Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Legends of the Demon Duelist-Rival School Arc

Chapter 18: Guilty until proven innocent

"Why did there have to be only one elevator to the surface?" Ichigo sighed at Vincent.

The dark-haired boy glared at him. "Why didn't you kill me?"

"Shut up." Ichigo rolled his eyes as the elevator doors opened to the arena floor.

The doors of the elevator opened to chaos. The lobby was in complete disorder, with huge holes everywhere and entire hunks of walls missing. And somewhere in the complex there was the echoing scream of bullets slamming into stone.

"What….happened out here?" Ichigo poked his head out of doors, and immediately withdrew it as his father ran right past screaming. "Dad! What's going on?"

"Come back here murderer!" The Principal of North School ran by seconds later with a huge cylindrical gun cradled in his arms. "You can't get away that easily!"

Vincent blinked at the second passing form. "Joe, what are you doing? Have you lost your mind?"

Daniel ran by the elevator doors again. "I didn't do anything!"

Joe ran by seconds later, the only sound the echoing scream of the Vulcan Cannon as it sprayed bullet after bullet after the retreating half wolf demon. "I will kill you!"

Daniel fell to his knees, sweat pouring down his face. "When is this guy going to run out of bullets…."

"Die Pilkington!"

Groaning, he hopped back to his feet and kept running.

Ichigo sighed as he heard the gunfire still echoing from somewhere within the castle. "When is your brother going to run out of bullets for that thing?"

"I don't know." Vincent sighed as well.

Nevan and Eri were still matching glares while all of this was going on.

"Aren't….you….tired…?" Daniel felt his back press against the wall behind him. "Think about this…I didn't do anything."

"Shut…up…" A sweat-soaked Joe lifted the cannon's still smoking barrel. "And prepare to meet death." He pulled the trigger…and while the barrel turned nothing came out. "Damn…"

"All out of bullets huh?" Daniel took a few shuddering breaths. "Well…that's a shame. I'm going to go now…"

Joe trembled and dropped the heavy weapon off to the side. "You…will…not….escape!"

Daniel regained his composure. "And how will you stop me, mister doesn't have his deadly gun anymore?"

Vincent casually took a pistol out of his shirt pocket.

"Damn it…"

Ichigo tapped his foot against a hunk of stone and watched as his father ran by again, with Joe in hot pursuit. "They've been at it for an hour."

"Two actually." Vincent had honestly considered intervening, but then decided against it. His older brother was dangerous when he was angry. ("Still though, this is going a bit overboard.")

Nevan and Eri were still matching glares, while the rest of the Duelist Academy group was starting to have trouble telling them apart.

Daniel skidded to a stop. "That's enough!"

Joe leveled the pistol calmly at his head. "It's enough when you're corpse is at my feet." He squeezed the trigger….and blinked in surprise as he found a finger keeping the hammer from clicking into place. "How did you do that?"

Daniel reached his hand up and squeezed the metal surface of the weapon, its body instantly twisting into an unrecognizable hunk of steel. "Shut up. I tried to be nice…and I let you get out your aggressions….but you know what…." He grabbed the dark-haired man by the tie and pulled him in close. "I'm not in the mood now. You pushed me too far."

Vincent growled, a bead of sweat sliding down his cheek. ("How am I supposed to beat this guy?") "I…challenge you to a duel." All around them the air darkened as a darkness game sphere formed.

Daniel smiled and removed his duel disk from his duffel bag. "Let's duel then."

Ichigo sighed and tapped his feet a couple of times against the stone behind him. "Damn it all. What's keeping them?"

An echoing sound reached the ears of everyone in the room at once. It was the sound of a giant bell ringing.

Joe dropped to his knees and stared at the ground. "Damn you…"

Daniel frowned and shuffled his deck. "I should have used the Elemental Heroes. My Clockwork deck was too tough for you."

Joe snarled and started to stand. "I…I hate you."

Daniel frowned and walked off. "Sure you do. I wouldn't blame you. Maybe when you beat me in a duel I'll tell you what happened to your father."

The Principal of the Duelist Academy frowned and steeped his fingers against themselves. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean…that doesn't sound fair."

"I'm not concerned with fair," Rikuo looked down at the ground. "I'm concerned with the well-being of my daughter. And I'll be damned if I allow this to happen."

"As you wish." The Principal sighed. "Should I contact Professor Pilkington as well?"

"Of course. It is his son that is part of this."

Ichigo looked out one of the side windows of the plane and frowned at the shrinking form of the Asylum. "Was it wise to just let the Garlins walk away dad? I mean…they're not above sneaky tactics."

Daniel shook his head. "Vincent and Joe will want to train themselves to defeat us in a duel. That is the way of a duelist, just like their father. Though he was evil, Giovan Garlin was a duelist. I expect nothing less from his sons."

Ichigo nodded and stood up. "Excuse me."

"Go ahead." Daniel walked his son walk towards the back of the plane. He glanced down at jacket pocket when it started to ring. Removing his cell phone from the pocket, he held it up to his ear. "Hello?"

Eri heard Ichigo approaching long before she could see him. "Is there something you wanted?"

"I wanted to thank you for giving me the strength to stand against Vincent. Also, I wanted to congratulate you on getting your demon blood back." Ichigo smiled and bowed his head to her. "You truly are the greatest of the cold-hearted bitches."

"Never forget that." She smiled slightly and tapped the wrist of his Duel Arm. "So tell me, are you going that thing?"

"I might as well. What's the worst that could happen?"

"It could explode and kill you in your sleep."

Ichigo flexed the steel fingers of the prosthetic limb and shook his head. "Naw. Even if it tried, I'd just use the Dark Halo."

"You had best not rely on that." Eri's spine tingled as memories of the cold fire that rested within the eyes of that Ichigo. ("It's like looking into the darkest depths of his soul.")

Ichigo tapped the side of his head. "Thanks to your brother I walked away from my duel with Vincent without dying. The Dark Halo was feeding his power."

Eri rolled her eyes. "That's what you deserve, mister ego."

"Hey now, I won fair and square." Ichigo grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Besides, what's the matter with me enjoying myself?"

"Nothing." The demoness brushed back a lock his hair. "Now go rest. You took a lot more damage than I did."

"You're no fun at all." Turning, he gave her a little wink and walked off.

Daniel slowly lowered his phone to his lap. ("This is serious…he can't mean it.")

"What's up pop? You look spooked." Ichigo sat back down.

"Nothing." Daniel looked away. ("I hope you're ready…because when the time comes you're going to have to fight like you have never fought before.")

When the plane touched down at Duelist Academy, the crew stepped out to a warm welcome.

All around the plane there were congratulations banners hung up. And there were numerous TV camera crews around.

Ichigo stepped onto the ground of his home away from home with a huge smile on his face. "Hello there my adoring fans! I'm glad you could come and see me return to Duelist Academy in all of my glory!"

Laughter accompanied the crowd's response to that.

"But seriously, you guys are the coolest. I have to thank all of the little people in my life, like my dad and my…" Ichigo bit down on his tongue as Eri punched him in the back of head.

"What he means to say is that we are glad to have represented the Duelist Academy." The demoness smiled to the cameras. "And of course don't forget that I, the mighty Duel Queen of the Academy…"

Griff shoved her aside. "I'd like to thank Sammy Coffin for inspiring me to duel to my greatest heights of…"

Hitokage calmly elbowed him in the stomach and then looked up at the camera. "That's enough of ego…"

Kenshin rolled his eyes and stepped in front of the blond-haired boy. "I'd like to thank my father…"

Adriel jumped in front of him. "I'd like to thank my father…"

"And mine!" Krieger chimed in from the side.

Davis and Daniel both sighed and rolled their eyes. "Honestly…"

"And then when I was ten I knew that I was destined for greatness when I won the Junior Division of my school's dueling tournament. Though at that time I thought that just playing Polymerization promised that the game was mine." Ichigo continued to talk to the camera the whole way they walked. Apparently his defeat of Vincent had earned him newsworthy status.

Daniel shook his head and kept walking. Looking down at his deck he frowned and closed his eyes. ("Ichigo…get your head out of your ass and into the game. In a short amount of time you're going to find yourself dueling for your life.")

The group stepped through the front doors of the Obelisk Blue dueling arena…and immediately was plunged into darkness.

"This isn't funny." Kenshin narrowed his eyes. "So…does someone new want us dead?"

The lights flicked on…and everyone but Daniel was in for the surprise of their lives.

Wild applause echoed across the arena from the stands, where nearly the whole school sat. The arena itself was empty.

The surprise was who else was in the audience.

"Mom!" "Dad!" Numerous of these cries rose up from the members of the Duelist Academy's finest eight duelists.

"Heya honey! I saw you on the TV and you looked great!" Jennie grinned and waved down to Ichigo.

Ichigo blushed and looked away. "Aww….I didn't look…"

"Silence!" The yell had so much strength to it that the entire audience went silent. "I'm ready."

Daniel sighed and walked up onto the arena floor. He stepped over to one section of the arena and turned to meet Ichigo's confused stare with a stern gaze.

Rikuo calmly stepped away from the microphone that had been in his spot in the corner. "I have spent a good amount of time on this. I thought about it more and more, with every passing minute of every day. And now I've come to my decision." He leapt onto the adjacent corner from Daniel. "You cannot marry my daughter, whelp. I refuse to allow it."

Gasps echoed across the student body. The fact that Ichigo and Eri were 'engaged' was no secret…but they'd never expected anything like this.

Ichigo blinked in surprise… "Err….but wasn't this a…welcome home ceremony?"

Eri glared at Rikuo. "Father! What gives you the right to interfere in something that is between me and him? If we want to dissolve that contract we will do it of our own choice!"

"I forbid it." Rikuo pointed at his daughter. "Do you oppose me? Do you think that this isn't fair? Well get used to it, because you're not a human. You aren't what the people here wish you to be. You are a primal being, and in demon society strength rules above all other things! And I believe that Ichigo is two steps away from a human. When a real demon comes along he'll be killed and then so will you. I will not allow it!"

Eri continued to glare at her father, while the audience sat in total silence. Jennie's eyes were bulged out of her head, as were Jasmine's.

"No." Ichigo stepped forward. "I won't allow you to order her around anymore."

Rikuo turned his wilting glare unto the object of his ire. "Would you like to repeat that? I think I just heard something impossible."

"There's nothing impossible about it." Ichigo matched the wolf demon's glare with one of his own. "You live in a world of hatred and warfare. A world where lives are always on the line. In your opinion there is no such thing as true peace."

"What's your point?" Rikuo cracked his knuckles.

"My point is that you're wrong!" Ichigo pointed at the wolf demon. "You're insane. And I won't let you turn your daughter into what you want her to be against her will."

"And pray-tell…what are you going to do about it?" Rikuo snarled darkly. "I don't fear the Dark Halo. You're just a child, and I'll rip you apart."

"I stand against you, Rikuo Amero." Ichigo felt blood pumping through his chest. "I challenge you to a duel for ownership of that contract!"

"Ichigo?" Eri stared at the half-demon like he had lost his mind. "That is my father. He is beyond your dueling…"

Ichigo smiled slightly. "Do you accept?"

Rikuo motioned for Ichigo to come. "I'd love to tear you apart. Come on up and test your luck, little man."

"He won't do it alone!" Eri jumped onto the arena floor. "I'll fight you as well then, father!"

Daniel and Rikuo held up their duel disks in perfect unison. "Then come and defeat us!"

Ichigo hopped up alongside Eri. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Eri nodded. "I've learned a lot…and just this once he is wrong. And I'll show him that when we win."

"When you win?" Rikuo sneered. "Dear daughter, I'll show you just how weak your potential bride-groom really is."

Eri and Ichigo caught a pair of duel disks that were thrown to them and put them on.

Daniel frowned. ("I'm sorry Ichigo, but in this situation I'm siding with Rikuo.")

Eri turned on her disk and glared at Rikuo. ("Father, I cannot let you control my life. I must defeat you.")

Rikuo's eyes met Ichigo's. "By the end of this duel you'll see me tear down every defense you have. Are you ready for that?"

Ichigo returned the look he was getting with a smile. "Let's have a good duel."

"I'll show you a good duel." Rikuo drew the top five cards off of his deck. Daniel copied the action in perfect rhythm.

Eri drew her opening five cards.

Ichigo looked down at his deck. ("Alright guys don't hold back.") He lifted his head and drew. "Let's duel!"

To be continued…

To Voidtemplar: It's nearing the end. But there are two things left to be handled.

To Dais: Nah, you'll do fine.

To Wolfy: Err…thanks I guess.

To Adriel: What in the heck are you talking about? When did I say Luna was the last card in his deck?

To Raine: Yup, that he is.

To G.O.T. Nick: Yes, I meant that kind of Vulcan cannon. --;

To Just a Dude: Nope. Those are their ears.

To Rex: Indeed it is.

To falcon demon general: It's no problem man.

To Seeker of the Soul: You are correct sir.

To Bobbomp: You'll see soon enough.

To Anime Albino: That's Ichigo though. As he put it once, he's her emotional chew toy.

To Erestor: Would you preferred he had lost and died?

To Star AH: And of course you're the expert on details, right? Well take a look at the chapter again. When Card of Sanctity is played the first time the effect was explained. I didn't say Vincent drew his single extra card when it happened again, but that's because I knew the reader's would understand that.