Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.
Legends of the Demon Duelist-Midnight Arc
Chapter 13: Ascension; Awaken Dark Angelica
Ichigo felt the rain down his cheeks, and wiped some excess water from his eyes.
Across the field Akuma took deep shuddering breaths, the air around his lips misting. On his field stood the giant black form of Steel Titan Nightmare. And behind it was a single set card. He had only one card in his hand, but with Nightmare's ability to attack twice this duel was already close to done.
Ichigo fanned out the eight cards in his hand. Then he looked down at his deck. "It's my turn now. Draw." Holding the ninth card up to his eyes, he looked at Nightmare and frowned. ("I don't know enough about this deck to make unnecessary risks trying to fuse monsters…") Sliding two cards into the slots of his disk, he blinked up at the red metal eyes of Nightmare and shivered. ("And I thought that Rex was scary…that thing is meant to cause fear.") "I set two cards face-down on the field."
Akuma's blood red eyes shimmered in the night as he waited to see what Ichigo was going to do.
The half demon looked at the monster cards in his hand. A couple of them he remembered from last time…and then he finally decided. "I set one monster face-down on the field. End turn."
Akuma drew. "Nightmare…attack with Fires of Hell!" Flames exploded out of the machine's nostrils as it cooked the set monster.
Ichigo pointed at burning mass that was his card. "I activate the effect of Ebb Tide Mimic Octopus!" (300/250) A strange pale octopus appeared on the field and shrugged off the fire. "When this monster is attacked while face-down the attack is negated and it transforms into an exact clone of the flipped up monster." (2700/2400) It disappeared and a copy of Nightmare appeared on the field.
Akuma growled and slid a card into his disk. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon from my hand on that card!" He pointed at one of Ichigo's set cards.
Ichigo pointed at the card. "And in response I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon!" A blast of wind flew from his own set card that hit the face-down card on Akuma's field and shattered it.
Akuma slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
Ichigo frowned as Mimic Octopus exploded into dust. "At the end phase of this turn my monster is destroyed by its own effect." He drew. "I summon Shining Force-Jungle Fighter (1500/1200) to the field in defense mode." A giant wild-haired man holding a stone-tipped spear appeared on the field in a crouching position. "Then I set one card face-down and end my turn." ("I'm running out of options…but for now I can only defend.")
Akuma drew. "From my hand I play The Warrior Returning Alive." He removed a card from his graveyard. "This magic card lets me take back one warrior type monster and add it to my hand." Grabbing Berserker, he threw it down and a wild warrior with a toothed sword appeared on the field. "Attack now!" The monster leapt across the field towards the Jungle Fighter.
"Reverse card open!" Ichigo pointed at one of his set cards. "Shining Barrier lets me negate one attack against a Shining Force monster in play. Also, this card lets me gain 2000 life points." Energy flowed around his form as a golden shield started to appear in front of his monster.
Akuma pointed at his own set card. "Tell me something…" When the card flipped up he chuckled. "Have you ever done this before? I activate Shadow Theft." Shining Barrier shimmered onto his field and then shattered. "The battle continues…go Berserker!"
Jungle Fighter cried out in pain as the weapon slashed across its chest and blew it apart.
Ichigo paled. ("I should have known…")
Akuma pointed at Ichigo. "Nightmare, attack now with Flames of Hell!" Fire exploded out of the horse's nostrils towards Ichigo.
The half demon snapped his hand out over his set card. "I activate the quickplay magic card Energy Matrix!" A glowing pyramid of gold light appeared around him. "This card lets me protect myself when a Shining Force monster is destroyed as a result of battle. I also draw one card." He drew. "Now I can shuffle any number of cards in my hand into my deck to gain 1000 life points per card." Snapping two cards up, he shuffled them into his deck.
Ichigo- 4325
Akuma- 500
Akuma snarled. "End turn."
Ichigo looked down at his deck and smiled. "Draw." Removing the top card off of his deck, he took it and two others. "I set three cards face-down." Three cards appeared on the field in front of him. "Now I play Mirage of Dreams!" The continuous magic card that appeared on his field had a picture of a sleeping man with numerous ghostly spirits flowing around him. "Now I shuffle my graveyard." A whirring noise came from within his graveyard slot.
Akuma let a rumbling laughter out of his chest.
Ichigo looked at the remaining card in his hand. ("This will work…") "I summon Shining Force-Thunder Mistress!" (1500/1600) Lightning crashed down onto the field and a female form rose up from the arching lightning. Her blond hair fell limply around her side and she stretched her rubber bodysuit. "This monster, when summoned, can destroy one monster in play if I have no cards in my hand!" Lightning arched from her body and slammed into Nightmare, blowing it apart. "End turn."
Akuma drew.
Ichigo pointed at Mirage of Dreams. "During your standby phase I draw the bottom four cards of my graveyard!" Four cards were slid out of his graveyard and he added them to his hand.
"During your standby phase you'll have to remove an equal number of cards from your hand to out of play." Akuma slapped a card down. "I summon Cyber Shadow Blademaster (2000/1600) in attack mode." The dual sword warrior floated down and landed next to Berserker. "Attack Thunder Mistress now!" It snapped up its swords and launched towards the woman.
"Reveal face-down card!" One of Ichigo's set cards flipped up. "Shining Bomb!" A huge metal bomb appeared on the field, energy flowing through veins in its steel shell. "I activate Emergency Provisions!" The bomb exploded in a flash of fire and smoke that blew both his monster and Akuma's monster apart. All of the smoke was sucked into the Emergency Provisions card, and then Mirage of Dreams broke apart. "Shining Bomb activates when you declare an attack against a Shining Force monster that I have in play. Both the attacking monster and my monster are destroyed."
Ichigo- 6325
Akuma- 500
Akuma pointed at Ichigo. "Blademaster, direct attack!" The warrior nearly danced towards the half demon, right before it slashed one blade across his stomach and then slashed the other blade across his neck, dropping him to his knees. "End turn."
Ichigo- 4325
Akuma- 500
Ichigo clutched at his chest. "It hurts…" Taking a deep breath, he stood up weakly and drew. ("I need to overcome this guy…") Looking at his drawn card, he added it to his hand and held up another card. "I activate Pot of Greed." After drawing two cards, he looked at one of the two new pictures and looked like he was almost going to laugh. ("I'll laugh later. For now though, I need to figure out how to get past Blademaster. It has too much attack power for me to overcome with the monsters in my hand.")
Akuma knew the look of thought that crossed the boy's face. "What's the matter? Don't you think that you can win?"
"I'm thinking. So how about you relax…" Ichigo blinked in surprise as he looked at his hand again. ("Of course…") "I summon Shining Force-Blizzard Lizard!" (1500/1000) A frilled lizard made of ice appeared in play.
"What in the world…?" Akuma almost was about to laugh…but something about the smile on Ichigo's face told him that it wasn't a good idea.
The half demon snapped a pair of cards up. "I activate Polymerization. Now I fuse Shining Force-Blizzard Lizard and Shining Force-Ebb Tide Mimic Octopus together." The pale mollusk appeared on the field alongside the icy lizard and both were sucked into a vortex of energy. "Come out now, Shining Force-Mist Chameleon!" (2300/2350) A pale white chameleon appeared on the field in front of him. "Attack now with Mist Spray!" The lizard sprayed out a spear of hot steam that slashed into the warrior and tore it apart. "Also, I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Ichigo- 4325
Akuma- 200
Akuma clenched his fists…and then fell to his knees. "How are you…doing this?"
"The Cyber Shadows can't beat their original user." Ichigo pointed at his enemy. "And therefore you can't defeat me."
The giant stumbled to his feet. "I've defeated too many of you…I'll take you down!" He drew. "I play the magic card Hand Balance! This card lets me draw until I have the same number of cards in my hand that you do." He drew twice and slapped one card down onto the field. "Cyber Shadow Shifter (800/1200) comes out!" The black-clothed warrior appeared on the field.
Ichigo's eyes widened. "The other card…"
Akuma held it up. "Shifter's Trickery lets me draw three cards." Sliding three cards off of his deck, he sneered. "This will hurt you quite a lot. First I play Fusion Gate!" Up above them both the sky started to twist and warp. "Now I play Silent Rebirth." Soldier appeared on the field in a crouching position. "Now I fuse Cyber Shadow Assassin, Soldier and Shifter together to create Cyber Shadow Rayden!" (2800/2000) A white-haired warrior lowered onto the field. "Rayden's special abilities will be your end."
Ichigo paled. He knew exactly what Rayden did. ("When this monster destroys a monster in play then he can also destroy a magic or trap card. That isn't all though, because he can use its second effect to negate the effect of whatever monster it attacks.") Mist Chameleon couldn't be attacked by effect monsters, but thanks to Rayden's special ability it was a moot point.
"Rayden, attack now!" The white-haired youth punched the lizard in the face and it exploded. "Also, I destroy your card on the right." Ichigo's set Shining Signal exploded into dust. "Finally, I activate the final effect of Rayden."
Ichigo stared in confusion. "What are you talking about…Rayden only has two effects!"
Akuma pointed at the card text. "I read otherwise. When you suffer battle damage by this monster you must discard all trap cards in your hand."
Ichigo gasped as the Shining Barrier he had gotten through Mirage of Dreams turned into a beam of light that sped into his graveyard slot. ("That's not right…how is the card text changing….unless…")
Ichigo- 3825
Akuma- 200
Akuma pointed at Ichigo. "I end my turn."
The half demon drew. "And I won't give up."
Eri had gone silent…and watched with her heart stopping and starting of its own accord. ("I can't take this suspense…come on Ichigo…")
A hand rested on her shoulder as Davis crouched down next to her. "Well look at this, he did show up. How's he doing?"
"So far he seems to be in the lead in life points…but Akuma has an incredibly strong monster in play…." Eri took a deep breath. ("For the sake of our friends…")
Ichigo looked at the card he had drawn. "I summon Shining Force-Lady of the Night (1400/400) in defense mode." A female form shimmered into existence on his field. And he immediately gasped.
Eri, from her hiding place, did the same. The monster looked exactly like her, except for the fact that the monster appeared older, taller, and wore a sheer black dress that glittered in the darkness.
Snapping himself out of his momentary stupor, Ichigo frowned. "I end my turn."
Akuma drew. "I summon Cyber Shadow Strongarm (1900/1300) to the field in defense mode." A huge burly-armed warrior appeared on the field. "Attack now!" It launched towards the woman with murder in its eyes.
Ichigo knew that he couldn't let that attack. He wasn't sure why, but it had to be done. "I activate the effect of Lady of the Night!" His last hand card was slid into the graveyard. "By discarding a magic card from my hand I can negate one attack against her. After that all attacks against me for the rest of this turn are direct attacks." A barrier of shadow sprang up to stop Strongarm's attack.
Akuma chortled. "Stupid mistake boy! Rayden attacks you directly!" The white-haired appeared in front of Ichigo and punched him right in the gut. "Before I end my turn I activate the effect of a card I discarded into the graveyard to fuel the effect of Nightmare. Shadow Blessings lets me gain life points equal to the direct attack damage of a monster on my field when it is in my graveyard. End turn."
Ichigo- 1025
Akuma- 3000
Ichigo stumbled…and dropped to one knee. ("It's too much…the Cyber Shadows are too strong…")
("We are with you…")
His eyes opened weakly….and as he looked upon Akuma's field he saw a single phantom form that sent tingles running up and down his spine. ("Snake…")
The phantasmal warrior bowed its head to its true master. ("Ichigo…you mustn't let yourself give up. This creature is a demon in the philosophical sense…a dark parasite upon mankind. It's up to you…I hope that you can find the strength to continue. For as always…")
("If all else fails…there is always the mission.") Ichigo stood up. He was wet, tired, and in pain… ("But the mission isn't finished yet!") He drew. When he looked up Snake was gone. ("Thank you old friend…for that one last encouraging word. Now I know that I can win.")
Akuma closed his eyes. "You've lost boy."
"No." Ichigo looked at his set card. "I have one chance left. And it rests in that set card! Open now!" The card flipped up. "Horn of Shining Revival! This magic card can only activate when I have a monster in play that is humanoid and a Shining Force. Now I can pick up any card with Shining in its title from my graveyard and add it to my hand." He pulled out a card…looked at it…and nodded. "So be it…let's see what this monster can do! I summon Shining Force-Heal Angel!" (1600/0) The medic-dressed angel appeared on the field next to Lady of the Night.
"You re-summon that weakling?" Akuma glowered. "What can she do?"
"Nothing alone…but like all heroes they're never truly alone." Lady of the Night stood up. "Light and Darkness…Shining and Shadow…both are my soul. And as such this is the appropriate monster to defeat you with!"
"What are you babbling about?"
"Fusion Gate activates!" Both female monsters were pulled into the sky. "The power of pain and pleasure…the power of dark and light…the power of nightmare and dream. It is all represented by this monster!" A swirling pillar of light energy and dark energy slammed down into the ground. And a single form slowly lowered down from within that pillar towards the ground.
"What is that?" Akuma was mesmerized by the swirl of black and white power.
"It is your end." The pillar faded and the monster was revealed. It was like that of an angel, except one wing was pitch black while the other was the purest white. In one slender hand rested a black sword, while in the other rested a white sword. The female monster opened its grey eyes and let a few locks of its black-streak white hair fall into its eyes. "Akuma, say hello the Shining Force-Dark Angelica!" (2400/2200) Angelica bowed to the giant and then lifted her swords into a fighting stance.
"As pretty as she is, that little toy is no match for Rayden." Akuma smirked, while Rayden and Strongarm both looked angry at this fact.
Ichigo looked down at his hand. "Fusion Gate is gone." The swirls of dimension above them faded. "Because I play the Field magic card Shining Sanctuary!" Light slammed down onto the field as huge pillars sprang up everywhere. A single giant statue of a goddess appeared behind him. "In this place, the Shining Force is at their strongest. Each member gains an attack bonus of 600." (3000/2200)
Akuma grimaced. "I'll still survive."
"Dark Angelica, attack Rayden now!" The angel glided across the field and slashed right through the white-haired warrior, blowing it apart. "Dark Angelica's special ability now flips a coin! If its heads then I gain life points equal to the attack of the monster she just destroyed! If its tails then you lose life points equal to the attack of the monster she just destroyed!" A golden coin appeared in the air above them and launched out of sight. Then it dropped down and crashed right into the earth between them.
Ichigo smiled slightly as the dust began to clear. "Rest now my friends."
A grinning skull's face was what was on the coin. Dark Angelica snapped her black sword right through Akuma's chest.
The giant looked down at the weapon…and growled weakly. "Impossible…I am immortal…"
"Apparently not." Ichigo pointed at him. "Now go back where you came from."
Ichigo- 1025
Akuma- 0
Akuma shuddered…and turned to dust.
Ichigo dropped to his knees, and smiled weakly. ("Snake…everyone…rest in peace.")
Midnight narrowed his eyes. "Curse, you're on."
The shadowed form bowed. "As you wish master." He faded away.
Ichigo stumbled to his feet…and looked up at the now cloudless night sky. "That was fun…let's never do it again." He started to move towards Eri, but was stopped as dark smoke snapped up in between them. ("Now what?")
"You're impressive, but now you must face me." The smoke formed a ring around the area where Ichigo and Akuma had dueled just seconds before. Then a single line of the smoke appeared across the rings inside…and formed into a dark-coated form.
It was pale with nearly albino white skin. A pair of black lips parted slightly and Curse chuckled. "Are you ready? I am Curse, the second Speaker."
Ichigo clutched at his chest. ("I'm not ready…I'm exhausted.") But he knew what the ring was. His darkness duel had already started.
Ichigo- 4000
Curse- 4000
To be continued…
Well this just flat out sucks. I'm already drained from my first duel, and these guys expect me to duel again? Fine…I'll go with it. Hurry up and make sure everyone is okay Eri, while I deal with pale man. What is that thing you just summoned? Life Lapse Combo?
Next Episode: Continuing Assault; Life Lapse Combo
To Hogwarts-Knight: Sorry buddy, but the Cyber Shadows sleep for now.
To Gryphinwyrm7: Ichigo was ready to bid farewell to the Cyber Shadows. And they were ready to be released from Akuma's control. Now Ichigo will have to face Curse though, who is a demon that has survived the trials of hell.
To Dais: Akuma isn't near the toughest of the Speakers.
To Seeker of the Soul: It's a monster card, and a representation of balance between healing and damage.
To Darkstar: Well you got your wish, he did it.
