Chapter 14: Soul Eater
Kou stood rooted to the spot, as he saw the names for the semi-final matches. He would be facing Namia tomorrow. It wasn't that he in particularly minded dueling a friend of his. He had dueled Sei plenty of times, after all, but going against Namia was dangerous because of Osmos's warning. He turned and looked at Sei. "Let's go to the room!" he said. Shisei nodded and the two of them headed back to the hotel.
After a short walk, and Shisei giving his parents a call to say he had won two rounds and was in the semi-finals, the two collapsed on their respective beds. "Okay, so what did Osmos tell you?" Sei asked his best friend again.
"He said either participate in the next round, or…Or Namia will lose her soul." Kou told him. To his surprise, Shisei didn't gasp or look shocked. Instead, he stood up and paced around the room in his analyzing manner. "Um, what are you thinking about?" Kou asked with a look of bewilderment.
Shisei turned to him, his shimmering blue eyes piercing into Kou's violet ones. "This soul stuff, think about it, what could your soul be?" he looked out the window then.
"Um, Sei, maybe you should get in touch with your spiritual side." Kou looked amused at his blond buddy "Your soul is the thing that keeps you held together, without it, you'd be an empty, emotionless shell." Kou explained. Shisei just waved a hand and turned away from the setting sun, which he could see from his place at the window, to face his friend and fellow duelist.
"No, Osmos wasn't taking about a real soul I'm sure." he told Kou, looking as though he were close to some kind of breakthrough. "He was trying to tell you about something else, like a code, maybe." he paced again, agitating Kou. Suddenly, the pacing stopped as Shisei turned to Kou. "What did he look like? When he said this to you?" Sei asked as startled Kou.
Kou put a hand beneath his chin thoughtfully, looking up at the ceiling fan that revolved around. Slowly, slowly, he remembered Osmos's pitiful look in the entrance hall. "He looked like you said!" he stood up quickly. "What do you think he was trying to warn me about?" Kou asked with a twinkling look in his eyes, proud that his best friend shed some light on this mystery. "And why use code with me!" he continued.
"Slow down!" Shisei ordered. "I think that the whole duel you had with that Skull guy… that was probably someone after something Namia had." he elaborated, sitting down again to think about the newest piece to the puzzle. "So Osmos sent you to challenge Skull to keep whatever Namia has safe." he spoke slowly, putting it together in his own manner. Kou chided him with nods and motioning.
"So that's the reason Osmos told us about the match, he didn't think he could beat Skull, so he sent us!" Kou yelled.
"Maybe…" shies mulled Kou's interjection over in his head. "Yeah, and if you lost your "soul" then it wouldn't be a big deal. But he wants Namia to keep hers." Shisei started to look like he wasn't really there anymore, more as though he were floating in an ocean. His head bobbed up and down with a slow rhythm, it took Kou clearing his throat to snap him back into reality. "Sorry." he rubbed his head and laughed.
"Anything else you can figure, I need to know so I can tell Namia she's in danger!" Kou was getting up and putting on his shoes and coat.
"She won't be in danger tonight." Shisei reassured him, still not moving from his seat. Kou face fell.
"What do you mean?" he looked at Shisei like he was crazy. "You just said she'd lose whatever her soul is supposed to be." he reminded the blond.
"Yeah, but Osmos wouldn't have bothered setting you up in the semi-finals with her if he thought she was in danger tonight." he chimed. Kou thought it over for a minute and then sat down on his bed, though still looking apprehensive. "He didn't know when those Skull wearing dudes were going to attack Namia, but he knows when someone else is." Sei commented, making Kou listen more intently.
"Wait, does this have anything to do with that monster your say you swore came to life, do you think?" Kou questioned. Shisei shuddered at the memory.
"I don't know." he removed his glasses, a sign that he was getting to tired to discuss the situation much longer. The two had always studied together, though usually for Kou's benefit, and they knew each other well. So Kou took off his shoes and sighed, laying back on his bed. "All I know is you should definitely face Namia tomorrow, and we should actually stop worrying about this." he smirked as he sidled into his own bed. "I mean, if you didn't think on it so much, you might find it fun," he turned off the light after Kou was ready for bed as well. "Losing to Namia, I mean." he finished. BAM! Even in the dark, Kou's aim was true, and Shisei was now nursing a bruised arm from a thrown pillow.
Namia massaged her forehead, desperately trying , to no avail, to stay awake. She was thirty-nine miles away from the tournament area, and new she should be getting some sleep, so as to survive the long drive there. But she also knew she needed to have the best deck to be able to beat Kou in the semi-finals. 'He's goofy, but he's no idiot in duel monsters, got to be prepared."' she told herself again. "UGH!" she moaned, lying down on the bed. It was fast approaching midnight, if she didn't get some sleep, she'd have no energy. But now she had completely dismantled her deck, and couldn't focus to build a solid new one. 'Maybe a walk would help."' she thought. Cold night air probably would help her.
So she grabbed a light jacket and put it on over her tank top, she then grabbed her deck and left the room. Unknowingly, a small spider slipped off the coat rack and onto the coat she had grabbed.
The next morning didn't bring sunshine and daises for Kou. He wasn't still questioning Osmos's master plan, but he had to endure egging, rude yells and mocking catcalls as he approached the arena with Shisei. "I-HATE-OSMOS!" Kou gritted his teeth and wiped egg from his Chinese Martial Arts outfit (similar to Rey's from Beyblade, if anyone's ever seen it.) For if Osmos hadn't taken the liberty of ejecting Kou forward into the next round, then the crowd wouldn't have cared about him. But most everyone who was mocking the poor swordsman, had been in the tournament's earlier rounds and were still angry at his skip.
"Just ignore them." Shisei smiled and waved at the egging group, dodging a few eggs of his own. "And besides, this way you get a full breakfast." he ducked as Kou threw a playful punch at the smaller boy.
After a few more minutes walk, Kou was in the back stage area for the match's Namia was already on the field. "Well, wish me luck!" Kou adjusted his duel disk and took a bit more egg out of his hair. Shisei nodded, flashing a thumbs up.
"Yeah, you'll need it- no offense, but Namia is a tough customer." Shisei defended his earlier comment. "And I'll bet you she has all five of the Phoenix cards. Can't wait to seem them." he looked off dreamily, and then rudely awakened as Kou hit him in the back of the head. "Sorry, I mean, I can't wait to see you beat them!" he covered nervously.
"AND NOW!" the announcer's voice broke out over the stadium again, Kou rushed into the arena, and was glad that he wasn't pelted by eggs. "The next match, the first of the semi-finals is about to begin!" the announcer continued. "The combatants… KOUICHI NANDAO VS. NAMIA SASHIMI!" the two, being in the arena looked at each other.
"Well, I want a fai-" Kou was about to make a friendly statement, but Namia cut him off.
"I'm not your friend, understand, in the duel field, I'm your destroyer, you will bow to my fury, and beg for your life before I snatch it from you. Understand boy." these weren't nice friendly sentences, and the second was definitely not a question. Kou blinked, taken aback by how cold Namia suddenly looked.
"Umm, y-yeah." he drew five cards, Namia mimicked him but also drew her sixth. "I guess you don't know the real spirit of duel monsters." Kou looked at her in sadness, but Namia only shrugged. Kou's face suddenly hardened. "You don't want to be friends?" he asked. "Then I'll just beat you on enemy terms!" he yelled, the LP scores stopped, set to the normal. The duel was beginning.
Kou-8000
Namia-8000
Mai Valentine looked around the stadium for the cute boy she had watched Namia's first match with. 'He wasn't' as cute as that goofball Joey, but he was still a cutie pie."' she blushed with this thought. "Careful Mai, you can go to jail for thoughts like those." Mai muttered under her breath, then she spotted Shisei and walked toward him.
Shisei was already on edge to see how this turned out, he jumped at the smallest of sounds. So it was no surprised he leapt three feet in the air when Mai tapped him on his shoulder. "AHHH!" he turned around to face a laughing Mai. "What is your problem!" he asked, looking at her incredulously in the way she could just laugh at him.
"Y-your f-f-face was s-s-s- AHHAHAHAHA!" she busted up again as someone else strode through the full stands, looking at the match with mild interest. "Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I did get a little carried aw- what are you looking at?" Mai thought he was at first ogling her like any old pervert, but then followed his gaze and saw him watching Osmos. 'Oh god, he's gay!"' she thought. Shisei stood up and walked toward him, leaving Mai with her so called, "discovery".
Osmos was about four rows down, and three rows away. Shisei was almost there, he could've yelled for him not to go, but he didn't. Osmos walked away as Shisei came to stand by him, but Shisei got what he needed. He took out his laptop and pressed a small button. The maneuver was very awkward, as he was crowded around a bunch of others in the stands. But he finally managed to catch the signal on Osmos, and took a picture of the man. "What company what company." he muttered, folding his laptop back and heading over to his spot by Mai.
"I'll go first." Namia was obviously planning too by drawing her sixth card. "I'll summon Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000) in defense mode and set two cards face down." all of her cards appeared, the dragon rendered flawlessly. "End turn." her dragon half-heartedly blew a bit of fire at Kou, whose LP decreased due to its effect.
Kou-7500
Namia-8000
"Okay, I'll go now!" Kou gritted his teeth and drew. "I'll summon, Axe Raider (1700/1150), in attack mode!" he smirked as the axe slamming warrior erupted from the monster card. "Then I'll blow away your dragon (1000)!" his beast tore her beast into shreds as one of Namia's facedown card activated.
"Backfire, you lose 500 LP whenever I lose a fire attribute monster." Namia told him in her same cold, sterile manner.
"I'll set one card as well. End turn." he set the card and turned the duel over to Namia, who drew and activated her next set card.
Kou-7000
Namia-8000
"I'll now play Call of the Haunted, and it allows me to revive Solar Flare Dragon (1500) in attack mode." the dragon erupted from the ground, dragging bits of bone and earth from behind it. "Next I'll summon Darkfire Soldier #1 (1700/1150), in attack mode as well." her cold voice sent shivers down Kou's spine as the monster appeared, lit aflame, on her field. "Now I'll play Riryouku, and split your monsters attack to add the reduction to my Pyro warrior." the Darkfire Soldier (2350/1150) got ready to burn away Kou's Axe Raider (850/1150).
"Gee, this is going well." Kou muttered, as Namia declared her attack, decreasing Kou's LP. "And now your going to attack with your Dragon, right?" he questioned her. The dragon, just as Kou predicted, charged in and dealt him a deadly blow.
"I'll set my last two cards facedown and end my turn, draining you of 500 more LP." Namia didn't seemed worried about losing in the least, as Kou drew.
Kou-3300
Namia-8000
Kou looked at the card, praying for a miracle, and looked in disgust at Card of Sanctity. 'This would only help her."' he studied his hand and decided he had no choice. "I'll set three cards and activate, Card of Sanctity!" they both drew, Namia six times and Kou four times. 'What?" he looked at one of the cards in his hand in bewilderment. 'I don't have a Mage Power!"' he then shrugged, figuring he shouldn't turn down a chance to win. "Okay, get ready for the pain, I'll summon my good buddy, Mataza the Zapper (1300/800) in attack mode!" the samurai warrior landed in the arena with expert precision. "And then I'll activate, Mage Power, giving him an extra 2500 attack points!" the samurai now had a several times more lethal blade and was itching to use it on a monster.
"I'll activate Dust tornado!" Namia said quickly. A tornado spun around the card, but soon it died down. "You countered my trap?" she questioned.
"That's right, I activated my Trap Jammer!" he smirked, even though his Mataza's (3300/2800) attack and defense increase was now only 2000. "And now, without further ado, I'll attack both of your monsters!" the samurai leaped over to the field of Namia, and in one swift movement, removed both her Darkfire Soldier (1700/1150) and her Dragon's (1500/1000) heads. "Now I lose some LP, but it was well worth it!" he ended his turn.
Kou-2300
Namia-8000
"What, why weren't your LP decreased!" Kou suddenly noticed. He didn't hear Namia's answer though, instead he heard an all to familiar voice in the back of his head.
'Because, you idiot, the Soul Eater discarded Kuriboh."' the voice said it like it was obvious. 'Didn't you see that last turn?' it mentally rolled its eyes as Kou was looking incredulously.
"Ah, so you've finally decided to show yourself, Chiro, Holder of the Seals." Namia said coldly. Kou snapped out of it and looked at Namia in shock. "Yes, I can read your mind, and have been doing so for the past two turns." she rolled her eyes. "Waiting for that foolish thing to make his appearance." Namia glared at the more shocked Kou.
"But.. Namia, you?" he suddenly heard Chiro groan loudly. 'What is it?"' he asked, trying to keep things slightly polite between them. He still felt kind of bad for telling him off that time.
'This bitch is one of Thalius's lackeys."' he thought to a confused Kou. 'She's a soul eater alright."' he finished.
"Your not Namia, are you?" Kou looked at her, already knowing the answer.
The "Soul eater" threw back her head and laughed. "Now he gets it!" she yelled amused. The coldness in her voice seemed to be spreading around them, trapping them in a darkness. Kou suddenly realized what was happening and made a dive for the edge of the arena. He was too late, the darkness of the Shadow Realm had closed the two out of the stadium. "Osmos sent me to take over this Namia girl's body, on the condition that I beat you in this silly game, I get all of your souls for my babies!" she laughed louder, a high insane laugh that readied Kou.
"Okay, let's play for real then!" Kou shouted. 'Chiro, I'm not sure what's going on here, but now that your back, maybe you can tell me."' he said to the voice in his head. 'But don't get me wrong, I don't need duel help."' he wanted to throw the thought out of his mind that he couldn't win a "shadow game" without Chiro's help, it made him feel weak.
'I'll tell you when were stuck in this place for an eternity because of your horrendous dueling."' he replied. Kou gulped nervously. 'And we won't get to see any of your friends, or your relatives, or good duels."' Kou gulped more pronounced. 'And then of course, you can't die of hunger, you'll just feel it deep in your stomach and wonder around without food."' Chiro's voice said evilly. Kou still refused to say he'd accept dueling help if he needed it. 'Oh, and you'll of course be here with me."' Chiro finished.
Kou looked wildly around for an exit, when there was none, he raised his head towards the blocked off sky and yelled: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
To be continued…
Next time: Kou and Chiro have a hard time getting along and dueling together. But they'll have to, to be able to face Namia's Horus. Meanwhile, Shisei recognizes the logo on Osmos's suit and follows him to the express suite, only to accept his own challenge. Oh, and the Soul Eater gives an estimated half an hour before Namia's soul is unable to be revived. How is this exciting match going to end? Find out next time on Duel Monsters :Maximum!
