Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.
Legends of the Demon Duelist-Rival School Arc
Chapter 16: Battle of the Siblings
Ichigo fanned his deck out in front of him, eyes scanning over each card with an appraising eye. ("The Cyber Shadows…my deck. These are each just as much my friends as Griff, Krieger, Kenshin, Adriel, Hitokage and Eri.")
Closing his eyes, he felt the spirits of each of his monsters standing alongside him. ("Vincent…I don't know how you are stronger than I am when I use the Dark Halo…but in the dueling field I will win. I'll bet my life on it.")
("Ichigo.")
("Yes Ahran?")
("I've figured it out.") Memories from something that Ahran had once learned about came into Ichigo's mind rapidly.
("So that's it…") Ichigo smiled slightly. ("Alright, so no Dark Halo against this guy.") He looked down at his Duel Arm, its surface polished and repaired after the beating he had put it through just a few nights ago. ("My heart is pounding.") A stupidly happy grin came across his face. ("This is gonna be great!")
The elevator doors slowly opened, showing Ichigo nothing but darkness. His eyes immediately adjusted and he began his trek down what seemed like an endlessly long tunnel. Finally he saw some light, and was immensely relieved that he could see clearly now.
What he saw confused him though. A huge stone door stood in front of him, and along its surface something was sketched. It was the outline of a warrior wearing the armor of a samurai. And in its hand the outline held a sword. The outline for the sword was made in platinum, and was lit with a phantom flame. ("What is this place?")
("I…I've been here before.") Ahran's voice sounded shaken. Very badly shaken.
("What is it?") Ichigo ran his hands along the smooth stone, looking for some kind of switch.
("It is my father's tomb.")
He immediately withdrew his hand like it had been burned by the mineral. ("So this is where your father was buried?") "Where are you Vincent?"
In response the door cracked open slowly…and darkness leaked out of the minuscule opening along the middle.
Without the slightest fear in his eyes Ichigo stepped into the inky blackness, feeling the power of the shadows at work in here.
A single haunting sound reached his ears. It was the noise of an organ playing. But something about the sound was perverse. He realized why it sounded perverse as he stepped into what could simply be described as a nightmare.
He was at the edge of an expansive great hall, which reminded him of the castle throne room from his experience as a prince for a short amount of time. The difference was immediately obvious though, because no throne room he had ever heard of was set in this kind of motif. Torture devices of all shapes and sizes lined the walls, and formed a grizzly line-up that was all along the walkway up to where the organ was.
The instrument itself was horrendous, a nightmare in its own right. Instead of metal and wood, it was made of flesh and bone. Different parts of numerous kinds of indescribable creatures made up the pieces of the nightmare organ, and sitting at the bench of the device was a skeleton, tirelessly playing its unholy song through the keys.
And standing at the foot of the steps that led up to the organ was Vincent. His red-black hair and eyes seemed to drink in the shadows around them. The back of his coat sat still around the back of his legs, and around his arm was a duel disk that was colored black and silver. "You've come to face your end, I see." Snapping his fingers, the skeleton stopped playing.
"I've come to settle this right now." Ichigo's Duel Arm beeped as it shifted into duel mode.
Vincent's hand motioned to their 'audience'. Each of the machines sat silent and dead. "This place is the last place my father was seen alive. Video cameras recorded your father killing him in a darkness game."
Ichigo's eyes widened. "Tha…that's a lie. My father would never kill anyone."
"It happened about twenty years ago. My father, Giovan Garlin, held a tournament called the Shadow Tournament. Your father, after tying with Yugi Moto, came down to my father's private sanctum to participate in a special game. In the end, my father was defeated and his soul was destroyed." He spoke evenly, not the slightest emotion betrayed. "Do you understand what it was like growing up knowing that the man that killed your father was nothing more than a teenager?"
"My father didn't kill anyone!" Ichigo clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Vincent coldly snapped his fingers, the hellish cacophony of noise filling the air once more. "Daniel Pilkington murdered my father. It has been my motto for the longest time. But now, all of it will change."
"All of it will…change?" Ichigo's anger subsided. "What do you mean?"
Vincent yelled out to the 'audience'. "We will let this battle determine who is the strongest!" His life point counter flickered to 4000. "And when all is said and done, one of us will not be leaving this chamber alive! So pick up your sword, Ichigo Pilkington! It's time to see what destiny holds!"
Ichigo stood straight, his hazel eyes flickering in the shadow of the chamber. "Vincent, I will defeat you!" His life point counter flickered to life. "Now's the time for me to pay you back for hurting Eri!"
"Pay me back for hurting her?" Vincent snapped his fingers and the organ stopped once more. "I know in what context you mean that…but it won't be happening."
They stood across from each other, like a pair of gunslingers waiting for the moment to draw their guns. And then at once they pulled their five card hand off of their deck. "Duel!"
Daniel closed his eyes and frowned as he remembered his last words to Giovan Garlin. ("Good-bye Giovan Garlin, and may you find peace in oblivion.") He had eliminated Garlin from his soul…yet they had battled on fair terms when he had done so. ("Vincent couldn't know that though.")
In front of everyone in the lobby a huge television screen held over the area of the elevator door. It was showing them everything that was happening in the chamber at this moment.
Richard narrowed his eyes up at the screen. "Just in case any of you are wondering, this is being fed to the whole world." He closed his eyes. ("Ichigo…you had best win.")
The Principal of North School sat in a chair on the balcony of the lobby, watching the screen with a slight smile on his face. ("Destroy him, Vincent. Destroy him and show the whole world that the family name of Garlin never lets its enemies escape.")
Vincent drew first. "I'm first. Draw." He inserted the card into his hand and placed a different one down. "I set a monster on the field in defense. End turn." The card shimmered into existence in front of him.
Ichigo drew. "I set a monster too. End turn." His own card shimmered into existence in front of him.
Vincent drew. "It's time to reveal my deck. I flip up Torture Villain-Juicer!" (1000/1900) A huge humanoid creature with muscles bulging all over its frame appeared in play. Over its face was a heavy steel mask, and on its back was an enormous metal version of the kind of hammer used to tenderize meat.
"Torture Villain?" Ichigo looked a bit taken aback at the sight of the monster. ("It kind of looks like Strongarm…weird….")
Vincent darkly smiled. "So you don't know, do you?"
"What?" Ichigo frowned and glanced at his set monster. He knew that as long as it was in play he was safe.
Vincent closed his eyes. "When the World Tournament ended, Daniel Pilkington requested that a special set of cards be printed for his son. Well at that same time, Industrial Illusions decided to create four other sets of rare cards. Each one is warrior based. First there were the Cyber Shadows for you…and along with it came four others. Two of the sets faded out of existence, while Divine Agents found their way to your cousin Richard, and the Torture Villains found their way to me."
He pointed at Torture Villain-Juicer. "When flipped up this monster flips a face-up monster on the field into face-down defense mode. If it cannot because there are none, then it instead removes a set card on the field from play!" The giant monster removed the meat tenderizer from its back and leapt across the field with a roar, slamming the weapon down and shattering the set monster.
Ichigo paled and slid the removed card into his coat pocket.
Vincent threw another card down. "Now I summon Torture Villain-Incinerator!" (1700/1200) An explosion of flame erupted from his field. "To summon this monster I must discard one card from my hand." He calmly slid a card out of his hand and slid it into his graveyard. The fire coalesced into a humanoid wearing a costume that was part red and part black. Its right arm was a warped piece of metal and flesh that resembled a flamethrower. "Attack now!" It lifted its arm and the pilot light of its light came to life. There was a loud click noise and flame launched outwards to wash over the defenseless Ichigo.
Ichigo had expected to feel extreme heat, but instead what he felt was that he was literally on fire. Falling to his knees, he screamed in complete and utter pain as he felt the chemical flames stick to his skin and burn deep marks into him.
Vincent- 4000
Ichigo- 2300
As the flames subsided, Ichigo groaned and somehow made it to his feet. ("If I was anything else other than a demon…that would have killed me.")
"Understand now?" Vincent pointed at his opponent. "In this darkness game the battle is real! Go now Juicer!" The huge titan leapt forwards and trapped the half demon in a bear-hug.
Ichigo screamed again as he felt his ribs all bend in the iron-like vice grip of the monster.
Vincent- 4000
Ichigo- 1300
Vincent slid a card into his disk. "I set a card face-down and end my turn." The card shimmered into existence between him and his monsters. "What's wrong, can't you take the pain?"
Ichigo slowly stumbled to his first….and shook himself off like a dog shaking water from its pelt. "Wow! That was intense!" Grinning, Ichigo drew. "One monster face-down and three cards face-down on the field. End turn."
Vincent drew. "You can't pull together a counter-attack hmm? That's too bad." He pointed at the set card. "Incinerator, unleash your flames upon his defender!" The monster warrior lifted its arm and released a spray of flames that slammed into the set card. "And Incinerator's special ability is that when it destroys a monster as a result of battle you take the destroyed monster's attack in damage."
Ichigo rubbed his index finger under his nose. "What destroyed monster?" His monster revealed itself, and it was a man holding a heavy riot shield in front of him. "Cyber Shadow-Shield Bearer (500/2400) has enough defense points to stand against your monster."
Vincent- 3300
Ichigo- 1300
Vincent narrowed his eyes. "Reveal face-down card!" Lightning arched out of the set card and struck the shield-bearing monster, causing it to scream in pain.
Ichigo screamed as well as the lightning arched from his monster right into him.
"Torture Thunder drains 1500 points from the points of whatever mode the targeted face-up monster is! That means that your monster is weak enough to be destroyed." (500/900) The dark-haired boy pointed at the smoking Ichigo and Shield Bearer. "Attack Juicer!" Howling a battle cry, the giant warrior leapt forward and slammed its meat tenderizer down onto the defender. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Ichigo dropped face-first to the ground. ("This is starting to hurt.") Slowly, he lifted his head and drew. His vision blurred for a few moments, and then came back into focus. ("This might work…") "I reveal Mirage of Nightmare!" One of his face-down cards flipped up. "Also, I play Monster Reborn on Cyber Shadow-Shield Bearer!" The monster reappeared on the field in a flash of light. "Now I play Fusion Gate! As long as this card is in play I can fuse monsters together without Polymerization!" He removed Shield Bearer from its space and held it up with his other card. "I fuse Cyber Shadow-Shield Bearer and Cyber Shadow-Soldier (1600/1600) together to create Cyber Shadow-Ballistic Shield!" (1600/2500) The monster that appeared on his field was a man wearing all different sorts of explosives over its body. In one arm it held up a heavy machine gun. "I summon my monster in defense mode and use its effect! Once per turn I can destroy one monster in play as long as this monster is in defense mode and the targeted monster has the same amount of attack or less than it!" Lifting the weapon, the warrior sprayed Juicer with bullets, blowing it apart instantly. "End turn!"
Vincent drew.
Ichigo pointed at Mirage of Nightmare. "During your standby phase I draw until I have four cards in my hand!" He snapped the top four cards off of his deck.
Vincent snarled and looked his drawn card. "Just because I don't have a monster capable of getting to your life points doesn't meant that I'm beaten. Go Torture Villain-Asphyxiator (800/800) in defense mode!" A humanoid covered from head to toe in black leather appeared on the field in a crouching position. "When summoned this monster drains 700 life points when its target!" Lifting its hand, the warrior made a choking motion.
Ichigo grabbed at his throat and gasped for air. ("Can't….breathe….")
Vincent- 3300
Ichigo- 600
Vincent slid a card into his disk. "I set a card face-down and end my turn."
Ichigo stumbled, his vision fading in and out. "Reverse card open…" One of his two face-down cards flipped up. "Emergency Provisions lets me sacrifice magic and trap cards in play to gain 1000 life points per card. So I sacrifice Mirage of Nightmare and my face-down Electrical Re-animators!" Both cards disappeared.
Vincent- 3300
Ichigo- 2600
Ichigo drew. "I'm…not done yet. From my hand I play the continuous magic card Dimensional Junk Collector. During each of my standby phases I pick up one monster from my removed from play pile."
Then he threw a card onto his disk. "Go Cyber Shadow-Blademaster!" (2000/1600) A warrior holding a laser sword in each hand appeared on the field. "Attack Incinerator!" It leapt across the field and slashed down the Torture Villain.
Vincent- 3000
Ichigo- 2600
Vincent pointed at one of his set cards. "Reveal Spine Splitter!" A metal crab-like robot leapt up and attached to Blademaster's back. "This card activates when a monster on my field is destroyed as a result of battle. It equips to one monster on my opponent's field and cuts its attack in half." (1000/1600)
Ichigo pointed at Asphyxiator. "Ballistic Shield's special ability destroys your monster!" The warrior lifted the gun and unloaded its whole magazine into the monster, blowing it apart. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Vincent drew. "You think you are tough because your fusion monster is in play?" He slid a card into his disk. "I activate Premature Burial! At the cost of 800 life points I revive one monster from my graveyard!" He grasped a card from his graveyard and threw it down. "Return Incinerator!" The red and black warrior returned. "Destroy Blademaster!" It lifted its flame-thrower arm and sprayed the spy, instantly burning it to ash. "And when a monster is destroyed as a result of battle with Incinerator you lose its attack points in life points!"
Ichigo screamed as flames washed over him for what seemed like an eternity. Finally he found relief as it faded.
Vincent- 2200
Ichigo- 900
Vincent pointed at his set card. "Go Torture Revival. This trap card revives one Torture Villain in my graveyard. Return Torture Villain- Asphyxiator!" The leather-covered monster appeared on the field and lifted its hand towards Ichigo. "Now feel the pain!"
Ichigo grabbed his neck again as he felt the air being pulled out of his lungs.
Vincent- 2200
Ichigo- 200
Vincent pointed at his two monsters. "Now feel the power of fusion! I use Fusion Gate to combine these two monsters together!" Both creatures disappeared and were replaced by a leather-covered demon-like creature that stood on the field impassively, its eyes watching Ichigo with a dark pleasure evident in them. "Torture Villain-Pyro Chokeman!" (2200/1800) "Then I play Heavy Storm! You won't be using Fusion Gate to buy your way out of this one!" A wind storm gathered on the field and shattered Ichigo's field card, his continuous card, and his set card. "Then I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Ichigo held up his hand, still gasping for air. "Reveal…quickplay magic card…" Fusion Gate and Dimensional Junk Collector appeared on the field. "Destruction Distraction negates one effect that tries to destroy magic or trap cards…" He fell into a fit of coughing.
Vincent didn't show the slightest smile at the pain he saw. "End turn."
Ichigo slowly drew. ("This might work.") "I pick up Cyber Shadow-Soldier from my removed from play pile." He took the card out of his coat pocket and added it to his hand. "I won't give up that easily! Activate Cyber Shadow Mainframe! As long as this continuous magic card is in play all Cyber Shadows will gain 500 attack points!" He threw another card down and a black-clothed warrior holding a toothed sword appeared on the field. "Cyber Shadow-Berserker (2400/1200) attacks Pyro Chokeman!" The warrior leapt forwards and slammed its weapon into the Torture Villain, but nothing happened.
Vincent- 2000
Ichigo- 200
Vincent pointed at his set card, which was now facing up. "The power of Villain's Will protected my monster. If I have one or less cards in my hand and only one monster in play, then if it is a Torture Villain I can make it impossible to destroy in battle or with monster effects." Pyre Chokeman growled low in its throat and smacked Berserker away.
Ichigo closed his eyes and felt like pounding his fist into the ground. "I will not lose! End turn!"
Vincent drew. "Now I summon Torture Villain-Splicer!" (1500/1000) A nearly naked almost skeletal humanoid holding a huge rusty metal spike appeared in play. "And for every other Torture Villain in play Pyro Chokeman gains 300 attack points." (2500/1800) "Attack Berserker with Pyro Flash!" The demon lifted its hand upwards, and a pillar of lava exploded out of the ground to consume the warrior.
Vincent- 2000
Ichigo- 100
Ichigo threw back his head and screamed in pain as he felt the lava burning his skin. Seconds later he fell to the ground in a twitching mess.
To be continued…
To Just a Dude: It was an honest mistake.
To Star: She has been welcomed. And she's glad to be back.
To Grisham: Please excuse my mistake.
To Bobbomp: The World Tour Arc. The third.
To Anime Albino: Nevan isn't dead….
To Erestor: You might not need to worry. Ichigo is getting his ass royally kicked.
To Raine: Nope, not yet.
To G.O.T. Nick: True, but he did prepare his deck for that duel beforehand. Normally his deck wouldn't have so much fusion stoppage.
To Dais: Fervently…..not bad…
To Wolfy: Please use spaces….and not all capitals. Sorry, I'm anal retentive to grammar mistakes.
To Rex: Yup, the two knights only show up when things are going bad.
To Adriel: No. It was just Hope of Faith transferring itself temporarily to Eri. She never drew Luna or Lumina.
To Seeker of the Soul: You like Vincent's deck?