Author's Notes: Sorry about this, but suspense is hilarious, so I'm going to keep you guys waiting on the Dalin/Nick duel.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Gilford vs. Kuriboh
The elevator stopped abruptly, causing Kai and Kirani to lose their balance. The lights in the elevator flickered and went dead. "No! Those tremors must be causing this power outage...and now we're trapped!"
Kirani nodded in agreement, but she felt something familiar. A creeping sensation of terror gliding its way up legs to settle in the pit of her stomach. "Something is wrong...this isn't just because of the tremors."
Kai didn't know how to respond to that so he busied himself with trying to pry open the door. "There's no point in wasting time. Isis, Rishid, and Dalin are probably in danger as we speak. No need to worry about ourselves."
Kirani nodded and stepped up next to him, throwing her efforts in with his to push the door open. Together they would be able to open it, and then they would find out whether they were at a door or not. "Right, no need to worry about ourselves."
But she knew in her heart that there was every reason to worry about themselves. Something was going to happen.
"HEAVE!" Kai threw his full weight against the small opening in the elevator door. Kirani pushed her weight against it as well, and it slowly creaked open. The two duelists fell to their knees, taking a moment to catch their breath.
"Good to see you two again. Been a while, hasn't it?" Their heads snapped up and they found themselves looking into endless darkness. Instead of exiting onto another floor, their elevator had made a special stop.
"Welcome to the last Darkness Game you will ever play! Kirani Kajika, step forward and witness your greatest nightmares come to life!" The voice of Taichi Nobuki, Knight of Air, echoed throughout the darkness. Laughter followed it, and the two duelists had only one option.
Kirani stepped past Kai and out into the darkness. Kai followed her, but stopped when the ground around them began to shake. They gasped as a giant Dueling Platform rose up from the ground. "This will be our field, the Field of Nightmares!"
On the other side of the platform they dueling stand raised and locked into position, revealing Taichi wearing his scarlet armor. With a look of great resolve Kirani stepped onto the stand and it moved into a position opposite Taichi. "I'm not afraid anymore Taichi, because I learned that the only way to defeat a nightmare is to smother it in dreams!"
Taichi smirked and slapped his dueling deck down onto the little place set for it. Kirani remembered the platforms, but hadn't used one since before Battle City. It was unusual to see one again, even if it was slightly different. "What a fantastic way of saying that you'll just pretend the nightmares aren't real. Unfortunately for you, they are real."
She ignored his comment and placed her deck in the appointed spot, familiarizing herself with the layout of the Dueling Platform. There were the normal zones set out, along with a zone for a fusion deck, and for the cemetery. Above those at an angle was a set-up of zones that indicated the cards that the opponent had in play. "Are we going to duel or what?"
Her opponent sighed dramatically and leaned his head on his palm. "No need to be rude. Just sit back and allow me to explain the rules of this particular Darkness Game. Neither of us shall be using a Heart Card, nor shall I use the Seal of Orichalcos. We play under normal rules other than that, except we start with eight thousand life points."
Kirani narrowed her eyes and slipped five cards off her deck. "There's something you aren't telling me. No Darkness Game is ever that simple." She fanned her cards out, not looking at them yet. First she wanted to know exactly what it was she was being forced into. (KLP: 8000)
"Well, because of the two special rules of this game I like to call it a Dark Heart Game. First of all, whenever your life points drop a total of one thousand points your own emotions will be corrupted. There's no telling what that will cause, but it will mean you need to protect your life points even more." He smirked and drew his own opening hand, also not looking at them yet. (TLP: 8000)
"And the second rule?" He sighed at her question and decided to save the theatrics for later.
"You ruin my fun you know that? Well, the second rule applies whenever one of your monsters is destroyed. When that happens you will lose a bit of feeling in part of your body. So if you lose too many your entire body will become numb and useless. But there's something better than all of that combined. I'm not affected by any of these rules."
Kai and Kirani's looks of outrage sent Taichi off into a pearl of laughter. "The power of the Great Lord Eikyuu protects me from these negative effects, so I will remain untouched throughout the entire duel. Only you need worry about these deadly rules. So, ready to begin?" He snickered and drew a sixth card, indicating that he would be going first.
"Ah, this will work nicely. I summon Kuriboh Politician(300/2400) in defense mode!" The familiar brown furred spherical creature appeared in front of him, only this one was wearing a suit and tie. It also had a big bushy white mustache beneath its eyes, and a banner in one hand that read 'Vote for Kuriboh'.
"Politicians are just about the most wicked creatures ever to walk the earth, a prime example of the scum of humanity. They always do whatever they can to get around the rules, and so my politician offers me several effects. First of all I get to draw an extra card each draw phase. You can do the same, but the cost is your battle phase." At hearing itself being talked about the little Kuriboh drew itself up and harumphed.
"What other effects does it have?" Taichi waved a finger back and forth, his eyes closed and a smile on his face.
"No need to get greedy. You'll learn about that soon enough. Now I'll set a card face down and end my turn. All you girly." A zone behind the politician glowed blue and remained that way, indicating that a card had been placed there.
Kirani drew her sixth card and then took the time to actually look over her hand. 'This is a pretty good start. I may not be able to get past his politician yet, but I can start setting up an attack force.'
"I'll begin by activating this field magic card, Heart of the Storm. It increases the attack power of all monsters with 'lightning', 'thunder', or 'Gilford' in their name by four hundred. There's another effect, but just like you I'll save that for later." Lightning crackled above, and a storm cloud rolled in.
"I summon Child of the Storm-Gilford(1200/800) in attack mode!" A small warrior with a childish appearance descended from the storm cloud, a miniature sword in one hand. It looked like a chibi form of Gilford the Lightning.
"You aren't the only one with cute monsters. Heart of the Storm now boosts my Child of the Storm to a total of sixteen hundred attack points!" A bolt of lightning shot down from the cloud, striking the warrior. Energy crackled around it as its stats raised.
"Next I activate the effect of this monster from my hand, Gilford the Swift(1400/500)!" Another monster descended from the cloud above, this one wearing light chain mail armor. Gilford the Swift had a small rapier in its right hand and a dagger in the other.
"Once per turn I can special summon a monster named Gilford the Swift from my hand to the field. If I do so I can't special summon another one of the same. He too gains the power bonus." Lightning surged through Swift's body, increasing it to a quite respectable eighteen hundred attack.
Taichi yawned and his politician snorted in amusement. "So what? Neither of your monsters has the strength to defeat my Kuriboh Politician. Anything else you'd like to do this turn?"
Kirani shook her head, and leaned against the platform, waiting for Taichi to begin his turn. 'Come on...take the bait!'
The knight drew two cards from his monsters effect, returning his hand size to six. "I like what I see. Yet just like you I can't get past the monsters on the field. Which means I'll just be summoning a single monster this turn."
He selected a card from his hand and slapped it down. The zone next to the politician started to glow, and a monster took shape beside it. The newest creature was a Kuriboh with huge coke bottle glasses on its face, magnifying its already huge eyes. Kirani sweat dropped at the sight of the silly looking monster.
"This is Genius Kuriboh(0/0). Although the Kuriboh Politician is more devious, the Genius Kuriboh is by far the most intelligent of the clan. Genius Kuriboh, demonstrate your smarts. What's the difference in number between our two hand sizes?" The kuriboh looked at both of them, and then hopped over to Kirani.
It jumped straight onto the stand in front of her, looking at her hand to see how big it was. Once it was satisfied it turned back to Taichi and began to make noises. "Kuri Kuri!" A giant number two appeared in the center of the field, indicating that its answer was two.
"You see! My Kuriboh is so intelligent it was able to do basic mathematics! Five minus three is indeed two, and now Genius Kuriboh's effect forces you to discard cards from your deck equal to that number. Such a smart little fellow." The nerdy little puffball preened itself in satisfaction and then returned to Tachi.
"Your little pom pom geek may be able to do basic math, but apparently you can't. You summoned Genius Kuriboh in attack mode and it doesn't stand a chance against my monsters!" She acted confident even as she slid two cards into her cemetery pile, noting what they were. She knew there had to be a reason why he would place the weakling in attack mode.
"No need to get insulting girly. If you're so confident about your calculations, why don't you give them a try? Attack my Genius Kuriboh if you dare, because it's your turn." He finished his turn, and it was then that Kirani realized what he was up to by playing so few cards.
Kai realized it at the same time and grimaced, crossing his fingers in hope for Kirani. 'With Kuriboh Politician allowing him to draw two cards each turn he can quickly increase his hand size over Kirani's, which means his Genius Kuriboh will be able to make her discard more cards from her deck.'
"You think you can destroy my deck with your little monster combo? Think again, because I'll use the effect of Kuriboh Politician and draw an extra card at the cost of my battle phase!" She slid two cards off her deck for the start of her turn, making her hand even with Taichi's.
"You really think you're that smart? Well my Genius Kuriboh is smarter, now he'll show you his addition skills! Since you drew extra cards I can get to do the same, putting my hand at six cards!" He picked up another card, giving him even more to work with. Kirani's plan had just back fired.
'No...this is bad. If I play any cards from my hand this turn he'll just be able to destroy more cards in my deck. I have to play it safe.' She took up a single card from her hand and slid it onto the field.
"End turn." Taichi nodded and drew one card. Then he started to draw another, but looked over at his Genius Kuriboh first. The kuriboh stared at him expectantly.
"Since I'm using an effect I can have Genius Kuriboh do multiplication. He'll roll a die, and then he'll multiply the number rolled against the number of the effect. Since I'm going for a draw, whatever he rolls will be the number I draw!" Genius Kuriboh spat a die from its mouth, which bounced across the field.
Kirani's eyes went wide as the number came up as a six. Taichi smirked and drew six new cards. "Thanks to the power of my Genius Kuriboh I get to draw six cards. That just means I have a total of thirteen cards in my hand. Impressive yes?"
When she didn't respond, Taichi was forced to simply continue his turn. "Now I think I'm going to activate the subtraction effect of my Genius Kuriboh. Do your little math trick again my monster." The fuzzball bounced to Kirani and then began squeaking. She counted nine squeaks and realized that was how it showed its counting.
"According to my monster's calculations our hand size differs by nine cards. Therefore you must discard nine cards off the top of your deck." Kirani did as she was told, dumping a big group of cards into her grave. Even worse, several of them would have been useful at the moment.
"You may have a big full hand, but you'll have to discard most of those at the end of the turn unless you play them. Either way your hand size will reduce. You also are forced to go through cards from your deck, so you're in danger of decking out as well!"
"Politicians are good at getting around laws remember? My Kuriboh Politician will keep me from having a fixed hand size. I will however play one card from my hand. Kuriboh Meteor!" The darkness above them split as a fireball began to streak towards Kirani's side of the field.
Looking closely Kirani realized that it wasn't a regular meteor that was shooting at her, but rather a Kuriboh moving at supersonic speeds. Either way, the impact was going to be devastating. "Kuriboh Meteor lets me inflict five hundred points of damage to you for every Kuriboh monster I have on the field. So do the math instead of making my Genius Kuriboh do it!"
The burning piece of living lint exploded right above her, heating her up and slamming her into the railing that was at the back of the platform. She groaned and dropped to her knees, one hand going to her back. "Damn..." (KLP: 7000)
"I'm sure you know what that means girly. Since you lost one thousand life points one of your emotions is about to become corrupted!" Kai and Taichi waited, one hesitantly and the other excitedly. They were both waiting for the change to overcome Kirani.
It came rather quickly. Instead of simply grimacing and shaking off the pain like she normally would, Kirani wrapped her arms around her legs and hugged them to her chest. Then she burst into tears. "THAT WAS MEAN!"
Taichi threw back his head and laughed uproariously, while Kai just sweat dropped. That hadn't been what he had been expecting. Taichi on the other hand seemed quite happy with it. "Perfect! Kirani is no longer the tough girl she used to be, now she's a crybaby!"
"With Kirani overcome by her emotions this duel will be easy sailing. No crybaby can be a duelist, so I've already won! I might not even get a chance to destroy her deck with my monster combo!" Kai clenched his fists tight at the sound of Taichi's laughter, barely heard over Kirani's sobs.
'Can she win if she's too upset to duel? There has to be a way to snap her out of it!'
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The top of the elevator shaft should have been dark and empty. But something was giving it light, and that something was giving off a little green light, illuminating a small section of the shaft. The light moved around in odd patterns, like a little bug flying on air currents.
Slowly the green light descended the elevator shaft, and reached the elevator. It slipped through a little crack in the air vent on top of the elevator and moved into the elevator itself. It hesitated for a moment, seeming unsure as it neared the darkness.
The light moved forwards, disappearing into the darkness. Seconds later it came back out from exactly the same spot. It had been unsuccessful in its attempt to enter the Darkness Game. Obviously unsatisfied it darted in again, yet was rejected just like before.
Showing a strange degree of intelligence the little light moved through the crack between the elevator and the wall below, and once again descended the elevator shaft. After a minute of this descent it reached the ground floor and pushed through the tiny divide between the doors of the elevator entrance.
It flitted about the large open room for several moments, then settled in one spot as two men, one bigger than the other, battled. After several moments of this the smaller man got the big man against the wall, and dragged a blade about his body.
Suddenly the big man's eyes came to rest on the glowing green light, and he unleashed his strength, freeing himself and striking down the other man. The two began to speak to one another, and in moments the devices on their arms activated.
The light lingered for several moments as a duel began, then it went on the move again. What it was searching for couldn't easily be pointed out, but it was obvious that it was searching for something.
It hadn't gone far when it vanished, leaving no trace that it had ever been there.
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Eikyuu opened his gloved hand and the hollow eyes of his mask settled on the glowing green light that fluttered around above the palm of his hand. "Very intriguing. Something I had not expected."
Eikyuu's attention was drawn away from the light when a large group of soldiers entered the room, dragging with them a human male. The male had apparently been struggling quite effectively, as many of the soldiers seemed to be nursing wounds.
As a god Eikyuu had never taken time to pay attention to the details of human features. Such things were simply beneath his notice. However, he did notice something unusual about this male. His hair was a white color, and he didn't appear to be old. He was certain this was not a normal feature. "What is this you bring before me?"
The white haired male smashed his head into the nose of the man behind him, and then a golden light exploded around him, knocking the guards away. Fierce eyes stared up at Eikyuu from beneath that mass of white hair. "They brought me exactly where I wanted to go! Now die!"
The male raised his arm and fired a beam of golden light at Eikyuu. The beam blinked out of existence before it reached the god, and the look of shock was enough to tell Eikyuu that this mortal hadn't been aware of exactly what he was dealing with. "You are one of the Fallen."
This brought a sneer to the male's features, and he spat a mixture of blood and saliva on the ground in front of Eikyuu's feet. The god didn't even notice. "I am Bakura, King of Thieves! And you are the bastard creature Eikyuu!"
"King of Thieves? You are not the King of Thieves I remember, and you do not appear to be very impressive. Priests, sacrifice this one for the spell." The five black robed men began to advance on Bakura, but the thief lashed out with his magic and sent the men sprawling backwards.
"I won't be a sacrifice for you!" Bakura ripped a sub-machine gun from the hands of one of the nearby guards and leveled it at Eikyuu. He squeezed the trigger and a spray of bullets ripped through the air.
Eikyuu's eyes went straight past the bullets and met Bakura's. The thief gasped as he felt the raw power behind those eyes, and felt his resolve begin to weaken. He barely had the resolve left to notice the bullets vanish without a trace.
"You will be a willing sacrifice. Is that not correct?" Bakura's white haired head slowly nodded, barely of his own free will. His energy was gone, and his body went limp, waiting for someone to tell him what to do.
The five priests dragged the thief king away and out of sight. He was placed in the center of a circle with archaic designs in a language that very few knew. Then he became their sacrifice as their knives descended up him. Eikyuu failed to notice the screams.
While Eikyuu's attention had wandered from it, the light had escaped his grip and flew towards the ceiling. There it moved through a ventilation shaft and out onto the roof. It paused for a moment as if getting its bearings, and then it started flying again.
Anyone who knew New York well enough might have been able to say that one of the things that lay in the direction of the little light's flight path was the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.
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"Tell me, why did you select that as your deck type? Pegasus created it only recently, and the set has just begun to expand. I'm surprised you were even able to construct a deck around those creatures." D'harim's voice was cold and cruel even now, but his companion didn't seem bothered by it.
"I suppose I picked it because I always wished that creatures like these were real." D'harim responded with the barest nod, then glanced to the side as the entire wall rippled like it was phasing in and out of existence.
"Nobuki is allowing the Darkness to grow. It will expand and consume this entire building if his duel does not finish soon. There is less than an hour before this occurs, so I suggest being prepared to leave at a moment's notice." He stood and inspected the wall, brushing a hand along the outside of it.
"The question is...why is he allowing it to expand?"
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"Who's a crybaby?" Taichi's laughter stopped as Kirani grabbed onto the railing and pulled herself back to her feet. Her eyes were somewhat puffy and red, but she had a look of confidence back on her face.
"I see one alteration isn't enough to keep down that strong will of yours. I'll just have to try harder, so begin your turn!" Kai heaved a sigh of relief at seeing that Kirani could continue the duel. The faster they beat Taichi the better.
"I may have started crying, but that's just because of your lame tricks. Now the one about to start crying is you as I take down your discard combo. Draw!" She drew her card, not yet looking at it. Then she motioned to her field, her hand aimed in the direction of her Child of the Storm.
"The time has come for you to get reacquainted with the master of this deck. Child of the Storm has been on the field in attack mode, maturing every turn. Since he has matured enough I can sacrifice him to special summon this creature from my deck!" A bolt of lightning zapped from the cloud above, and it surged through Child of the Storm, hiding him from sight.
"Arise! Gilford the Lightning(2800/1400)!" The light faded from the child, revealing a nearly eight foot tall muscular warrior. He had a long sword slung over his back and a stern expression set on the Kuribohs.
"I may not have sacrificed three monsters for him, but since I used Child of the Storm's effect...I do get to activate his ability. So unsheathe your blade Gilford, and show Taichi the strength of your Raigeki Blade!" The mighty warrior nodded and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, slowly drawing it out.
"HAAAA!" Gilford swung his blade in a wide arc, and lightning rained from the sky, battering down on Taichi's Kuribohs. Taichi sneered and reached for his face down card.
"You should remember this from our last duel. Kuriboh Swarm Defense! Since I have two Kuribohs on the field I can negate two chances at destroying my puffy little monsters. That's one down." He smirked as the lightning was intercepted by a giant swarm of the little hairballs, blasting away dozens but leaving some still remaining.
"Two chances at defense? I guess I'll just have to use three this turn then! I summon Gilford of Thunder(1800/400), letting me draw one card from the top of my deck and one from the bottom." She drew the appropriate cards, and the smaller Gilford joined his mighty sibling on the field.
Kirani spread her hand out before her and snickered, looking over the top of the cards at her opponent. "So many options. What way do I choose to destroy your beasts?" Taichi blanched at her confidence, looking at his field. He might have two monsters there, but his trap could only prevent one more assault on his two creatures.
"Here's a method! I play Bolt From The Blue. This card can only be played if Gilford the Lightning is in play, and at a cost of his attack for the turn I can reuse his special power. Raigeki Blade once again!" Gilford swung his blade down, sending streaks of lightning careening into the swarm. The last of them were blown apart.
"Now your Kuribohs are wide open, and I'm gonna activate my set card, Raigeki Break! At a cost of discarding one card I can destroy one of the opponent's cards, so I choose to destroy your Kuriboh Politician!" Taichi grimaced as a bolt of electricity ripped through his monster, leaving him with just an attack mode creature.
"Gilford of Thunder attacks your wide open Genius Kuriboh! That means you're down by 1800 life points!" Gilford of Thunder dove forward with his blade extended, but the little Kuriboh spat a die out of its mouth which spun around for a few seconds.
"Time for more math! Since you attack my Genius Kuriboh lets me roll a die, and divide the attack of your monster by the amount rolled! Let's see what I got..." To his annoyance the die only came up as a three, and Gilford of Thunder stabbed the nerdy monster. (TLP: 7267)
"I can still attack you directly with Gilford the Swift, so here's more damage!" The warrior turned into a blur and appeared in front of Taichi, standing tall and proud. It slashed the rapier across the knight's chest, causing him to stumble backwards in pain. (TLP: 5467)
Taichi grimaced and stood back up, his eyes lighting up with pure rage. "I'll make you suffer for that, believe me. I won't stop until all of your emotions have turned against you!" He threw back his head and started to laugh, a laugh that was uniquely and sickeningly his own. Yet it still reminded Kirani of when he was possessed by the dark spirit.
"I set one card face down on the field and end my turn. See if you can manage to recover Taichi." She smirked smugly, knowing that she had just grabbed the advantage back. But he had twelve cards in his hand and it was about to be thirteen, so she couldn't be cocky.
The Kuriboh user picked up his card and then raised his head to stare at her. "Get ready to pay for your arrogance!" He slammed a card onto his field, and up rose a little Kuriboh. It danced around in joy of being summoned, but unfortunately for it there was no reaction from Kirani.
"Now I activate Multiply, turning my one Kuriboh into five!" The little fuzzball split apart, taking up each of Taichi's monster zones. Each one joined hands in a circle, singing in happiness of being together.
"Here's another thing for you to recognize! Joyful Kuriboh Dance, creating Kuriboh tokens equal to the number of Kuriboh on the field, and none of them take up my zones!" The circle danced faster and faster, becoming a blur as the singing rose as well.
They split apart, all of them stumbling about with squiggles in their eyes. All the dancing had made them dizzy and now they couldn't seem to figure out where they were. "And now, prepare to lose almost all of your life points! I activate Kuriboh Meteor, and you know that means 5000 damage!"
Right above the circle the darkness turned red, and a much bigger meteor fell from the sky. This was because it was composed of multiple Kuriboh, each one shrieking as they raced towards their demise. "No!"
The blast swept over Kirani's field, covering it in a dome of fire. But to Taichi's surprise the energy began to be pulled inwards, or at least some of it was. The object that had pulled the energy in was a little machine with a metal pole sticking out of the top with pronged ends. "You triggered my trap, Lightning Rod!"
The trap began shuddering as the energy it had absorbed began to overload it. "My Lightning Rod is a permanent trap that can absorb up to twenty-eight hundred points of damage. Twenty-eight hundred is its max, so when it reaches that it explodes and draws out a special creature."
It exploded, and energy flowed out of the ruined remains, beginning to take shape. What it turned into was the tall and powerful form of Gilford the Lightning(2800/1400) who stood proudly next to his three brethren. "Since he was summoned like this his special ability activates. All of your monsters die!"
A bolt of lightning shot from Gilford's blade, zapping each and every one of the Kuriboh. Taichi grimaced as they exploded into little fragments, leaving his field completely empty. "Your trap...its limit is twenty-eight hundred damage. That means the other twenty-two hundred damage still hits, and if we do math that means two more corrupted emotions!" (KLP: 4800)
Kirani grimaced and slammed a hand down on the platform, her eyes glaring daggers at Taichi. "You pathetic little bastard! You're gonna be the one who pays for that, not me! When my turn comes all four of my monsters will rip you into tatters!"
Taichi smirked as rage took over, and Kirani's body began to shake from the pure hatred flowing through her. "I see. Instead of being the nice, kind person you normally are you have become an utter bitch. Perfect!"
Kai stared at the enraged Kirani, his fists clenched in anger. None of this seemed fair to him, none of it at all. 'With her this enraged her focus will slip, and I don't even want to know what the combination of being a crybaby and being full of hate will cause. Nobody can be like that at the same time...yet because of this Darkness Game she is.'
He looked over at Taichi and shouted out at the knight, his anger evident in the tone of his voice. "You coward! You can't duel without some crutch giving you the advantage! What other emotions has your Darkness Game corrupted?"
The dark haired teenager shrugged, a big grin plastered on his face. "I couldn't say, but I can't wait to find out what it is. I don't want to be held in suspense too much longer, so I should probably hurry my turn along."
"Ah, here we go. I know exactly what to do. I discard Kuriboh Recruiter(300/200) from my hand to create five Kuriboh tokens which cannot attack or defend my life points. The purpose of this is obvious in many ways, if you have my kind of talent. So let me show you." He dropped the named card into his cemetery pile, and then five little Kuribohs were summoned to the field.
"Prepare to witness the force of destruction that defeated your friends Ryu and Autumn! By offering up five Kuriboh monsters from my field I can special summon this behemoth of darkness to the field. Let's get crazy!" The five monsters vanished, and a giant monster formed in front of Taichi. Its fangs dripped with blood and its fur was matted with the substance. It glared crimson eyes at Kirani, and in her enraged state she just glared back.
"Meet my Psychotic Devil Kuriboh(2500/2500)! Luckily enough for you summoning it brought me into my main phase two, so all your monsters shall remain intact. Of course by not attacking I activate its effect, and burn away five hundred of your life points!" The demon spat a black fireball at Kirani, and it knocked her over. (KLP: 4300)
Kirani jumped back to her feet, tears in her eyes. Yet despite the tears rage shined through, and in broken sobs she raged at him. "You bastard...pathetic bastard...I'll kill you!" Taichi raised an eyebrow, obviously amused at the combination of emotions.
"Don't worry girly, next turn I can easily warp another of your emotions with the effect of Psychotic Devil Kuriboh. Don't forget that if one of your monsters is destroyed you will become partially numb." With that said he placed three cards from his hand behind the behemoth, ending his turn.
Kirani drew in a deep breath and snapped her top card off her deck. She looked at the field and at her hand, and then declared something surprising. "It's all useless. I can't get to your monster and none of my cards will help out. It's not fair..."
She sniffled, and her eyes began to tilt downwards. Suddenly they rose again and she declared angrily, "So I'm gonna blow everything away! Absolutely everything!" She laughed harshly and took one card from her hand, ready to play it.
Taichi looked on with a great deal of curiosity, taking care to note exactly the emotion that had been warped. 'It seems that she lacks the same degree of confidence as before, and mixed with the other corrupted emotions she is slowly becoming insane. Just like everything thought I was.'
He snickered in amusement, barely realizing that by any standards he would be considered clinically insane. "Go ahead little girly, make your move! I'll be only too glad to turn it against you and blow you away!"
She slid the card down and onto an appropriate zone. The cloud above them began to expand and become darker. Red bolts of lightning jumped between clouds, and even her monsters looked nervous. "I activate one of my strongest magic cards, Storm of the Century!"
Gilford of Thunder screamed in agony as his entire body split apart and turned into energy, rushing up into the clouds above. "All my special card requires is that I sacrifice one monster on my field with the word 'Gilford' in its name. The effect is devastating by any standards!"
Kai and Taichi each were blinded as red lightning began to rain down on both sides of the field, and fierce winds whipped throughout the darkness. Everything was out of sight, the only thing that could be heard was the sound of the wind and Kirani's voice. "Storm of the Century blows up every card on the field and in our hands, scattering it all to the winds!"
The clouds passed and the field was revealed. Both of them held no cards in their hand, and there were no cards in their m/t zones. Kirani's field was utterly empty, but standing tall and ferocious was Taichi's monster. "Impressive attempt, but you've just left yourself completely open to my monster's attack, for her cannot be destroyed by such paltry effects!"
"You destroyed four of your own monsters, so your body is going to become numb in some places." Kirani grimaced, tears coming to her eyes as she slumped down, her right leg becoming useless. Her shoulders also felt fairly numb.
"Also, since monsters were destroyed my beast gains five hundred points for each one. Now my Psychotic Devil Kuriboh(4500/4500) is deadlier than ever before!" The devil kuriboh roared, spraying saliva across the field. With such a power it could easily match even the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and outmatch any of Kirani's monsters.
"I'm not stupid, I wasn't going to empty my field. You see, when Gilford the Lightning is destroyed I can special summon a Gilford-Soul of Lightning(2100/1000) from my deck. Since two died I can special summon two. I was going to use them to attack you directly, but now I summon them in defense." She spread her deck out in front of her face and searched through it for the necessary cards.
Finally she found her cards and slapped the two monsters down on the field, summoning up two Gilfords forged of pure electricity. They would be an adequate shield against his monster for at least two turns at the most. So she had to figure out a way to win. "My turn is over."
Taichi drew and then shrugged his shoulders in disappointment. "I was hoping for another monster that had over one thousand attack points. I didn't get it, and I don't feel like talking long enough to declare an attack. So I simply end my turn, activating my creature's effect."
The black fireball roared into life and blasted Kirani off her feet. Kai heard the dropping of her life points, and saw her slump against the platform. "Kirani! You have to get up! Please get up, otherwise you'll lose the duel and your soul!" (KLP: 3800)
Teary eyes turned towards him and she shook her head. "What's the point. I hate this stupid game, so why should I have to play it?" Kai's eyes went wide as he realized exactly what about her had been corrupted.
Taichi wasn't silent about it, he roared with laughter, his eyes ablaze with something resembling madness. "This is the best thing yet! Her love of the game and competition has been drained away and turned to hate! She isn't even willing to play the game anymore!"
Kirani pushed herself up to her feet and began to lower her hand towards her deck. Kai recognized the action, seeing that it wasn't just fingers for a draw. It was her entire hand, and it was about to cover her deck. "Kirani! Don't surrender!"
She looked back over at him, and rage blazed in those defeated eyes. "What's the point? This game is responsible for all the crap that has happened. Without it Drake would still be here, Serenity would be, and so would everyone else taken while playing it! This game is responsible, and so there's no point in continuing!"
"If you just surrender then you'll be added to that list of people taken! It wasn't the game, it was these people. Don't lash out at the game, lash out at them. Show Taichi your power, show him your duelist's heart!" She turned away, not wanting to listen to him. Her hand continued its descent, and it seemed to Kai to move in slow motion.
Everything was slowed down, the falling of her hand, Taichi leaning forward in anticipation, even the shifting of the darkness was slowed. But the one thing that didn't slow was Kai's mind, and he reached a conclusion quite suddenly.
"Drake would never have surrendered!"
Kirani's eyes went wide and her hand stopped its descent. She stared ahead blankly and he saw her mouth move in a whisper that only she could hear. "Drake...would never have surrendered?"
Staring straight ahead she saw a faint ghost-like form, one that she was sure only she could see. The ghostly Drake drifted forwards, passing through the platform to stand right in front of her. He pressed his forehead against hers and whispered reassuring words to her. "You said it yourself, the only way to defeat a nightmare is to smother it in dreams. So show him the strength of your dreams."
She closed her eyes, and when they opened the ghost Drake was nowhere to be seen. Both Taichi and Kai were staring at her expectantly, each one hoping for a different reaction. Her gaze fell to her deck, and a smile started to appear. The smile that had made Drake fall in lover with her in the first place.
"Taichi...I won't bow down now. I'll show you the power I possess, the strength of my dreams." She said this all in a whisper, not caring whether he heard her or not. She needed to say it for herself and herself alone.
"Taichi, it's my turn, my duel, and now...it's my draw!"
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Author's Notes: I hadn't planned out any of this chapter because I didn't decide until last minute to have Taichi defeat Autumn and Ryu. Therefore I made this all up on the fly. Hence why it took a bit longer. I'd like thank 3 Doors Down's new album Seventeen Days, as new music always gets me pumped even though I'm sick.
Time Mage: Hinata had her soul taken by D'harim WAY back, I already revealed that. Taichi and D'harim don't like Nick because he isn't really loyal to Eikyuu like them, he's just in it for himself. The person D'harim defeated will eventually be revealed of course.
VoidTemplar: Drake's around.
The White Mage: Umm...could you restate that question about puns and Heart cards so it makes sense? Then I can answer it.
G.O.T. Nick: The only reason you knew those things were: 1. You submitted the character of Nick. 2. You are a nerd and therefore know things about extra planets. Don't ask how I know though, because that brings up questions about me.
WolfGeneral: I like Eikyuu as a villain, but the Dark Spirit was and always will be my favorite.
Original Cards
Taichi: Kuriboh Politician, Genius Kuriboh, Kuriboh Meteor, Kuriboh Swarm Defense, Kuriboh Recruiter, Psychotic Devil Kuriboh
Kirani: Gilford the Swift, Child of the Storm-Gilford, Heart of the Storm, Gilford of Thunder, Bolt From The Blue, Lightning Rod, Storm of the Century, Gilford-Soul of Lightning
