Chapter Fourteen: Movement of the Dark Thief
Mai Valentine was having a hard time play acting. She didn't know why it had become necessary for her to do so, but it had. After that big face had appeared in the sky everybody had started acting weird, and unless she acted like them she had a bad feeling things weren't going to end well for her. "This really sucks."
Her companions for the moment were three people. Duke Devlin, Tristan Taylor, and Rebecca Hawkins. In a manner of speaking she had been assigned them. The four of them were on group, while other groups had been created.
She had accidently bumped into the gang when they reached the shore, and she had helped them know what was going on. They had explained the full truth of the situation and decided that all of them would split up so they could search the city for more information, and of course she got stuck with these guys. 'I got stuck with these kids because the others assume that it isn't likely for them to be true targets. And if they are I'm here to defeat whatever opponent comes our way.'
She bumped into someone while walking, and was spun around a bit. The same person dashed by the other three, knocking them out of the way. "Watch it you jerk!" Her words went unheard as whoever the jerk was, he was long gone already.
"I hate this city and I hate being a babysitter!" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
One of the other groups consisted of Kai, Ryu, Autumn, Tea, and Mokuba. They had decided that each group would consist of at least one strong duelist, and one person who wasn't really much of a duelist or one at all. So Mokuba and Tea were under the protection of Kai, Ryu, and Autumn.
The third group consisted of Dalin, Kirani, and Serenity. And each of these two other groups was somewhere else in the city, each group gathering information in order to figure out their next move.
At the same moment that Mai was complaining about babysitting Ryu Shigeru had just approached his companions and thrown something down on the table. It was a newspaper. "I think that thing is rather telling. Go ahead and read it, the front page article is really interesting."
Kai picked it up and looked at the large bold words over a picture of the face that had been seen by all. He read it aloud. "Messiah Arises. All Hail Great Lord Eikyuu." He grimaced for a moment, realizing just how bad that sounded. He also gave Mokuba and Autumn time to really understand what they were hearing.
"Yesterday the world changed as a fantastic holy light covered the Earth. All across the globe people were able to look up and see the face of their savior, the one true God of all mankind." He grimaced and chucked the paper back down, not wanting to read the rest. It was sickening.
Ryu took the paper and folded it up before shoving it into a pocket of his school uniform jacket. "The rest of the article is much of the same. It literally is just praise of Eikyuu and some preaching of the ideals of that group. Looks like at the very least the United States is dropping into Eikyuu's lap. Apparently Bush has already proclaimed that the U.S. is a nation under the rule of Great Lord Eikyuu."
Autumn shook her head, sad to make her own announcement. "It's not just the United States. I saw an article in a copy of the New York Times that dozens of nations around the world have proclaimed the same thing. It looks like all the big nations are first, particularly the heads of the United Nations."
The bi-eyed duelist blinked and then leaned forward across the table towards Autumn. "New York Times? Do you have that copy?" She nodded and handed him the paper. He swiftly started in one the article, apparently determined to uncover something.
Mokuba, the youngest member of the group, looked up at them from the crossword puzzle he was doing and asked a simple question. "What's Kai doing? Has he lost it or something?" The couple shrugged, neither being able to supply an answer.
"Believe me Mokuba, I've never understood Kai for the little while I've known him. He's a weird fellow. A bit too serious if you ask me." This earned Ryu a smack upside the head by Kai, who had amazingly struck the older boy with great accuracy despite the fact that he hadn't taken his head out of the paper.
"I think you deserved that."
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"The world is falling to this Eikyuu person. And I can't for the life of me figure out where he is or how we can stop him. I'm certain the pure energy that's covering the globe that blocks my senses is generated by that odd sky. It makes it impossible to locate Eikyuu or any of his so-called Knights of Order." Dalin examined the Icon of Osiris as he spoke, contemplating some method of getting past his problem.
"I get the feeling that stopping Eikyuu isn't as simple as stopping some regular opponent. I mean, he apparently has god-like powers. Maybe he is a god, I don't know. But the fact remains that he could squash us like a bug if we try to oppose him. So why hasn't he?" Kirani was surprised at how logical Serenity's comment had been, and how many questions it raised.
The blonde duelist ran a hand through his now loose hair and sighed. He didn't look in top condition because he hadn't been able to spike up his hair as he usually did, and because he hadn't gotten much sleep over the past few days that they had been in the city. "I have an idea of why. I think he'd prefer to take our souls and then force them to convert to believing in him rather than kill us. After all, he wants order doesn't he? And we just stand in the way of that."
They sat there for a few minutes in complete silence. Finally Kirani couldn't take it any longer and stood up abruptly. "That's it. I'm tired of this waiting. We may not know where he is, but that doesn't mean we can't make any preparations for his eventual assault." Then she started walking off.
Serenity jumped up to go after her, crying out as she went. "Where are you going?" The older stopped and flashed the two others a big grin. And then she raised her wallet and smirked.
"I'm going to go to every card store in town and buy every last pack they've got. It may not be good for my account, but I do have access to some of the secret funds from the Rare Hunters. Plus there should be a card stash somewhere in the city that was set up by the Rare Hunters while they were in operation. So, you coming?"
With
the prospect of a wide array of new cards the two others headed off,
knowing that they'd bring back all the cards they could and spread them
out evenly amongst them. Dalin of course had easily enough money to buy
every card in the city, as he had made quite a substantial amount of
money in different tournaments he had won, both of Duel Monsters and
other games.
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"Are you three hungry? I'm going to get a coffee and I could get you guys something." The other three stopped in shock. The idea of Mai Valentine forking up cash of her own free will to buy something for someone else was truly astonishing.
"Well?" When there was only a dull and silent nod she rolled her eyes and marched off, the other three following in her wake. "You guys better be more talkative than that or else I'm getting you one salt packet each."
With that in mind each of them became more convivial as they walked with her to the coffee shop. They even talked while she was in line, finally ordering everything that they wanted. "That'll be $18.73 miss."
Mai nodded and reached into her purse to extract her wallet. The others waited as she ruffled around in the tasteful Prada bag. "Funny, I know my wallet's in here somewhere. I had it earlier this morning when I payed for breakfast. What could have...no way!"
Her mind flashed back to earlier as a vague figure brushed by each of them in a hurry. She grimaced and turned to the others. "Check and see if you guys have any money." The other three searched themselves for their own wallets but came up short, and she realized that they had indeed been robbed by that man from earlier.
"I'm sorry sir, you'll have to cancel our order. It looks like we've been robbed." A deep baritone laugh brought her attention to a seat near the door, where a man in what appeared to be clothes originating in the middle east sat. He wore simple white pants and a white shirt with a beige line running up the center that buttoned up. He also wore a wrapped turban with a red cloth entwined with it. The most surprising feature was a white cloth that ran across his face, covering his nose, his mouth, and his left eye.
"You're seeking the thief who stole your money yes? I happen to know a lot about thieves. Tell me where he took your money, and I'll get it back for you." Mai approached the man, uncertain what to think. He was certainly an unusual figure to see, but then again this was San Francisco, and lots of weird people came to California. For all she knew he was an actor of some sort.
"What's the price?" By the predatory gleam in his right eye she could tell that he was either smiling darkly or smirking. Which it was she couldn't say. He raised his right arm and gestured vaguely towards her DD2.
"You are Mai Valentine. The young girl is Rebecca Hawkins, and the dark haired boy is Duke Devlin. Two champion level duelists and the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters. I'd be interested in seeing how talented you are in the game." With no other option readily available Mai extended her hand and took his. With one shake the deal was sealed.
"You won't regret it Miss Valentine. I'm a thief of thieves." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Roger Taney had been a thief most of his life. He'd made a lot of money doing so, though mostly he was just a pickpocket. He spotted people who looked they had cash and took their money. Because of how fast a pickpocket he was he had been able to keep going back. He called these people his 'returning customers.'
"Man, those four had a lot of cash on them. Particularly the babe. They'll learn not to carry so much on them from now on. Or they won't and I'll be happier. Tourists, all the easier to take from. They always have so much on hand." He chuckled happily and tossed the wallets into a nearby garbage, already having taken the money from them and putting it in his pocket.
He paused as he realized that something was missing. He had chucked the wallets towards the garbage, but there had been no sound of them hitting either it, or the ground. Roger turned and found himself staring at a tall man in Arab clothing, his left eye covered and his right eye dancing with a mysterious light. It was the light of amusement. "You should be more careful."
The strange man held up the four wallets that Roger had just attempted to dispose of, and proceeded to flip through them. When he saw nothing he tucked the wallets into a pocket on the inside of his button up shirt and then slipped a hand into his pocket. "Uhhh, yeah. Those were old wallets. I was just ditching them for some friends."
The man mad a clucking sound, like he was clicking his tongue against the back of his teeth in disapproval. "A bad thief and a bad liar. It's people like you who make people like me look bad." Roger had no idea what this guy was talking about, but his nerves were started to fray.
"Shut the hell up. You don't know what you're talking about. You can't prove I'm a thief, and for all you know I'm the best thief in the city. Now back off before I teach you a lesson." The Arab man dipping a hand into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash, waving it back and forth.
"If you're the best thief this city has to offer than I'm thoroughly disappointed." Roger's eyes widened and he shoved his hand into his own pocket, fishing for the money he had stolen over the day. What he quickly discovered that his pocket was completely and totally empty. Hell, there wasn't even any pocket lint left!
"You! You stole that from me!" The other thief grinned beneath the cloth that covered his mouth and revealed a knife with a flick of his wrist. He sent it hurtling towards Roger with a similar casual gesture, and watched as the man stopped in his tracks. He had done so because the knife had imbedded itself in his shoe. The blade was right between his big toe and the toe next to it.
"Consider that a warning. This city and all its contents belong to the thief of the desert. If I catch you taking anything from any member of this city again, I'll make sure I aim higher. Perhaps between your legs instead of between your toes. Do we understand each other?" Roger gulped and slowly nodded his head, afraid to move at all. The thief smiled beneath the face cloth and then departed, vanishing around the corner in record time.
Finally regaining some confidence Roger dropped to his knees and pulled the dagger out. It was simple, with just a little decoration of a scorpion stinging a wasp to death on it. He wiggled his toes, happy to have them free. "That guy was scary as hell. And he's an incredible thief."
He started to rise when he noticed something he hadn't before. He stared down at his shoes in complete shock and then jerked his head up to stare at the place where the thief had vanished. He ran to the corner and turned, but found no trace of the other man. "That asshole stole my shoe laces!" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Hey Dalin, this pack of the Light of Heaven expansion set had a secret rare in it. Take a look." Dalin caught the card he had been tossed by Kirani and took a careful look at it. By the holographic appearance it was indeed a secret rare, meaning there would only be a few hundred copies around the world.
He examined the effect of the card carefully and finally decided to set it aside in a 'might' pile. So far they had bought out four card shops and gotten quite a number of good cards. Not all would work for their decks, but he was certain that by the time they were done buying out all the card stores in the city all of them would have improved their decks. "At this rate we'll vastly improve our decks."
With some of their packs already looked through the group
packed away the rest in a big bag and headed off for the next store,
using a car they had rented as their form of transport. It would take
them most of the day to go to every store and the Rare Hunter card
stash, but it would be well worth it.
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"We all discussed it and thought about how much we had, and we've discovered that this is more than what was stolen from us. Are you sure you got the right guy?" The thief fiddled with a string while listening to Mai tell him about the money. But it didn't seem that he was listening, as all his attention was focused on that piece of string.
"Of course it is. You weren't the only ones that were stolen from, and therefore there was more money. So you can have the rest. I took my reward from him and I'll get my reward from you, so I'm not bothered by giving up such a tidy sum of money." When he mentioned the reward from the other thief he held up the string, and a twinkle appeared in his one visible eye.
"Your reward was a piece of string?" Rebecca's incredulous stare obviously amused the thief, because he burst out laughing.
"Not exactly. I stole his shoe laces. Stealing something from an incompetent thief has always made me satisfied. So I took the laces right off his feet without him noticing." Duke whistled in amazement. It was hard to believe that this guy was that good of a thief.
"I've got a place where we can have our duel. So why don't you come along." He turned and started to walk away, not looking to see if they were following him or not.
"Wait a second. We never got your name." The thief stopped in his tracks, a smile appearing underneath his cloth. This didn't reassure any of the group as they couldn't see it.
"I'm the dark thief of the desert. Nick Selket." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"This is it! This is exactly what I was looking for!" Kai slammed his hand down on the copy of the New York Times, his hand right on top of a picture of a few heads of nations meeting with robed figures bearing the infinity symbol as their crest.
"What the heck are you talking about Kai? You've been reading and rereading that thing for the past half hour or so, and you keep going back and forth and mumbling under your breath. How about shedding some light on it." Kai glanced up from the paper at Ryu and let out a deep relaxing breath.
"It's so simple I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. Something Autumn said helped me make the connection. See, we've been trying to figure out where Eikyuu could be for awhile now. Well I've finally figured it out." This got their attention, and the others leaned in close to hear what he had to say.
"Not now, I'll tell you guys later. Let's find the others so I can tell them all then. This is too important for me to have to keep repeating it. Don't want anybody to overhear." Ryu groaned and dropped his head into his hands, upset that he was having to wait to hear.
Mokuba glanced over at the older boy and rolled his eyes. "I thought you got more patient when you were older, not less patient." Ryu shot him an evil eye out of the side of his hands.
Tea smiled and rubbed Mokuba's hair affectionately before tossing a rye grin to Ryu. "Most of the time that's right, but Ryu's a special case. He's impatient regardless of the outside situation." Now Ryu's baleful gaze turned upon the brunette, who just smiled cheekily back at him.
"What about Seto? He's about as patient as Joey is, only he's angrier about it." This got a laugh out of everyone, even Mokuba. They continued to joke around with each other, not noticing that one of their group, Kai, was only half paying attention. He was busy focusing on something else.
'As light hearted as everyone is right now I can't bear to tell them. This whole thing is going to go south really quick once we have to head out to confront Eikyuu. And I don't think any of them truly realize exactly how much of a situation we're in.' He laughed casually, trying to keep himself in the conversation without scaring anyone. But inside, he was a mess, desperately trying to figure out his own emotions and ways to confront the oncoming problems.
'Sooner or later, another member of our big group is going to get taken. There's no way to stop it from happening.' XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The four of them glanced around at their surroundings, uncomfortable with how hot it was. They were in what appeared to be a glue factory, and giant boilers for the materials were on all sides of them. They were all starting to sweat...except Nick. "How can you be so at ease in this place?"
"I'm the thief of the desert, doesn't that tell you something?" They each groaned, realizing how stupid their question had been. The name gave everything away, and now they had walked into an obvious joke on their own part.
"Now, I didn't think your friend would have a deck, so I supplied a big crate of cards, just for his use." Tristan approached the crate and opened it up. His eyes bugged out as he saw the number of cards in there, and he practically dived in to start assembling a deck for himself.
Mai peered at the strangely dressed thief from beneath her lashes. "Why exactly do you want Tristan to create a deck? He's no real duelist. And I thought you wanted to duel me." Nick crossed his arms and stared across at them all. The confident look in his visible eye shocked Mai, particularly when combined with his next words.
"I want to duel all four of you. Four on one, a duel to the finish. Winner take all, that sort of thing. I'll go first once we do begin, but it'll be simple. I play as normal, as do each of you. You may defend your partners, but only with face-up monsters. Mass target effects go for all of us, but most cards will only target one player. The order will be me, Mai, Rebecca, Tristan, and then Duke." Each of the others nodded, showing that they understood the situation.
Tristan hopped up from the side, holding up a thick deck of cards. "I'm ready. I just assembled a basic deck with forty cards. I figure you guys are the ones who'll do most of the work in this duel, so no need to protect me. I'm only dueling because he wants me to." The others nodded, and each of them picked up the duel disks that had been readied for them.
Nick stepped off to the side of a moment and rummaged around behind some crates. He spoke while he was doing so. "This duel is something I must do, and in part would like to do. Other parts I don't agree with, but I have to. You're my pathway, and therefore I must defeat you all." The sound of a disk activating was enough to tell them that he was ready. (NLP: 4000)
Still with his back to them Nick continued speaking. "I have one goal in mind, one that I won't speak of. And at the moment you four have been placed in my way by the will of others. I'm going to win this duel and do as I must, even though it isn't my desire. But defeating you will put me one step closer to my true goal, and that's what is important."
He let out a deep sigh and they saw him pick up the top six cards of his deck, giving them incentive to draw their own opening hands. He looked down at his cards and then select one of them, and pressed a button on his disk. Mai watched with trepidation, not certain if he was cheating while they couldn't see his actions. "I regret what I must do."
Nick whirled around and slapped down one of his cards onto an extended slot on his disk. And in that single moment Mai noticed that his duel disk was a pure white color and had an ovoid duel plate instead of the regular type of one. "Reveal magic card! Seal of Orichalcos!"
The seal roared into existence around them, its power affecting them all. And now Nick was ready, the green symbol of the Orichalcos burning clear upon his forehead. His visible eye reflected in its pale green glow, giving it an eerie look. The others were astonished that they had been so easily dragged into this duel. "Now allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Nick Selket, Third Knight of Order, Knight of Earth!" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"This is the only answer that it could possibly be, and it all comes down to basic war strategy. Eikyuu has intents on creating a perfect world order, which means he controls the world in essence. Think about it, in war, what's a basic element of strategy to defeat an opposing nation?" The whole group had gathered together, except for Mai's group whom they couldn't find, and now Kai was explaining what he had figured out.
There was a brief pause as everyone repeated his question to themselves, and finally one of them spoke up. It was Dalin. "In war a basic strategy to defeat an opposing nation is to take their greatest stronghold, the heart of the nation. Cut off the head and the rest will fall...in other words to conquer the capital."
Kai slammed a hand down on the table, his eyes burning with a great fire. "Exactly! But we aren't talking about a single nation here, we're talking about the world. So what's the seat of power for the world? For a while I didn't have an answer, at least until Autumn supplied it to me without realizing it."
The others glanced at Autumn who merely shrugged, not knowing what she had done that had set him off. "Don't look at me. All I did was give him a copy of the New York Times."
The bi-eyed fellow sat back in his chair and folded his arms confidently. He set his eyes upon each of them in turn, and finally he said his piece. "The one place in all the world that can be considered its seat of power, the place where world order is personified...the answer is simple. Eikyuu is in New York. In other words, he's taken the United Nations Building as his key fortress. That's where Eikyuu is, and that's where we have to go." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
With the Seal of Orichalcos active and Nick's strategy still unknown it seemed like things could get bad for the group. They were still confident though, since it was four against one. "Finding you was coincidence, but Lord Eikyuu wants your souls to be taken in order to convert you. Therefore I'll take them. And to do so I activate Reasoning!"
"According to the effect of this card one of you must name a level. I draw for a monster, and if it isn't of the named level I get to summon it. If not, I discard it along with all the other cards I drew." The four duelists pulled into a circle in order to consult each other, and finally they parted with their answer ready.
"Level four." Nick nodded and picked up the top card of his deck. After a single glance he discarded it, followed by the next two cards of his deck. Finally he drew what appeared to be a monster and slapped it down on the field, causing a glow of summoning to appear before him.
"You've allowed me to special summon Freed the Matchless General(2300/1700) to the field!" The blonde bearded warrior stood steady in front of Nick, with the symbol of Orichalcos on his forehead and his power raised. That made him a formidable threat of twenty-eight hundred attack.
"Now I'll summon the first of a special brand of monster. I summon Cliff the Trap Remover(1200/1000)!" His newest monster was a blonde skinny man, not looking to be much of a threat in his fairly ragged clothing. The monster sneered as his power rose according to the effect of the seal, giving him seventeen hundred attack power.
"Why are you doing this? I don't understand." This question came from the youngest member of the group. Rebecca stood with her arms folded, glaring at the teenage thief. Nick turned his eye on her and stared at her until she felt like her body was going to break apart.
"Because you four are in my way. And I'll cut down anyone who gets between me and my objective!" Mai, Duke, and Tristan couldn't help but think of Drake when he said those words. They had all been present when he had screamed that at Autumn before trying to kill her with Obelisk.
"Now allow me to prove my point. I play Quick Attack! This will allow both of my monsters to go on the assault even now, in the very first turn. So attack Mai directly!" The blonde duelist closed her eyes as two separate blows fell on her body. She vaguely heard the cries of her friends along with the ticking of her life points dropping to zero. Then there was nothing. (MLP: 0)
"I'll set the rest of my hand down on the field and end my turn. Go ahead, hurry it up. You're all just delaying me." Nick looked over at Rebecca, indicating that it was now her turn. He barely seemed to have noticed that he had just defeated a top tier duelist on the first turn and taken her soul.
"You're going to pay for that you big jerk! Now I draw!" Rebecca picked up her first card and immediately played it, revealing Graceful Charity. A giant angel appeared above her and let energy from a ball of light drop onto her deck. Rebecca picked up three cards and then took two other cards from her hand and shoved them into her graveyard.
"Fool! You've triggered my trap card, Skull Invitation! As long as it's in play whenever one of our cards goes to the cemetery we lose three hundred points. Therefore you'll lose nine hundred from playing Graceful Charity and discarding two cards!" Nick's trap flipped up, and three poltergeists flew out of it and squeezed down on Rebecca, making her cry out in pain. (RLP: 3100)
"That's fine! I summon Fire Princess(1300/1500) in defense mode!" She then shoved two cards into her disk and placed her hands on her hips, waiting for Tristan to make his own move. The spiky haired duelist gulped and picked up his next card to see what he could do.
"Okay, I start by playing Polymerization to fuse Robolady(450/900) with Roboyarou(900/450) in order to create Super Roboyarou(1200/500)! And I'll also set a card." Before he could celebrate his fusion he took a hit as three poltergeists also surrounded and injured him. (TLP: 3100)
"Since Super Roboyarou gains one thousand attack in the damage step when battling a monster I'll have it attack and destroy Cliff. That should just about even you up with us!" The machine warrior rushed forward, and to Tristan's surprise Freed the Matchless General jumped in the way and sliced it in half. (TLP: 2500)
"Idiotic amateur. When the Seal of Orichalcos is in play I can play my cards in either zone. So if I have a monster in the regular monster zone its considered to be Front Defense. If it's in an magic and trap zone then it's considered Rear Defense. You can't attack the back row without getting through the front, and if you try to the front row will defend. So you just lost your fusion. And now Skull Invitation will take another bite out of your life points!" The brunette groaned as he was hit by the power of Skull Invitation, setting him at the lowest amount of life points. (TLP: 2200)
The dark haired duelist stared at his hand of five cards, and then picked up another card to start off his turn. He stared at them and then casually slipped all of his cards but one onto the field. All of them revealed themselves as magic or trap cards. "That's all I can do for now. End."
Now it was Nick's turn, and the thief eagerly drew his next card. As soon as he had done so he placed the card face down and then pointed one hand at Fire Princess. "Cliff, destroy Fire Princess!" Rebecca smirked as she saw the monster coming, and then pressed a button on her disk.
"Reveal trap, Gravity Bind! This will keep all level four or higher monsters on the field from attacking!" Nick chuckled as Cliff punched straight through Fire Princess, getting it off the field and causing a poltergeist to attack Rebecca. She grimaced but managed to remain standing. (RLP: 2800)
"Nice try. It may save you from Freed, but it doesn't help against Cliff. He happens to be a level three, so your Gravity Bind trap card has no effect on him. Now go ahead and take your turn." Once again his turn was over with him having no cards in hand, yet he still seemed to hold the advantage.
Rebecca drew a card, and suddenly a blue skinned woman appeared on the field and showered her with light. "That's my Fallen Angel Mary. I dumped her into the cemetery using Graceful Charity, and as long as she's in there I gain two hundred life points during each of my turns. Lucky for you Fire Princess is gone." (RLP: 3000)
"My partner used a fusion, so allow me to use one as well. I play Polymerization to fuse Sangan(1000/600) with Witch of the Black Forest(1100/1000) in order to form San-witch(2100/1600)!" The two monsters merged together in order to form a dark haired woman with a miniature Sangan at her feet. It's attack power was definitely an improvement over the other two, but it seemed useless in this situation. (RLP: 2100)
"Not only is your fusion too weak to defeat Freed, it also is too high of a level to get by your own Gravity Bind. Thirdly it cost you nine hundred life points to create. A hefty price considering you can't do anything else." Rebecca grimaced, realizing that he was right. She had no choice but to end her turn at that and hope Tristan or Duke could turn things around.
Tristan drew another card, and then with a groan he placed it face down in one of his monster zones. "I uhh...I can't do anything but set that monster. Sorry guys. Like I said before, I just built this deck to use it, not for winning." He cast pleading eyes upon Duke, hoping that the dark haired duelist could save the day for him.
"I've just drawn what I need to do you in! But first I'll flip one of my set cards, Summon Dice! All it costs is one thousand points, and the effects are great. Now go, Dice Roll!" A die shot out of his card and bounced around for several seconds. Finally it came to rest on a six, allowing Duke to activate a very special effect. (DLP: 3000)
"According to that effect I get to normal summon a high level monster from my hand at no cost. So I summon Orgorth the Relentless(2500/2000) to the field! And in order to give him a chance to attack I'll flip Mystical Space Typhoon to blow away Gravity Bind!" A bolt of lightning skewered Rebecca's trap, freeing all the monsters on the field from its heavy burden.
"Since Orgoth isn't quite strong enough to take on Freed the Matchless General I'll flip my Draining Dice! Whatever number is rolled will reduce your monster's attack points by one hundreds times that amount. Dice Roll!" Once again a die shot out and started rolling about the field, waiting for an outcome to be released. Duke needed a four in order to take down Freed.
"Pathetic. Freed is the Matchless General for a reason. He predicts things ahead of time so you can't catch him off guard with your pathetic traps! Any card targeting him is automatically negated and destroyed. Freed, cut that die down!" The general raised his blade and sheared through the bouncing die in one stroke, leaving the effect to fizzle.
"That's fine, I've got another move face down that can serve me. I flip Boost Dice, and whatever it rolls I'll get two hundred points added to Orgoth times that number!" The die quickly rolled out and stopped on a three, meaning that Orgoth gained six hundred points. Now it sat at thirty-one hundred, making it stronger than Freed. And Freed couldn't negate that since it wasn't aimed at it.
"Confident aren't you? Well you won't be for long! Have you forgotten the power of Skull Invitation already? Since four of your cards have gone to the cemetery it will drain twelve hundred life points away from you!" Duke nearly dropped to his knees as the combined attack of the ghosts drained him of most of his life points, putting him in dead last place. (DLP: 1800)
"You can be confident all you want but it doesn't make any difference. Orgoth, give his general a taste of death! Megaton Axe!" The bejeweled armored monster raised his massive axe above his head and swung it down towards Freed. The general raised his blade to deflect it and suddenly an explosion occurred between the blades, launching Orgoth backwards.
"You triggered Explosive Repercussions. I can use it to negate your attack and then choose one of two effects. The first is to have you discard cards from the top of your deck equal to your monsters level. That would be seven cards and therefore enough damage to defeat you. Or I can force each of you to discard your entire hand. Each of you shall now discard your hand, and my trap will go to work!" Duke was then attacked by one ghost, while Rebecca and Tristan were each attacked by two. (DLP: 1500, RLP: 1500, TLP: 1900)
Nick drew his card and then immediately slipped it onto his disk. "You duelists are way too casual about attacking me. So I'll make it more costly by playing Gravekeeper's Servant. As long as it's active you must discard a card from the top of your deck in order to attack. So not only will you lose a card for each attack, you'll also take three hundred damage." The card took shape on his field, its effect giving them more to worry about.
"Since Orgoth's attack boost only lasted till the end of your turn I'll strike it down with Freed and then destroy Tristan's set monster with Cliff." The two monsters attacked, Free slashing the armored warrior in half and Cliff punching apart Tristan's set monster. The set creature was revealed briefly to be a Cyber Commander. Not that it mattered, as each one took a bolt of damage from the power of Skull Invitation. (DLP: 900, TLP: 1600)
Rebecca's next card gave her all she needed. Of course she also gained two hundred points from the effect of Fallen Angel Mary. "I play Silent Doom on Fire Princess(1300/1500) meaning next turn you'll take five hundred damage from my Princess's effect. That's all for now." She braced herself as the ghosts attacked, further draining her of life points. (RLP: 1400)
Tristan's draw gave him everything he needed, and her pumped a fist into the air to rejoice. "I'm gonna kick your ass with Monster Reborn to revive Orgoth! Then I activate my set card, Rush Recklessly to give it more power than your general. I may take six hundred damage, but it's worth it." (TLP: 1000)
"Orgoth the Relentless, attack Freed with Megaton Axe!" The monster's attack stopped half-way across the field as Nick's face down card, the one that had been on the field since the very beginning, flipped up. And when it did a dull blackish color began to pervade the field.
"I'm tired of playing this game. I'll crush you all with my ultimate strength. Reveal Heart of Hatred! And it's first effect when activated in this manner is to have the attacking monster turn on it's initial owner!" Orgoth turned, with eyes glowing red, and slammed its axe down on Duke's shoulder, sending him dropping to the ground like a brick. It was the end of his consciousness and his life points. (DLP: 0)
"Because you attacked your friend you'll pay the price! Heart of Hatred will now deal you half the damage you inflicted in your act of hatred to your friend!" Tristan screamed in pain as Orgoth swung the axe around into his middle, flipping him over. His head connected hard with the ground, and he was out like a light. And the duel for him was over. (TLP: 0)
With two of his opponents out of the way it was now Nick's turn to draw, and so he did. He stared at the small form of Rebecca, the so-called genius girl, and the hatred in his eyes was clear. Yet it seemed to focus past her. "It's over Rebecca. I play Stroke of Midnight! This magic card will instantly destroy one monster on your field and force you to discard cards from your deck equal to its level! So I'll destroy San-witch and force you to discard six cards!"
A shroud of shadow swept over the witch and her pet, covering them both completely. When it lifted neither was there, and the damage was done. Rebecca gulped as she slipped her first six cards into her cemetery. Finally she turned her head away, unable to watch the ghosts come soaring towards her. She felt the pain and then she felt nothing at all. (RLP: 0)
Nick, the dark thief of the desert, didn't watch as the seal closed around the four duelists. He knew that this was something he had to do, but it wasn't something he wanted to do. He had just one true goal. "I'll find the truth. And I will have vengeance in blood!" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Author's Notes: I do not own Nick Selket. Well, I own this specific incarnation of him, but the actual rights go to G.O.T. Nick who submitted the character. I liked the idea of his character so much that I turned him into one of the three Knights of Order. So go Nick!
Time Mage: I've never seen Ronin Warriors. Thunderbolt Cut is in fact the actual name of Gilford's attack. It's my favorite monster, I know these things.
G.O.T. Nick: I pity da foo who don't respect da Kuriboh! (Kuriboh sings: R-E-S-P-E-C-T, that is what I'd like for me...)
Voidtemplar: Well, the decks of the Knights are intended to be very powerful, after all they have to make it really hard for our heros.
The White Mage: You have good taste in characters. As for the Hearts, you'll just have to wait to find out. Six hearts remain undiscovered...
Wolfgeneral: Three cheers for Drake! Errr....yeah. Also for Kuribohs!
Original Cards
Duke: Draining Dice, Boost Dice
Nick: Explosive Repercussions, Heart of Hatred, Stroke of Midnight
Anime Original Cards
Nick: Seal of Orichalcos, Quick Attack
Duke: Summon Dice, Orgoth the Relentless
Tristan: Cyber Commander
