Author's Note: I'm on fire here...
Chapter Three: A Collision of Major Egos
"You think you have more power than I do? I'll show you real power! Erika Amero is worth ten times what human scum like you is worth! So allow me to really give you power!" A black dome arose around them, giving off negative energy. Not only did Drake recognize the effect, but he knew the place. She had just started a Darkness Game.
But that wasn't foremost on his mind. First thing on his mind was quite different than that. 'Amero? Shit! That means she's Rikuo's daughter. I hit on Rikuo's daughter....when he finds out he's gonna kill me for sure!'
"Are you even paying attention? I'm going to explain the rules of a Darkness Game to you, or would you rather just die horribly here and now?" Drake blinked and returned his attention to the game at hand. She had already activated her duel disk and was holding a hand of cards. That meant it was going to be Duel Monsters. (ELP: 4000)
"No need to explain. Like I said, I'm not a normal human. I've participated in Darkness Games before. Considering your disposition towards violence I can only assume that if you were capable of beating me you'd inflict something nasty on me. Lucky for you I'm nicer than that." He drew his own hand of five cards, trying to decide on a Punishment Game to inflict once this was over. (DLP: 4000)
"If I was capable of beating you? You think you're stronger than me just because you're older? Well I'll prove you wrong and make you pay for your perverted comments!" She snapped a card off her deck violently, her eyes still mostly red. Drake's attention was now completely focused on the game at hand, and he was about to find out what sort of strategy Rikuo's daughter used.
"You're a student, which means you're learning how to play and improve yourself. You wouldn't be any match for me." Eri growled and picked a card from her hand to play, ready to begin at last.
"In case you hadn't noticed you're a student too!" Drake blinked and looked down at his blue uniform, then laughed at his own comment.
"Guess you got me there."
"Yes, and now I'm about to get you for good! The darkness is just beginning!" He noticed that she looked supremely evil in this moment, and that was bad for him. He didn't know everything about Rikuo, but he honestly wondered how his daughter ended up being so twisted and angry.
"Ah to be naive and angry again." He paused for a moment to think his statement over.
"Actually, I was a serious ass when I was angry like that. I prefer how I am now."
'Girls in uniform may be cute, but having to play a darkness game for checking one out really sucks. Hopefully Kirani will have a better attitude about it.'
Erika Amero, normally called Eri, didn't like most people. She particularly didn't like most guys, whom she considered to be despicable bastards as a general rule, with only a few exceptions. Standing before her was, in her mind, a prime example of the proof of that rule.
Drake felt his dueling spirit spark at the enraged look in his opponent's eyes. She had a true duelist's spirit down there, covered by her rage. 'She has the potential to unleash the true power of a duelist. Now I'm going to see if she can, even if this is my fault.'
Eri smirked and fanned out her hand of six cards, the duel just now beginning. With only four thousand life points to deal with all of her burn cards should make this easy. He might be older than her and an upperclassman of Obelisk Blue by the looks of it, but he was just a mortal, while she was the daughter of a great demon lord.
"Prepare to die mortal, because I'm going to start this duel off with a bang! Death Meteor, go and drain him of one-fourth of his life points!" A pitch black meteor shrieked down from above, and exploded against Drake. A cloud of smoke shielded him from her view, but even over the echoing sound of the explosion she could hear his life points ticking away. (DLP: 3000)
"That's the power of a Darkness Game fool! Everything is so much more real, and I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't stand after that assault!" She snickered in a very wolfish way, bearing what passed for fangs. She hoped the bastard had died.
"Couldn't stand? Do you really take me for someone so weak?" The smoke drifted away, revealing Drake standing exactly where he had been. He was totally unharmed, with not even a speck of dust showing on his pristine blue uniform.
"But how?! With that amount of damage you should have at least felt something! The explosion was big enough to blow up a tank!" Drake responded with a confident smirk, and by crossing his arms over his chest.
"I told you before this, I'm not a normal human. I have a lot more power than most people, and that power is boosted by something very precious to me." He reached into his shirt and pulled out a necklace. Dangling from the end of the necklace was a golden disc, embossed with a strange looking eye.
"Egyptian magic. Father told me about this once before, but I never expected to see it in action. Well, I'll see if the power of a demon can outrank the power of Egypt!" She grabbed another card from her hand and slammed it down onto the disk.
"Twisted Fiend(1900/700) in attack mode!" A piercing call shot through the air as a warped looking black lizard appeared in front of her. It was certainly powerful attack wise, but that wasn't the only reason Eri had the card.
"Since I just summoned it Twisted Fiend now steals away three hundred of our life points each. Feel the sting of my monster!" The lizard bit down on her neck, sucking away energy and life points. Then it jumped over to Drake and did the same. (ELP: 3700, DLP: 2700)
The older duelist shook his head to clear it of a slight fog brought on by the drain of the Twisted Fiend. 'It's a good thing I've got a lot of power reserves; otherwise this duel could get really dangerous for me.'
"I'm not finished with you yet! I set two cards face down, and then I'll activate the magic card Book of the Dead! I can now draw cards off the top of my deck until I reach a monster, which is summoned to the field. The rest I discard." She picked up five cards total, and ditched the first four.
"Meet the creature that is going to be your demise! Chaos Shaman(500/500)!" Her monster was concealed by a black robe and helmet that looked to be made of bone. It appeared crouching with its robe spread around it, so Drake was sure it was in defense mode.
"I'm going to end my turn, activating its effect! I draw cards from the top of my deck until I reach a monster, then I deal half that monster's attack in damage to you!" She drew three cards, and shuffled two of them back into her deck. The third she flipped up to show him.
"Dark Necrofear(2200/2800)!" A slim hand reached out from under the shaman's robe, and a wave of dark energy was unleashed from it. Drake raised his own palm and the black light crashed against it, exploding and leaving no trace. At least except for the singe marks on his hand. (DLP: 1600)
'She's a powerful duelist, but I should have expected that from the daughter of Rikuo. She's also more psychotic than he is, but I can't just crush her. I'll go slow for the moment.' He drew his sixth card, finally having decided how to play this out.
"That was a good move, but not necessarily good enough. Considering how strong your Twisted Fiend is, I don't think I can manage an attack yet, so I'll set a monster instead." A card appeared horizontally in front of him, keeping him defended.
"I'll set these next cards down on my field and then end my turn." He loaded two cards onto the DD3 (or whatever it was), providing him with a temporary stall. There was more he could have done, but he wasn't going to use his full power against a duelist who wasn't at his level.
Now that it was Eri's turn once again she was intent on crushing him with her power. He'd feel her wrath right now. "I begin by playing the continuous magic card Situational Despair! If you don't attack me during your turn I get to draw one card during my turn for each monster you have on the field."
She licked her lips and took the final card of her hand and placed it onto her disk. "I'm going to enjoy ripping through your life points. I summon Death Caliber Knight(1900/1800) in attack mode!"
A hideous knight all in black rode out onto the field, swishing its blade back and forth. Drake didn't flinch at seeing its stats. "Another monster with such a powerful attack. I thought more of you, but I guess you just aren't the duelist I thought you were. Here I was thinking you used strategy, but it looks like it's all brute force."
A look of rage flared up in her eyes, causing them to flash red for a brief second. She roared her anger, pointing at his face down monster. "I'll show you brute force! Death Caliber Knight, destroy his defense monster!"
The knight trotted forwards and slammed his blade down on the set monster. It appeared in front of Drake, a magician in dark robes with a half-sun in the center. With a wave of its hand it pushed back Death Caliber Knight, remaining unharmed. "You attacked Sunset Magician(1300/2000) who has more defense power than your monster has attack." (ELP: 3600)
Drake picked up a card off his deck and added it to his hand, nodding to his monster in explanation. "Whenever Sunset Magician is involved in battle I get to draw a card. So thanks for that." She growled her frustration, realizing she couldn't get past his magician quite yet.
"I may not be able to hurt you with my monsters, but I can still use effects. Chaos Shaman, my turn is over, so use your power!" When she reached her monster she showed it to him, a ghostly horse with a decent attack strength.
"My Hellmare has fifteen hundred attack points, so you'll live for the time being." Chaos Shaman blasted Drake again, and he let it come, deflecting the blast with his own energy. He saw no point in getting hurt from such a measly amount of damage. (DLP: 850)
Smiling, the false Obelisk Blue student looked over his hand of four cards. He didn't have quite what he wanted yet, so he'd wait. "Your monsters are still too strong, but I'm not worried considering I'm so much more powerful than you as a duelist. I set a monster and one card face down. End Turn."
"More powerful of a duelist? How dare you?! Look at the life point score, the bulk of the measly damage to me was caused by my own effect! You haven't touched me at all!" Drake shrugged, still smiling confidently. Eri's eyes flashed red again at his pure arrogance.
"Since you didn't attack last turn and you have two monsters I get to draw an extra two cards this turn!" She slid a total of three cards off her deck, restoring her hand. Now she was going to make him pay for his arrogance.
"I summon Death Credit Mage(1700/1200) to join my other monsters!" An undead wizard took shape, wielding a staff of a dark wood. Drake had heard of this monster, and knew that its effect would actually help him out if she attacked with it.
"I'm going to see if I can keep you on the run. Death Credit Mage, attack and destroy his face down monster!" The undead mage hurled his wooden staff at Drake's monster, blasting it to pieces. But it suddenly reformed as an ageless man in black robes.
"You attacked Sage of Unending Darkness(400/500) which means you flipped him. When you flip him I flip a coin, and if I call it right you have to discard five cards off your deck. If I guess wrong I take one thousand damage. Do or die right?" He reached into his pocket and revealed a small coin which he promptly tossed into the air.
"With Sage of Unending Darkness the outcome is bound to be tails." With a calm and practiced motion he grabbed it in mid-air and slapped it onto the back of his other hand. Slowly he picked his hand up off of it, revealing the coin only to him.
"It's heads." Eri smirked and burst out laughing at his misfortune. Despite his utmost confidence he had failed to guess correctly.
"You're pathetic! All your mocking words and you weren't even a match for me at all!" She threw back her head and laughed, delighted at this turn of events. Now that she had won she could inflict whatever punishment she wanted on him.
"I'm not a weak duelist Ms. Cosplay. I activate the permanent trap card, Joyful Sorrow. Since I failed in an effect I can make it work by allowing you to draw a card. You draw a card, and then you discard five cards from your deck." She scowled and drew another card, then sent five of her next cards to the cemetery. She'd gone through more than half of her deck already.
"Oh and Erika, keep in mind that your Death Credit Mage sends my Sage of Unending Darkness to the top of my deck." He picked up the card and placed it on his deck, meaning he could easily set it again to cut through more of her deck.
Eri growled, but stopped when she realized that she now had three cards in her hand that she hadn't looked at yet. "I play Grave Hand, destroying your Sunset Magician and sending it to the grave!"
A rotting hand erupted from the black ground beneath the magician's feet and dragged it down. That left Drake's field completely empty except for two cards that he had face down. "You're just lucky that playing that moved me into my second main phase, so I can't continue to attack you. Now I set one card face down and end my turn."
Drake casually drew his next card, which was swiftly revealed as his Sage of Unending Darkness. With a swift motion he placed it on the field, watching as the reversed image of a card appeared in front of him. "Of course I'll set that monster face down."
Next he picked out one of the cards he had in his hand and slid it into one of the appropriate slots. "I'm going to set that card face down to join my others."
Now with two cards left in his hand Drake had just a few options, after all, he only had one zone open for magic and trap cards to be played. "Two cards in my hand...and let's count up the cards I've gone through shall we?"
"I've gone through eight cards of my deck so far and just one of those is in the cemetery. So I guess it's time I show you the power I was talking about. Don't worry, I won't finish you off...yet." He took one of those last two cards and played it into his final remaining m/t zone.
"This magic card is called Absolute Determination! Its effect allows me to draw every card in my deck. I have forty-five cards in this deck, and since I've gone through eight that means I'll be drawing thirty-seven." He began to reach for his deck, but was stopped when Eri triggered one of her own traps.
"I won't allow you that much draw power! I activate Magic-Hunting Spirit, which will negate your card and obliterate one random magic card in your hand as well!" A dark spirit exploded from her card and flew towards his own card, surrounding it with its negative energies.
"Is that so? I activate that same card that your card is aiming at from my hand. The quick-play magic card Negative Morality, which allows me to negate an effect at the cost of one thousand life points." Eri threw back her head and laughed at his stupidity, pointing at his duel disk.
"You complete moron! You don't have one thousand life points to pay!" Despite her certainty that his effect was going to fail, the spirit surrounding his magic card broke apart. The effect had been negated.
"Remember Joyful Sorrow? I just used its effect, letting you draw a card in place of that negative effect on me. Since I successfully negated your Magic-Hunting Spirit my Absolute Determination magic card succeeds!" He picked up his entire deck and fanned it out like a regular hand of cards. At least if a regular hand of cards consisted of thirty-seven cards.
Even as she drew her free card Eri cringed on the inside. With every card in his deck in his hand he could probably easily defeat her. "That shouldn't be possible! How can one card have such a powerful effect? There has to be some kind of negative point to it!"
Drake nodded sagely and popped the magic card out of his cemetery. With a flick of the wrist he tossed it over to Eri, who grabbed it in its arc. She held the card up in front of her and read the text. "Draw every card in your deck. During your opponent's end phase you lose the duel if this card is in the cemetery."
She grimaced and tossed it back to him, allowing him to replace it in his cemetery. It didn't matter at all that it would defeat him in her end phase, because with that much draw power he'd have everything needed to win the duel. "I told you before, I won't be crushing you right now. I have something much better in mind."
He pressed a button on his disk, causing a side panel to slide out. He grabbed a card from his massive hand of cards and played it into that zone. "I activate the field magic card Recycling Bin!"
With a flash the giant form of a green recycling bin took shape behind him. Eri didn't recognize the card, but she certainly wasn't impressed. "This is your move? What are you going to do, teach me how to recycle?"
Drake smirked and took another card from his hand and slid it into the final of his open magic/trap zone. "Actually, that's exactly what I'm going to be doing. So get ready to learn because I set a card face down and end my turn."
"Since my hand is much too large I'll discard all but these six cards in order to reduce my hand size to the required amount." Drake took the remaining twenty-nine cards and slid them into the cemetery, boosting the number of cards in there. He had a plan, but she was totally clueless.
She sneered and drew her next card, then drew another card from Situational Despair. "I'd love to go on the offensive right here, but I think I'd rather let you kill yourself. So I end my turn, activating both the effect of my Chaos Shaman and your Absolute Determination. You lose no matter what!"
Her opponent grinned and snapped his fingers, causing one of his own set cards to flip up. The card had an image of wrapped packages of food on it. "I trigger Emergency Provisions, and I'll send every card on my field into the cemetery in order. As the final card I'll send my Recycling Bin field card to the cemetery!"
He smirked as he slid the cards into the grave, causing his life points to go up. The effect of Emergency Provisions was quite useful in this case, but it wasn't going to save him. "It doesn't matter, you still lose because of Absolute Determination!" (DLP: 5850)
"Not exactly. While Recycling Bin is on the field it gets rid of the graveyard for both of us. All cards go into it instead of the cemetery. So whatever monster you discarded for Chaos Shaman's effect failed because it went into the bin." She grimaced, realizing that the power of her Opticlops was going to waste, nine hundred damage that had completely failed.
"Here's where things get interesting. When Recycling Bin leaves the field all cards that were in the bin are reshuffled into their owner's decks. It doesn't count itself even though it reshuffles itself back into my deck. I just reshuffled thirty-seven cards back into my deck, not counting the Recycling Bin." He took his graveyard and shuffled it together, replacing it in his deck slot.
Eri ejected the cards from her cemetery and counted them up, figuring out just how much she got back. "I reshuffled fifteen cards back into my deck from my cemetery. You may save yourself from the effect of Absolute Determination, but I can still crush you. All you have in play now is that measly sage of yours."
"I told you it was interesting. See, when Recycling Bin leaves the field I gain one hundred life points for each card reshuffled back into the deck. That's mine and yours. Since we reshuffled a total of fifty-two cards, I gain fifty-two hundred life points." Fifty-two lights swarmed around him, zipping into his duel disk to replenish his life points. (DLP: 11050)
He smirked and drew a seventh card. The worst part to Eri was the fact that of those seven cards he had chosen six of them. He had a hand composed of cards that he had selected, and that wouldn't bode well for her. 'This bastard is more talented than I expected. I'll enjoy crushing him completely.'
"Now, I guess it's time for me to finally go on the offensive. But first I'll flip up my face down Sage of Unending Darkness(400/500). I call tails again." He took out the coin and threw it into the air, catching it as it came back down. This time when he showed it on his hand it was tails, so Eri picked up five cards and shoved them into her graveyard.
"Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'm going to play a special magic card. Go Chaos Fusion! This magic card can only fuse together a light and a dark monster, and only certain pairs. Here's the card I'm fusing with Sage of Unending Darkness." He flipped around a card in his hand, showing a card named Sage of Everlasting Light(500/400).
"Together they form Sage of Eternity(2800/2800) a ten star monster!" The monster was exactly like Sage of Unending Darkness in appearance, only it had a blue robe instead of a black one. The sage smiled brightly and waved a hand in front of itself, causing five points of light and five points of darkness to appear.
"When Sage of Eternity hits the field I get to draw five cards and you have to discard five cards off your deck." They both did so, that taking down a further chunk of Eri's deck. Drake on the other hand now had ten cards in his hand.
"I'll activate another effect of Sage of Eternity. By removing one of the fusion components I can reactivate its effect. So by removing both sages from the grave I get to draw five cards and force you to discard another five." Her eyes went wide at hearing this, and she grudgingly discarded another five cards. He was quickly burning through her deck.
"Look at this...fifteen cards in my hand. I bet some of them are really useful, wouldn't you guess that?" Eri didn't respond in words, she merely growled, clenching her fists so tightly that her claws were digging into her palms and making them bleed. She could see it already, with that many cards her own set cards would quickly prove useless.
"I know what I'll do, I'll activate Bonds of Brothers. It costs me one thousand life points, but it lets me special summon two level four or lower monsters who match the sub-type of one creature on my field. So get ready to meet two more magicians!" He ejected his deck and flipped through it, finally coming across the cards that he wanted. (DLP: 10050)
"I special summon Skilled Chaos Magician(1800/1600) and Guardian Magician of the Day(1400/1900)!" His first monster had golden robes, while the second was in robes that were patterned after the sky.
"Since Guardian Magician of the Day was special summoned I get to special summon Guardian Magician of the Night(1900/1400) to the field to join him!" He slapped down another monster, this one being the polar opposite of Guardian Magician of the Day. Its robes were the night sky, with stars and everything.
"The best part is...I haven't even summoned yet. Don't worry, I won't be that cruel. I will however activate the effect of Guardian Magician of the Day and Guardian Magician of the Night. As Unity Magicians they gain effects when they are on the field together. So at a cost of one thousand life points I'll destroy your magic and trap cards." (DLP: 9050)
The two magicians touched their wands together, and a beam of light erupted from the touching tips. The light swept across her field, burning away her magic and trap cards. Now all that she had was her two powerful monsters and her Chaos Shaman to protect her against that brutish force. "I am Erika Amero...I can't lose like this!"
"Sorry, but you just did. I activate Soul of the Thoughtful, which lets me replay effects this turn for a cost of five hundred each time. I'll use the other ability of my two guardian magicians, and pay one thousand to destroy every monster on your field!" Again the magicians touched their wands, this time sending a beam of pure darkness sweeping over her monsters. In seconds they were gone. (DLP: 7550)
"I'm still not done though. I activate Grave Sifting, which lets me move a card between our graveyards. I know it seems pointless, but I do have a plan in mind. I move Soul of the Thoughtful to your graveyard." He tossed her the card, which she numbly slid into her cemetery slot. She still didn't know why he was delaying.
"Here's the last one I needed. I use Instant Replay and have Grave Sifting move Soul of the Thoughtful back into my cemetery." She still didn't understand his actions, but she gave him back his magic card. None of the things he was doing made any sense to her. If she was on his end she would have crushed him already!
"I've finally done what I needed to. I sacrifice Skill Chaos Magician and its three counters to special summon Black Magician of Chaos(2800/2600), my favorite monster!" The golden clothed magician vanished, suddenly replaced by a blue-skinned magician in black and red leather, wielding a deadly looking jet black staff.
"I choose to forego his effect. I just wanted to strike the final blow with him. I'll do so by activating United We Stand on him, boosting his attack power by eight hundred for each monster that's on the field. Since I'm going to finally summon my Skilled Apprentice Magician(1400/1100) that makes five monsters total." Energy flowed from the other four monsters into Black Magician of Chaos, giving him a massive blue aura.
"Finish me. I've lost." Drake nodded and extended his left arm, palm outwards. This was the final moment of the duel, and he was going to give her full respect and defeat her with his favorite monster.
"Black Magician of Chaos(6800/2600), finish her off. CHAOS SCEPTER BLAST!" The magician spun his staff over his head and then brought it slamming down onto the ground. A sphere of chaotic energy appeared and raced across the ground, breaking it apart as it went. Eri squeezed her eyes shut as the energy struck her, exploding and sending her flying into the air. (ELP: 0)
She lost consciousness for a brief moment from the sheer force of the blast. When she awoke the darkness had faded and she was propped up against a tree. Standing a few feet away from her was Drake, hands shoved in his pockets and a blank look on his face. "Awake I see."
He crouched down in front of her and stared at her. She blanched at the intense look in his violet eyes. After all the perverted joking he had done when she had first met him, she had never expected to see a look like that in his eyes. It was a look of age...and wisdom. 'He really isn't a normal human...'
"You lost a Darkness Game to me, that means it's time for me to inflict Punishment Game upon you. So, for the punishment, how about you never tell anyone about this defeat and always remember how you were outclassed. You'll just have to constantly strive to become the strongest in order to wash away the shame of such an utter defeat." The intense look faded from his eyes and he stood back up, offering his hand to her.
She snarled and brushed it aside, rising to her feet. She looked him right in the eye, glaring for all that she was worth. But in reality it wasn't intimidation, she was looking for something. Looking for that power that she had seen deep within those eyes. "Fine. I accept the punishment. Now get away from me!"
She stormed away, leaving him standing on his own in the middle of the field. She stopped when she was about a hundred feet away and looked back, seeing him standing there. 'Someday I'll possess that kind of power. I swear it!'
When she was out of view Drake smiled and walked back in the direction that he had been going. It was time to get a bite to eat, after all, dueling could make a guy hungry. "She was kind of psycho, but I liked her. Anybody who has that much dueling potential is cool in my book."
He stopped grinning when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. On the side of a building he was entering was a calender. Each day of the month to pass so far was crossed off, so he was able to figure out what the day was. "March thirteenth....but that means that tomorrow is..."
Drake chuckled and walked away, thinking up a plan of action. "Tomorrow Kirani and the others show up. Tomorrow is also March 14th. I hope there's some place I can find chocolate at this school."
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Next Chapter: White Day Blackened
Author's Notes: No really, I'm on fire! SOMEBODY GET SOME WATER! IT HURTS, OH GOD IT HURTS!
Hogwarts-Knight: Nope, no ego fueling for her. Thinking she could beat Drake is like thinking she could beat her own dad, which we know wouldn't happen.
Time Mage: See, won't get caught in that way. The dueling was just stupid on Drake's part, but the getting so easily recognize wasn't on purpose. Besides, he only needs to be undercover for a short time.
WolfGeneral: See, not disastrous. And next chapter we get back to the hilarious part.
G.O.T. Nick: Yay! Can I get a coupon as well along with that free review?
Original Cards
Eri: Book of the Dead(WolfGeneral), Chaos Shaman(WolfGeneral), Twisted Fiend(WolfGeneral), Situational Despair(WolfGeneral), Magic-Hunting Spirit(WolfGeneral)
Drake: Sunset Magician, Sage of Unending Darkness, Joyful Sorrow, Negative Morality, Absolute Determination, Recycling Bin, Sage of Everlasting Light, Chaos Fusion, Guardian Magician of the Day, Guardian Magician of the Night, Grave Sifting, Soul of the Thoughtful, Sage of Eternity, Skilled Chaos Magician, Skilled Apprentice Magician, Instant Replay
Anime Original Cards
Eri: Death Credit Mage, Death Caliber Knight
Drake: Bonds of Brothers
