Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Legends of the Demon Duelist-Rival School Arc

Chapter 10: Something worth fighting for

They walked just fifty feet away from the safe house when Daniel held up his arm to signal everyone to stop.

"What's the hold…" Griff went silent as someone started to walk out of the mist towards them.

The figure became more and more prominent until he finally got a good look at his new adversary. It was a boy about his age with shoulder length and quite literally golden hair and silver eyes. He was wearing a black and silver bodysuit that resembled Daniel's costume, except unlike Daniel this one labeled him as a member of the Shadow Corporation.

Daniel shook his head out. ("This is the same spot where Rikuo dueled Ryu before…")

The approaching form was definitely female. As the girl stepped into view, she flipped a piece of her medium-length brown hair back and smiled. From the color of the uniform she was wearing, it was easy to tell that she was from North School. "So which one of you is Griff Mohistava."

"That would be me." Griff stepped forward and turned on his duel disk. "And who are you?"

"My name is Sheena Margoulis." Smirking, the girl's disk activated. "Now, prepare yourself for strength that I bet you cannot defeat."

Sheena- 4000

Griff- 4000

Griff snapped six cards off of his deck. "We'll see about that. I summon Don Zaloog in defense mode!" The white-haired king of thieves appeared on the field, struck a pose, and then fell into a crouching position. "I'll also play the continuous magic card Lucky Streak. Whenever a Dark Scorpion monster or Don Zaloog is attacked, I flip a coin. If it lands on heads then the attack is negated. End turn."

Sheena drew, eyeing Don Zaloog disdainfully. "Pitiful…a male." She placed a card face-down on her disk. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Who are you calling pitiful?" Griff drew. "I summon A Man with Wdjat (1600/1600) in attack mode." A purple-robed man appeared on his field. "I'll also switch Don Zaloog into attack mode!" The thief king stood up and drew his daggers. "Now Man with Wdjat attacks your set monster!" Lifting its hand, the man released a ball of energy that slammed into the set card harmlessly. "What?"

Sheena smirked as her monster revealed itself. It was a woman wearing regal robes and holding a glowing whip. "Control Temptress (300/2000) blocks your attack."

Sheena- 4000

Griff- 3600

Griff frowned. "I have to end my turn then."

Sheena drew. "Your deck is full of easy to control monsters."

"Easy to control?" Griff and Don both snickered at that. "Yeah right…"

"You don't believe me?" The girl held up a card. "First I use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Lucky Streak card." A blast of wind shattered the continuous magic card. "Then I summon Divine Sentinel." A woman in black armor appeared on the field. (1400/1300) "Attack Don Zaloog now." The warrior woman leapt forwards, as did the Don. Both collided midfield and blew apart. "Now I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Griff drew. "I'll make you pay for that. I set one monster in defense mode and switch A Man with Wdjat into defense mode." The spellcaster fell to its knees. "End turn."

Sheena drew. "First I reveal my set card. It's a trap card called Pillar of Revival." A beam of light hit her field. "I must discard one light attribute monster card from my hand to bring back a monster from my graveyard." She discarded a card and her Divine Sentinel appeared on the field. "When Divine Sentinel is brought to the field from the graveyard I draw one card." She slid the top card off of her deck and added it to her hand. "Now I'll set a card face-down and end my turn."

Griff drew. ("She returned her monster and left it in attack mode. That was her last mistake.") He pointed at his set monster and it flipped up. "I flip summon Dark Scorpion Guard!" (1000/1900) A heavy-set man in the clothing of the Dark Scorpion thieves appeared on the field. "When this monster is flip summoned I may select one Dark Scorpion or Don Zaloog in my graveyard and add it to my hand." He held up Don Zaloog and placed it into his hand.

"So you got back a monster. That's not a good play." Sheena narrowed her eyes disdainfully at Griff.

"Who says I'm done? I sacrifice Dark Scorpion Guard to summon Dark Scorpion-Gorg the Strong!" (1800/1500) The guard disappeared and was replaced by the huge member hammer-wielding member of the Dark Scorpions. "Gorg, attack Divine Sentinel now!" Nodding, the silent warrior charged.

Sheena pointed at her set card. "I activate the trap card Mirror of Goddess!" A huge silver mirror flew up in between the two monsters. Gorg slammed his hammer into his own reflection and blew apart. "This trap works when you target a female monster on my field with an attack. The attacking monster is destroyed."

Griff slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Sheena drew. "This will be the end for you. I activate the continuous magic card Temptation Zone." The Control Temptress stood up and motioned with her hands to the Mad with Wdjat. He stood up and tripped over himself to reach her, where she started to give him a back-rub.

Griff face-fell. "What was that?"

"While Temptation Zone is in play I equip one Control Temptress on my field to remove one male monster on your field from play." Sheena smirked while her Temptress continued to give The Man with Wdjat a back-rub. "Now I attack you directly with Divine Sentinel!" The warrior cracked her knuckles and charged towards the dark-skinned boy.

"Not so fast!" Griff pointed at his set card and it flipped up. "I reveal Graverobber! This trap card lets me take one card from your graveyard and use it for myself! So I'll take Pillar of Revival and activate it by discarding Sage Owl!" (300/500) There was a flash of light and Gorg appeared on his field.

The Divine Sentinel skidded to a stop and returned to Sheena's field. "I switch Divine Sentinel into defense, and then I set a monster face-down. End turn."

Griff drew. "I summon Dark Scorpion Spearman!" (1500/1000) A man wearing the garb of the Dark Scorpions and holding a spear appeared on the field. "This monster has the power to deal damage through defense. Go Spearman!" The warrior charged forwards and pierced its weapon through the Sentinel, blowing it apart.

Sheena- 3800

Griff- 3600

Griff pointed at the set monster. "Go Gorg the Strong, attack!" The hulking warrior lifted his hammer…and then snapped it around to strike the Spearman in the face and blow him apart.

Sheena- 3800

Griff- 3300

Sheena smirked and pointed at her now face-up monster, which was a scantily clad woman holding a whip. "Seductress (800/700) has redirected the attack of your male monster to another monster on the field. And because Gorg did the attack under my orders his special ability triggers for me." Gorg shimmered away. "So on top of your deck he goes."

Griff snarled and slid two cards into his disk. "I set one card face-down and activate Mirage of Nightmare. End turn."

Sheena frowned at the sight of the continuous magic card. ("Mirage of Nightmare lets him draw until he has four cards in his hand during my standby phase.") She drew.

Griff drew three cards and then pointed at his set card. "I reveal Emergency Provisions! This quickplay magic card will send my Mirage of Nightmare to the graveyard and raise my life points by 1000!" The continuous magic card disappeared.

Sheena- 3800

Griff- 4300

Sheena looked at her drawn card and slid it into her disk. "I set a card face-down and end my turn."

Griff drew. "I summon Warrior Dai Grepher (1700/1600) in attack mode!" A warrior holding a two-handed sword appeared on the field. "Attack Seductress now!" He leapt forwards, only to turn and slash through a little furball that suddenly appeared on Sheena's field. "What?"

Sheena pointed at her now face-up set card. "Defense Goats is a quickplay magic card that special summons two Goat Tokens to the field." (0/0) "These monsters must be attacked before you can attack my female monsters."

Griff slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Sheena drew. "First I play the magic card Premature Burial. At the cost of 800 life points I may return one monster from my graveyard to the field in attack mode." The form of her Divine Sentinel appeared in play. "And when Divine Sentinel is special summoned from the graveyard I draw a card." After sliding the top card off of her deck, she smiled. "I sacrifice Seductress to summon Amazoness of Light!" (2100/1850) A woman with long blond hair and blue eyes appeared in play. She was covered from neck to toe with pink and silver armor. "Amazoness, attack Dai Grepher now!"

"Reveal Mirage Magic!" Griff pointed at his set card and his warrior turned shades of grey. The Amazoness' sword slammed into his side, but it did no damage. "This card negates one attack and gives me life points instead."

Sheena- 3000

Griff- 6400

Sheena growled and slid a card into her disk. "I place a card face-down and end my turn."

Griff breathed a quiet sigh of relief and drew. "I summon Don Zaloog!" The king of thieves appeared on his field. "Now Don, attack the last goat!" Snickering, the thief leapt forward and slashed the goat apart. "Now go Warrior Dai Grepher! Attack Divine Sentinel now!"

"Reveal Maiden's Retreat!" Sheena pointed at her set card and the Divine Sentinel disappeared. "This trap card will send my monster back into my hand and let me special summon one female monster from my hand to the field." She placed the Divine Sentinel back into her hand and placed her other card. "Go Kuriboh Girl!" (300/200) A little pink furball wearing a red ribbon on its head appeared on the field. It squeaked and Dai Grepher dropped his sword and hugged, little hearts in his eyes.

Griff face-fell. "What are you doing? Kill it!"

"How can you be so heartless?" Sheena pointed at Warrior Dai Grepher. "When Kuriboh Girl is attacked by a male monster she equips to it and removes it from play."

Griff sucked air into his mouth through clenched teeth. "End turn!"

Sheena drew. "I discard Light Maiden (0/100) from my hand along with one card from my hand to special summon one monster from my graveyard. My target is Divine Sentinel." The black-armored female warrior reappeared on the field in a standing position. "So now I draw one card." She pulled the top card off of her deck, and smiled. "And now I sacrifice my two monsters to summon Leina; Spirit of the Flute!" (2550/2200)

A woman with purple hair wearing a pink dress appeared on the field. "When this monster is summoned I activate her effect! Melody of Shifting!" From out of nowhere Leina produced a flute and played into it. "When this card is activated, I switch one monster into defense mode. For the rest of this game that monster cannot attack or be in attack mode, even if it dies and returns." Don Zaloog shuddered and fell to one knee. "Now Leina, attack Don Zaloog now! Doom Melody!"

"Wait!" Griff discarded a card from his hand into his graveyard. "I activate the effect of Dark Scorpion Emblem! (100/100) This monster card negates all attacks against one Dark Scorpion during the turn I discard it from my hand!"

Sheena nodded slightly. "Then take your turn, knowing that your key card cannot fight."

Griff drew. "I play the magic card Bandit's Gambit. This magic card requires that I have two cards or more in my hand to activate. Now I show you my hand." He held out his two cards to reveal Gorg and Guardian Sphinx. "Now I shuffle my hand and you select one card. If you guess what the card is, then I discard my hand and the top ten cards of my deck. If you're wrong then I shuffle my hand into my deck and draw four cards." He held up the two cards. "So guess."

Sheena pointed at the left card. "It's that Dark Scorpion."

Griff smirked and held up the Guardian Sphinx. "Wrong." He shuffled his hand into his deck and drew four cards. "Go Dark Scorpion-Chick the Yellow!" (1000/1000) A yellow spiky-haired kid holding a hammer appeared on his field and struck a pose. "Now I play the equipment magic card Chick's Crushing Mallet!" The hammer in Chick's hands doubled in size. "His attack now rises by 1000!" (2000/1000) "Go Chick, attack Divine Sentinel now!"

Sheena pointed at Temptation Zone. "I activate the effect of Temptation Zone! By sacrificing a female monster on my field I may once per turn special summon a female from my graveyard!" The Divine Sentinel exploded into dust and then appeared on her field in a crouching position right before Chick's Mallet crashed down onto it. "And because it was special summoned from the graveyard, I draw one card."

Griff slid his other two cards into his disk. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

Sheena drew. "First Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards." She now was holding three total. "Now I summon Flame Assailant." A brown-skinned woman holding a very short little knife appeared on her field. (1500/1000) "Now I attack Chick with Leina! Doom Melody!" Lifting the flute to her lips, the woman released a blast of energy from the instrument's opening towards the Dark Scorpion.

Chick yelped and held up the mallet, which absorbed the attack and blew back into its normal size. (1000/1000)

Griff paled. "When Chick would be destroyed because of battle the Mallet is destroyed instead and all battle damage is zero."

Sheena pointed at Chick and smirked. "But now his attack power is gone! Go Flame Assailant!" The woman threw her little knife, which slammed into Chick and blew him apart. "End turn."

Sheena- 3000

Griff- 5900

Griff drew. "Activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" One of his two face-down cards flipped up.

"So you plan to destroy one of my cards?" Sheena frowned.

Griff pointed at his other set card. "Nope." The other set card exploded in a blast of wind. "Trapped Greed activate now! This card, when destroyed while face-down, lets me draw two cards." He slid two cards off of his deck and added them to his hand. "Now I sacrifice Don…"

Sheena waved a finger in the air. "The monster affected by Melody of Shifting may now be sacrificed."

Griff growled and placed a different onto his disk. "I summon Dark Scorpion Cleric!" (800/800) An Egyptian man appeared on the field in a crouching position. "Now I activate its effect. By discarding one card from my hand I can pick up one Dark Scorpion from the graveyard." He held up Chick and added the card to his hand. "Now I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Sheena drew. "You're nearly out of time. I summon Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) in attack mode." A woman in dark robes appeared on her field. "Now I attack your Cleric with her!"

"Reveal Magic-Arm Shield!" Griff pointed at his set card, which flipped up and shot out a pair of extending arms to grab Leina and bring her over to his field. "This trap card forces your monster to attack this target!" Leina lifted the flute to her lips and played a short song, blowing the Witch away.

Sheena- 1600

Griff- 5900

Sheena held up a card from her deck. "I use the effect of my Witch to pick up Rogue Doll." (1600/1000) "Now Flame Assailant attacks Cleric!" The woman threw another knife that pierced the heart of the man and blew him apart. "End turn." Leina returned to her field.

Griff drew. "I activate Unearthing the Treasure. This card lets me draw one card from my deck for every monster in my removed from play pile, however I'll lose 1000 life points per drawn card." He drew twice and his life point counter dropped to 3900.

"This is it…here I go! I play the magic card World Crisis. You see, even though the Dark Scorpions are thieves they are also heroes, and when the world needs heroes they will be there. At the cost of half of my life points I may special summon as many of the Dark Scorpions as I can from my deck to the field, as long as Don Zaloog is in play!" He slapped down three cards, and then slapped down a fourth from his hand. "Presenting…"

Sheena- 1600

Griff- 1450

The first to appear was a man wearing a pair of glasses and holding a dagger in each hand. "Cliff the Trap Remover!" (1200/1000)

The second was the burly form that Sheena knew fairly well. "Dark Scorpion-Gorg the Strong!" (1800/1500)

The third was a woman holding a whip calmly at her side. "Dark Scorpion-Meanae the Thorn!" (1000/1800)

And the final was the yellow spiky-haired kid from before. "Dark Scorpion-Chick the Yellow!" (1000/1000)

The five thieves struck a group pose as they were named off, and then all at once they changed poses once more. "The Dark Scorpion Burglars!"

Sheena started to giggle helplessly. "How stupid are you…"

Griff slid a card into his disk. "As much as I would like Gorg to smack that Flame Assailant down, I can't because World Crisis prevents me from attacking during this turn. So I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

Sheena drew. "You're finished! I summon Rogue Doll in attack mode!" (1600/1000) An animated female doll appeared on the field. "Now I attack!"

"Reveal Dark Scorpion Defense Formation!" Griff pointed at his set card and an explosion of smoke filled the field. "This card can only work when all five of the Dark Scorpion Burglars are in play. Your attack is considered negated, your battle phase ends, and I draw three cards."

Sheena hissed in anger. "I play the magic card Focus Attack. Now your monsters must attack Leina before they attack any monster on my field as long as it remains in play. End turn."

Griff's eyes widened at that declaration. ("Oh no…") He looked at his drawn cards. ("These are all good…but not enough…")

("Loser.")

Griff paled, taking a deep breath. ("Terra….")

("Yes it's me you idiot. Now listen closely. I have lived for a long time, and I know of many thieves…")

("Why are you talking about this now?")

("Silence human! If you're going to be a demon as long as we're together, then you had best learn of your 'roots'. Long ago, there was a wolf demon thief who traveled across the world looking for the secrets of the greatest thieves in history. He visited locations all across the planet in his search. And while he learned much, he never found out what he wanted to know. He still didn't how to be the best. There was nowhere left for him to go as well.")

("How could he have searched the whole world and not found what he was searching for. Wouldn't that mean that it never had existed?")

("No. It did exist. After his travels, the wolf demon returned to his homeland a broken being. He had failed. As he wallowed in his failure, the world he knew was brought to the brink of destruction because of the warring Demon Lords.")

Griff, while listening, slowly drew the top card of his deck. He looked at it and turned pale. The card wouldn't be able to do anything for his situation. Yet…his attention was mainly on Terra.

("There was a woman, as there always tends to be. It was his mother. She was very ill, and the only method to heal her was in the claws of a particularly evil Torture Demon. This demon was guarded with such heavy magical and mundane security that it would be impossible for even the best skilled thieves to get the prize.")

("Then…")

("He tried anyway, and while there were many close calls, the demon succeeded. It was because he found the true secret to being the greatest thief in the world. Do you know what that thing is?")

Memories of Sammy flashed in Griff's mind. ("Something worth fighting for…")

("Something worth fighting for…") Terra's voice within Griff's head grew silent, leaving only one message hanging in the mental air. ("There is always a way.")

Griff looked down at his hand…and smiled slightly. "I've got it!"

Sheena blinked. "What?"

Griff slid a card into his disk. "I activate the equipment magic card Gorg's Destructive Club!" A stone club appeared in the Dark Scorpion's hands. "This card raises the attack of Gorg by 500 points!" (2300/1500)

"It's not enough! Leina has 2550!" Sheena smirked. "This win is for North School."

"Something worth fighting for." Griff said calmly. "Gorg the Strong, attack Leina now!" Gorg bellowed and charged, weapon held up high.

"So you're sending your monster to his death?" Sheena shrugged and Leina readied her flute. "As you wish. Doom Melody!" Leina blew into her flute and a ball of energy appeared, shooting towards Gorg.

Griff slammed a card into his disk. "Go Dark Scorpion Team Formation!" The card that appeared on his field had the picture of the five Dark Scorpion Burglars bringing their weapons down onto a huge demon. "This quickplay magic card will only work if all Dark Scorpions are in play! Now I can switch out Gorg for a different Dark Scorpion!"

Don Zaloog gasped as he watched the ball hurtle towards Gorg. Staining, he fought against the magic that held him in defense and threw himself into the way of the attack. There was an explosion and he was hurled backwards, where he bounced to a halt right at the feet of his aghast comrades.

Sheena- 1600

Griff- 300

Gorg came to a stop….and slowly turned to look at the feebly coughing Don Zaloog. He slowly walked over back to the field and stood along Cliff and Chick. Meanae cradled Don's head in her lap, tears dripping down her face.

Sheena stared at the scene in front of her, eyes wide. "What's….all this mean?"

Griff, stone-faced, slid another card from his hand into his disk. "I activate the quickplay magic card Fall of the Don." The picture on the card image that appeared looked much like the scene before them. "This card activates when Don Zaloog is destroyed as a result of battle." As if on cue, Don Zaloog faded into dust.

Meanae cried for a few moments, and then stood up slowly. She glared at Leina, as did Gorg, Chick and Cliff. All four of them lifted their weapons and charged, yelling battle cries as they charged towards the spirit.

"So they're charging to their deaths hmm?" Sheena shrugged and pointed at Gorg. "Leina, finish the job." The spirit lifted the flute to her lips.

Griff slid the last card in his hand into his disk. "Fall of the Don allows me to play a magic card from my hand immediately before its second effect resolves! Go Monster Reborn!" He slid the card into his graveyard.

Sheena narrowed her eyes when no monster appeared on the field. "So where's the revived monster?"

"It was negated." Griff pointed at his quickplay magic card, which was still on the field. "Fall of the Don gives me a chance to revive Don Zaloog. If I can, it negates that revival and lets me special summon…" A shadowed form appeared in the way of the charging Dark Scorpions. They all skidded to a halt and stared at the new entrant.

Don Zaloog smirked to his friends and then turned to look at Leina with his one good eye. He lifted his hand and pointed at her. Then he casually gave her a thumbs-down.

Griff smirked along with the Don. "Fall of the Don's final special ability lets me special summon this!" He pointed at the new Don. "Don Zaloog-Resurrected Hero!" (2000/1500)

"Only 2000 attack points, that's not enough for me to care." Sheena was about to laugh, but Griff beat her to the punch.

Gorg threw his club to Don Zaloog, who caught it and casually spun the heavy weapon around a few times. It then shuddered and exploded into dust.

Griff pulled a card out of his deck. "Don Zaloog-Resurrected Hero's special ability activates now! I sacrifice one magic or trap card on the field to take one equipment magic card from my deck and attach it to Don!"

Don Zaloog held up a pair of curved scimitars, both of which were so ornate they looked too precious to be weapons. "Bandit's Scimitars raise the attack strength of the equipped warrior by 700 points! Also, when that monster attacks trap cards cannot be activated!" (2700/1500)

Sheena stepped back, her eyes wide. "That means…"

"Don Zaloog, attack Leina now!" The thief king leapt forward and slashed the spirit apart. "Gorg the Strong, attack Rogue Doll now!" The hulking warrior slammed his normal hammer down and blew the doll apart. "Now the effect of Gorg sends Flame Assailant to the top of your deck!" The woman disappeared. "It's done! Go Cliff, Chick and Meanae!" The remaining Dark Scorpions leapt into the air and slammed their weapons down onto Sheena's body.

Sheena- 0

Griff- 300

Griff nodded to his five friends…and then smiled. He walked back to the group and gave a thumbs-up. "Let's keep moving."

From within Griff's head, Terra smirked. ("Perhaps you're worthy of being my host after all.")

To be continued….

Author's Notes: Okay, does everyone find my descriptions for Davis' monsters that disturbing? If so, I'll lay off the gore.

To Hogwarts-Knight: Errr…sorry I went overboard?

To Rex: It's not an easy deck to run. I had to make up finisher cards for the deck to even have that option.

To Wolfy: Oooookay. First off, Eri was simply having trouble coping with the whole having human emotions thing. She's better now. As for her deck, it is just packed with undead, fiends and spellcasters of the dark type.

To The Obsessive Zero Fan: Ojamas kick ass? I've made the deck…and the problem was the lack of kicking ass that they did.

To falcon demon general: Let's hope that ceasing never happens.

To Mario: Err…that was his only duel. It's only one duel per student.

To Adriel: It's a single exclamation mark. And silence. I don't like to piss off my word processor with random punctuation in the middle of a sentence.

To Aremen: None taken.

To Raine Vindicare: Glad you liked that part.

To G.O.T. Nick: Do they annoy you or are they just disgusting monsters? Oh, and this chapter was dedicated to you.

To Dais: --; Just say it.

To Seeker of the Soul: It makes you wonder who this North School Principal is, huh?

To Bobbomp: He might. Maybe.

To Anime Albino: Rikuo is nobody huh? Yeah…

To Gryphinwyrm: Yup….got tired of doing it the other way.