Author's Notes: Witness the third and final part of this duel! FEAR THE CUTENESS!

Chapter Twenty-One: A Final Stand

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!"

Taichi flipped his next card up so to view it, and then snarled as he slammed it down onto his deck. A glowing form appeared, and was soon revealed as a Kuriboh with angel's wings. "Meet the light half of Kuriboh, Hane Kuriboh(300/200)! Wing Strike!"

Hane Kuriboh flapped its wings, sending a heavy gust at Autumn. She was pushed backwards by the wind, and eventually dropped to her butt. She scowled and rubbed her backside, which was sore from the fall. "It may not be much damage, but you barely have any life points anyways, so it's all I need!" (ALP: 550)

He drew another card from Supply Lines, and then it was on to Autumn. She stared at her deck, knowing that this was her chance. If she drew something useless it was over. 'Come on top deck...give me what I need!'

She slid the card off her deck and look at it. She put it into her disk, and then drew another card from her deck. "I can't do anything but set a card, so I'm done for now."

Ryu looked down at the gauntlet on his fist and closed his eyes for a moment. 'Come on deck, show me some love.'

He smirked at his draw, and declared his move. "I've managed to draw a kick ass monster to fight back with, so here it goes. Diamond Soldier(1800/1600) in attack mode!" A human wearing shiny diamond armor now stood in front of him, gripping a heavy bladed sword.

"Time to get rid of Hane Kuriboh. DIAMOND BLADE!" The soldier raised his blade and swung it at the angelic creature, sending dozens of shards of diamond at it. The Hane Kuriboh squealed and tried to dodge, but it was ripped apart but the shards.

"You destroyed my Hane Kuriboh, but so what? No damage can be dealt when Hane Kuriboh dies in battle, and I can't take any damage the turn it goes to the cemetery." Taichi let a crooked smile touch his features, and the light in his eyes flared up. But it wasn't the a normal light, it was distorted, showing his true nature.

"I don't care if I hurt you or not right there, because I've got the stronger monster. Your Kuri Clan may be dangerous, but not without support. Since you're top decking like the rest of us you don't have a chance of getting any support to strengthen your creatures. Meaning we have the real advantage here." He shoved a card into his disk, which appeared in front of him, and then ended his turn.

Their opponent pressed a button on his Duel Pod, and they watched as his field slot opened up. "I may not have the Seal of Orichalcos anymore, but I do have a useful field card. I activate Kuri Nesting Hole!"

The darkness around him warped, changing shape until the field card took form. It was a dark hole with grass growing around it, nothing complex. The only thing that made it stand apart from a normal hole in the ground were the big blinking eyes inside it. "This field card grants every Kuri Clan member a bonus of two hundred attack and defense points."

He snapped his fingers, and a form jumped out of the hole, bouncing out to stand in front of him. It was none other than the cuddly form of a brown furred Kuriboh(300/200). "Each turn I can produce a Kuriboh Token which doesn't count towards my monster zones. These tokens can be used for sacrifice."

Taichi raised the remaining card in his hand, and slapped it down on his Duel Pod. "Speaking of which, I sacrifice it for Kuri Dragon(1900/1500)!" The little furball vanished, and a long-necked furry dragon flapped its way out of the cave. It was a very unimpressive monster, looking just as cute and cuddly as the original Kuriboh.

"Since you haven't experienced this monster and weren't there for Kirani's duel, I'll explain it's effect. It gains one hundred attack and defense for each monster with 'Kuri' in it's name on the field. That counts itself, so with the field card bonus it now has twenty-three hundred attack!" In response to the power boost the dragon roared...or at least it tried to. It came out more like a semi-ferocious meow.

Ryu sweat-dropped, uncertain whether he should be afraid of a creature like that. "Is...is every single monster in your deck this idiotically cute?"

Taichi's response left no room for argument. "Yes."

The teen sweat-dropped again, this time because Autumn's eyes had stars in them again. She was smitten by the cute little dragon. Ryu groaned and placed his head in his hands, shaking it back and forth. "Why did it have to be cutesy monsters? WHY! You're a freaking villain! Show a little manliness damn it!"

"Manliness? I've said it already, I'm not a mere man! I won't brook anyone who says otherwise, so Kuri Dragon, blast Autumn and drain her life points!" Kuri Dragon opened its jaws wide, looking like it was yawning. A cute little puff of smoke came out, forming a bow and arrow. The smoke bow pulled back on the string, and the arrow shot out.

"I'm not letting my girlfriend die at the hands of a stupid cartoon joke! Diamond Soldier, block the attack!" The warrior jumped in the way and took the full force of the arrow to its chest. But considering it was made of smoke, all the full force did was dissipate against its diamond armor.

"This will be funny." Taichi grinned as Diamond Soldier inspected itself to see if there was any injury. It gave itself a once-over, and after deciding that nothing was wrong it turned its attention back to the field. What it discovered then was a smaller version of Kuri Dragon crouched at its feet.

The dragon was staring up at Diamond Soldier with huge cute watery eyes. Hardened warrior though he was Diamond Soldier couldn't help but smile at how adorable it was. As the soldier began to reach out to pet the dragon, Ryu understood what was about to happen. "Oh hell...Diamond Soldier, get out of there!"

Before the words got through the dragon's demeanor changed from cute to fearsome, and it snatched at the arm with its tongue. In one motion it tossed the soldier into the air and then grew in size, becoming big enough to catch the soldier in its mouth and swallow it hole. Taichi smirked at this development, obviously amused. "See? The power of cuteness." (RLP: 450)

"Power of cuteness huh? Well here's a newsflash for you. When Diamond Soldier dies in battle I can special summon a jeweled dragon from my hand or deck to the field. So I special summon Emerald Dragon(2400/1400)!" Appearing in the soldier's place was a large green dragon, bigger even than Kuri Dragon. It was easily the strongest monster on the field.

With nothing left to do it was Autumn's turn, and she had two cards to work with this time. "I set another card face down. Then I summon Pete, Repete(1000/1000) in defense mode. End!" Her monster consisted of two men in fancy hats, laughing and joking with each other, telling stupid jokes.

Ryu drew his own card, hoping to take advantage of his monster's superior power and go on the offensive for real. His next card told him that he could do so. "I summon Masked Dragon(1400/1100)!"

A long-necked dragon with a weird masked face stepped up beside the much larger Emerald Dragon, both ready to enter battle. "I'll attack your monster with Emerald Dragon and then go direct with Masked Dragon. Emerald Flare and Spark Burst!" A green wave of flame burned away Kuri Dragon, and the following barrage of sparks depleted some of Taichi's life points. (TLP: 13900)

"I'll set one card face down, and that's it. But next turn my monsters will be coming after you, so be prepared!" He grinned, realizing that even with the difference in life points they really did have a chance to beat Taichi. After all, a bunch of direct attacks would still do him in.

As soon as Taichi started his turn a Kuriboh jumped out of the nesting hole, giving him another token to use in whatever way he happened to want. "Time to create the ultimate defense. I play Multiply, sacrificing my lone Kuriboh Tokens to produce Kuriboh Tokens until I have no more monster zones available. But since they no longer take up monsters zones...I have an infinite defense!"

The Kuriboh began to multiply itself, becoming two, then four, then eight, and so on until there were untold thousands of them. Autumn grinned and pressed a button on her disk, causing one of her cards to flip up. "I activate Magic Jammer, and discard my one card to negate Multiply. That means you sacrificed your only monster for nothing."

The thousands of Kuriboh vanished as quickly as they had appeared, and Autumn slid her card into her cemetery. It had been well worth the loss of even that good card. Her opponent wasn't happy about that though. "Bitch...you'll pay for that. Activate Payment of Debt!"

Autumn grinned again and motioned to her monster. "Not so fast. I'm going to use Pete, Repete's effect and pay five hundred life points to use Magic Jammer's effect to negate your Payment of Debt!" Pete and Repete clapped their hands together, and the arcane symbol of Magic Jammer appeared between them, sending up a smoke that canceled out Taichi's card. (ALP: 50)

"No...you'll pay for that soon enough you little bitch! Just wait!" Unable to make any other moves with no cards in his hand he had to end his turn. Of course he got a new card, but that wouldn't help him now. Not without anything in play to protect himself.

Now that it was her turn the young duelist pressed another button on her disk, and an old man appeared in front of her, holding two bottles. "I activate my set card, Poison of the Old Man, to gain twelve hundred life points. Then I pay five hundred of those to use Pete, Repete's effect and activate it again to gain another twelve hundred." (ALP: 1950)

"I'll set a card face down. Now Pete, Repete will attack you directly!" The two men clapped their hands together, and a circle formed between them. They sent it flying at Taichi, who stopped it with a gust of wind, preventing himself from getting hurt. (TLP: 12900)

Ryu appreciated Autumn's head, but this was his turn, and he was going to do some real damage. Especially considering the cards he had in his hand. "I summon Sapphire Dragon(1900/1600)!"

A beautiful blue dragon flew down and settled itself between Emerald Dragon and Masked Dragon, glaring balefully at Taichi. "Now I activate Monster Reborn and call back Diamond Soldier(1800/1600)!"

With the diamond armored warrior once again on the field Ryu had an army of four monsters, each one with an open path to Taichi's life points. He was going to take advantage of that. "Time to show you our power. Emerald Flare! Spark Burst! Sapphire Flare! Diamond Blade!"

A barrage of attacks slammed into Taichi, dropping him to the ground. He grimaced, feeling the pain of the attacks. Smoke was curling up off his body, and his armored body suit looked a bit ragged. "I'm far from done, so don't think you've beaten me yet!" (TLP: 5400)

"I never claimed you were done. But you will be soon enough, and I can wait patiently for that." Now Ryu's turn was over, a turn he was satisfied. He had cut Taichi down to nearly his starting level, which was impressive considering how high his life points had been previously.

Taichi smirked and slipped a card onto his disk, then flipped around the last card in his hand. It was a man raising his hands to the darkening sky above, and a ray of light was shining down upon him. "Since it's the only card in my hand I can use this. Twilight Renewal to draw five cards!"

With a whole new set of options Taichi had everything he needed to work with. This was what Ryu had hoped wouldn't happen. So long as Taichi was top decking they had an overwhelming chance of success, but with this...things changed. "Hmmm...good for me...bad for you."

"Before I make any other move, how about I reveal the card I have face down? Warpath!" His card flipped, and a group of tanks materialized in front of Taichi. They rolled forwards, brushing past each of the monsters on the field and trampling over the magic and traps. In seconds they were gone.

"Warpath destroys all magic and trap cards placed on the field, but luckily that won't include my field card. In addition it will deal two hundred damage per destroyed card to the controller of those cards." The two duelists winced, particularly Ryu, as they took the hit to their life points. This left Ryu incredibly vulnerable to an attack. (ALP: 1750, RLP: 50)

"Now, Kuri Nesting Hole will produce another Kuriboh for me!" His token jumped onto the field, bouncing around and squeaking jubilantly. Taichi smiled and rubbed its fur affectionately.

"Don't worry little Kuriboh, soon these disgusting creatures you see before you will perish. But for now...I end my turn." Despite his simple words he took greater action, sliding all but one card from his hand onto his Duel Pod, giving him a huge advantage in the defensive position.

Autumn began her turn by picking up her monster and shoving it into the cemetery. "I sacrifice my Pete, Repete. That lets me summon E2 Blowback Dragon(2400/2100)!" Similar to the original version this was a Blowback Dragon with a barrel that looked like it was a plasma pistol, not a revolver.

"Just like its former self E2 Blowback Dragon lets me flip three coins. If I get two heads I can destroy one card on your field, but if I get three I can destroy two. So let's see what my luck is like." Three digital coins went sailing into the air, falling down one by one to reveal their results.

Taichi snickered as three tails were seen. "It appears that you don't have an ounce of luck after all. Doesn't bode well for you, does it?"

She grimaced and glanced at the other card in her hand. Unfortunately it was of no use to her, and now all she had to work with was her machine. 'This is bad. With all of those magic and trap cards he has it's too dangerous to just recklessly attack, especially with as few life points as we have. I'll just have to hope for better luck next turn.'

"Ryu, take over. There's nothing else I can do right now." He nodded and drew his next card, just as she drew hers. Right now they had to focus on getting rid of those traps. There was absolutely no room for mistakes in this duel.

"Autumn...I can't do as much as I would have liked. I will however build up an attack force. Sacrifice Masked Dragon and Diamond Soldier to summon Tri-Horned Dragon(2850/2650)!" The two monsters turned into energy, providing the power needed to bring the large blue dragon into the fray.

"I've got some serious firepower building up now, so once I get a chance to go after your life points I'll easily be able to finish you off. Just wait Taichi, I'm going to be the one to beat you in this duel!" He drew his card to end his turn, returning control of the duel to their opponent. It was wait and see, now was the see part.

"Oh wow...this is sure exciting. I get another Kuriboh, and then I'll summon a Kuriboh(300/200) in defense mode." Two identical furballs popped out of the hole, giving Taichi a total of three monsters. He then yawned and drew another card, finishing off his turn.

"Taichi, I've just drawn the card that can turn this duel around! I activate Polymerization!" Autumn picked up E2 Blowback Dragon from her disk and sent it to cemetery, then followed it up by flipping around another card in her hand. It was Barrel Dragon EX, and she sent it to the cemetery as well.

"By combining Barrel Dragon EX and E2 Blowback Dragon I can create Gatling Dragon EX(2900/2100)!" A giant monstrosity of a machine rolled out onto the field. Had they not been in a Darkness Game the thing's size would have caused it to smash through the ceiling above their hands.

The actual body of the machine was barely visible, covered up by protruding missile hatches and plasma barrels. Its primary weapons were three huge gatling guns attached to its arms and its nose, and a humming sound could be heard as it charged up. "Taichi, this is my strongest monster! Not just by attack, but by effect as well, and I'll show you why!"

"Just like all the past forms of this monster I can once per turn flip three coins. Let's find out what I get." Again the three giant coins appeared and were tossed into the air. Only this time they came spinning down and landed face-up, each one on heads. That was three heads, and Autumn cheered at seeing the result.

"Gatling Dragon EX destroys one card on the field for each heads result I get. If there are only three cards counting itself it and I got this result it would destroy itself. But since you've so kindly piled up cards on the field I can devastate them. Three heads means I can destroy three of your magic and trap cards!" The mechanized dragon lowered its gatling weapons, bringing them to bare on Taichi's set cards. With this assault she would be able to drop his number of cards to just one.

"Gatling Dragon EX, GATLING ANNIHILATION!" The monster let loose with every single one of the various weapons on its body. A barrage of missiles and plasma fire rained down on Taichi's field, covering it in a reddish-blue glow caused by her advanced weaponry.

Autumn's delight turned to shock as all the gathered energy was pulled into one pinpoint. One of Taichi's traps was face up, but because of the energy being absorbed into it she couldn't see what it was. "Some creatures, like that monstrosity of yours, simply don't deserve to exist. In cases like that it sometimes requires divine intervention to deal with the problem."

The energy around his trap vanished, showing her what it was. But she didn't recognize the card. "Your foolish use of your monsters effect becomes its very demise! Its effect triggered my trap card called Divine Wrath! It costs one card from my hand, but the results are worth it."

He snagged a card from his hand and shoved it into his cemetery slot. Then he pointed a finger up above them, where a whole was opening in the darkness. Gatling Dragon EX creaked its heads to look up as well, and was caught by a bolt of energy that shot down from the opening. "NO! My machine!"

Taichi sneered as the mechanical dragon exploded into thousands of pieces, becoming nothing but scrap metal. "Divine Wrath can be used whenever the opponent activates a monster effect, and it allows me to negate that effect and destroy your monster. So your best hope of victory just sent itself to hell!"

With no other moves left available to her Autumn couldn't continue. She stared at the cemetery part of her disk and grimaced, giving a silent apology to her monsters for failing them. 'We'll get Taichi, I promise that. He won't get away with this.'

Now that it was his turn Ryu felt responsible for continuing his promise of creating a force capable of ripping through Taichi. The best part was, he had exactly what he needed to accomplish his task. "Isn't today just a day for fusions? I'll also activate Polymerization!"

Two distinct monsters appeared on the outside of the energy vortex. A massive white dragon with dark blue eyes, and a white armored knight on top of a slim bluish dragon. "I combine together Blue Eyes White Dragon(3000/2500) and Paladin of White Dragon(1900/1200) to create the strongest monster my deck can produce!"

The monsters joined in the vortex, and emerged with very little difference. All that had changed was that the paladin was no longer sitting on the back of the small dragon, but rather on the back of the mighty Blue Eyes. "This is Paladin of Blue Eyes White Dragon(3500/3000)!"

"My Paladin shares something in common with the effect of his former self. He can instantly destroy face down monsters without them flipping. But unlike his former self he has a new ability. Any monster he destroys is removed from the game!" As emphasis the Blue Eyes roared, and sent a blaze of white energy into the darkness above them.

"Considering that with three set cards remaining I'd have to be stupid to attack right now, I guess I'm done. But I'll be coming for you as soon as we get rid of those trap cards." With his strongest monster on the field Ryu was certain that they could defeat Taichi. They could do this, they could win!

"Blah blah blah. That's all I'm hearing from you two idiots! Now I set card face down and end my own turn." He now had four Kuribohs with the new one produced by his nest, and once again he had four cards set. He seemed utterly confident, but there was something strange about his confidence.

Autumn gulped as she realized exactly what was going on. 'This isn't good. He's waiting for something very specific and I think it has to do with those Kuriboh tokens of his. But why is he so hell bent on protecting them? Is he hoping to create King Kuriboh again, or is it something else?'

"I summon Royal Library(0/2000) in defense mode. Then I'll place two cards down behind it for protection." A massive library formed itself around her, giving her a decent defense. With that and her two set cards she would be safe for the moment. But there was no telling what Taichi would unleash, so they had to be careful.

Ryu grinned and slipped a card onto his disk immediately. "I activate my rarest magic card, Diabolic Servitude! This will let me revive one monster and equip this card to it, so here comes the Blue Eyes White Dragon once again!"

The huge white dragon took its place, giving him five dragons of great strength. Even his weakest dragon, Sapphire Dragon, had more attack strength than most basic monsters. "The only downside to Diabolic Servitude is that if the monster revived dies then it is removed from the game, but then it returns to my hand. Of course if it is destroyed then the monster is removed as well."

The dragonic-warrior duelist knew what his next best move would be. It wouldn't give him a monster as an attack force, but he did know what else it could do. 'Sorry Blue Eyes for this, but your sacrifice won't be in vain. It'll help Autumn and I to win this duel.'

"I set one card face down. End!" He slipped his card onto his disk, right behind the Blue Eyes White Dragon. His plan for it would start as soon as Taichi drew his next card.

The moment their opponent had taken a card off his deck Ryu was going into action. "I've been in danger for way to long, and this card will pull me out of the red zone and let me take a bit more risk in my next turn. Altar for Tribute!"

A white altar formed beneath the Blue Eyes White Dragon, and glowing light began to surround it. "Altar for Tribute lets me sacrifice one monster on my field. I can then gain that monster's attack points as life points. So by sacrificing the Blue Eyes White Dragon I get back almost all of my life points!"

His dragon vanished without a trace, bouncing Diabolic Servitude back to his hand. Of course the life points didn't go missed, as they gave him a renewed lease on this duel. It was exactly what he needed, even if it removed his Blue Eyes from play. "Now I'm back in the game." (RLP: 3050)

Taichi, the Knight of Air, wasn't even paying attention. He was looking at one card in his hand with a very focused look. Ryu and Autumn now saw that something was stirring in his eyes, something darker than normal. "Are you going to take your turn or not Taichi?"

He brought his eyes up to meet theirs, and they clearly saw the deranged look there. A ferocious grin broke out on his face, making him look absolutely feral. "My Kuri Nesting Hole is going to give me the last piece I need to finish you all off once and for all! I'm going to kill each of you in just a few turns!"

Autumn knew that she had been right about the Kuriboh tokens when a fifth joined the other four. Now was the time when they would find out what he had planned for them. "This card, this deadly card that I hold...it requires that I tribute five monsters on the field with 'Kuri' in their name. I'll do so!"

His Kuribohs shattered into dust, leaving his field empty except for the set cards. But he didn't seem to care on bit. "Time to get psycho! I summon Psychotic Devil Kuriboh(2500/2500)!"

A dark form burst out of the nesting hole, and dropped heavily down on the ground. The form had obviously been a Kuriboh at one point, but it was now thirty feet tall and had spines growing out of its back. Animalistic teeth like the dark Kuribablyon's were visible, and blood dripped from them. Its fur was jet black, marred only by patches of dried blood.

"Since I don't want its attack blocked, I'll have it attack Sapphire Dragon! And don't even try to block it, because it can't be touched by magic and trap cards!" The massive monstrosity of a Kuriboh roared out its sickening call, slashing the blue dragon apart with its teeth. It consumed the creature in massive gulps, doing extra damage because of the attack boost from the nesting hole. (RLP: 2250)

"Whenever one of my opponent's monsters is destroyed I can increase my monsters attack and defense points by five hundred. With all of its abilities my Psychotic Devil Kuriboh(3200/3200) is too much for you to handle!" He laughed hysterically, that deranged look bright in his eyes. It was like he was having a mental breakdown or something.

"Shit...the only one here psychotic is you!" Ryu's words went unheard, because Taichi was too busy laughing at them. Ryu had seen people act this way before, people who had seen too much violence, too much blood. They broken down and went crazy, or curled up into a ball and never moved again. This was psychosis.

"Autumn, we've got to take him down while he's out of it. Let's finish him!" She accepted this and drew her card, knowing that she had to do what she could to help out. She had to clear a path for Ryu to destroy that monster the only way they could. In battle.

"Reverse card open! Dust Tornado!" A whirlwind of dust and dirt shot out of her trap card, speeding towards Taichi. It collided with one of his four face down cards, reducing the number to three. He still didn't seem to notice, all he seemed to care about was laughing and his deadly monster.

"I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight(1800/1600) in defense mode! End turn for now." The iron knight appeared inside the library, crouching with his bladed arm held in front of him. Anything that attacked him would get the business end of his weapon in return.

Ryu grimaced, knowing that this was his one and only chance. "Waiting in this situation is stupid! Paladin of Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack his Kuriboh and blow it away! Prominence Burst Stream!" The knight slashed with his sword, sending a blue beam of energy out to spiral around with the Blue Eyes' normal attack.

Suddenly Taichi's eyes snapped forwards, and his laughter ceased. He smirked and depressed a button on his disk, causing one of his face down cards to flip up. "Losers! Just like you fell into the trap that was this building you fell into the trap of thinking me completely out of it!"

The two duelists gulped, realizing that they had been had. Now was Taichi's time to pay them back for that foolhardy attitude. "Angry Kuriboh Swarm will tear apart your monster and deduct life points from you, one hundred for each level!"

A stream of endless Kuriboh exploded from the Kuri Nesting Hole. It descended upon the Paladin and ripped him apart, tearing the Blue Eyes to pieces as well. Blood chunks fell to the ground as all that was left of Ryu's strongest monster. "That is the price for arousing the rage of the Kuri Clan!" (RLP: 1250)

"That's not all! Since one of your monsters was destroyed Psychotic Devil Kuriboh gains more points, reaching thirty-seven hundred!" The behemoth roared, increasing in size as its power was boosted. It was not out of reach of even the strongest of Ryu's monsters.

"Fine! I activate Diabolic Servitude to revive Paladin of Blue Eyes White Dragon in defense mode. I switch all of my other monsters to defense mode as well. Then I add a monster in defense mode." All of his other dragons shifted into defense, and a reversed card appeared next to them. It was his Masked Dragon, and its ability would give him at least a little bit more defense for a while.

"I set a card face down. Take your turn Taichi, but don't take forever." He felt a tightness enter his shoulders, and realized that he was getting nervous again. The duel wasn't going their way anymore, and this new monster of his still might have unknown abilities.

"I can feel your fear. You're afraid of my deadly creature. Well you should be, because he will be the cause of your demise! Allow me to tell you another reason why he's going to finish you. Because he has the ability to deal damage through defense!" Ryu knew it had more abilities, and now its massive strength was enhanced by a trample effect.

"I continue by summoning my Rabid Kuriboh(300/200) who gets the bonus, raising him to five hundred attack points!" His newest monster was just like a regular Kuriboh, only patches of its fur were missing and it was drooling and twitching wildly.

"Time to finish this. Attack Gearfried the Iron Knight!" The behemoth roared and charged forwards at the knight. Gearfried readied his weapon, despite knowing that he stood no chance against such a powerful monster. Very few creatures did.

"No way Taichi! I activate Attack Directing Armor, and attach it to my own Paladin of Blue Eyes White Dragon! It may die, but it the attack certainly won't finish me off!" The Kuriboh's attention was turned towards the dragon, and it set upon it, ripping the dragon's belly open with its teeth. By killing the dragon it got another power boost, rising to forty-two hundred. (RLP: 1550)

"How foolish. Rabid Kuriboh, use your effect and attack Autumn directly!" The little demon darted right past her monsters and bit down on her leg, making her scream in pain as its sharp little teeth damaged the flesh. Unable to support herself without the damaged leg she fell to one knee. (ALP: 1250)

"I'll reverse one card and end my turn! As I said, you two only have a few more turns left to survive!" It truly seemed like he was right, with his monster having so much power and his other monster being able to attack directly. There was no way to know how they might win this.

Autumn picked up her next card and then slowly slid it onto her disk. Unfortunately she knew quite well that it wasn't going to help her. 'Morale Boost, not exactly what I needed. Another bluff won't stop him, not with that effect of his monster. I can't defend myself in this next turn...'

Not knowing anything else to do she passed the turn to Ryu, who was equally as nervous as she was. He looked his hand of two cards over and saw that with four monsters on the field he had but one option there. "I use Diabolic Servitude to revive Diamond Solider in defense mode, and then I'll set a card face down."

With his turn over, it was once again back to Taichi who had every single advantage. There was nothing, so it seemed, that they could do to prevent being defeated. Everything was coming down to these final turns.

The moment his turn started Ryu had his trigger ready. "I play Scaring Roar! This card prevents you from being able to declare an attack this turn. That means we're safe for the moment."

Taichi raised an eyebrow, and then glanced at one of his five cards. Not only that but he had multiple face down cards that he could still use. Three of those and five cards in hand. Oh how easy this would be. "H about I make a Kuriboh token?"

A new Kuriboh appeared, boosted by his field card. Of course it wasn't his intent to truly use that card, not in the way they thought. "I begin by activating Supreme Genocide Bomb! At a cost of fifteen hundred life points I can destroy both of your hands and field. Of course I have no battle phase this turn when playing this card, but thanks to Scaring Roar that doesn't matter."

Ryu and Autumn cried out as a massive explosion blew them backwards, clearing their field of monsters. Taichi smirked as energy poured off their fields into his mighty Psychotic Devil Kuriboh, increasing its size once again. "Since seven of your monsters total were destroyed my monster gains thirty-five attack and defense points, setting him at seventy-seven hundred for each!"

"Now, another effect of my Psychotic Devil Kuriboh activates. If I don't attack with him I automatically deal five hundred damage to the opponent. So each of you now takes that damage!" His opponents gulped as their life points trickled down just a little bit more, giving them even less breathing room. (ALP: 750, RLP: 1050)

"Now, let's get interesting shall we? I activate two cards from my hand, and one from my field. Kuri Time Bomb times three! This lets me sacrifice a Kuriboh with 1000 or less attack to deal its attack in damage to you. Meaning my three measly Kuribohs, the two tokens and Rabid Kuriboh, will now take a total of fifteen hundred life points from you!" He smirked and watched as his monsters raced towards the two other duelists.

Two of the creatures attached themselves to Ryu while one attached itself to Autumn. They started to glow, and seconds later they exploded, burning the two of them. "A pity that my Kuribohs didn't decide to all attach to Ryu, or two attach to Autumn. Then both of you would be gone, but I prefer to give them free reign when sacrificing their lives." (ALP: 250, RLP: 50)

"Now it's time to see if you fools can top deck yourselves to victory. Show me that power of yours why don't you?" He folded his arms, absolutely certain of his victory. After all, no single card they could draw would save them now. He just had too much power for them to handle...his Kuribohs had too much power for them.

Autumn picked up her top card, and then placed it into her disk. "That's my move. Ryu, go ahead and take you turn." Taichi snickered at seeing her only able to place a single card. Since no trap or magic card could stop Psychotic Devil Kuriboh it was safe to say that he had already won.

Ryu drew his next card and blanched at the sight of it. 'Serpent Night Dragon? Damn...anything but this would have been nice!' He gulped and slid another card off his deck to end his turn, and saw only another high level monster. Nothing to help out.

Seeing his victory at hand Taichi didn't even bother to draw a card, or to produce a Kuriboh token. He just snapped his fingers, and two dark fireballs appeared in the jaws of Psychotic Devil Kuriboh. "I think I'll sacrifice my monsters attack this turn to deal five hundred damage to each of you. I've won!"

The fireballs erupted from its mouth, going careening towards the two duelists. With as few life points as they had the damage would eliminate them both, but Autumn had other things in mind. "I activate Hallowed Life Barrier! By discard the one card in my hand I can negate your damage!"

Taichi sneered and gestured to the card she held, and responded in smug tones. "I see how it is now. Hallowed Life Barrier can only negate on instance of damage, so you're using it to save yourself. Just as I thought, like the rest of mankind you cannot unite! That is why you shall fall!"

Autumn turned away from Taichi and faced Ryu, a bright smile on her face. "Ryu...I'm not a true duelist. I've never had any great talent, I've just had powerful combos. But you...you have the true heart of a duelist, you're the won with the strength to defeat Taichi. That's why...I leave this to you."

Ryu understood what she was doing too late to stop it. The fireball heading towards him dissipated, and the second black flame collided with her stomach, picking her up and sending her flying backwards. "AUTUMN!" (ALP: 0)

"Stop being so melodramatic. If you really think you can defeat me then go ahead and take your turn. Beating me is the only way to save her, and you've got one draw to do it. If you fail, like you normally do, you'll lose her and yourself forever. If you succeed, which is unlikely, you'll be the hero. So go ahead hero, draw your card."

Ryu felt his body quaking, with anger, sadness, and fear. Anger at Taichi for doing this to them, sadness that Autumn had been taken from him like this, and fear at being unable to succeed. 'Autumn...Hinata...of everyone I've ever known I care about the two of you more than anyone else. So please, now of all times I need you. HELP ME!'

Feeling an echo within himself he stood and turned back to face Taichi. Full of confidence he snapped a card off the top of his deck and held it out in front of him. He held it face down, not yet having looked at it. 'This is it...I felt it this time. The heart of a true duelist...this is the true power that guys like Dalin and Drake have used to win their duels! It's my power now as well!'

He turned the card up and stared at it. His heart stopped and without realizing it he let go, dropping his three cards to the ground. They fluttered and went face-up, showing exactly what he had. His previous cards were sacrifice monsters, and the card he had drawn was a magic card.

"Brave Attack...of all things...why that? I'm sorry Autumn, I'm sorry Hinata...I failed...again." He didn't even bother to draw a card for the end of his turn, because it was already over. There was no way for him to win at this point, no way to succeed. He had failed.

Taichi smirked as he slammed down his next card, granting his monster greater power. "I knew you were a failure Ryu Shigeru! You are a nothing to me! A weak piece of human scum! But I'll grant you just a little bit of honor by obliterating you with full strength. I play Blaze of Glory, tripling my monster's attack power for the turn!"

Ryu was too numb to the world to look up as the enormous Psychotic Devil Kuriboh(23100/23100) loomed over him. 'I failed...oh god I'm so sorry...I failed. I just wasn't strong enough to beat him...'

"Farewell weakling. Psychotic Devil Kuriboh, BLACK FLAME OF HELL!" A whirlwind of black fire slammed down on top of Ryu, stripping away the last of his life points. With his fall came the end of the Darkness Game, and two orbs of light now shimmered in front of Taichi. (RLP: 0, TLP: 3900)

Taichi stared out into the distance and extended his hands, holding out the spheres of light in supplication. "Great Lord Eikyuu, these souls, the souls of two of The Fallen, are yours." The spheres vanished, taken instantly by his lord and master, his god.

Summoning up his magic he conjured a brown cloak and flung it around himself. Then he swiftly departed the room, leaving two soulless bodies behind him. "All too easy."

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Author's Notes: And there you have it. Taichi wins and Ryu and Autumn's souls are lost. To be honest this entire section of the duel I made up as I went along with no idea(not even a basic thought) of what I wanted to do. In the end it came down to a coin flip that made Ryu lose the duel like that.

WolfGeneral: Things are never easy for the good guys. It wouldn't be fun if that were the case.

VoidTemplar: Well, you got your wish. The mighty Kuriboh triumphed.

The White Mage: The real Taichi's favorite monster is Kuriboh, hence the Kuribohs. The dark spirit was using that Dark Trap Deck because it has a tendency to change up decks, so it never sticks with the same thing. Plus it's more fun that way.

Hogwarts-Knight: Wretch? You really hate Kuriboh huh? Well sorry, because they aren't done yet. After all, they are the deck of a villain.

G.O.T. Nick: Wow...you precognitive or something? Even I didn't know Taichi was going to win.

Original Cards

Ryu: Diamond Soldier, Paladin of Blue Eyes White Dragon, Diabolic Servitude

Taichi: Kuri Nesting Hole, Kuri Dragon, Payment of Debt, Twilight Renewal, Warpath, Psychotic Devil Kuriboh, Rabid Kuriboh, Angry Kuriboh Swarm, Supreme Genocide Bomb, Kuri Time Bomb, Blaze of Glory(Vaurnut's)

Autumn: Pete Repete, E2 Blowback Dragon, Barrel Dragon EX, Gatling Dragon EX

Anime Original Cards

Taichi: Hane Kuriboh

Ryu: Brave Attack