Author's Notes: The two on one duel of Autumn and Ryu versus Taichi continues in this exciting chapter!

Chapter Twenty: Flames of Unity

Ryu and Autumn could only stare in horror at the incredibly powerful beast before them. If it succeeded in making a serious attack, they would be finished. "Kuribablyon, attack Gearfried and eliminate Autumn from the duel!"

The demonic monster jumped across the field, its horn pointing straight towards the iron knight. If it completed the attack Autumn's life points would drop to zero, and she couldn't allow that, not when they were so close to victory. "I chain with Voodoo Doll! This will move the attack to your side of the field!"

Kuribablyon changed direction in mid-jump and headed towards Taichi. The knight sneered and motioned towards his steel Kuriboh. It jumped in the way, and Kuribablyon bounced harmlessly off. "I block it with Kuri Defender, which means I am safe. You get one more turn, but when it's my turn I'll finish you both off for good."

As soon as his turn ended, Autumn's began. She drew her card but didn't even bother to look at it. She merely took one card from her hand and held it up. "This duel is already over, because I hold in my hand my ultimate weapon. Butterfly Dagger-Elma!"

"When Butterfly Dagger-Elma is destroyed and it automatically returns to my hand. Whenever Gearfried is equipped with a card that card is destroyed. Whenever I equip a card Morale Boost increases my life points of 1000 which I will promptly lose because of it's second effect and Gearfried's effect." She smirked broadly as she got to explaining the last part of her loop combo.

"Finally, the ability of Fire Princess will deal five hundred damage to you since I gain life points. It doesn't matter that I lost them immediately, you'll still take damage. Of course since Butterfly Dagger returned to my hand I can replay it on Gearfried to gain 1000 and deal five hundred more. I can continue to do this infinitely." The two of them exchanged a victory sign, knowing that it was over.

"This means that I can now deal infinite damage. So go, Infinite Life Burn Combo!" She slammed the card into her disk, equipping it to Gearfried and therefore destroying it. Fire Princess raised its hands and sent a jet of flame towards Taichi in order to inflict damage to him by it's effect.

"I'll play it five times for an even twenty-five hundred damage, easily enough to end you once and for all! It's all over Taichi, and we've won!"

Ryu and Autumn heaved a sigh of relief as a tornado of fire wrapped around their opponent, concealing him from view. Now, thanks to the power of Autumn's Infinite Life Burn Combo their troubles were over.

Ryu stopped smiling after about ten seconds. The fire tornado was still swirling around Taichi. He had seen a lot of anime, and in situations like this where you thought you had won and the opponent couldn't be seen it always meant...

"Shit! Autumn, are you sure your combo went through?" His question surprised her, but she nodded. She knew it had gone through, she hadn't seen him change anything and if he had stopped her then the Fire Princess wouldn't have launched its attacks.

"If it worked, then why is that fire still there? And why hasn't the Seal closed around him?" As if prodded into action by his words the flames began to bend outwards as if something was pushing at it from the inside. In one moment of deadly force the tornado burst, revealing their enemy.

Taichi Nobuki stood there, seemingly unharmed. His brown cloak had been burned away, leaving him standing in only his crimson body suit. Other than that he was fine, and he was sneering at them. "Is that the true strength of your deck? In that case this duel is going to be even easier than I thought."

Autumn had never seen her infinite loops fail once activated. It didn't make sense for him to be fine after the life draining assault which she had sent his way. "I don't get it. How did you manage to withstand that assault?"

In response he put his left arm out, and the card beneath it flipped up. "This is how I did it. Damage Reflux, whose power reverses any life point damage I take this turn into a life point increase. So go ahead and play your combo as much as you want, it'll just prove to make me stronger!"

The two duelists realized that they were in trouble. Having withstood Autumn's infinite loop for this turn he would get another chance to destroy it in his next turn. That had been their best chance of victory, and it had just made him stronger. "So weaklings. Now that you've succeeded in putting my life points above their starting point what will you do next? Disney Land perhaps?" (TLP: 4700)

Autumn felt her entire body weakening, felt her insecurities taking over. She barely even noticed as her knees hit the bottom of the Seal. 'That's one of my best combos and he defeated it without even trying. Without the power of my infinite loops, how can we win this? Is it really over?'

"Autumn! Are you okay? Come on, answer me!" Ryu rushed over to his girlfriend and knelt down next to her. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. What he saw was a shocked and horrified look in her eyes. A broken look, a look of despair.

"Looks like your little girlfriend has realized the futility of opposing me. She understands mankind's current place. On it's knees!" The former gang member felt his nails pressing tightly against his palm as he clenched his fists as tightly as he could. It was just becoming worse because of that sneaky bastard's laughter.

Whirling around he rose to his feet, determination in his eyes. "Do you see where I am Taichi? I'm standing on my feet to oppose you! That's where mankind's current place is, in opposition to you and your order! So even if it costs my life I'll fight for that position, fight on my feet! And I'll remain standing even in death!"

Taichi raised a hand and put it in front of his mouth, covering an exaggerated yawn. Stretching his arms out behind him he yawned again, this time louder than before. "Oh please, is that really the best speech you could come up with? When you give a speech you need to be able to back it up, and you can't back that up."

Ryu opened his mouth to retort but was cut off by a golden flare of energy from right behind him. His eyes and Taichi's were drawn to the glowing figure of Autumn who was now on her feet, the eye symbol alive and bright on her forehead. "But we can back it up. We'll back it up with our real power and sweep you lot aside like the dogs you are!"

The light dimmed down, revealing the changes that had taken place in Autumn. Her hair extended back more, and her smile was sinister. Her eyes were also a much darker color. Ryu recognized this form immediately. "Misuno..."

"You hit the nail on the head. My light half is busy consoling the little one, so I'll be taking over for the moment. I'm the real source of power in this trio, and I'm about to prove it. Of course I can't do much yet, so I'll set a card face down and switch Gearfried into defense mode." Misuno drew from the power of Supply Lines, giving the control of the turn to Ryu.

Now that it was his turn Ryu had to make some decisions. His hand didn't have much support for him, and there was no way he could take on Kuribablyon and its enormous attack power. 'Looks like I'm going to have to go defensive like Misuno did. Hopefully I can draw another monster to help out.'

He let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding after drawing his card. He took it and placed it on his field. "Ruby Dragon(1600/1400) in defense mode. I also move Ryu Senshi to defense mode. End Turn." His two monsters and his set cards were now all that separated him from the power of Kuribablyon.

The Knight of Air added his newest card to his other four, and then grabbed two other cards. "I'll set one card face down. Then I activate Halt Play, preventing any player from activating or setting any magic or trap cards until the end of your next turn Autumn."

Ryu recognized that card quite well. It had been one of the cards the dark spirit in Taichi's form had used to defeat him in a duel, along with Hinata. He just had to pray that this duel didn't have the same outcome.

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Ryu and Kensai both groaned, knowing that their team was in bad shape for whatever move Taichi might make next. Taichi knew this, and as he drew a fourth card into his hand he flashed them a sadistic grin to show that he was well aware of this.

"I'll set one card face down, and activate the magic card, Halt Play! Now, until the end of my opponent's next turn, no magic or trap cards can be activated. So I'll summon Demon Soldier(1900/1500) and have it and Dark Ruler Hades attack Ryu directly!"

The monster that Taichi summoned was a purple skinned demon with spikes extending from all parts of his body and a pair of curling steel horns on the side of its head. A green cape fluttered behind it and its weapon of choice was a scimitar that looked as deadly as the skull knight's had.

The Demon Soldier unsheathed its blade and bounded across the field, Hades running at his side. Their goal was to strike down Ryu, and without the power to activate his own face down card, he was utterly defenseless...or so he thought.

"Landstar Swordsman, defend against Hades's attack!" Hinata's little swordsman lept in the way and took the full force of Hades's strike. The demon ruler picked the swordsman up in both its hands and then brought him forcefully down upon its knee. The breaking of bone could be heard, and Landstar Swordsman screamed in agony as its back was broken.

Its cry was accompanied moments later by the cry of the duelist it had been protecting. Demon Soldier's slashing blade cut a red line across Ryu's shoulder and then the game's rule took effect. He started to lose who he was as his life points ticked down. This time the pain was so far beyond what he had previously experienced that the world itself faded away, leaving nothing but the cold white of his agony.

(RLP: 1550) Slowly the other colors in the spectrum of his world started to return. However the blank look on his face was enough to let those present realize that something had changed. His confusion was evident, and its cause was that so much of who he was had been separated from his body. He just couldn't remember who he was.

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"I believe it's time to crush your loop. Kuribablyon, destroy Fire Princess!"

The demon gored the spellcaster with its horn, splattering blood against the ground. It pulled the horn out and returned to Taichi, seeming happy as Fire Princess shattered into digital dust. "It's only a pity that your monster was in defense mode. End Turn."

Misuno now had six cards in her hand, giving her a lot of options to work with. Ryu wondered whether he should think of Misuno as a he or a she, as the spirit was male but the body female. 'That's gotta be weird, being a guy who looks like a girl.'

"Here's the part of this deck that responds to me and me alone! I sacrifice Gearfried and my set monster to summon one of my newest creatures, Barrel Dragon EX(2700/2500)!" The monster that arose was what looked like a more high-tech version of Barrel Dragon. Its armor was sleek and futuristic, and the former revolver barrels on top of it were now what looked like plasma cannons.

"Barrel Dragon EX has an effect like that of Blowback Dragon. I can target any card with it's coin flip effect, and all I need is two heads to destroy your monsters! So let's flip shall we?" Three giant coins appeared on the field and flipped up into the air, and came tumbling back down. One landed flat on its back, displaying tails. The other two however were heads.

"I'll use this opportunity to get rid of that overly powerful demon of yours. Say goodbye to Kuribablyon! Barrel Dragon EX, Plasma Cannon Blast!" A spray of blue light erupted from the end of its cannons, shooting straight at the undefended big-toothed monster.

"Idiot weakling. I'll use Kuri General's effect to move it to Kuri Defender, who cannot be destroyed by a targeted effect as long as he remains in defense mode. Meaning the secret to beat him is to somehow get him into attack mode. Of course you'll never manage that, meaning I have an infinite barrier against anything you throw at me and my Kuri Clan!" Misuno narrowed his eyes, then sighed and drew a card.

Knowing he had to pick up the slack he drew his card, hoping for something useful. What he got was exactly the right thing. "This is just going to take a little effort Misuno, but it will be worth it, trust me. I start by sacrificing Ruby Dragon for Tri-Horn Knight(2000/1600)!"

A powerfully built warrior appeared, dressed in samurai garb that had three yellow horns on the helmet. Anybody guessing who knew their cards well could tell where it got its name, and what he was about to do. "Allow me to show you another union, because I play Banner of the Tri-Horn, allowing me to special summon Tri-Horned Dragon(2850/2650) since I have my knight in play!"

His newest monster was a large blue dragon, with spikes on its body. Most notable were the three yellow horns on top of its head that gave it that name. "Tri-Horned Dragon is one of the strongest dragons in the game, outranked by only a small number like the Blue Eyes White Dragon. He gets more powerful now that I union Tri-Horn Knight to him!"

Grabbing hold of a horn the knight pulled himself up onto Tri-Horned Dragon's back, and hefted a spear. Tri-Horned Dragon threw back its head and roared as loudly as it could. Kuribablyon growled right back, not intimidated by the significantly weaker monster. "Since I've united them Tri-Horned Dragon now gains eight hundred attack points, making it outclass even the Blue Eyes!"

Confident in the power of his dragonic union he grabbed two more cards and slid them onto his disk. "All I can do at the moment is set those two cards face down. Back to you Taichi." Feeling a bit more relaxed now that he had a powerful monster on the field he used the power of Supply Lines to slightly replenish his hand.

Taichi immediately played his card, and a very familiar furball appeared in front of them. The furball that was Kuriboh(300/200). "Now that I've got Kuriboh on the field I'll activate one of my set cards, Multiply! My lone Kuriboh becomes five, filling up all of my zones!"

The brown hairball split into five separate versions of the same creature, each one becoming more demonic as they gained dark power from the Seal of Orichalcos. "That's not all, I'm going to activate another set card, Polymerization! I combine these five Kuriboh into King Kuriboh(2000/1200)!"

The five monsters merged themselves together into the mightier humanoid spellcaster who ruled over the Kuri Clan. "His power boosts the attack of all my Kuri Clan members by five hundred, sort of like Kuri General. His attack becomes twenty-nine hundred, Kuri Defender's becomes seventeen hundred, Kuri General has nineteen hundred, and Kuribablyon has seventy-four hundred!"

Ryu grimaced, losing some of his confidence. With that kind of extra boost they would be even harder pressed to match up against Taichi's monsters. They could make even the weakest of monsters a contender with a combined total of fourteen hundred bonus points. "I'm far from done! Kuribablyon, obliterate Barrel Dragon EX!"

Kuribablyon snarled, saliva dripping from its jaws. Its eyes on its target it rushed at the mighty machine dragon. Before it could reach Barrel Dragon EX a bright blue barrier formed in front of it. Misuno smirked at Taichi as he played his card. "I'm sure you recognize Mirror Force, right? Well now it blows all of your monsters but Kuri Defender to hell!"

"You think so do you? King Kuriboh, show Misuno your power!" The lord of all the Kuriboh raised his right arm into the air and snapped his fingers. Moments later the blue barrier faded, and Kuribablyon retreated to Taichi's side.

"King Kuriboh can easily save my monsters from your effects, but sadly the attack was still negated. Whenever Kuribabylon's attack fails it splits into its original five forms. So welcome back the Kuriboh Brothers!" The five multi-colored creatures reappeared, each one rocketing to seventeen hundred attack power.

"You know, I suppose I could try and kill Barrel Dragon EX with King Kuriboh, but I think I'll wait. Once my next turn comes around I'll just recombine my five siblings into an even more powerful Kuribablyon!" He snapped a card off his deck and licked his lips, happy at just the thought of the strength his monster would have once he recreated it.

Misuno grimaced at having wasted a powerful trap for nothing. Not only that but he had expended some of his precious energy in order to convert the set card into Mirror Force, all to have it backfire. 'This little brat is more powerful than I anticipated. It seems his claims and Autumn's fears are well founded. I'll have to be more cautious in the future.'

The darker spirit of the staff drew his next card giving him a total of seven to work with. He scowled at his new card, knowing that it wasn't going to help. Not only that, but any more card alteration and he'd be caught by Taichi. 'Seven cards and every single one is worthless! I knew I should have taken control while everyone was editing their decks and made her make a few more changes!'

"Considering that Barrel Dragon EX's effect is worthless right now, I suppose I'm going to have to just move it into defense mode." The mechanical monsters dropped to its knees, and armor plating moved into place to cover up all of its weak points.

"Now I summon Gear Golem the Moving Fortress(800/2200) in defense. I'll follow that up with these cards." A spiky machine sat ready to take any assault, his Gear Golem. He slipped two cards from his hand onto the disk, which appeared in front of him as well.

Shooting a look over at his 'partner' the spirit shot a harsh comment in the other duelist's way. "You better have a way to beat him with this plan of yours, otherwise this duel is going to end very badly. My turn is over."

"Draw!" The teenager barely registered what his new cards was, because he had a plan ready to go. Hopefully it would work, otherwise they were going to be in deep trouble. He pressed a button on his disk, and one of his two set cards began to lift up.

"I'll reveal one of my strongest traps, Union Task Force! During this turn one unioned monster can attack the opposing player directly! All it costs is a discard from my hand, and then I'll be able to bring your life points down within striking distance." He ditched a card which would have been useless anyways, and activated the power of his card.

Tri-Horned Dragon and the knight astride it began to glow with a dark red aura. The energy was being provided by his trap, and it was going to do the deed. "With this new power I'll give you something to really fear! Tri-Horned Dragon Knight, go direct! Rampage of the Tri-Horn!"

The dragon let out a fierce challenging roar and charged forwards, the knight raising his weapon and yelling his challenge as well. The horde of Kuri Clan members gave a chorus of 'kuriii!' and stood at the ready. Taichi stood at the ready as well.

"Pathetic weakling! I activate one of the abilities of my siblings! Together they can negate an attack and reduce any damage to zero! Kuriboh Brother Defense Formation!" The five siblings formed themselves into a line and stretched their tiny hands out. The lead one strained itself, and a bright glowing star emerged from its hands. The star blocked the charge of Tri-Horned Dragon Knight, keeping it from completing its attack.

"Damn! I was counting on that attack as well...so now what?" Not knowing what else to do, and not having any other moves that he could make at the moment, Ryu was forced to end his turn. He had been all geared up about using his trap's power to nearly finish off Taichi, but it had completely failed.

Taichi looked at his new card with interest, and then refocused his attention on the game itself. Smirking he gestured broadly to his army of Kuribohs. "Take a good look at my Kuriboh Brothers, for each one has seventeen hundred attack points. Now I combine them together into Kuribabylon(9900/3400)!"

Ryu tried to keep his hands from shaking upon seeing the incredible attack power Kuribablyon now possessed, but he was failing. Even though he had seen monsters with greater, namely that crazy monster of Taichi's that he used against Autumn, but he had never faced on before. 'How the hell are we supposed to beat a monster that falls just short of ten thousand attack points?'

"That's not all, I play two magic cards from my hand. Song of the Kuri Clan and a second Song of the Kuri Clan! Each one grants me the power to special summon two Kuri Clan members from my hand to the field, and I know just what monsters to summon." He flipped three cards in has hand around, revealing three level seven creatures. Level sevens that the two duelists recognized.

"I summon all three Blue Eyed Kuri Dragons(2400/2000 X3) to the field! You weren't there at the time I explained their effect, so I'll do it again. They gain attack and defense points equal to two hundred times every Kuri Clan member on the field." Misuno and Ryu did the counting. King Kuriboh, Kuri Defender, Kuri General, Kuribablyon, and three Blue Eyed Kuri Dragons. Seven monsters.

"I'm sure by now you've done the math. Witness the awesome might of the Blue Eyed Kuri Dragons(5200/3800 X3)!" The three furry dragons roared, failing to intimidate any of Misuno or Ryu's monsters. Tri-Horned Dragon roared back, not yet realizing that it was far outmatched. There was nothing it could do to stop the attack of those three creatures, let alone Kuribabylon.

"Remember how I said two for each Song of the Kuri Clan? Well here's the fourth and final one, Cyborg Kuriboh(1000/700). Not only does he send each of my dragons up by a further two hundred attack and defense points, but he reaches a powerful twenty-four hundred of his own!" The half-machine/half-hairball didn't make any sort of sound, it merely swept its cold gaze across the field.

"Allow me to use Cyborg Kuriboh's special ability. Once per turn I can destroy one magic or trap card on the field, and it cannot be chained in reaction! Cyber Hack!" The mechanical puffball's eyes glowed as it began to hack its way into the controls of Misuno's duel disk, and one of his set cards shattered into a million pieces.

"Count them up. Eight monsters, all but two with more attack power than most monsters in the game! Now do you truly understand the power of the Kuri Clan, the power of unity? No worthless humans like yourselves can stand up to this strength!" He threw back his head and started laughing, fully certain of his victory.

'Why shouldn't he be certain? There's no way either of us could mount a defense against creatures as powerful as those dragons. We couldn't even begin to scratch the surface of that demon of his. It's all over...there's no hope.' He felt his knees give way, and he saw Misuno fall as well. Both of them realized that the end was standing right in front of them.

"Hold it Taichi, before you continue I'll play Desperate Defense, moving my monsters into defense mode. Th...that's all I can do." His monsters moved into defense, meaning that he may or may not lose in this turn. Luckily all their monsters had decent defense power, so they could probably last through this turn.

"Ready my monsters? All out assault!" The two other duelists shielded themselves as multiple attacks slammed down upon their field, clearing it completely. No monster was left when the dust had cleared, and Taichi still had three monsters left who could attack.

"I'll finish you one of your off in this turn. Kuri General and Cyborg Kuriboh will attack Autumn, or whoever the hell that is directly for forty-three hundred points of damage!" A missile hatch opened on the cyborg's shoulder, and it launched it. Kuri General just spat a fireball out of its mouth, both heading towards Misuno to finish him off, and therefore Autumn at the same time.

Misuno sneered and flipped up his set card, revealing a quick-play card. "I'll activate Shrink to cut Cyborg Kuriboh's power in half! You may nearly take me down, but I'm not out yet!" The two attacks collided with him, blowing him backwards. When the smoke cleared he wasn't moved, but he was mostly unharmed. (ALP: 900)

"So that one survived eh? Well that's alright, I'll end it next turn. Kuri Defender, attack Ryu directly!" The little steel monster jumped straight at Ryu, slamming into his stomach and knocking him backwards. His breath left him in a rush, and he struggled to remain standing. It felt like one of his ribs had been busted by that attack. (RLP: 2300)

"You two truly are pathetic! You have yet to even experience my full strength and you two are nearly gone while I remain with more than my share of life points! You stand chance of defeating me, and you should have realized that at the start, it would have saved you a lot of pain and suffering!" A burst of wind flared up around him, a way for him to flaunt his power in his moment before triumphing.

Slowly the prone form of Misuno reached its feet. But now the features weren't as sharp, they were in fact much softer, much more feminine. This was more like the real Autumn, but the eyes had a more knowing look to them. "I am called Autsu-Ba'ast. The light side of this trio. Since my darker half is incapacitated and Autumn is resting I'll take over for now."

The new spirit drew her card, and smiled as she saw it. "I'm a new duelist, so this card is rather useful. Reload, to replenish my hand. All I have to do is shuffle my current hand into my deck and I can draw an equal number of cards."

She shuffled the other five cards she was holding back into her deck, and then she drew another set off the top of her deck. Now with a whole new set of options she was ready to continue the duel. "This should help. I'll set one monster. Now I play Monster Reborn, and recall Gear Golem the Moving Fortress(800/2200)!"

With two new defense monsters in play she had another chance to keep herself self, one she had to hope would work. "I'll place these cards face down. That is all I can do." With the end of her turn came the draw from Supply Lines. But since she had refreshed her field they might still have a chance.

Ryu felt a bit out of sorts with Autumn switching minds back and forth like that, but he knew they needed whatever help they could get. He had never actually seen Autsu-Ba'ast take over for Autumn, but she had mentioned the spirit, tending to just call her AB for short. 'Well, it is easier to say. Though why she says it in English I'll never know.'

"I can't do much. I set two cards on the field, a monster and another card." With his two cards in play he was finished, leaving him with just two cards. One he had just drawn so it wouldn't be of any use to him yet. Now was the time to really pray for some saving grace to come.

The knight drew his next card and started laughing. Ryu growled low in his throat, not liking the sound of that laughter. Whenever one of the bad guys laughed it always sucked for the good guys. "I'll teach you another lesson in ultimate power! I activate Polymerization and fuse together the three Blue Eyed Kuri Dragons!"

Each of the three giant furry dragons was pulled into a swirling vortex. What emerged was a somewhat frightful sight, but mostly embarrassing. Just like Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon it was a three-headed version of the original monster. But seeing it in a form covered with fur where the three heads were just Kuribohs bobbing up and down was...taxing to someone serious. 'I'm gonna die from all the cuteness...'

"Behold Ultima Kuriboh(4000/3500) who gains three hundred attack and defense power for each monster with 'kuri' in its name on the field. Count up the totals shall you, and then you can see the horror I have in store for you!" With all the attack bonuses it got, the monster soon nearly reached the level of Kuribabylon. Ultima Kuriboh now had seventy-two hundred attack points and fifty-six hundred defense points.

"Now let's get down to business. Cyber Hack!" One of Autsu's set cards shook violently for several seconds. Finally it exploded, leaving behind pixilated fragments of itself. Now all she had was two monsters and one set card, while Ryu had just one set card and one set monster. Not much between them and six overly powerful monsters.

"Cyborg Kuriboh, blow away Gear Golem!" The spiked golem was unable to stand up to the missile barrage and was blown away. With the number of monsters they had ever depleting things were looking grim for them.

"Keep in mind before activating any life saving traps that my King Kuriboh protects all those of the Kuri Clan from dangers like that. Speaking of which, Kuri General, blow away that set monster!" The ball of flame slammed down on the set monster, burning it to cinders.

Suddenly a hand reached up out of the graveyard and opened, allowing Gear Golem the Moving Fortress to trundle out onto the field. "You destroy the monster form of Call of the Haunted(300/300) who lets me special summon a monster from the cemetery to the field."

Taichi sneered at the reappearance of this monster, not bothered by it. He still had four more attacks and his opponents only had two more monsters. He had this duel already won. "I'm not frightened. King Kuriboh, vaporize it!"

Gear Golem vanished for a second time, this time under the assault of a blast of black magic from the ruler of the Kuribohs. Autumn's field was now completely empty. "Kuri Defender, attack her directly and finish her off!"

"Not so fast! I activate Scapegoat, filling my field with four Goat Tokens(0/0) in defense mode!" The fluffy multi-colored goats took shape, and one was quickly crushed by the ball of steel that was Kuri Defender. That left two more monsters that hadn't attacked, and three more goats.

"You're only delaying the inevitable! All of my remaining monsters attack your goats!" The next two attacks dropped her number of defenders down to a measly one. With no attack or defense points the lonely goat token was no match for his mighty attackers. Even the basic Kuriboh with no assistance could defeat one of those puny goats.

"I'll set one card face down. Now the turn is yours spirit. See if you can manage to do anything with it." Autsu and Ryu heaved a collective sigh of relief, happy to have made it through that turn. Now they had a free turn to prepare themselves for the next assault.

Autsu's new card gave her everything she needed to recover. "I'll continue this trend with a similar move. I play Magic Shard Excavation and discard two cards to pick up one magic card from my cemetery." She ditched the two cards, then caught a third which was ejected from her grave.

"I play Scapegoat, filling my field completely. Now I have five monsters to defend me! Unfortunately I have no more cards to use, so my turn is over." With her turn over Ryu felt the strain of the dueling reaching him. He had just one turn to get ready, and if he didn't do well enough they were going to lose. Hoping was all that was left.

"I set one card face down and place a monster. End turn!" Now he had two monsters and two magic or trap cards. Not that it would really help against the incredible power that Taichi had. He could feel fear burning through his system, weakening him in each moment. A fear he needed to fight.

Taichi drew his card, and a golden light began to rise up around him. He smirked and raised the card aloft. "Behold the Heart of Power, and using it I will create Knight of Kuriboh(1000/1000)!"

The shape of the deadly knight appeared, the monster that had so shocked all of them when he dueled Kirani. "According to all the effects in play it gains fourteen hundred attack. Of course then it's own effect automatically doubles its power! Already it has forty-eight hundred!"

The aura of the monster started to grow, showing that its power was picking up. "Oh I'm far from finished! Reveal face down card, Defusion! I'll split Ultima Kuriboh into its three separate pieces, each with a total of fifty-six hundred attack!" The three monsters returned, nearly filling his entire field.

"Now I activate Life Spring of the Kuri Clan! I'll gain life points equal to the total power of each Kuri Monster on my field! Now I'll gain forty-thousand nine hundred life points! You don't stand a chance now!" Their last thoughts of hope fell away as he absorbed the massive amounts of energy, sending his life points skyrocketing. (TLP: 45000)

"It's going to end shortly. I play Berserker Assault! By sacrificing each of my other monsters I can let Knight of Kuriboh(4800/4800) attack once for each. That means he gets a total of nine attacks. Impressive yes?" The eight monsters shattered into pieces, granting their energies to Knight of Kuriboh to give him even more power to use against them.

"Now I use the greatest power of my Heart of Power, sacrificing ten thousand life points to set my Knight of Kuriboh's power at infinite! Remember the effect of my monsters as well. Fear the wrath of Knight of Kuriboh(2 X Infinite/2 X Infinite)!" The golden aura suffusing the creature exploded outwards, pushing back everything else inside the seal. It didn't seem like they stood a chance against such a powerful creature. (TLP: 35000)

"Knight of Kuriboh, Divinity Slash!" The monster swung its blade down, sending a stream of golden energy across the field. The goats screamed as they were burned away before it even reached them, and Ryu's monsters weren't faring any better. Nothing could last against that kind of power. Having destroyed seven monsters there were still two more attacks left, meaning one to finish off each of them.

"I refuse to die yet! Shield Wall activate, create four Shield Tokens(1000/1000) in defense mode!" Four clay soldiers appeared, holding their shields up to defend the two duelists. The energy crashed down amongst them, burning away two of them. But the attack was finished, and two remained. One to defend each of them, that was all they had.

"So be it. You may have defended yourself this turn, but you can't last for long against the ultimate monster. You can't possibly win, and not just because of that either." He folded his arms smugly, and the divine monster did the same, confident that it could handle any threat that might arise. And why not? It had twice infinite attack and defense power.

"Mankind is disunited, bickering, and fighting constantly. It will destroy itself because there can be no peace without unity. Mankind will perish, have it's will stripped away, and all that will remain is unity and order!" The fanatical way he was speaking told all. Taichi truly believed everything he was saying.

Ryu closed his eyes, and then opened them after on deep breath. "Autsu, I want you to relinquish control to Autumn. Even if the end might come, I want to face it with her." The spirit paused for a moment, but then her features shifted into the softer and more innocent ones of the girl he had fallen for.

"Ryu, if I do die I'm glad it's at your side. I wouldn't have had it any other way." The two embraced each other, Autumn leaning her head against Ryu's chest. The sweet moment was interrupted by Taichi snorting in amusement.

Autumn turned a furious gaze on him and snapped a card off her deck. "You think that's funny? Well try this on for size! RAIGEKI!" A lightning bolt shot down from the clouds, and blasted away Taichi's field. The light was so bright that everything was blurry for several seconds as they readjusted to the true day, which was dimming as it wore on.

"Idiot. Knight of Kuriboh cannot be destroyed by such a paltry effect, because it is a divine type! In other words this monster is God of the Kuriboh! You failed, and you have no chance to survive!" The female duelist lowered her hand in disappointment and turned to Ryu, who was their last chance at survival.

With that look of confidence upon him Ryu knew that he could do this. He just had to trust in himself, believe in her as well. "I understand Autumn. Together we can conquer any opponent, so let's get this duel back on track! I activate Dark Roulette!"

"According to this card's effect each player must guess the opponent's type of top card, monster, magic, or trap. If they guess correctly that player takes two thousand damage. If they guess wrong then the other player may automatically put that card into play. If it's a monster you automatically ignore summoning cost. So go ahead, I'll guess monster for you." He shared a slight smile with Autumn, a smile of trust and oneness.

Their opponent rolled his eyes upon seeing their smile, and chose what he believed was right. "Considering how your decks have played, I think my choice is easy. Ryu, you'll draw a monster. Autumn, you'll draw a magic card. Now let's draw shall we?"

He picked up his top card and grimaced at the sight of it. He showed it to them, revealing a Kuriboh, which he promptly discarded to the cemetery. Since they were right he was hit by the damage of that card, and since they were playing as a team he took a hit from each of them. (TLP: 31000)

The two duelists smiled and snapped their cards of their decks, holding them up above their heads. A blazing red light erupted from Ryu and began to mix with the bright white light surrounded Autumn. "You couldn't have guessed right Taichi, because I've drawn Heart of Courage!"

Autumn grinned as the symbol of friendship appeared on her forehead, her power blazing around her. "And I drew the Heart of Friendship! Together we have true power, so allow us to show you the true meaning of oneness!"

They extended their cards, and the auras surged down their arms and collected around the two cards, just inches from each other. The color changed as the light mixed and it became a brilliant green color. "NO! This can't be!"

Taichi grasped hold of his power to keep himself aloft as the Seal of Orichalcos exploded into tiny pieces, taking its power with it. But that didn't matter, because he still had the Heart of Power. "I cannot be beaten by you!"

The green light dimmed slightly, allowing Taichi to see that Ryu and Autumn were holding on card together. It was a heart card, but the symbol in the center, the same one on their heads, was different. Together they announced its name. "Together we have formed the Heart of Unity!"

Still speaking with one voice the two continued their turn, green energy sweeping down upon their field. "We shall now offer up all cards on our field to the power of the Heart of Unity, joining our life points as well. Prepare to meet the instrument of your demise!" (R&ALP: 3200)

The knight was thrown bodily backwards as flame erupted from the ground, and a massive shape emerged. It towered over them, staring down at Knight of Kuriboh. "This is the weapon that will defeat you. Phoenix of Eternity(3000/3000)!"

"I don't understand this...how can you have so much power? You shouldn't be able to generate that much energy, you can't match my Heart of Power! It shouldn't be possible!" The two duelists now joined as one could see the panic in his eyes, not even registering the strength of their phoenix. All he knew was the power that they possessed.

"You can't possibly comprehend our power, because you have lost sight of mankind's truest strength. Mankind can and does unite, and when it does the power created is beyond your imagination. That is our power. Mankind's Unity!" The phoenix shrieked and its flames burned brighter than before in testament to their words.

"Now, we activate one of our creature's powers. Tears of the Phoenix at a cost of 1500 life points! This will revive monsters from our cemetery so long as they exist there, and it shall revive them with a ten percent power increase." Tears dripped to the ground, and light blazed up, allowing monsters to arise. Taichi narrowed his eyes, not knowing what they were up to. (R&ALP: 1700)

"Do you understand Taichi? So long as there continue to be monsters in the cemetery our Phoenix of Eternity will revive them. So now we shall unite their power together with this. Brave Attack! All of our monsters will attack yours until they combine together with enough power to defeat it!" The reforming monsters began launching themselves at the Knight of Kuriboh, each being struck down in turn. But when one fell another immediately took its place, and soon Knight of Kuriboh was being constantly bombarded by monsters.

Taichi realized all in one moment exactly what was happening. "No...I see it now! Because Tears of the Phoenix is a constant ability every time one of your monsters dies fighting mine it gets revived. Brave Attack is a normal magic card, so its effect will remain until you can't attack anymore or until my monster is dead. So you'll infinitely attack me to destroy me infinitely powerful creature!"

The attacks slowed as Knight of Kuriboh fell to its knees, cracks running along its armor. Golden energy surged beneath it, and the phoenix above shrieked in satisfaction. The mighty warrior that had been Taichi's ultimate weapon had been felled. "You are defeated Taichi. Without your ultimate weapon you are nothing!"

His eyes filled with rage the blue eyed teen snapped at them in response. "Fools! When Knight of Kuriboh goes so does Heart of Power! When Heart of Power is destroyed, it takes everything with it! So say goodbye to your Heart of Unity, and with it your own Phoenix!"

The knight shattered, spraying the field with golden light, creating a miniature dome that covered up everything. After several moments it shrunk down, revealing the three duelists standing alone on an empty field. "When Heart of Power leaves the game I also lose half my life points." (TLP: 15500, RLP: 850, ALP: 850)

Ryu and Autumn stared at each other in shock, now once again separate people. The experience of having been one was amazing, but now it was over. "Well, when Phoenix of Eternity leaves the game all cards in our cemeteries, hands, and decks are shuffled back together. So each of us is left with an empty field and an empty hand."

Autumn nodded and gestured to the floor, which was regular, not having any sort of emblem on it. "Since Heart of Unity blew away your Seal of Orichalcos its power was completely broken. Your card is blank now and useless, so you can't take our souls even if you did win the duel."

Taichi grimaced and tossed aside a now blank magic card that had once been the Seal of Orichalcos. But slowly his grimace faded, and a smirk took its place. "Can't take your souls? Did you think I'd be possessed by an evil spirit for months and not pick up a few things?"

Darkness began to flow in around them, covering them in it. A black dome formed, and the three duelists felt a bitter cold reaching down into their very bones. "With the power of a Darkness Game I can and will take your souls! Prepare for your end!"

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Author's Notes: That's right, one more chapter in this duel. Things are heating up once again! Can Ryu and Autumn survive the Darkness Game and defeat Taichi? Find out next time! And boy do I feel like a cheesy commercial!

Time Mage: If you kill me, that means no more story.

The White Mage: Tut tut. I'm not so obvious as that. Plus Kuriboh can't be discarded to negate effect damage, only battle damage during the opponent's battle phase.

WolfGeneral: Yes, fear the cuteness! Fear! Holds up Mesmeric Kuriboh Plushy The plushy tells you to fear!

VoidTemplar: Just because he didn't lose there doesn't mean he won't. Still one more chapter to go to find that out.

Original Cards

Taichi: Damage Redux, Halt Play, Kuri General, Kuri Defender, King Kuriboh, Song of the Kuri Clan, Blue Eyed Kuri Dragon, Cyborg Kuriboh, Ultima Kuriboh, Heart of Power, Knight of Kuriboh, Berserker Assault, Life Spring of the Kuri Clan

Autumn: Barrel Dragon EX, Call of the Haunted(monster version), Heart of Friendship, Heart of Unity, Phoenix of Eternity

Ryu: Tri-Horn Knight, Banner of the Tri-Horn, Union Task Force, Desperate Defense, Dark Roulette, Heart of Courage, Heart of Unity, Phoenix of Eternity

Anime Original Cards

Ryu: Ruby Dragon, Shield Wall, Brave Attack

Taichi: Kuribablyon, Kuribi, Kuribe, Kuribu, Kuriba