Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Legends of the Demon Duelist-Midnight Arc

Chapter 6: Gate of Souls

Rikuo snarled darkly. "You bastard…" His disk slid into place. "I'll kill you!"

Akuma closed his eyes and his deck shimmered with a dim grey light. "You seem stronger than the others. So I'll use some of the energy I have gathered from these mortals to fuel my deck's power." He shuffled his cards and slammed his deck home. "What is your name?"

"Rikuo Amero…" The wolf demon drew. "Your executioner…."

Rikuo- 4000

Akuma- 4000

Rikuo snarled loudly and fanned his hand out. ("He must be good to have defeated Daniel…") Taking a card from his hand, he slid it into his disk. "I set one card face-down and one monster face-down. End turn."

Akuma drew. "I summon Hell Soldier!" (1200/1000) A burly demon in dark grey armor appeared on the field. "Attack the set monster now!" It slammed its sword down onto the set monster. "I've got you now!"

"Are you sure about that?" Rikuo tapped a button on his disk and his face-down card flipped up. "Reverse card open! Thunder Break Armor!" Lightning crashed into his set monster. "This card will equip to one face-down monster on my field!" Lightning crackled along the card's form. "It shields the set monster in an energy shield that is treated as a monster with a defense of 2000!"

Hell Soldier cried out in surprise as the shield exploded and sent it flying back to Akuma's field.

Akuma frowned. "I may lose life points, but when Hell Soldier is treated to damage through battle, that damage is also dealt to you!" He slammed a card into his disk. "I also set one card face-down. End turn."

Rikuo- 3200

Akuma- 3200

Rikuo drew. "Thunder Break Armor special ability number two! I may sacrifice it to deal you 500 life points of damage!" The shield arched across the field into Akuma's body.

Rikuo- 3200

Akuma- 2700

Akuma brushed off his gi. "Barely worthy of my time…"

Rikuo looked at his drawn card and then he sneered. "Let me show you god."

"God?" Akuma narrowed his eyes.

Midnight's eyes widened. ("Fenrir…")

Rikuo threw a card down onto his disk. "I summon White Cyber Wolf (1000/1800) in attack mode!" A white armored robotic wolf appeared on his field. "This card's special ability lets me special summon Black Cyber Wolf (1800/1000) from my deck!" A black armored robotic wolf appeared on the field.

"You plan to summon a God Card?" Akuma snickered. "You have already summoned for this turn."

Rikuo continued to hold the card off to his side. "You're assuming far too much about my abilities. Unlike your previous opponents…I am in a league beyond your experience."

"What is this?" The dark giant cracked his knuckles. "You would dare to presume that I'm some kind of normal duelist? Do you know who you speak to?" His fist pounded into his chest. "I have suffered the pains of the hells! It is a horrid place…but with its training I am greater than any mortal!"

"Greater than any mortal?" Rikuo closed his eyes and smiled. "I'm not a mortal. I…am…God!" His left hand moved the held card to his middle and pinky fingers, and then he took another card from his hand and slid it into his disk. "I activate Emergence from the Land of the Dead!"

"Emergence from the Land of the Dead?" Akuma's eyes widened. "That card…"

"Right." Rikuo took the card he had been holding and slid it into his graveyard. "By discarding one card from my hand I can take one monster from my graveyard and normal summon it." He caught the very same card and held it up. "Now face it…the power of the Destroyer of Gods!" His fingers pointed at his three monsters. "I sacrifice these three…" They dissipated into mist. "And summon Fenrir!" A tornado of black fire exploded out of the ground at his feet and stretched high into the sky. When the fire cleared a huge black wolf stood on his field. It howled so loudly that the earth around them cracked. "The slayer of the divine has been summoned!" (4000/4000)

Akuma grimaced and pointed at his set card. "I activate Strenuous Sacrifice!" His face-down card flipped up and chains exploded out of the ground to bind Fenrir. "This trap card activates when you tribute summon for a monster. That monster may not attack for the rest of this game."

Rikuo tapped the side of his head. "Oh really?" He slid a card into his disk. "Magic Purge says otherwise!" A blast of white heat washed over the field and the chains shattered. "All floating effects are now wiped away! Fenrir, attack Hell Soldier now! Black Inferno's Roar!" The wolf sprayed the hell warrior with black fire, instantly melting it away. "And that's the end."

Rikuo- 3200

Akuma- 2700

Akuma held up a card. "The power of Kuriboh says differently…" He discarded the card into his graveyard. "All that lovely life point damage is now zero."

Rikuo looked down at his hand and slid the remaining card into it. "I set this card face-down and end my turn."

Akuma glowered up at Fenrir. "A mighty god…but not mighty enough. It's my turn now! Draw!" He drew and held the card up to his eyes. "Tell me…can your god beat mine?"

Rikuo smiled. "Oh it can. Fenrir can defeat any other God Card…."

"Not this one. I know enough about the effects of Fenrir. Unlike most God Cards, it must have a monster sacrifice to be immune to trap cards for that turn. Also, when you discard a card from your hand or summon it one Divine Beast monster in play will be destroyed and its attack will be added to Fenrir's. The power to slay any god monster…but what happens when its opponent isn't a god? What happens when it is the devil itself?" He held up a card. "I activate Pot of Greed!" He drew two cards. "Now I activate the magic card Hand Tribute. This lets me sacrifice monsters from my hand to normal summon a monster. So I send three demons from my hand to the graveyard…" A black tornado of air exploded out of the ground and stretched one hundred feet into the air. "And summon Archfiend Emperor!" (5000/0) The tornado faded to reveal the huge demon giant in all its dark glory. "Archfiend Emperor, crush his Fenrir now!"

Rikuo's eyes widened. ("That monster is a demon type….so therefore Fenrir's last special ability won't work.")

"Claw of the Abyss!" The hundred foot tall demon stabbed its claws into the Fenrir, the god fading like mist.

Rikuo- 2200

Akuma- 2700

Rikuo snarled and pointed at his set card. "Reveal Soul Line! This trap card lets me pay 1000 life points to special summon a level four monster from my deck to the field!" He removed the top card of his deck and threw it down. A squat monster made of gears appeared on his field. "Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (800/2200) in defense mode."

Rikuo- 1200

Akuma- 2700

Akuma growled darkly. ("He may have a way to overcome the power of Archfiend…so I had best reinforce its attack.") "I discard Dark Ruler Hades (2450/1600) to raise Archfiend Emperor's attack power by that amount!" (7450/0) "End turn."

Rikuo drew. ("In my current situation I'm trapped with no method to hold against him…except for this…") He smirked slightly. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." He slid two cards off of his deck and was pleased by what he saw. ("My combo can be done…the combo to create Steel Fenrir…") "I set one card face-down and play the magic card Clockwork Gear Shift. This magic card requires that I sacrifice a monster with either Clockwork or Gear in its title. Gear Golem is sacrificed!" The defense monster faded. "And now I special summon Super Toy Knight (3000/3000) from my fusion deck to the field for one turn." A huge platinum windup knight appeared on the field in a crouching position. "End turn."

Akuma drew. "You will lose this duel by my hand. I set one card face-down and order my monster to attack Super Toy Knight! Claw of the Abyss!" The demon's claw slammed into Super Toy Knight and blew it into little tiny gear pieces.

Rikuo barely flinched as pieces of his machine flew past him. "Reveal face-down card." When his card flipped up a phantom Super Toy Knight appeared floating over him. "Ghosts of the Past allow me to activate it during the turn that a monster on my field is destroyed as a result of battle. I discard one card from my deck for every level star of the destroyed monster." He snapped eight cards off of his deck, looked at them, and smirked. ("There they are…") "These cards go to the graveyard." He slid the small stack into his graveyard slot. "Now the special ability of Ghosts of the Past lets me draw one card for every three monsters in the discarded eight. Since five were discarded I only draw one card." The top card left his deck and he sneered at it. ("Good…it's all falling into place.")

Akuma growled. "End turn."

Rikuo drew. ("I have two cards…but they will be enough to win this duel.") "I play the magic card Magician's Seal. This magic card lets me select one magic card from my deck and add it to my hand. However, this card cannot be activated for the next two turns." He held the chosen card up. "Card of Demise…" Taking the other card from his hand he placed it face-down onto his disk. "I set one monster face-down. End turn."

Akuma drew. "Once I draw a monster that I can summon you will die. Until then I discard Summoned Skull to raise the attack of Archfiend Emperor." (9950/0) "Claw of the Abyss!" The giant's claw fell onto the set card and blew it apart.

Rikuo picked up X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) from his disk and slid it into his graveyard. "Is that all?"

Akuma nodded.

Rikuo glanced at his deck. ("There's still two more turns to go before I can try to use my true killing attack.") He drew and without more than a passing glance placed the card onto his disk. "I set one monster face-down. End turn."

Akuma drew. "I attack with Archfiend Emperor!" The demon dropped its claw onto the set monster and shattered it.

Rikuo frowned. "Quicksilver Orb (0/0) would have let me play a monster from my hand, but because my only hand card is Card of Demise there is no creature to summon."

Akuma coldly sneered. "My dear mortal…you think that magic card will be your save? You are beyond wrong." He pointed at his set card. "I'm tired of playing with you. Reveal Mind Crush!"

"Shit…." Rikuo looked at Card of Demise.

Akuma pointed at the wolf demon. "In your hand you hold Card of Demise. Now if you have that card Mind Crush forces your discard it."

Rikuo slid the magic card into his graveyard.

Akuma slid a card into his disk. "I set a card face-down. My turn is complete."

Rikuo clenched his teeth…and then smirked. "Screw it, draw or die!" He drew. "Card of Sanctity forces us both draw until we are holding six cards in our hands!" They both drew six cards. "And that isn't all…because now I have my strategy set. In this turn your monster will be destroyed and with it most of your life points!"

"My monster has attack strength of 9950." Akuma chuckled. "So try your luck."

Rikuo's hand held over his six cards. "I'd be glad to. But first I need the help of Monster Reborn!" Super Toy Knight appeared on the field. "This is it…I play Nanite Infusion!" Super Toy Knight started to glow green. "From my hand I play Monster Reincarnation! By discarding Repayment of Losses not only do I get to draw a card but I also pick up Fenrir!" He drew and with the same fingers picked up the God Card. "The stage is nearly set! Super Toy Knight, break down into your original pieces!"

The machine exploded into pieces…and those pieces formed a Bronze Windup Knight (500/500), a Silver Windup Knight (1000/1000), and a Gold Windup Knight. (1500/1500) All three of the monsters were surrounded by a green glow.

Akuma frowned. "Sacrifices for Fenrir? How pitiful…"

Rikuo pointed at the three monsters. "I sacrifice these three to Fenrir! Return now!" The giant wolf appeared on the field and howled. "Nanite Infusion transforms the equipped monster and anything it is sacrificed to into a powerful bio-weapon! As such, the attack of the monsters sacrificed to summon Fenrir is added to its attack power!" (7000/4000) Fenrir snarled and black flames leapt along its body.

Akuma was about to say something…but he felt it. It was a pulse…that was coming from Rikuo's hand. "What is that?"

"It is the power of Fenrir's ultimate potential." Rikuo snapped a card into his disk. "Metal Attack Reinforcement Armor!" Steel armor appeared all over Fenrir's body. "This card raises its attack power by 500! Also, when it attacks a monster it gains 2000 attack points for the fight!" (7500/4000)

Akuma waved a finger in the air chidingly. "That's 450 points too short to match my…"

Rikuo pointed at Fenrir. "I sacrifice Fenrir!" The wolf god disappeared in a flash of energy. "I have done all of the required actions for this…I have summoned Fenrir. I have used Nanite Infusion on it, and I have given it Metal Attack Reinforcement Armor." The sky started to part and light rained down onto the field. "Fenrir, show your true god form!"

"True god form?" Akuma watched as a gold-covered form lowered onto the field.

Rikuo sneered. "Fenrir can slay a god, but such power comes with the loss of its abilities that make a god a god…but now it had returned to its full power!" The gold light disappeared in an explosion of black energy. "Face it…" Fenrir threw back its head and howled, the sky thundering in chorus with it. "Fenrir the Eater of the Moon!" (10000/5000)

"10000?" Akuma clenched his fist. "How can it have that much attack power?"

"Fenrir's special ability is that if it is the only attacking monster on my field during the turn that it is summoned that its attack power will be doubled!" Rikuo pointed at the Archfiend Emperor. "Now feel my rage! Black Inferno's Roar!" Fenrir released a beam of black energy that disintegrated the Archfiend Emperor instantly.

Rikuo- 1200

Akuma- 2650

Akuma was nearly thrown backwards, but he held against the blast. "Reveal…" The backlash of the attack faded. "Dark Grave!" A black coffin rose up out of the ground. "This trap card activates when a monster on my field is destroyed as a result of battle. I may discard one card from my hand to normal summon it to the field." The coffin exploded and Archfiend Emperor reappeared in play. (5000/0)

Rikuo slid his two remaining cards into his disk. "I set these two cards face-down on the field. End turn." (5000/5000)

Akuma drew slowly. "You are powerful indeed…but you are mistaken if you think that a force of darkness such as Fenrir can defeat me." He slid a card into his disk. "I shall show you that darkness cannot harm me. For I am immune to its touch." Something began to form on his field. "Tell me something mortal…do you ever have nightmares? The kind that leave you sweating at night? The kind where you wished that someone would comfort you?"

"Keh." Rikuo sneered. "I stopped fearing the dark long ago."

"Then let me make your last few minutes of life be an eye-opening experience for you." The structure finished forming. It was a huge bone circle on bone pedestals. And within the circle was a swirling vortex of white. "Gate of Souls has been activated…and now I summon Soul Keeper." (1000/1000) An old man with a key-ring around his waist appeared on the field. "Soul Keeper's special ability allows me to discard one card from my hand to give one monster on my field a Soul token." White smoke flowed around Archfiend Emperor. He drew one card. "Repayment of Losses…just like you. This is your end…Gate of Souls special ability…allows me to discard my whole hand to make it work. However, first I set one card face-down on the field." A card shimmered into existence in front of him.

Rikuo frowned at the Gate of Souls. ("What is this power I sense…?")

Akuma slid his four remaining cards into the graveyard. "Gate of Soul activates now. For it to work I must first discard a single card to turn it on for this turn. Then I may discard one card from my hand. For every card I discard one card in play will be destroyed!"

Rikuo pointed at one of his set cards. "Reveal Effect Shield! This quickplay…." Effect Shield shattered. "What?"

"Surprised?" Akuma sneered as his Soul Keeper faded away. "I may sacrifice Soul Keeper and my battle phase to prevent you from activating cards in response to Gate of Souls."

Rikuo stared in horror as Fenrir and his face-down blew apart. "No…"

"I'm not done yet!" Akuma pointed at his Archfiend Emperor. "Gate of Souls requires that I sacrifice all cards I have in play but it, however…" The white mist around the demon giant faded. "The Soul token protected my monster from death. Also, my face-down card activates itself in response to its destruction!" Archfiend Emperor roared. "Demon's Rage activates when destroyed. It allows one demon monster in play to attack right now!" Archfiend Emperor lifted its claw. "Farewell mortal…"

Rikuo growled. ("No way…had he beaten me…")


"Sorry kid, but…" Snake felt his arms starting to collapse. "It's the end for us. Now get those two out of here!"

King of Swords looked up at the rocks and frowned. "This is where I die? So be it, then this is where I die…."

Lord of Knives looked upon Ichigo and bowed his head. "Thank you for treating us as friends…thank you for trusting us. Ichigo Pilkington…the greatest Cyber Shadow of them all."

"Kenshin…I chose the wrong path…you must fight this darkness with light. The power of earth wasn't enough…please…" He turned to face Akuma. "Bring your final blow!"

It's my entire fault that they died. Snake, Lord of Knives…everyone! Why did they have to suffer for my stupid move?

There's no time for that! Rikuo's about to lose…and then Akuma is going after Eri and the others!

Screw you…I'm not going to screw up this situation.

You won't save Eri?

No.

Then forget you.

Excuse me?

You possess the power to help them, but you refuse to because you're afraid? Then you are no use to me. Begone Dark Halo.

You would dare to push me out?

Dare? I just did.


Rikuo didn't flinch as the claw of the Archfiend Emperor slammed down on top of him. He felt pain…and then the feeling he knew too well…the pain of one's soul being separated from their body.

Akuma watched the field fade away and smirked as Rikuo dropped face-first to the ground. "I win again. That leaves five down…and a bunch of easy to kill weaklings to go."

Rikuo- 0

Akuma- 2650


Well I forced the Dark Halo away…but now what do I do? This guy's too tough to take on with a normal deck…and I don't have the Cyber Shadows anymore. Wait…didn't Midas say something about light fighting darkness? Maybe that was the problem…you have to fight darkness with light. But that leads me to a whole new problem…what deck types can I get that can defeat darkness?

Perhaps you are looking at this in the wrong way Ichigo.

GAH! Who are you?

You don't recognize the cute face?

You're me? But…I'm me! HOW ARE YOU IN HERE ANYWAY?

Believe it or not, I'm another part of your personality. A part born from when you received the little mistake on the part of Luna.

You mean when Luna decided to turn me into a girl at night. Yeah, it was loads of family fun.

Luna didn't mean to do that to you. But anyway…there is an answer in here.

An answer huh? And what kind of answer is that?

The deck that can defeat Akuma's darkness. A shining power that will lead the way. A new team of agents…

A new team of agents? You're kidding me…

No…they rest in your soul. It is the power that has formed from your memories of the Cyber Shadows. It is the power of your Soul Deck evolved.

How do I access it then?

All you have to do is believe.


Akuma started to walk away. "It's time to find the next kill…"

"No…stop…"

The giant stopped and glanced behind him to see Ahran's body start to stand up. "And you are?"

"Ichigo Pilkington…the one and only…" The half demon stumbled to his feet. ("What did Ahran do our body while I was out anyway? It feels like he put it through a ten hour workout.")

Akuma frowned. ("The Dark Halo incarnate? What is he doing here?")

Ichigo looked at the deck in his disk. ("The shining power in my soul…") He felt the deck change itself. ("Let's hope this works.") "I challenge you Akuma."

"Very well." The giant shuffled his deck and slid it into place. "I'll run you over."

Ichigo smiled slightly. "Maybe…but then again…I've beaten everyone who you've beaten. So technically, I'm better then all of them."

"As am I."

They both stood against each other…and a light wind blew through their hair. "Duel!"

Ichigo- 4000

Akuma- 4000

To be continued…

This is Ichigo Pilkington. Anyway, it's on now Akuma! You've stolen the soul of my father, my asshole father-in-law, Kenshin, Ahran…and you killed Professor King. It's unforgivable! You will face my full wrath! Shining power, show me what you are now! Draw!

Next Episode: Shining Force Released!

To Bobbomp: Well, we're about to find out whether Ichigo will fall or not.

To Anime Albino: Not really. His soul is gone, but his body is alive.

To Adriel: Nope, the Eternal Death duel was only in chapter one. How else would these guys have been using Monster Reborn and the like?

To Gryphinwyrm: Yeah, I got it.

To Neo Arkadia: That's right, Archfiend Emperor was used way back when during the duel between the creepy vampire guys and CJ/Rebecca.

To Rex: We'll see that, won't we?

To Sinister: You're no fun. Midas is cool.

To G.O.T. Nick: Let me ask you something….is it still funny? Oh, and did you get my email?

To Hogwarts-Knight: Of course Archfiend Emperor has too much power. He's scary crap. And sure, submit away.