Author's Notes: Honestly I was going to write a chapter of Echoes, but I made a decision on this and some cool new music made me want to write this chapter. So here it comes.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Collapse! The Corrupted Darkness Game!

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 love 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!"

In her mind's eye Kirani saw a spectral hand reach down with hers and at the same time they placed their fingers on the top card. She could feel Drake with her in this draw, and across from her Taichi's eyes went wide with awe. 'Such raw power! This is what I've been waiting for!'

Kirani snapped the card up in front of her eyes, and then slammed it onto the field. "I activate The Gathering Storm! According to its effect I get to draw five cards and special summon any monsters named 'Gilford' that I draw, although none of them can attack."

One of her two monsters faded away, and she drew her five cards. However, one glance told her all she needed to know about her new hand. "The cost of this card is the sacrifice of one monster. And right now I won't be summoning any monsters, since I didn't draw any."

Down below the platform Kai grinned, hearing the confidence in Kirani's voice. It seemed like she was back to normal. 'With a hand of five magic or trap cards she just might stand a chance of defeating that behemoth of Taichi's.'

Taichi smirked, gleefully awaiting Kirani's next move. "I'm almost glad you've overcome the power of this Darkness Game, as it makes the duel more interesting. But my question is, how did you manage to overcome it? That shouldn't be possible."

Kirani closed her eyes and fanned her hand out in front of her. When her eyes opened seconds later, Taichi could have sworn they turned violet for a moment. "Because I'm not dueling alone!"

The Knight of Air gasped in shock, taking a step back as he saw a form appear behind her. In his leather jacket he was the very image of the duelist that had defeated him previously. "Drake...impossible..."

"Nothing is impossible, and with Drake and I dueling together your Psychotic Devil Kuriboh is about to go down, and with it all of your life points!" With her declaration made, she was now ready to go on the offensive and prove her power.

"Before I go any farther it's time I sacrifice Gilford-Soul of Lightning to special summon a Gilford the Lightning(2800/1400) from the graveyard!" The electric form of her current monster filled out, becoming life-like as the mighty warrior of lightning returned to the field once again.

"So what? Your Gilford may normally be a powerful monster, but against my Psychotic Devil Kuriboh it's useless. You can't even use magic or traps to stop my beast, so it's invincible!" He snickered, and the deadly beast slobbered all over the field, its saliva making the ground smoke and hiss.

"Useless? Invincible? Neither of these words can be used to describe our two monsters. My Gilford is far from useless, and there's still one method left to defeat your monster. Through battle, and that's exactly what I intend to do!" She selected a card from her hand, and then slapped it down in front of her.

Taichi narrowed his eyes, ready to see exactly what she could do. "Show me if you can defeat my monster, I'd enjoy seeing that. You'd need a monster with over forty-five hundred attack to beat it, and even then you'd still fall short of your declaration to defeat me this turn."

"We'll see about that. First I'm going to equip Gilford the Lightning with his mighty weapon, Lightning Blade! With it equipped Gilford gains eight hundred attack points, setting him at a powerful thirty-six hundred!" A thick broadsword appeared in Gilford's hand, and it crackled with electricity. Psychotic Devil Kuriboh just growled, unimpressed by this boost.

"You still fall short girly. My Psychotic Devil Kuriboh has nine hundred more attack points than your Gilford does. Unless you happen to have two more equip cards in your hand, it's not very likely that you can make your claim come true." He leaned forwards, bracing himself against the platform. His sneer was broad, showing just how little he believed in her declaration.

Kai stood silently watching the duel continue. He didn't understand exactly how she had overcome the Darkness Game, or what Drake had to do with it, but after all the strange things he had seen he was willingly to believe that Drake really was dueling with her now. 'Can she really defeat Psychotic Devil Kuriboh? It has a strength equal to Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon after all...'

"Have a little faith in my Taichi, I'm no amateur duelist. I'm also not predictable, because I have no intention of equipping Gilford with another card. No, I've got a normal magic card to play that will push my creature to his limits. Go, Titan's Storm!" Gilford threw back his head and bellowed to the sky as lightning crackled through him, making his muscles bulge.

"Titan's Storm will boost Gilford's attack by fifteen hundred for the duration of the turn! Now it's your turn to do the math, because my Gilford just got more than enough power to defeat you!" The mighty warrior clenched his fists at his sides, causing his power to surge. So great was the energy unleashed that Psychotic Devil Kuriboh was forced back a few feet.

Taichi and Kai both stared in shock, their gaze settling on the now strongest monster on the field. At the same time both shared a single thought. 'She actually did it!'

"Here's where I show you how I'm going to defeat your monster and you in this turn. The magic card Lightning Strikes Twice! It allows one Gilford the Lightning on my field to attack twice during this turn. You ready? Because Gilford certainly is!" Her warrior raised his right arm and unsheathed the long sword from his back, holding it and the Lightning Blade at the ready.

"Time to destroy Psychotic Devil Kuriboh. Gilford, Thunderbolt Cut!" Gilford shot straight into the air, and then dived down towards Taichi's monster. With a single stroke of his blade he cut through the massive black furred beast, and it shattered into millions of pieces. (TLP: 4667)

"Gilford, follow through with an attack on Taichi's life points. Thunderbolt Cut once again!" Gilford unfurled his body from the crouched position he had landed in, and then swept the Lightning Blade sideways. Streaks of lightning shot out from the blade and coursed through Taichi's body.

"I'm evil you stupid bitch! I never die!" He flipped the one card in his hand around, showing the furry little form of Kuriboh(300/200). He let it slip from his hands and into his cemetery pile, and the electricity stopped flowing. Thanks to Kuriboh's effect he had been saved from defeat.

"Congratulations on defeating Psychotic Devil Kuriboh, that's not something that has ever happened before. In turn I've had my ultimate creatures defeated. Ultima Kuriboh, Knight of Kuriboh, and now Psychotic Devil Kuriboh. But beware Kirani, for one final ultimate beast lurks within my deck." He smirked, not seeming to care that he was now utterly defenseless.

Kirani was also perfectly confident, and she took the remaining cards in her hand and slipped them down, one to each side of the Lightning Blade equip card. "I'm fine with that. Bring on whatever ultimate creatures you like, I'll be ready and waiting for them."

Her enemy nodded briefly and then drew his next card, making it the only thing in his hand or on his field. Taichi had yet to look at it, he simply watched Kirani with an intrigued look on his face as if he was searching for something. "I wonder...can you hear me Drake?"

He whispered it so low that neither Kai nor Kirani heard it. In response to the question he felt a presence near him, and as he looked to his left he found a ghostly Drake sitting on the railing of the platform. "I can hear you loud and clear Taichi. Go ahead and play that card you've just drawn, but know that Kirani will come back and defeat you."

"I'll have to settle with defeating her when she's using your help to remain sane and untouched by this Darkness Game. After all, I won't be getting a chance to duel you. It's really a pity, I was looking forward to a rematch." The ghost Drake grinned, and then faded away, leaving Taichi to continue his turn.

"I think this is what they call a top deck. I activate Duel Rebirth, which costs half of my life points to be activated." A bright light swept across the field, hiding everything from view. Kirani grimaced, trying to see exactly what was happening within the light. (TLP: 2334)

"Thanks to this card we now shuffle every card in our hands, fields, and cemeteries back into our decks and draw five new cards. With this added help, it won't be long before I unleash my final ultimate monster." He smirked and picked up his graveyard, sliding it together with his deck and shuffling it up.

The light faded away, and Kirani's field was now empty. She had five new cards as compensation, but it wasn't much compensation since all her hard work had been undone in one single play. 'I'm totally open for an attack, but it's a good thing all his basic Kuribohs are small fry monsters.'

"I hope you're ready for pain! I summon Kuriboh Soldier(1800/1500) in attack mode!" The familiar brown hairball was summoned up in front of Taichi. The distinguishing feature of this creature was its attire. A belt of grenades was strapped around its tiny body, a missile launcher and a rifle were also slung over it. Also, in the cute demon's teeth was a shiny knife.

"How the hell does it carry all of that stuff and keep bouncing like that? What does it think it is anyway? Rambo?" The Kuriboh let out an indignant squeak, and bounced up and down even faster. Taichi smirked and gestured towards Kirani.

"Go ahead my little fellow, teach her your strength. KuRambo Assault!" His monster hopped over to Kirani and started snapping at one of the grenades with its mouth. But lacking a neck it was having trouble getting to the pin.

Kuriboh Soldier's entire body was shaking as it desperately tried to get the pin free. Kirani watched in amusement as its efforts continued. Finally it succeeded in pulling the pin out, and did a little dance in excitement. Taichi blinked and rolled his eyes. "Little guy, you forgot to take the grenade out of your belt."

It squealed in terror, but it was too late to correct its mistake. The grenade went off, smothering it and Kirani in an explosion. It bounced out of the smoke, ricocheting and coming to a halt back on Taichi's field. It was blackened and charred, its eyes swirls, and a stream of smoke coming from its body. "That's got to hurt." (KLP: 2500)

Kirani shook her head to clear it, and grabbed a rail. Using it she was able to pull herself back to her feet, her legs quivering beneath her. Although the attack had been comical, it had also been effective and painful. "You done yet?"

"Certainly, just let me set a card on the field first, then you can take your turn." Taichi smiled condescendingly and lay a single card behind his creature. Once he had finished that he gave Kirani a mocking bow, and motioned for her to begin.

With a shaking hand Kirani drew her card. She took a single glance at it and placed it onto her field horizontally. The card appeared in holographic form, and an indicator showed up on Taichi's side of the platform. "I set that monster face down."

Her eyes scanned her five remaining cards, and finally settled on two that she could make use of. "I'll also place two cards face down. Back to you Taichi." Two more cards appeared in front of her, and then Taichi was drawing his next card.

The Kuriboh duelist smiled at whatever was in his four card hand, and then he placed a card down next to Kuriboh Soldier. "Here's my next creature. Kuriboh Archer(900/900). His effect is that I can discard one card from my hand each turn to destroy one magic or trap card on your field."

His newest monster was just a regular Kuriboh, the only addition was a large bow next to it, planted firmly into the ground. "I think I'll do exactly that, and discard a card to eliminate your leftmost set card."

Kuriboh Archer hopped to the side and settled itself into the bow. Kuriboh Soldier approached and using its teeth pulled back the string. "Go ahead Kuriboh Soldier, I'm sure the archer is ready. Fire!"

The soldier unclenched its teeth, and the snap of the bow sent Kuriboh Archer flying as the arrow. With incredible force it smashed into Kirani's face down card, blowing it into tiny pieces. She grimaced and slipped her Mirror Force trap into the cemetery.

With that taken care of, Taichi felt perfectly confident in unleashing his attack. "Kuriboh Soldier, attack her face down monster!" The little furball bounced across the field, but a sudden wash of water pushed it back to its starting place.

"My Squall Barrier let me negate your attack. Its secondary effect allows me to add one monster to my hand from my deck with the word 'Gilford' in it's name." She picked up her deck and skimmed through it before coming to the card that she wanted. Then she reshuffled her deck, and faced Taichi once again.

"Very well, I don't think I'll risk an attack by my Kuriboh Archer since its attack isn't all that fantastic. Unfortunately for you my Kuriboh Soldier must be the first target of an attack as long as its face-up on the field." He smirked at this declaration, and Kirani grimaced. That meant the card she had picked up wasn't going to help as much as she would have wished.

Kirani drew another card, and then she slapped one of them down onto her field. "I summon Gilford of Thunder(1800/400), allowing me to draw a card off the top of my deck and one from the bottom."

She drew the two new cards, boosting her hand and giving her more options. A quick glance and she knew what her next move could be. "I play Pot of Greed. I'm sure you know what that does."

Taichi rolled his eyes as she drew again. He didn't care how many cards she drew, it wouldn't stop him in the end. 'No matter what she draws she won't be able to stop my final ultimate creature. Only two cards remain before I can summon it, and then she'll be finished.'

"You're so confident Taichi, well I'll strip that confidence from you. I play Enter the Storm at a cost of one thousand life points to summon Gilford the Lightning(2800/1400) and activate his effect!" A bolt of lightning descended from above and obliterated Taichi's two creatures. A second bolt struck Kirani's field, and was revealed as the warrior of lightning. (KLP: 1500)

"He can't attack this turn, but I don't have a problem with that. I activate the effect of Gilford the Swift(1400/500), letting me special summon him to the field." The lithe warrior with his rapier now stood next to the stronger Gilfords. His summoning gave Kirani even more attack power to use.

"Gilford the Swift and Gilford of Thunder will now attack you directly!" Before the two warriors even got a chance to start their attack Taichi had already reached down and flipped over his single set card.

"I'm sorry, but that's not allowed. My set card is Kuri Clan Protection, which prevents you from attacking me this turn, provided I have a Kuriboh on the field or in my cemetery. Looks like your attack was worthless." Kirani nodded, and then placed two cards down on her field, giving her a total of three set cards.

Taichi picked up his next card, and then looked at it with a faint degree of interest. Finally he made his decision and placed the card in front of him. To Kirani's surprise a gray furred Kuriboh appeared, with a yellow bandana on its head and an eye patch. "This is Kuri Bandit(1000/500)."

Kirani waited for several seconds, silence ruling the duel. At last she decided there was no reason to continue waiting. "And? Does it do anything?"

"Oh, yes of course. I'll save it for later though, and just set a card face down. Your turn." His attention seemed oddly interrupted during this move, causing Kirani to wonder exactly what was going on in that twisted brain of his. What was it that he was waiting for?

The female duelist started her turn, and immediately knew what to do. "I play Eye of the Storm, which can only be played if I have a Gilford the Lightning on the field. That Gilford can't attack this turn, but in exchange I get to destroy all of your magic and trap cards!"

Taichi nodded, picking up his set card and placing it in the grave even before Gilford unleashed a burst of lightning upon it. Kirani narrowed her eyes, once again confused by Taichi's strange actions. 'He's never so silent. He gloats, he acts out, what the hell is going on in his mind?'

"Gilford the Swift will attack Kuri Bandit and cut it down!" The warrior slashed his rapier down at the bandit, but it suddenly vanished and the attack slashed harmlessly through the air. It did no damage to Taichi's life points either.

"I can sacrifice Kuri Bandit at any time to draw five cards. Any monsters I draw are discarded." Taichi drew five cards from his deck, and after on look added the last card in his hand to them. He didn't discard a single card amongst them.

"Since Swift's attack failed, Gilford of Thunder will attack you directly!" Taichi barely even blinked as the attack struck his chest, blasting him into the railing. The attack also took its toll on his life points, draining them severely. (TLP: 534)

"Since I've made that attack, I suppose its back to you Taichi." The young duelist nodded slowly and drew, pushing his hand up to the limit of seven cards. Unless he had just drawn a monster, each and every one of those cards was a magic or trap card.

"Now...that's interesting. I activate Kuri Clan Summit. According to this card's effect I get to draw one card for every two Kuribohs in my cemetery plus one for the base of this card. I have four in the cemetery, plus the base means I draw three cards." He picked up three more cards, boosting his hand once again.

"I activate Payment of Debt in order to draw an additional three cards." Once more he drew three cards, sending his hand to an impressive size of eleven cards. Kirani and Kai each began to wonder what he was up to. So far this turn all he had been doing was drawing cards.

"Next is Pot of Greed, to draw two. Then Graceful Charity for three cards, with a discard of two. I follow that up with Renewal of Spell, and at a cost of five hundred life points activate Kuri Clan Summit from my grave again, this time with two more Kuribohs in my grave." His life points trickled as he drew several cards in quick succession, drawing four for what seemed like the coup de gras. (TLP: 34)

Kirani stared in awe at Taichi's fifteen card hand. It was rare to see someone holding that many cards, and there was no telling just how dangerous they were. 'He's searching for something still and he hasn't gotten it. It must be that final ultimate creature he mentioned.'

Taichi looked through each of his fifteen cards, and sneered mentally. Despite all his drawing he was still one card short of the combination he needed to unleash his final ultimate monster and finish her off. 'I only have one more draw card left in my hand, and if I don't draw it now I'll be really pissed off!'

"I activate Ransom of Life, paying half of my life points to draw six cards from my deck. It seems like a steep price to pay, but with only thirty four life points it isn't much." He picked up six cards off his rapidly dwindling deck, and thereby raised his hand size to an enormous twenty cards. He had gone through at least half his deck so far, if not more than that. (TLP: 17)

Kai gritted his teeth as an unsettling feeling crept up his spine. It was one of those feelings you get that is always a premonition of a something bad happening. 'He's wasting his life points so casually just to draw cards. Whatever it is he's trying to get must be incredibly important to him.'

Taichi stared at his new cards for a moment, and then he began to burst out laughing. His hysterical laughter was more like his normal self, and both other duelists knew that whatever it was he had been searching for...he had just found it. "Prepare to meet your demise at the hands of my final ultimate beast!"

He took a card from his hand and slammed it down, smirking as its image appeared on the field. "I activate Revelation of Cuteness! This ritual magic card costs twelve levels of Kuribohs as a cost. So I discard my level ten Psychotic Devil Kuriboh along with my level five Kuri Dragon!"

He discard the two named cards, and then he took another card from his hand and placed it down on the field. "The long awaited concluding ultimate creature of my deck. God of Cuteness-Kuriboh(300/200)!"

There was no simple way to describe Taichi's newest monster. It was like a normal Kuriboh, only everything about it screamed of cuteness. Kirani could scarcely take her eyes off it, that was how cute it was. Only Kai's assuredness of his masculinity allowed him to take his eyes away from it long enough to really think about it.

"Your God of Cuteness has the same stats as a normal Kuriboh, yet it's a twelve star ritual monster who needed specifically Kuribohs as the cost of the ritual. What does it do?" Taichi smirked, glad to be able to explain the powers of his new and potentially dangerous Kuriboh.

"Using the unlimited power of cuteness my God of Cuteness will force Kirani to surrender the duel. Luckily for her it takes five turns for this effect to activate. Unluckily for her my God of Cuteness cannot be attacked at any point in time, nor can it be hit by effects." With this revelation, Kirani knew that she had only a limited amount of time. In five turns, she had to win or die.

"When God of Cuteness is summoned I must take all monsters in my hand and deck and send them to the cemetery. So here I go." He plucked three cards from his hand along with about a dozen or more from his deck and dropped them into his cemetery pile. Now his deck and hand were utterly magic and traps.

"I set five cards face down on the field, and then I end my turn. Since my hand size is so great, I'll discard until I reach the limit of six cards in hand." Once more he dumped a large group of cards into the cemetery, leaving him with six in hand.

Kirani drew, and she felt a little bit of her will to fight leech away under the effect of the Kuriboh god. That meant it was officially turn one. "I flip my face down monster, Wise One Gilford(700/400) and use its effect to add a magic card to my hand."

She managed to the find the card close to the top, and slapped it onto her field without a second thought. "I activate Heavy Storm, blowing away every magic and trap card on the field." Her own cards along with Taichi's were blasted apart, leaving only monsters left to do battle.

"Since none of my monsters can attack yours, I'll just end my turn." Although she had obliterated the threat of his set cards, she still had no method in mind to defeat Taichi before her time was up. After all, how did you defeat a monster that couldn't be attacked or effected? Her options were slim, and nothing was coming to mind.

Taichi drew, and then held up two fingers, indicating that turn number two had just struck. "Well now, this is certainly interesting. But then again, not overly helpful. I set five more cards face down and end my turn."

As soon as Kirani drew, Taichi lifted up a third finger. She was starting to run out of time. "I can only summon Mage of Lightning-Gilford(1600/1300). Other than that, I just switch Wise One Gilford to defense and end my turn." She placed a card face down, and that was all.

She felt her heart race as Taichi drew, and a fourth finger met the others. At the end of Kirani's next turn she would lose the duel, and unless she figured out a way to defeat him before then, it was all over. 'Drake, how can I defeat his creature in a single turn? No card in my deck can defeat a monster that can't be touched by any effect or attack!'

"Time is running short Kirani, and I have everything set up for my victory. There's no possible way for you to win, so you might as well surrender now. My turn is over, and at the end of yours, the duel will be as well." He smirked, utterly confident in his success. And even Kai had to admit that the situation seemed impossible to overcome.

Kirani's hand shook as she reached for her next card. This one card would determine the entire duel, and she knew for a fact that no card in her entire deck could defeat his monster. 'Please Drake, help me!'

In response to her request, the gleaming ghost form of Drake stood beside her. He had a smile on his face, and he put his hand over hers. That touch helped calm her nerves, and her hand stopped shaking. "Kirani, his monster is a god, just the same as Osiris, Obelisk, and Ra. Don't you remember how to deal with those monsters?"

That was all she needed to hear, and Drake's form vanished again. His words had told her how to defeat this challenge and win the day. Now she just had to trust that she could get the cards she needed. 'Defeat the duelist, not the god. That's what I have to do'

She held up her newest card, and then flipped it around to show it to Taichi. He shrugged, not caring about what he saw. As far as he was considered he had the duel won already. "Card of Demise lets me draw till I have five cards in my hand."

With a flick of the wrist her hand of five was displayed in front of her, and she saw what she needed to do. "Taichi, I have Gilford the Lightning, Mage of Lightning-Gilford, Gilford of Thunder, Gilford the Swift, and Wise One Gilford all on the field together. Do you know what that means?"

"Not a clue. Let me guess though. They'll have a reunion party? With dancing perhaps? I'm sure my God of Cuteness would love to join in, but the party would have to be short. After all, the duel is over at the end of this turn." Kirani didn't let his smirk or his confident attitude bother her. She knew what was going to happen.

"This duel is going to be over before then! I activate my set trap card, Formation of Lightning! I can only play this card when all five of these monsters are in play, and I can then remove all cards in your hand, on your field, and in your cemetery from the game!" A crackling band of energy surrounded the five monsters as they prepared for their assault.

"Your God of Cuteness remains immune, but at the simple cost of my battle phase I'm going to obliterate everything that stands between me and victory!" The band of power surged across the field, sweeping away everything in its path. When the lightning faded, Taichi was forced to set aside every card but his God of Cuteness and the remaining cards of his deck.

"What help could that possibly be? After all, you can't attack me or do anything else that might rid the field of my God of Cuteness. Since you can't beat it, you lose. It's that simple!" He threw back his head and started to laughing, confident in the knowledge that in moments the God of Cuteness would end the duel.

"That sure is a deadly monster, but I don't care. I have no intention of defeating it, instead I'm going to defeat you! My method of victory is going to be one attack by Gilford the Lightning!" The named monster unsheathed his weapon, and stepped out in front of the four other Gilfords.

"Do you need to have a flashback of less than a minute ago? Because you distinctly said that using Formation of Lightning causes you to forfeit your battle phase. Even if that weren't the case, God of Cuteness can't be attacked, so what's the point?" Kirani smirked as a reply, and took two cards from her hand.

"The reason I used Formation of Lightning was to make sure none of your face down cards would counter my next card combo. Here's the first one, and you should remember it. Lightning Strikes Twice will give Gilford the Lightning two battle phases this turn, and though one is forfeited the other is up for grabs!" Her warrior steadied his blade, ready to launch his attack at any moment.

Taichi rolled his eyes and then pointed sharply at his lone monster. "Are you deaf or just stupid? I said God of Cuteness cannot be attacked!"

"I'm not stupid Taichi, and I'm not deaf. But apparently you are, because I said I'd be defeating you, not God of Cuteness. This other card is how. It's called Heart of Lightning, Soul of Thunder!" Energy suddenly consumed Kirani's entire field, and when it vanished Gilford the Lightning was surrounded by a blue aura and was the only thing left.

"This magic card destroys all other cards in my hand and one my field, and means that this turn Gilford the Lightning's attack cannot be countered in any way. That's just the first part of the effect though." She smirked, and both Kai and Taichi waited in suspense for her declaration of the second half of the effect.

"The last part of the effect is that during this turn Gilford the Lightning may attack the opponent directly. So say goodbye Taichi, Ultimate Thunderbolt Cut!" The knight cried out in terror as Gilford swept his blade in an arc, sending a sweeping blade of lightning across the field. It went right past God of Cuteness, and blew Taichi clear off the platform. (TLP: 0)

"And that's all she wrote. Looks like I overcame your Darkness Game and won the duel, despite all your attempts. Now who's the weakling?" There were a few responses she could have expected, but laughter wasn't one of them.

"I'm not a puppet for Eikyuu, and I never have been. His intent is to strip mankind's free will to create a perfect order. But me? I've seen everything mankind is capable of, and I've come to a single conclusion. The only way to create order is to wipe out all of mankind, and thanks to the help of the Darkness Realm I will!" Kai and Kirani looked on in confusion as the symbol of power blazed to life on Taichi's forehead, and the Darkness around them shook.

"This whole duel was simply for the purpose of gathering power! Every move we made, every ounce of strength you put forth into this game just strengthened the darkness. The same can be said of me, and the stronger the monsters the better! Meanwhile I was fueling it with the Heart of Power, and now it's completely beyond my control! The Darkness will now spread across the planet, and all life will be trapped within its boundaries forever!"

Taichi's insane laughter continued up until something surprising happened. Kirani suddenly found herself standing on the ground, and someone else was on the platform. Taichi was also on the platform again, and he looked confused. "This is a Darkness Game, therefore it must end at some point. You shall be defeated at a Darkness Game, and this Darkness will be bound to do my will. That is the point of this game."

Kai and Kirani could only stare at the nearly nine foot tall red robed figure with a face represented only by a white mask. Taichi was also shocked by the appearance of this figure. "Eikyuu...you've penetrated my Darkness Game just to challenge me? So be it, and it will be Duel Monsters! All the better since you don't know how to play the game!"

Taichi shuffled up his deck and slammed it down, indicating that he was ready. Eikyuu tilted his head to the side slightly, and then a glowing deck of blue cards appeared in front of him on the platform. "This is correct. However, I will win." (TLP: 4000, ELP: 4000)

"If you say so, but I beg to differ. I'll start by playing the Seal of Orichalcos! Then I activate Level Substitute and Five Star Twilight, unleashing the five siblings!" Five multi-colored Kuribohs took shape before him, even as the Seal formed around them. Eikyuu didn't even seem to take note of this occurrence.

"Now I play Token Generation, and create five Kuriboh Tokens at a cost of 1000 life points. I combine them together with Polymerization to form King Kuriboh(2000/1200)!" The familiar armored spellcaster now stood right in the midst of the cute little puffballs. Its presence boosted the siblings by another five hundred points to a total of thirteen hundred attack points. (TLP: 3000)

"Since I have yet to summon this turn I'll summon Kuri General(500/500) whose effect boosts each of my Kuribohs by four hundred points. With his own boost plus the Seal and King Kuriboh he has 1900, King Kuriboh has 3400, and each sibling has 1700. But I'm still not done!" He snickered as his five siblings merged together, creating the incredibly demonic Kuribabylon.

"I don't know if math is your strong suit Eikyuu, but the combined powers of the siblings plus the boosts my monster gains after being created, Kuribablyon now has 9900 attack points! That's more than you could possibly handle!" Eikyuu didn't acknowledge Taichi, he merely drew a card from his blue deck.

Taichi noted that Eikyuu only had that single card in his hand, and he snickered. No need to let the idiot god know that each player was supposed to start the duel with five cards in their hand. That would be pointless. "I am Eikyuu, I am God of Order. Power is nothing to me."

Eikyuu raised his drawn card above his head, and a bright light shone from it. The light expanded like a wave, and in moments it filled the entire Seal. On the outside Kai and Kirani were left waiting and wondering, for they couldn't see a thing going on inside. Nor could they hear Eikyuu. They could hear Taichi though.

The two duelists waited on the edges of their proverbial seats as the battle continued within, still concealed from view. Taichi would occasionally yell out some insult, or a shout of surprise, or rage even. Yet they never heard anything from Eikyuu. 'I can't figure out who's winning by the things Taichi is saying. What's going on in there?'

At the five minute mark, the light faded away, and for a brief moment they saw a shining form on Eikyuu's field before it too faded away. On the opposite side of the field Taichi was slumped over, a glazed looked in his eyes. "I was so close...so close. They all deserve to die...so why did I have to lose?" (TLP: 0)

Eikyuu looked down at Taichi curiously, and then cast his gaze upon Kirani and Kai. "This Darkness Game will collapse in but a few moments. In this realm I am not tangible, therefor you are safe. You are beneath me." His form faded away, giving them a clear view of his life point counter. (ELP: 10000)

Then the Darkness shattered.

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Author's Notes: And that's all she wrote. At least for the moment.

Review Response

WolfGeneral: Yeah, Dalin does have that sometimes annoying ability to get out of any situation unharmed.

Time Mage: So many questions, so little time. One answer though. Wasn't Malik as that would have been like five or so years before Malik ever even ventured out from underground for the first time.

G.O.T. Nick: Yep, those kids were Drake and his sister. And yes, Drake's sister is named Hikari.

VoidTemplar: Strange doesn't even begin to cover it. Not as strange as Taichi though.

Original Cards

Kirani: The Gathering Storm, Titan's Storm, Lightning Strikes Twice, Squall Barrier, Gilford of Thunder, Enter the Storm, Gilford the Swift, Eye of the Storm, Wise One Gilford, Mage of Lightning-Gilford, Formation of Lightning, Heart of Lightning-Soul of Thunder

Taichi: Psychotic Devil Kuriboh, Duel Rebirth, Kuriboh Soldier, Kuriboh Archer, Kuri Clan Protection, Kuri Clan Summit, Payment of Debt, Renewal of Spell, Ransom of Life, Revelation of Cuteness, Kuri Dragon, God of Cuteness-Kuriboh, Level Substitute, Token Generation, King Kuriboh, Kuri General