Chapter Twelve: Darkness In The Mind
"If
you find yourself at the end of your rope in a duel, I guess all I can
say is that you have to push harder. If you give in to defeat, then
you've just allowed it access to your heart and your soul. Even if you
lose, so long as you don't let that one defeat consume you then in the
end you can become better."
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Taichi stood there on a pool of his own blood, grinning maniacally. Kirani felt fear envelope her as she noticed that his arm had stopped bleeding. There was no visible wound at all, it was as if it had never happened. She tried to speak, to say something, anything. But no sound came out.
A wicked look in his ice blue eyes the demonic boy raised one hand and displayed a blank Duel Monsters card to her. He smirked and spoke his next words in a voice that echoed in her mind. The last words that she heard. "As a penalty for losing this game, I can inflict Punishment Game. Your soul now belongs to me Kirani!"
Kirani
felt a pulling on the very core of her being, a flash of extraordinary
pain beyond description as that essential part of her was ripped away.
Then she knew no more.
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"I don't think that being courageous means you lack fear. It's rather that you overcome it in the end. Plus if you let fear consume you then there's nowhere else to run. So I figure I'll throw all fear out the window and live with an iron will." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kirani stood in front of Drake, everything else around them blanketed by darkness. One ray of light fell on each of them, illuminating them to the other. Drake spoke in a voice that barely seemed his own. "The things that Taichi has done are methods of defeating the opponent, of breaking their spirit. He does it for two reasons. The first is that he enjoys every moment of it."
"I remember hearing that
Taichi, or at least the dark spirit within him, had taught Sun Tzu many
of the things he used in his Art of War. The one that Taichi prizes
highest over all others is one that has often been prized most of all.
Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle, but in defeating
the enemy without ever fighting."
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Taichi stood there on a pool of his own blood, grinning maniacally. Kirani felt fear envelope her as she noticed that his arm had stopped bleeding. There was no visible wound at all, it was as if it had never happened. She tried to speak, to say something, anything. But no sound came out.
A wicked look in his ice blue eyes the demonic boy raised one hand and displayed a blank Duel Monsters card to her. He smirked and spoke his next words in a voice that echoed in her mind. The last words that she heard. "As a penalty for losing this game, I can inflict Punishment Game. Your soul now belongs to me Kirani!"
Kirani felt a pulling on the very core of her being, a flash of extraordinary pain beyond description as that essential part of her was ripped away.
"Sitting here, stuck within a single moment in time, is no way to win a duel. If you're going to win you have to get up and fight. Don't give me any crap about being afraid, because I know you better than that. You're stronger than this." Drake stood over Kirani's limp form, and she managed a rough response.
"I lost to him. He crushed me completely without even using a fraction of his full strength. If I lose again, my soul will be taken for the second time. I don't know if I could handle that. I'm just going to lose if I duel him again." She heard Drake snort from above her, and he crouched down so that he was almost level with her.
"You can't know the outcome of a duel before hand, nobody can. Not even Taichi. He tried that against me and ending up losing. It was because of the connection my soul had to everyone else that changed the future. I made my own destiny, and you can make yours as well. Don't let him decide what the outcome is, do it for yourself." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"The
wise general is a Lord of Destiny. Take it heart, and you can't lose.
There's no way to win but to win on your own terms. Winning on someone
else's terms is just the same as defeat. So live life the way you want
to, not the way somebody else tells you to. I'd think you'd have
figured that out by now."
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Taichi stood there on a pool of his own blood, grinning maniacally. Kirani felt fear envelope her as she noticed that his arm had stopped bleeding. There was no visible wound at all, it was as if it had never happened. She tried to speak, to say something, anything. But no sound came out.
A wicked look in his ice blue eyes the demonic boy raised one hand and displayed a blank Duel Monsters card to her. He smirked and spoke his next words in a voice that echoed in her mind. The last words that she heard. "As a penalty for losing this game, I can inflict Punishment Game. Your soul now belongs to me Kirani!"
Kirani felt a pulling on the very core of her being, a flash of extraordinary pain beyond description as that essential part of her was ripped away.
"Back here again? It looks like you aren't willing to release it as easily as could be hoped. But remember, if you don't release this moment, if you don't forget the past and focus on the present then you're going to lose. Because if you don't duel you lose no matter how talented a duelist you happen to be."
Kirani struggled to move, tears in her eyes as she tried to push away the dark thoughts that crowded into her mind, telling her of her worthlessness, of how she was just going to fail again. She had to focus on what Drake was saying. "You've forgotten who you are Kirani. You've forgotten everything that makes you Kirani. You've forgotten your I. Without that you don't stand a chance of defeating Taichi, regardless of how skilled you are."
He walked slowly in a little circle around her, his violet eyes always touching hers even though she never made any move to meet his eyes. "Before I dueled Taichi I was asked a question that I barely considered. Kensai asked me if I knew who my opponent was, and I shrugged it off. I laughed and said it was a stupid question, because in my eyes it was obvious that Taichi was my enemy, because he had killed Shadi, taken Hinata's soul, and worst of all he had taken yours. But I was wrong."
Slowly her eyes moved upwards, touching his for the briefest moment before they returned to staring blankly ahead again. The focus was lost. "The enemy that I had to fight was my own rage and hatred. It made me foolishly rush into battle and make stupid mistakes. I made the one move that cost me my life. It was only when I realized the truth that I became restored in my body and was able to draw the last critical card to defeat Taichi. I defeated my enemy, you have to defeat yours."
"Your enemy is fear."
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"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles. Taichi is a sick bastard, even when it's the real one. But his mind is clouded by his own hatred and sickness, and that becomes a weakness. You know yourself, you just have to accept yourself for who you are, not what you have been or could be. With that knowledge you can't possibly lose. Know fear, accept it into you as part of yourself so that you can overcome it. The fear makes you stronger, so long as it doesn't consume you." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Taichi stood there on a pool of his own blood, grinning maniacally. Kirani felt fear envelope her as she noticed that his arm had stopped bleeding. There was no visible wound at all, it was as if it had never happened. She tried to speak, to say something, anything. But no sound came out.
A wicked look in his ice blue eyes the demonic boy raised one hand and displayed a blank Duel Monsters card to her. He smirked and spoke his next words in a voice that echoed in her mind. The last words that she heard. "As a penalty for losing this game, I can inflict Punishment Game. Your soul now belongs to me Kirani!"
Kirani felt a pulling on the very core of her being, a flash of extraordinary pain beyond description as that essential part of her was ripped away.
"We find ourselves here in yet another moment. Truthfully I think it does make a difference that this is the same place, the same time. The more you see it, the more you can look at it and understand it. Taichi stand victorious, and you stand in fear. Your soul is stripped away and Taichi walks out, with the feeling of success in his heart. But in the end it is he who is ultimately defeated and destroyed, while you live on. So the victory is not his, but yours."
This time Drake did something he hadn't in the previous times. He knelt down and took her by the waist. He picked her up bodily and set her on her feet, smiling down at her. He brushed a lock of hair out of her face and pressed something into her hand. "Remember it. An unspoken promise between two friends. It was a simple of our own feelings for each other, a symbol that you gave me. It stands between us, linking us together."
Limply she held the object up in front of her face. It was a Duel Monsters card, simple in design and yet...it was the name that mattered, and what it stood for. "United We Stand. This card is our unity Kirani. So long as I've got this card on me and you have Guardian Angel Joanne then we can't lose. Together we're stronger than any other opponent, and our souls are connected by those cards. So stand up Kirani! Stand and fight!"
He stepped back from supporting her, and she stood on her own feet, without help, for the first time in what seemed like a great while. Her legs felt weak beneath her, and yet she felt strength flowing into her. "Don't lose Kirani. Not like this, not ever. Because even if I was the one who had to have his soul taken in your place I'd do so just to see you smile. To know that you were still alive would be enough for me. So live on, and brighten everyone's life with your smile. For me." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I died that day! I was baptized in the fire and born again as a new man! They sent me away with the crazy people and in that time I relearned my hatred for humanity! Then I was offered a chance to gain power, to become the Knight of Air, one of the three Knights of Order! My chance to crush humanity beneath my heal and break them completely was at hand!" Suddenly his gaze cleared and he glanced at his right wrist as if at an imaginary watch. He smirked widely and pulled backwards slightly so that he could truly face her.
"Time's up."
"Not yet it isn't." Taichi's eyes widened as her eyes came back into focus and she gazed at him with hatred in her eyes. She struck him in the chest with her feet, pushing him off, and then knocked him back with a punch filled with all the force she could muster. Grimacing he wiped away the blood and glared at her hatefully.
"It doesn't matter! The Seal saw it, you were out for more than a minute! You lost this duel and therefore I win! Waking up now is utterly useless to you!" He threw back his head and laughed, but instead of getting despair in response, all he got was that calm and hateful stare. She wasn't affected by his mind games at all...
"The Seal recognizes that I'm still here. Your rule doesn't apply because I'm back, and because I've drawn a card! Therefore this duel is still on, and I'm about to bring you down with this next card!" She held her hand of cards at the ready, duel disk in position. The other duelist grimaced and jumped backwards, floating to his position across the field from her.
"I suppose I could actually get some fun out of this. I had been wanting to duel someone into a painful defeat, so you'll do. But I won't have any mercy, and in ten turns your soul is going to be mine!" She ignored his threat and merely picked a card up out of her hand before slapping it down on the field next to her Gilford of Thunder.
"Kaiser Seahorse(1700/1650) in attack mode. I'll send him after your face down monster to eliminate your defenses!" The armored warrior raced across the field and slashed apart the face down creature with its spear. There was no trace left of the obviously weaker monster, meaning that there was now no defense for Taichi except for his single face down card.
"With the field cleared of whatever demon you had placed I'll go on the attack with Gilford of Thunder. Stream of Thunder!" Gilford of Thunder bent his knees to prepare for his attack and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. Then he drew with blinding speed, sending a wave of golden energy streaking towards Taichi. It crashed against him, consuming him in its light.
"Demon? What demon? As a matter of fact the monster you destroyed was an angel, and it has protected me from your paltry attack!" The golden energy cleared away, and revealed that it was exactly as Taichi had claimed. He was utterly unharmed, and so were his life points. The only question remaining was how that was possible.
"Explain yourself Taichi. How did that monster save your life points?" He smirked and ejected it from his cemetery, then picked it up and showed it to her. It appeared in front of him, revealing a brown furball with white angel wings and pitiful stats.
"The creature you destroyed was the light half of Kuriboh, known as Hane Kuriboh(300/200)! When he's destroyed in battle I can't take life point damage during that turn. So the attack of your Gilford of Thunder was futile. Care to try anything else you pitiful duelist?" She scowled but didn't respond immediately. Instead she selected a card from her hand and slipped it into her duel disk, where it appeared next to her other face down cards.
"Your mind games won't work on me anymore Taichi. I'm tired of being played with by a freak like you. I set one card face down and end my turn. Now let's see if you can keep your guarantee and defeat me in ten turns. As soon as you start it's going to be turn one." She smirked and stood at the ready, her confidence and her stance reminding the teenage duelist suspiciously of Drake.
"You call those mind games? I'm just telling the truth. Compared to the likes of myself and the other Knights you're just a worm. I'm sure your little friends mentioned how D'harim squashed three of your top duelists with ease." Kirani grimaced as she remembered what Dalin had said about D'harim. And if Dalin was uncertain about being able to defeat a duelist than she most certainly should be. And she had no idea the power of the deck that Taichi was using or even what type it was.
"I see I've hit a nerve. Good. So now I think I'll draw just to keep things moving along." He picked up his next card and looked over his hand of four cards. Currently he and Kirani had the same number of cards in hand, but Kirani had three cards face down and two monsters while he had no monsters and only one card face down. However the Seal of Orichalcos still gave him an advantage.
"Pity. My hand isn't all that good I see. Looks like you've gotten lucky so far. I'll just play another monster in defense mode. See if you can get past it, okay?" He snickered as his horizontal card appeared on front of him, just waiting to be struck down by the power of her strong monsters. And with Kaiser Seahorse in play it would be easy to summon a stronger monster.
Kirani snapped the next card off the top of her deck, eager to get this over with. Once she had a third monster in play she'd be able to go after his life points and potentially knock him out of the duel. She glanced down at the card she had drawn and then added it to her hand. Finally she took the middle card of her five cards and played it onto the field.
"I summon Magister of Lightning-Gilford(1600/1400) to the field!" The monster that she had just summoned was wearing what looked like a hood form of Gilford the Lightning's helmet, along with a blue robe. He stood at an equal height to Gilford of Thunder, however he didn't have a weapon at all. He was barehanded.
Taichi smirked at the sight of the monster, and folded his arms across his chest. "Gilford huh? It looks like you just might have a strategy somewhere in that deck of yours. I'm shocked my own self. Not that any strategy you assemble has a chance of defeating me and the power of my deck!" He chuckled at this, standing ready for her assault.
"You may act confident but it doesn't mean anything at all! I've got three monsters to your one, and my three are about to rip straight through your life points! Magister of Lightning, Bolt Storm!" The Magister closed his eyes and started humming. A dark cloud formed up above them, and bolts of blue lightning began to rain down from the sky and hammer into Taichi's face down monster. The card flipped up, and suddenly his monster was revealed.
"Kuriii!!!" Kirani raised an eyebrow in surprise as the pathetic little brown furball appeared on the field. It was desperately dodging the lightning bolts but it didn't look like it was going to last long. 'First Hane Kuriboh and now Kuriboh(300/200)? What's he playing at? They may have useful effects but it's like he's throwing them out to die to keep me from learning his strategy.'
"Your throw away monsters won't stall me at all. You've just run out of options Taichi, and unless you show me your strategy in your next turn then you won't get a chance to have another turn. Because Gilford of Thunder and Kaiser Seahorse are going to eliminate all but five hundred of your life points!" She expected some snide comment from Taichi. What she didn't expect was all out laughter.
"Show you my strategy? Don't be stupid, I already have! Reveal face down card, Multiply!" She gasped as the little puffball closed its eyes and started splitting, dodging the rain of lightning bolts until ten of them were on the field, filling up each of Taichi's available zones. Now he had an army of weak little demons, none of which could possibly hurt her.
"Now watch as the power of the Seal makes them more appropriately demons. Gain dark power my Kuribohs!" The green symbol appeared right above their eyes, and each one's teeth lengthened until they were vicious snarling little beasts, their previously harmless features turned to terrifying ones. They were like something out of Gremlins.
"Kuriboh? That's your strategy? That's no strategy at all! I'll show you how weak it is by crushing each and every last one of them in turn. Gilford of Thunder and Kaiser Seahorse, destroy two of them!" The two monsters unleashed their attacks, easily blasting apart two of the weak defense mode Kuribohs. The little demons didn't even get a chance to fight back they were that overwhelmed.
"See Taichi! Even with the power of the Seal of Orichalcos your Kuribohs are nothings. Eight hundred attack power as a boosted strength is useless against my monsters. But if you'd like to try something that might really work, go ahead and do so in your turn because mine is over. At least...do something if you can with that so-called strength of yours." Feeling confident now that she knew his strategy was just a bunch of wimpy puffballs she stood at the ready, knowing that victory would be hers in the duel.
The shorter duelist drew his next card and held it up so he could see it. He grinned at the sight of it and then folded his hand so he could speak easily to Kirani. "You really think that power comes from raw strength on one's own? It's that individualistic attitude that causes mankind to be so weak and to be so deserving of destruction!"
"If you think you're better than mankind I suggest you look in the mirror! You're part of mankind yourself, although you're a pretty pathetic excuse for a human. You sicken me!" He leered at her, and then spread his arms out wide to allow his gesture to encompass each of his eight remaining Kuribohs. He smirked as he did so, and then he began to speak.
"You don't understand at all! I'm beyond humans, I have transcended them! And now I'll teach you a lesson that the so-called 'weak' Kuriboh learned long ago. They have never been physically powerful, but they have always been great in number. They discovered that by combining their power they could be deadly to even the greatest adversary, and that is the thought process that humans lack!" Kirani rolled her eyes at how melodramatic he was being, but kept herself ready for whatever he had in mind.
"If you think the power of your little Kuribohs can defeat me even when working together, you've got another thing coming. But go ahead and show me their combined strength. Show me the power they possess!" Taichi nodded and then unfolded his hand of cards yet again, picking out the card he had drawn during this turn. Now he was ready to make his move.
"Thanks to the power of Multiply I have eight Kuribohs in play. That easily gives me enough to activate Polymerization! And now I'll fuse five of my Kuribohs together to form a higher level unlike anything you've ever witnessed!" Kirani was starting to get interested with his moves as five of the little demonic furbies jumped together and flowed into one creature. What emerged was a tall warrior with a furry head and glaring eyes. It was like a humanoid Kuriboh in black armor.
"Meet King Kuriboh(2000/1200)! And with the Seal's power he reaches twenty-five hundred attack power. But that's not all, as he boosts the attack of all other monsters with 'Kuri' in their name by five hundred. Now my other three monsters have thirteen hundred attack strength. Impressive power isn't it?" She nodded, having actually been impressed by the combination. It had to have interesting effects of it took five monsters to create of the same name when you could only have three cards of the same name in your deck.
"King Kuriboh will blow your Magister of Lightning away in revenge for trying to destroy a member of the Kuri Clan!" King Kuriboh raised his arm and sent of bolt of black energy shrieking towards Magister of Lightning. With a power of twenty-five hundred it easily out-classed her Magister, so she had to take action right now.
"I activate Squall Barrier! This negates your attack and allows me to add a card with 'Gilford' in it's name to my hand from my deck. Looks like you're out of luck." A barrier of water shot up from the ground and deflected the energy attack, leaving her monster safe. Accepting this Taichi placed a card face down on his field, thereby showing the end of his turn.
Now it was Kirani's turn, and she started to draw. However as she did so a gust of wind rushed through the fog, reminding her very suddenly that it was the middle of the night and all she was wearing as cover was a long t-shirt. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Taichi smirked and stared openly. "Watch your eyes pervert, or I'll kick them into the back of your head!"
The dark haired duelist smirked and stroked the top of his brown Duel Pod idly, apparently not even noticing his actions. "It isn't perversity. Think of it as a compliment. You're still just a disgusting human, but maybe I'll make you my toy once I win this duel. No soul, no fight, no fuss." He licked his lips slowly, savoring the thought.
"You're one twisted fuck you know that? And I'm gonna show you what happens to people like you, so I draw!" She drew her next card and put it in amongst her other five. But all she really needed was the one card she had taken through the use of Squall Barrier. It was going to be the card that declared her true power and ripped Taichi a new one.
"Kaiser Seahorse counts as two sacrifices for a light-type monster. So I'll offer it and Magister of Lightning to summon Gilford the Lightning(2800/1400). And so his special effect activates, go Raigeki Blade!" The mighty deity of lightning took his place on the field, his seven foot tall armored form surrounded by a glowing field of electricity. He raised his arm and pulled his blade free, then swung it down towards Taichi's monsters. A massive lightning bolt streaked down from the sky.
"Pathetic. I trigger Kuriboh Swarm Defense!" The lightning bolt exploded before reaching the field as a massive swarm of thousands of Kuriboh flew up out of the trap card to block it. Hundreds of them were blown to pieces, but still thousands remained. The effect had been successfully negated.
"Fine, if that won't work I'll just have Gilford cut them down. Thunderbolt Cut!" Gilford the Lightning jumped right towards the wall of Kuriboh and swung his blade down, sending a stream of electricity with it. The attack collided against the swarming furballs and blew a hole in the defense wall. But it didn't go through, and soon the hole was patched by all the others.
"That won't do it. My Kuriboh Swarm Defense will protect me from having my monsters destroyed, one block for every single one of them. I've taken two so far, and since I have four monsters I can take two more. But wait, you don't have two monsters, so you can only use up one. Sucks for you!" She grimaced, realizing that there was nothing more she could do against this force.
"You've protected yourself this turn, but you can't defend the whole duel. I place one card face down and end my turn." Her card appeared next to her other two, nearly filling up her magic and trap zones. She had plenty of defense herself, and lots of attack power to boot. Meanwhile Taichi had one monster with a decent attack and three with pathetic attack. It didn't exactly seem even.
The furball using duelist could only smile as he drew his next card, reveling in the thought of what he was about to do. Oh how glorious it would be. 'No girl would ever give me a second thought. It didn't matter what I looked like, it was just because I wasn't popular. But I'll get what I deserve when I win.'
"I guess I have to admit that you're right about one thing little girl. I can't stay defensive forever. Therefore I'm going to go on the offense right now by sacrificing one of my three Kuribohs in order to summon Kuri Dragon(1900/1500)!" The monster that appeared was long, sinuous, and furry. Its facial features were much like that of a Kuriboh, so it was like a furry dragon with a Kuriboh for a head, only without the paws.
"Now watch as it gains dark power, an then gains an additional five hundred points from King Kuriboh!" The cute face suddenly transformed as the other Kuriboh had done, becoming demonic in nature. Now it was breathing flame and drooling, looking like it was ready to devour her monsters. Not only that but its attack power had suddenly shot up by one thousand points.
"That's not all! Feel the wrath of my monster as it gains one hundred additional attack and defense points for every monster with 'Kuri' in its name. That includes itself, and therefore it raises to a grand total of thirty-three hundred attack power! And that's plenty!" The now mighty dragon let out a loud roar as it breathed flame into the air, ready to go on the offensive and strike down her monsters.
"From a weakling to a behemoth more powerful than my Gilford all in one turn. That is impressive. But are you forgetting my face down cards? With three cards waiting for you it can hardly be said that you can afford a wasteful attack. Or are you arrogant and confident enough to try?" The comment hung in the air, awaiting an answer. And it was certainly about to get one, because Taichi was going to show her his power.
"You really think your puny traps can stop the power of my Kuri Dragon? Well think again, because it's going to burn Gilford the Lightning to cinders right now!" The dragon tilted back its head, opened its jaws wide, and then belched up a tornado of fire that was headed straight for Kirani's monster.
"Thanks for the level five monster. Your attack triggers Starburst Formation, which will destroy your attacking monster and let me special summon a monster with an equal or lesser level. Say goodbye to your dragon!" A circular array of stars floated out of the card and reached out for the dragon. But the moment they touched it they shattered, leaving just motes of dust and no destructive effect. "What happened?"
"Surely you noticed the similarity between my King Kuriboh and Lord of Dragons. Well that similarity goes beyond appearance. King Kuriboh grants my 'kuri' monsters the exact same immunities as dragons get from the lord! So your trap was negated, and now Gilford is dead!" She grimaced as the attack wreathed her strongest monster in flames and torched it, leaving nothing but ash. (KLP: 3500)
"First blood belongs to me. And so will second blood! King Kuriboh attacks Gilford of Thunder!" The spellcaster raised his hands and placed his palms together, then launched a black beam of energy just like he had done earlier. Kirani smirked as the attack came closer to her monster, and then she depressed an activation button on her disk.
"Your monsters may be immune to targeted effects, but not to battle! Now by attacking a warrior you've allowed me to play my trap card, Assist! Its effect will let me special summon a level four or under warrior from my deck in attack mode and have it automatically become the target of your attack instead!" The trap showed a Marauding Captain holding a broken sword, with a Wandering Hero Freed standing above him, blocking a sword attack from Zombyra the Dark.
"A level four warrior? In attack mode? This won't help you at all, no level four can possibly save you from the power of King Kuriboh at twenty-five hundred points!" Kirani smirked and slapped the card she had chosen down on her disk. And from it rose a towering behemoth of a monster, at least nine feet in height with tattered black armor in the same style as Gilford the Lightning's. Its blade was the same as well, only it was blackened by dried blood.
"I beg to differ. Because I've just summoned the strongest monster in my entire deck, Berserker Gilford(3000/0)! And he just happens to be a level four! Berserker Gilford, counterattack! Berserk Thunderbolt Cut!" The warrior issued his battle cry and unleashed a stream of black lightning from his blade. It collided with King Kuriboh who screamed in pain and then exploded.
"Bitch! You think you've defeated my monster, but you haven't! I activate another of its special abilities, Split Nature! By separating it into its five pieces, therefore five Kuriboh, for a single turn, I can negate its destruction. At the end of the turn it will reform and I'll be back to normal!" It was as he had said, and his monster had split into five different Kuriboh. And since it was his turn there was no chance any would be attacked. (TLP: 3500)
"Looks like we're even. Oh but wait...we aren't. See, because Gilford the Lightning was destroyed in battle I get to special summon another unique level four from my deck. The soul that exists within Gilford. I summon forth Gilford-Soul of Lightning(2100/1000)! He also gains one hundred attack for every monster with 'Gilford' in their name in the grave. I've got two, so he has twenty-three hundred. Shake a stick at that." Her new monster was identical to Gilford the Lightning, only he was a being forged of pure electricity.
He sneered at her and then looked over his hand of a measly two cards. "Looks like I can't continue for the moment. But believe me, this duel is just getting started. My turn is over, but this duel will be over not in only a short number of turns."
Kirani looked over her hand, including her newest card, and started to do some mental calculation. 'Okay, if I go on the attack I can do some serious damage. I'll nuke King Kuriboh with Berserker Gilford for five hundred damage. It'll split into five Kuribohs, and each in attack mode. I can destroy one with Soul of Lightning for a total of fifteen hundred, and then another with Gilford of Thunder. That would drop him to just five hundred life points.'
She glanced at her Berserker Gilford card, once again rereading the effect that she already knew by heart. Her card was powerful, but as a level four with that sort of power it had a serious drawback. 'By attacking with Berserker Gilford I'll manage to deal major damage. But at the end of the turn he'll die and I'll take half his attack power as damage to my life points. On the other hand fifteen hundred damage is worth dealing three thousand to Taichi.'
With her plan ready to go into action, and no face down cards to stop her, she was about to start. "Berserker Gilford will destroy King Kuriboh." The monster unleashed his attack, and as predicted the creature split into its five parts, leaving them open for assault. Taichi reacted this way in order to have her attack, so she'd be open for a retaliation by Kuri Dragon in the next turn. (TLP: 3000)
"I'll destroy one of those Kuribohs with my Gilford's inner self. Soul Lightning Wave!" A wave of lightning bolts erupted from the electric blade wielded by Gilford-Soul of Lightning, each one zapping the targeted Kuriboh. It shrieked in pain before bursting into flames and turning into just a pile of smoldering ash. (TLP: 1500)
"Next I'll nuke another one with Gilford of Thunder. Stream of Thunder!" The warrior performed his stance, much like the samurai he appeared to be, and then sent his attack at the furball. It was sliced in half by the wave of power, and then disintegrated under the secondary shockwave caused by Gilford of Thunder's attack. That was the finishing blow of her turn. (TLP: 500)
"It doesn't really matter you idiot! My life points won't drop below what they are, so don't feel happy. And killing those stray Kuriboh won't stop King Kuriboh from returning at the end of your turn. So go ahead and end your turn so my monsters can destroy yours." She grinned and took two of the cards in her hand. One she slid into her disk and the other she set down on the field next to Gilford of Thunder.
"I'll place those two cards, a monster and a magic or trap card. Now I activate another power of Gilford-Soul of Lightning. It allows all monsters with 'Gilford' in their name to change modes multiple times in the turn. So I'll move both it and Gilford of Thunder into defense mode. That gives me three monsters to protect myself with." Taichi glanced over at her hulking berserker, obviously confused by her statement.
"Berserker Gilford is powerful, but he comes with a hefty side effect. As soon as I end my turn he's going to die and take fifteen hundred of my life points with it. Now that's all for me, so goodbye Berserker." The warrior shattered into tiny little pixels and faded away, leaving Kirani with her three defense monsters and her two face down cards. That was all she needed. (KLP: 2000)
Taichi drew his next card and then burst out laughing. "How perfect! I'll blow away your potentially hazardous cards using Heavy Storm!" She cursed as a powerful gust sent her two face down cards to the cemetery. Now she had three monsters to defend herself with and nothing else, while he had two strong monsters and three Kuribohs. She blinked as she realized that he actually only had one Kuriboh left.
"What happened to your other two Kuribohs? They were there at the end of my turn, I'm sure of it." Taichi grinned and pointed to his King Kuriboh as if that was the answer to it all. She tried to think of something, but she just wasn't able to come to a solid conclusion on what he meant.
"I see you can't figure it out. Well you killed two of the five pieces of King Kurbioh. He can't reform without pieces of himself, so I sacrifice a Kuriboh to regenerate the lost pieces. That's how he reforms when he's lost parts of his body. Get it?" He grinned ferally as she came to the conclusion that she was in trouble, because Gilford of Thunder and Gilford-Soul of Lightning didn't have much in the way of defense points. He could easily rip through her monsters.
"My three monsters will tear down yours!" The three creatures did just that, one with a cyclone of fire, another with a beam of black energy, and the final with slobbering teeth. In the end none of Kirani's monsters had survived the assault, and she was without any defense at all. No magic, no traps, and no monsters. But luckily he couldn't attack.
"Taichi, the face down monster you killed was Wise One Gilford(700/400). When flipped he lets me add a magic card from my deck to my hand, so I'll do so now." She picked up her deck and searched through it before finally settling on the magic card that she wanted. With that in hand there was nothing else she could do, but there was little else that Taichi could do.
"How nice. But since I have no more monsters and no cards with which to play or set, that looks like the end of my turn. Feel free to take yours, not that whatever you do will help. And no magic card can save you either." The smirking jerkoff's turn was over, which meant it was now time for Kirani to display the card she had gotten from Wise One Gilford's effect.
She drew, and then she was ready. "I set a card face down. But don't think that's all, because it's far from over. The card you allowed me to add to my hand is going to be the cause of your defeat. You may have strong monsters, but they won't survive this. I activate Enter the Storm, paying one thousand life points to do so!" (KLP: 1000)
A thundercloud rolled in overhead, rumbling at them. Little bolts of lightning jumped around inside of it, lighting it up. Taichi raised his head to stare up at the thundercloud, wondering exactly what was going to happen. "Prepare to pay the price of angering the storm Taichi. Come forth my Gilford the Lightning(2800/1400)!"
The deity of lightning touched down from above in a bolt of lightning, taking shape and showing off his power in a theatric display of lightning bolts. "The effect of Enter the Storm not only special summons Gilford, but it automatically activates Gilford's special effect. Raigeki Blade!" A single lone bolt of lightning shot down from the thundercloud above and crashed down on Taichi's side of the field, blowing his monsters away.
"Luckily for you I can't attack with Gilford when I special summon him in this manner. So you've got one turn to recover. Better hope you've got some serious luck in drawing cards, because if you don't this duel is going to end really quickly." Gilford smirked and folded his arms, staring down at the much smaller Taichi. Kirani flashed Gilford a grin, knowing that he was her ticket to victory in this duel.
Taichi glanced at his next card and instantly activated it, revealing Payment of Debt. Thus he was able to draw three more cards, giving him a total of five. "Wow, look at this. Payment of Debt, and now another draw card. Pot of Greed. Looks like I'm really greedy this turn aren't I?" He snapped two more cards off his deck, giving him a total of six cards in his hand. Four of which he were new ones.
"I've got everything I need to cause your defeat right here in my hand. Now I'm going to show you the true power of the unity of my the Kuri Clan! Prepare to lose the duel, and with it will come the loss of your soul!" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Author's Notes: Wow, a three part duel from me? Surprising considering I only had two of those in the previous story. For anyone who doesn't know, Gilford the Lightning is my favorite card in the entire game. I wish I had thought of this deck a long time ago, because if I had Drake would be using it instead of Kirani. But eh, oh well.
The White Mage: Taichi does indeed kick ass, but this isn't the same Taichi as he just explained. But hey, I love Taichi as the dark spirit was my favorite character to write. So I had to bring Taichi back one way or another.
G.O.T. Nick: He is at that.
VoidTemplar: Everybody likes the word cool. Well, had you been around earlier for my first story you would have realized I usually didn't update very fast. As for this chapter, it was already written and I chose to post it now. The chapter I had hoped to finish before posting this one isn't finished yet, but I didn't want you guys to have to wait too long. Grumbles Stupid writer's block.
Original Cards
Kirani: Gilford of Thunder, Magister of Lightning-Gilford, Squall Barrier, Starburst Formation, Assist!, Berserker Gilford, Gilford-Soul of Lightning, Wise One Gilford, Enter the Storm
Taichi: King Kuriboh, Kuriboh Swarm Defense, Kuri Dragon, Payment of Debt
Anime Original Cards
Taichi: Hane Kuriboh
