Daniel- 3700

Midas- 2800

Midas pointed at his deck and it beeper again. "And now I can draw during my draw phase again." He smirked. "I switch Giant Rat into attack mode and order it to attack Wildman!" The rat charged at the warrior and was cut in half. "When destroyed as a result of battle, I may special summon an earth attribute monster to the field from my deck that has 1500 or less attack points!"

Daniel- 3700

Midas- 2700

Daniel's eyes widened. "Oh no…"

"Oh yes." Midas removed a card from his deck and placed it onto his playing field. "Go Enraged Muka Muka!" (1200/900) A huge rock-covered crab monster appeared on the field. "For every card in my hand Enraged Muka Muka gains 400 attack points!" He held out his four cards. "However, I flip up my face-down Reckless Avarice! Now I draw two cards!" The golden professor snapped two cards off of his deck. "And because I drew cards outside of my draw phase, I place the bottom card of my graveyard at the bottom of my deck." He did so and smirked as steam sprayed out of the cracks in his monster's armoring. (3600/3300) "Attack Wildman!" The crab chattered out something and snapped the superhero in half with its claws.

Daniel- 1600

Midas- 2700

Daniel shuddered in pain. ("Damn…that thing is tough.")

Midas smirked at Daniel. "End turn."

Daniel drew slowly, his eyes narrowed. "School spirit is in the eye of the beholder. I celebrate all dueling in general." He slid a card from his hand into his graveyard. "Now let me show your Enraged Muka Muka what School spirit really means! I activate Special Hurricane!" A blast of wind flew across the field and blew the crab apart. "All monsters that have been special summoned are now destroyed! End turn."

Midas frowned and his Coat beeped. "It's my turn then. I play Monster Reborn on Enraged Muka Muka!" The crab monster reappeared. "Then I flip up my face-down monster! Go Tribute Boat!" (800/1400) He pointed at the boat and his Magician of Faith. "By sacrificing this monster when it flips up and one other monster, I can draw two cards." He snapped two new cards off of his deck. (4000/3700) "Now Enraged Muka Muka, attack his Dark Catapulter!" The crab reached over and snapped the machine monster in half. "Then I set a card face-down and end my turn." (3600/3300)

Daniel drew. ("Here's my chance.") "I play the magic card The Warrior Returning Alive. Now I take one warrior monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand!" He held up a card and threw it down. "Return Elemental Hero Wildman in defense mode!" The brown-skinned warrior appeared on the field in a crouching position. "Then I equip him with the equipment magic card Cyclone Boomerang!" A huge wooden boomerang appeared alongside the sword on Wildman's back. "This raises his attack points by 500." (2000/1200) "Then I set one card face-down on the field and activate Mirage of Nightmare. End turn."

"You think to draw cards hmm?" Midas pointed at his coat and it beeped again, symbolizing he was free of the effect of Reckless Avarice.

Daniel pointed at the Mirage of Nightmare card, which was glowing green. "During your standby phase I draw until I hold four cards in my hand!" He snapped three cards off of his deck and added them to his hand.

Midas threw a card onto his disk. "Go Math Magician!" (1500/1200) A bizarre long-bearded spellcaster appeared on his field. "When this monster is summoned I discard the top card of my deck to my graveyard." He slid the top card off and discarded it. "But when he is destroyed as a result of battle I draw one card."

Daniel gritted his teeth.

"Go Math Magician! Attack Wildman with Battle Curriculum!" The spellcaster lifted its staff and a stream of glowing numbers flew towards Wildman.

"Reverse card open!" Daniel's face-down card flipped up. "Hero Barrier negates one attack as long as there is an Elemental Hero in play." A swirling blue barrier sprang up and blocked the numbers.

Midas snapped his fingers and points at Wildman. "Go Enraged Muka Muka!" The crab charged forwards and tore the superhero apart. "So take that!"

"Take nothing! You just made a big mistake by sending Cyclone Boomerang to the graveyard!" Daniel held up the equipment magic card. "When this card is equipped to Wildman and it is sent to the graveyard then all magic and trap cards in play are destroyed! Also, you will take 500 life points of damage for each card!"

Midas grimaced and pointed at one of his two set cards. "I activate the quickplay magic card Haggling Trickery! This card only activates when it would be destroyed. Now we both discard a card from our hands." He slid one of his precious cards into the graveyard, but now he would take 500 less damage.

Daniel- 1600

Midas- 1500

Daniel looked down at his hand and smirked. "I know just what to discard." He slid a card into his graveyard. "And because Mirage of Nightmare was destroyed I keep my other three cards."

Midas growled. "End turn!" (3000/900)

Daniel drew. "It's my turn now!" He looked at the drawn card and smiled calmly. "It's time to get rid of that giant butt-ugly crab right now! First I play Monster Reborn to revive Elemental Hero Edgeman!" (2600/1400) A gold-armored superhero that looked capable of cutting nearly any material appeared on the field.

"Edgeman?" Midas stared at the superhero in pure surprise. "But…how?"

"You should know all too well how it got into my graveyard. You sent it there yourself with your magic card!" Daniel thrust his fist into the air. "It's time to take back this duel!"

"Enraged Muka Muka has 3000 attack points!"

"That it does….and I thank you for it." Daniel opened his field magic card slot. "Because one less card and I wouldn't have been able to use this! Go Skyscraper!" All around them huge buildings sprang up, turning the dueling field into a city nightscape. "While this card is in play, whenever a monster with hero in its name battles with a stronger monster it will gain 1000 attack points!" He pointed at the Enraged Muka Muka. "Power Edge Attack!" (3600/1400) Jets opened in the back of Edgeman's armor and it launched right through the Enraged Muka Muka, blowing it apart.

Daniel- 1600

Midas- 900

Midas stared at the spot where his monster had been. "My mighty Muka Muka…"

Daniel placed a card into his disk and then one onto his disk. "I set one card face-down and summon Friendog (700/1200) in defense mode." A black machine dog appeared on his field in a crouching position. "End turn."

Midas drew. "I play the magic card Reversal of Fortune!" A golden die bounced around on the field and landed on a one. "Now I destroy all face-up cards in play!" Edgeman, Friendog, and Skyscraper all disappeared.

Daniel stared at his nearly empty disk with wide eyes. "When Friendog is sent to the graveyard I pick up an Elemental Hero and a Polymerization card. Since there is no Polymerization card in my graveyard I'll just pick up Wildman."

Midas pointed at him. "Math Magician, direct attack! Battle Curriculum!" The wizard lifted its staff and a stream of number launched towards Daniel.

The half wolf demon pointed at his set card. "Go Mirror Force! This trap will negate your attack and destroy all attacking monsters on your field!" A glowing blue barrier leapt up and absorbed the numbers, then retaliating with a shotgun blast of energy that blew the spellcaster away.

Midas place a card face-down on his disk and then two cards into it. "I set two cards face-down and a monster. End turn."

Daniel drew. "Come out now, Elemental Hero Bubbleman!" (800/1200) A blue-armored superhero appeared on his field and struck a curious pose. "When this monster is summoned and I have no cards on my field, I draw two cards." He slid two cards off of his deck and added them to his hand. "End turn."

Midas drew. "By placing Bubbleman in attack mode you've sealed your fate! Go Golbin of Greed!" (1000/1800) An obese green goblin appeared on his field. "I flip up my face-down Gold Die. This lets me discard two cards from my hand to increase the attack of one monster on my field by 1000 points. Also, every turn it will gain 1000 more attack points." (2000/1800) Cackling, the Goblin leapt forwards and tackled the superhero, blowing it apart. "End turn!"

Daniel- 400

Midas- 900

Daniel looked down at his deck and then up at his fellow professor. "You're good King…but I intend to be the one to go to that meet!"

"Your resolve is impressive…" Midas closed his eyes. "So show me your determination!"

"Oh I will!" Daniel snapped the top card off of his deck. (3000/1800) He looked at the drawn card and his eyes widened hugely. "That's it…I've got it!"

"What?"

Daniel held up the drawn card. "I play Magnetic Recovery! This magic card lets me return one machine monster in my graveyard to the field in defense mode!"

"What could you possibly special summon that would be a threat to me?"

"This! Come out now, Elemental Hero Cyberman!" (1300/1800) A half-man half-machine monster appeared onto his field in a crouching position. "This monster counts as both a machine and a warrior."

"That's it?" Midas frowned. "How will that defeat me?"

"It's all part of a plan!" Daniel slapped down another card. "Go Elemental Hero Wildman!" For the third time in this duel the wild superhero returned. "And now your end comes at the true potential of the Elemental Heroes! Activate Polymerization!" Both monsters were pulled into a glowing vortex. "Elemental Hero Berserk Steelman!" (2400/1000) The monster that emerged from the vortex looked like Wildman in the armor of Cyberman. "This monster lets me remove machine monsters from my graveyard to raise its attack points by 500 each time!" Daniel held up three cards. "I remove Friendog, Dark Catapulter and Cyberman!" (3900/1000) "Go Berserk Steelman, Steam-Drive Slash!" Steam shot out of openings in the hero's armor and he charged forwards, cutting the Goblin of Greed apart with his sword. "And that's the game."

Daniel- 400

Midas- 0

Midas sighed. "At least make sure you win."

"But of course." Daniel smiled and walked off.

Ichigo sighed and elbowed Vincent in the ribs for the fiftieth time, sending the boy back to the four step mark. "Just give up. I'd prefer not to kill you."

Vincent fell to his knees and shuddered. His eyes closed and he hung his head.

"Is that surrender?" Ichigo felt tired, but not very much so. He'd used more energy pulling his punches than anything else.

Eri, still getting used to the change in balance, growled angrily at Nevan from her spot propped up against a tree. "Your boyfriend is going to die if he doesn't surrender. So give me back my damned demon blood!"

Nevan pouted and her tail flicked back and forth. "But I'm starting to like it. And besides, what are you talking about? Vincent's just getting warmed up."

"What?" Eri's eyes widened and she looked over at Ichigo.

Ichigo sighed. "Alright, that's enough. Time for you to die." He pointed his finger at the boy's still hanging head, a bead of energy developing at the tip of the digit. "Die or surrender, your choice."

Vincent's shoulders started to rise up and down as he began laughing. Then he lifted his head enough that his blood red eyes could be seen. "I was about to ask you the same thing."

"What?" Ichigo barely had time to react before he felt a fist crash into his nose and send him flying backwards thirty feet into a tree. His back arched as it crashed, and he gasped in pain. ("That…hurt?")

Vincent cracked his knuckles and wiped some dirt off of his cheek. "And now the real fun begins." His form shimmered and blurred out of existence.

Ichigo recovered from his shock just in time to see Vincent shimmer into existence in front of him. "Damn…"

"Let's get this party started!" Vincent threw back his head and howled wildly. He went straight from howling to attacking, his fists striking Ichigo all over.

Ichigo tried as hard as he could to keep up with this sudden change in speed, but all he could was prevent any of the punches from doing long-lasting damage.

"I know you can do better than that!" Vincent drove a haymaker across Ichigo's face and followed up with a claw swipe along the half demon's neck. He glanced at his now bleeding claws and smirked, licking the red liquid away. "Yum…"

Eri stared in complete confusion. "But how…."

Nevan howled again and started cheering. "Go Vincy!"

Ichigo squeezed his eyes shut as pain flashed in head from another blow to his skull.

Vincent grinned crazily and slammed his fist into Ichigo's throat. "How's it feel to have the tables turned on you?" He lined up his fist with reeling half demon's face. "And here's the finish!" His fist snapped out…

And was intercepted by Ichigo's hand. His eyes opened to reveal emerald irises. "Let's see you deal with someone used to fighting!"

"Wha…" Vincent's word was stopped by a fist to the jaw. He stumbled backwards and tried to regain his lost balance.

Ahran narrowed his eyes. "So you want to prevent my sister from regaining that which is rightfully hers hmm?" The spirit cracked his knuckles and then popped his neck. "Let me show the error of your ways."

Vincent tasted blood….his blood. That last blow had cut his lip open. "I see…" He wiped the blood away and charged forwards. "Let's see what you can do!"

Ahran side-stepped the charging boy swiftly and slammed his elbow down into the back of Vincent's neck. "No match for me."

Vincent ate dirt for about three seconds and then shimmered out of sight.

Ahran looked straight ahead. He smirked and snapped his fist behind him, catching Vincent in the ribs. "Surrender." Vincent disappeared again. "Fine, be stubborn." He closed his eyes.

Eri stared at her brother with true amazement in her eyes.

Nevan was just pale. "Vincy?"

Ahran's ears perked up as he heard Vincent come in directly in front of him. That focus was shattered as he felt three other sets of feet approaching him in perfect syncopation. ("You want to try that trick?")

On all four sides of Ahran there was a copy of Vincent. Each one grinned sickly and lifted their fists…

Ahran's form shimmered and from the waist up he seemed to quadruple, four different Ahrans driving their fists into the mouth of each Vincent. Three of each of the two faded away like mist, while the last ones both stayed in their positions for a moment. Then Vincent realized he had been hit as he bounced along the grass like an out of control pinball, finally stopping when he slammed into a hunk of rock. Though the rock was pretty much completely destroyed.

"Did you think I couldn't detect the real you? You should know not to use the self shadow technique against someone of similar speed to you." Ahran lifted up his hand and pointed his index finger at his fallen foe. A bead of light developed there…and fired with the force of a bullet that had the explosive power of a chunk of plastic explosives. Then he fired another…and another…and they just kept coming.

Eri hopped up and down, cheering loudly. She knew it was out of character, but this was her awesome brother at work.

Nevan turned even paler. "No Vincy lose?"

Ahran narrowed his eyes. "So are we done here?"

The huge dust cloud he created dissipated to reveal Vincent standing. His jacket was lying in torn shreds at his feet. "You're better than the wimp. But I am Vincent Garlin. I do not lose!" His form shimmered and he sneered enough to show his fangs. "Time to bleed." Then he disappeared.

Ahran closed his eyes to concentrate…and felt huge amounts of pain as claws dug into his chest. He winced and snapped his eyes open to look at Vincent, who was right in front of him. "So fast…"

Vincent leapt forwards and slammed his forehead against Ahran's driving the boy backwards. "Come on dog!" Ahran stumbled backwards and screamed as Vincent's claws dug into his left arm. "Where's your smug talk now?"

Ahran lifted his finger to point right at Vincent's eye. "It'll be back in a second."

Vincent sneered and grabbed Ahran's finger, breaking it casually. "Not if I remove your tongue first." His other arm arched as his claws tore four lines in Ahran's chest tissue.

Ahran gasped in surprise and aimed his hand at the ground. There was a burst of force and dust exploded up from the ground like a cloud.

Vincent felt Ahran leave the area right in front of him and smirked. "Where are you going? Don't you want to play?" He opened his palm slowly, a glowing ball of orange light in the center of it. "Abyssal Sun!" He threw the ball and it turned into a miniature sun of energy that slammed right into the retreating Ahran.

The wolf demon screamed in pain as he was swallowed up by the Abyssal Sun. It carried him a hundred feet along the ground and then exploded; creating a momentary vortex of air and then launching him back in the same direction he had come from.

Vincent wound up his fist and punched, the blow connecting with Ahran as the wolf demon made his return trip. "Welcome back!" His fist uncurled to reveal another Abyssal Sun. "And good-bye!" The sun fired right into Ahran's head and sent him launching backwards again. "But here's a gift for the road!" Vincent opened his palms and held them outstretched towards his opponent. At each fingertip there was a single Abyssal Sun.

The Abyssal Sun that pushed Ahran along by the face exploded and dropped his to the ground twenty feet from Vincent. He gasped as he could finally breathe again. Even though every breath hurt, he needed air…

Vincent leapt into the air high above his opponent. "Die! Ten Star Abyssal Annihilation!" He snapped his hands and all ten of the glowing suns dropped. Each one exploded in size and pummeled the same spot….exactly where Ahran was.

"Ahran!" Eri started to run towards that spot…but Nevan grabbed her by the collar and held her in place.

"We can't have you dying now." The new demoness sneered. "If anyone kills you, it will be me."

"It's over." Vincent landed on the spot where he had been standing before.

The crater his attack had caused was something similar to as if a meteor the size of a house had fallen from space onto the ground.

"You cannot defeat me. I am far too powerful for you." Vincent glanced back at Nevan. "We're leaving."

"I'm…not…done….yet…" A burnt and badly bruised form pulled itself out of the crater.

Vincent glanced behind him at the crater and chuckled. "You still have enough strength to stand?"

Ichigo slowly came to his feet. ("Even Ahran couldn't beat this guy. So what am I supposed to do?") He wasn't a martial artist. ("I'm a duelist…but Ahran is down for the count…")

Vincent lifted up his hand, a basketball-sized Abyssal Sun floating over it. "This is the end. Have a nice sleep in hell."

("What can I use….") Ichigo's eyes widened in realization. ("The explosion from that attack….it's like a vacuum…..") He dropped to one knee.

"Most people would think of something witty to say before they kill an annoyance. But you're not even worth the effort." Vincent wound up and threw the Abyssal Sun with all of his strength.

Ichigo felt his left fist shudder as electricity gathered around it. ("What's left of my strength…let's see if the Dark Halo can do this.") He dropped his head just enough that the Abyssal Sun flew past him. "Here I go…" The Abyssal Sun exploded as close as it could…sucking in the surrounding air to fuel the blast. It grew larger and larger….and finally reached its limit.

"One dead dog." Vincent squinted his eyes against the brightness of his own attack. And then his eyes widened as he saw something approaching him like a missile.

Lying flat out, Ichigo wound up his crackling fist as he shot by and slammed it with all of his strength into Vincent's head. There was a sound like a thunderclap and then time sped up. Ichigo continued his flight, crashing into the ground and skidding to a halt. Vincent fell back-first to the ground and stopped moving.

Nevan threw Eri aside and ran over to Vincent. "Vincy! Are you okay?"

Eri stumbled and then tried to move as quickly as she could to Ichigo.

Vincent groaned and slowly got up onto his feet. "Using my own attack to fuel your punch…very clever…" With Nevan's help he got onto his feet. "But still…it's time for you to….die…" He passed out, and if not for her newfound demon strength Nevan would have dropped him.

Eri collapsed at Ichigo's side and shook him furiously. "Wake up stupid! The fight isn't done yet!"

"Yes it is." Nevan set Vincent down and flexed her claws. "I'll kill you and that mutt for hurting my dearest Vincy."

Eri's eyes widened and she shook Ichigo harder. "I said get your lazy ass up!"

Nevan slowly stalked in like a predator approaching its prey. And then with a snarl she dove.

Eri squeezed her eyes shut and shielded Ichigo's body with her own. ("Not like this…don't let me die like this…")

Nevan's claws were inches from her target…and then she stopped in mid-air.

Adriel pulled Nevan's tail with all of his strength and sent her flying in the opposite direction from her intended target. "That's enough!"

Nevan rebounded and landed on her feet. "Don't interfere in something that doesn't involve you!"

The half dragon demon's body shimmered with a light blue aura. "Oh but it does involve me. You're trying to get rid of my principle rival…and for that I'll kill you."

Nevan was about to attack…but stopped as a hand rested on her shoulder.

"That's enough Nevan." Vincent smirked at Adriel. "In my current state you might be able to defeat me. And honestly I'm bored. Farewell." He turned and walked off, with Nevan following him quickly.

"Hey…don't you want to chase them?" Adriel turned to look at Eri, and blinked in surprise as she wasn't even looking at the two retreating North School students.

"Ichigo…please get up…" Eri hugged the still half demon tightly. "Get up…"

To be continued…

To Justin: I might use the Horror deck and the attached character.

To omegadramon: Replica was the guy who copied Ryu in Dark Soul Arc.

To Rex: What exactly is out in the west? And using a Kuriboh deck would compromise Seeker's most interesting deck, which is of the same type.

To TheMysticWanderer: I remember Ani.

To Grisham: I could do so. It'll go into consideration.

To Aremen: I hope I answered your rhetorical question.

To Gryphinwyrm7: Oh yes, Richard will be returning during this arc.

To falcon demon general: Consider it brought.

To whitewolf: Sorry, can't do that to the son of Garlin.

To Hogwarts-Knight: Then consider them ridiculous.

To Esphelyon: I'll see if I can use it, but I'm not sure if it will see play.

To Raine Vindicare: They will all be seen soon.

To Dais: Oh they do.

To G.O.T. Nick: Then odd it shall be.

To Lance Murdock: Not much to respond to. Your observations were dead on.

To Bobbomp: I never make promises about putting characters in. If he fits somewhere then he fits.

To Anime Albino: Fat chance on that. Now she'll be worse.

To Void templar: Your answer is no. He cannot.

To Sinister: As you wish.

To Adriel: A void deck? Errr…..maybe….

To Seeker of the Soul: That theory isn't necessarily off.