Author's Notes: The conclusion to the Duel Montage!
Chapter Sixteen: Duel Montage Pt.4
Kodowari snarled even as a card ejected from his deck. "Prepare to feel the second level of technology and the power it can bring. I have added to my hand the monster that will start your end. I must sacrifice Game Console for it, so I do so, and bring out the second generation. Game Console 2(1000/4000)."
A somewhat sleeker version of the black box console appeared, floating almost menacingly above Kodowari's field. "Get ready to feel the pain. By discarding one card from my hand I can swap its attack and defense points until the end of your turn!"
He slid one of his two remaining cards into the grave, and then the monster's stats flipped. "Here we go! Attack Hitokage directly with Power Surge attack!"
The slots for controllers to go in charged up, and then four different blasts of energy shot out at Hitokage. "Say goodbye to virtually all of your life points!"
Hitokage motioned to his face down card, which immediately flipped up. "Attack Leeching negates one attack and lets me draw one card."
The energy fizzled out even as Hitokage slid another card off the top of his deck. Kodowari grimaced and glanced at the last card in his hand. "Fine, have it your way. End turn."
Hitokage didn't even seem to notice the energy that surged into his duel disk, he was more focused on what he had in his hand. Finally he pointed to the empty space in front of him and made a declaration. "Since I offered Malice Doll of Demise to a continuous magic card it now returns." (HLP: 4800)
The deadly puppet reappeared, cackling at Kodowari. "Once again I sacrifice Malice Doll of Demise to Sacrificial Soul in order to remove the final card in your hand from play."
Kodowari felt his blood begin to boil as the blast of energy knocked his last card out of his hand. Not that it really mattered with his Production Staff-Creative Division on the field. "Go ahead and destroy my cards all you want, it won't help. You're nothing to me."
Hitokage narrowed his eyes at Kodowari, and then continued his turn. "You forget your place Kodowari, which is beneath my feet and that of any real duelist. You are just like my Malice Doll of Demise, you exist to be sacrificed to a greater power."
His opponent quivered with rage and Hitokage couldn't help but smile slightly. He knew that such a comment would drag that response from his enemy, and now the fool's rage was making him give off even more energy for Hitokage to consume. 'He will be his own death in this duel.'
"Now, I set one monster and one magic or trap card face down. You may continue with your "strategy" now." Two more cards appeared on his field, and then Kodowari motioned to his duel disk, which spat a card out to him.
"You think you have power, but you know nothing of real power! I sacrifice Game Console 2 for Game Console 3(1500/5000)!" He sneered at the Obelisk Blue as an even higher-tech version of his game system formed, this one without the cartridge option. Instead it had a space for discs to go.
"Now I activate Game Console 3's effect, and automatically swap its attack and defense points without even a discard! Power Surge attack!" Four individual streams of energy exploded out of the controller spaces and splashed across Hitokage's set monster, blowing it into millions of pieces.
"You destroyed Soul Viewer(0/1400). When destroyed this monster lets me look at the top two cards of my deck. Any monsters among them are summoned to my field." He picked up two cards, and then placed one of them onto his duel disk.
"Sangan(1000/600) is summoned in attack mode." The furball with arms and legs appeared, snarling at Kodowari. The Osiris Red duelist sneered at the weak monster, but because he had already attacked and had no more cards he had to end his turn.
Energy flowed into Hitokage's duel disk even as the scythe-wielding puppet reformed on his field. "I gain four hundred life points, as well as having Malice Doll of Demise special summoned back to my field." (HLP: 5200)
He glanced at his new card, and then reached down to pick up his two monsters and slid them into the graveyard. "I sacrifice both of my monsters to summon Soul Master(2600/2900) in attack mode."
Both monsters vanished and were replaced by a phantasmagoric spellcaster. "Since Sangan went to the cemetery I may search my deck for a monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points and add it to my hand."
He fanned through his deck before finding what he wanted, and then he placed it in his hand and returned his deck to its normal position. "This is your final moment Kodowari. I play Soul Reaver, and discard Soul Charger(0/0) for its effect. This lets me take control of your monster, and during each standby phase I gain its attack as life points."
Kodowari grimaced as his Game Console 3 suddenly shattered into a million pieces. "If Game Console 3 leaves my field in any way it is automatically destroyed. Also when it is destroyed all life point damage to me for the rest of the turn is zero."
Hitokage frowned, realizing that he wasn't going to be able to finish his opponent off in this turn, at least not until his next turn. "End turn."
Another card shot out of Kodowari's deck, and he began to laugh as he held it up. "You've fallen into my plot Hitokage! Meet the ultimate gaming system! By removing all the previous ones from the grave I can special summon Game Console X(2000/6000) to the field!"
This new game system was a sleek design that was silver and didn't appear to have any attachments for wires. Everything about it was state of the art, including not needing wires to connect to other systems. "By forfeiting its attack I can have Game Console X deal its defense as damage to one opposing monster, so say goodbye to Soul Master!"
The spectral spellcaster exploded into dust, and Hitokage's life points dropped rapidly. "Since I have no other cards and can't attack, that makes it your turn." (HLP: 1800)
"In my standby phase I gain a total of nineteen hundred life points from the combined effects of Soul Vanishing and Soul Reaver." Energy surged into his duel disk, recovering virtually all of the damage that Kodowari had just inflicted upon him. (HLP: 3700)
"I set one monster face down and end my turn." A single card appeared in front of him, defending his life points.
Kodowari sneered and held up the newest card that he had added to his hand and threw it down onto his duel disk. "Meet the monster version of Enemy Controller, Game Controller(0/0)! It has the same effects as Enemy Controller, but with Game Console X negating life point requirements I'll simply destroy your set monster at no cost!"
Hitokage's set monster shattered, and then it reformed instantly, revealing itself as a small leech creature. "You just destroyed Soul Leech(300/500) who when destroyed may attach to one monster on the field and place it just as out of play as Soul Vanishing does. That includes life point gain."
The other duelist gazed in horror as his ultimate monster fuzzed out of view, leaving him with no way to launch any sort of attack. "I...I end my turn."
"Your Game Console X is a level ten monster, which means I gain twenty-nine hundred life points total. Thank you." Even more energy flooded into his duel disk, setting him far above the life points that he had started with. (HLP: 6600)
"I summon Soul Warden(1800/1500) in attack mode and have it destroy Game Controller." Kodowari grimaced as his last useable monster was blown apart by Hitokage's newest creature. (KLP: 1200)
"I'll still crush you Hitokage! Go Game Chip(500/1000)! And I sacrifice it to destroy one magic or trap card in play. Since Soul Leech is equipped to my monster, I'll destroy it to get rid of it for good!" As the leech was destroyed the game console returned to normal.
"Now, Game Console X activates its effect to blow away Soul Warden." Hitokage frowned as his only monster exploded, leaving him with only a few face up cards as his defense against the impressive strength of his opponent's monster. (HLP: 2400)
"Looks like you're just about finish doesn't it?" Kodowari snickered, knowing that as soon as he won this Darkness Game he could strip Hitokage of his abilities, and that would perfect Kodowari's strength. This was exactly what he needed, and then he'd be able to drain Rikuo and Drake with ease.
"Hmmm...Pot of Greed." Kodowari didn't care even as his opponent drew new cards. Obviously most of what he had been holding was useless, so new cards wouldn't help either. Especially not with his ultimate monster in play. All he cared about was Hitokage's extra life points. (HLP: 4300)
"I activate Monster Reincarnation and discard one card from my hand. In exchange I pick up Soul Master(2600/2900) from the grave. Now I set two cards face down and end my turn." He finished off with just Soul Master in his hand, and Kodowari couldn't help but laugh.
"That's your choice? You need two monsters to summon that, and you have none! You'd have been better off with Sangan, or that Soul Viewer of yours...in fact, why not take back Soul Leech? Bah! And you're an Obelisk Blue! What a laugh!" And he did, laugh that is.
"If you are such a perfect duelist, perhaps you would care to prove my choice wrong. Feel free to begin at any moment." Kodowari snarled at his opponent's cocky attitude and immediately snapped a card off his deck, drawing for only the second time in the duel.
"Since you have no monsters in play I'll have Game Console X use its ability and target you! Crush him!" Energy exploded out of the game system's laser scanner, shooting directly at the Obelisk Blue. However, he merely snapped his fingers.
"Reverse cards open. First up is A Villain Emerges. Normally this would require you to choose a card from my hand, but since I only have one my Soul Master(2600/2900) automatically emerges!" Kodowari's eyes widened as he realized that he had been drawn in, and that Hitokage had known what he was doing all along.
"It doesn't matter, the strike will still crush your monster!" His words died in his mouth as the attack flickered and vanished, leaving Hitokage's monster untouched.
"Dark Tower's Defense lets me give up the top two cards of my deck to negate an attack, so your assault was useless. Now, is that all?" Kodowari snarled and slid the last card in his hand onto his duel disk.
Hitokage slid a card off his deck, but before he could say anything else Kodowari motioned to his set card. "Activate quick-play magic card, Cheat Code-Ability Unlock! Using this I'll activate X's effect and hit you with its defense as damage directly to your life points!"
The Obelisk Blue fell to one knee as energy waves slammed into his body, but then he rose back to his feet almost immediately, still smiling. "Your attempts were pointless. I still survive, and now you are ended." (HLP: 200)
"Ended? What are you talking about? You're the one with just one monster against my mighty creature and you only have two hundred life points left! You're the one who's ended!" Hitokage shrugged and pointed to his Soul Master.
"This is why. Soul Master special ability activates. I sacrifice one face-up Soul Reaver to deal damage to your life points equal to twice the amount of life points I gain from its effect. In other words...you're dead." Kodowari backed away in horror, but was unable to escape as the energy wave struck him and blasted him backwards. (KLP: 0)
The darkness began to fade away as Hitokage approached Kodowari, frowning as he approached. "As punishment for your failure to defeat me, you will be revealed as what you really are and all that you have done in this life will be undone. Fair isn't it?"
Kodowari shook his head and then screamed as the darkness flooded into his body.
Hitokage frowned and poked the empty Osiris Red uniform with his booted foot. Slowly he crouched down and pulled it aside, uncovering a little doll figurine with hairs and arcane figures scrolled on it in blood. "A puppet, exactly as I thought. What a pathetic way to go through life."
With that out of the way he turned on his heel and headed back to the dorms. "That was a nice detour, but at least this island will return to normal from now on."
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The smoke faded...revealing just two duelists and nothing else. "The duel's over buddy, and now it's time to inflict a true Punishment Game upon you!"
"This duel isn't over yet Rikuo. Take at a look at your duel disk and find out." Rikuo frowned and glanced down at the mechanical device. To his surprise it was still activate, and his life points still read exactly as they had previous to his attack.
"What the hell is this? If the duel isn't over, where did everything go? Why isn't there anything on the field?" In response to this question Drake held his hand over his cemetery slot, and a card was ejected from it. The punk duelist flipped it up, revealing it to Rikuo's keen demonic eyes.
"My magic card Breakdown can only be activated when there are twenty cards in the cemetery, and can even be played from the grave, but doesn't count itself in the grave. After that one use it is removed and it blows away every card on the opponent's field and in their hand." Rikuo blinked, shocked to see that everything he had gathered was gone, and there was nothing left for the turn that he could do.
"It's time to turn this duel around Rikuo. I summon Guardian Magician of the Day(1400/1900) and then I attack you directly!" A beam of white energy hit the wolf demon, but he just shrugged it off. What he still felt was the sheer irritation and rage that came from having his vengeance stripped from him like that. (RLP: 3150)
"I set one card face down. Now let's see what you can do Rikuo." A holographic card appeared behind Drake, leaving him with one card left in his hand.
The wolf demon drew, his eyes only seeing his Amplifier equip card. He placed the card face down, and then nodded to Drake. "Go and take your turn."
"It's almost sad when a powerful duelist like you has come to this. But this is the point of this duel when everything you've worked towards shatters, leaving you with nothing. I've already said that I'll show my innocence, and if it takes winning to show you the truth then I will. Now, Refined Spellweaver(1600/1100) in attack mode!" The well-dressed magician bowed to Drake, and then snapped his wand up in readiness.
"Refined Spellweaver and Guardian Magician of the Day...attack Rikuo directly! Shatter his last hopes of getting his false vengeance!" Rikuo was blasted onto his back by the double magic attack, and he just stared up into the endless darkness above him. It was just about over now. (RLP: 150)
'There's so little left...but I can't let it end now. I have to get revenge for what he did to Eri! I must have vengeance!' Drake couldn't help but smile as he saw the demon stand and reach for his deck. Rikuo certainly had the strength and spirit of a true duelist, and he never gave up. He was just too stubborn to die.
"You may have me on the ropes but I'm not out yet! It's my turn to return the duel to my favor, and I'm going to blow away any hopes you had of winning when I do so! So it's my turn to draw! Feel the wrath of the wolf demon general, feel the wrath of the top deck, feel the wrath of Rikuo Amero!"
Rikuo yanked the top card off his deck, and then Refined Spellweaver raised his wand in the air. The area around them changed to a yellowish color. "According to the effect of Refined Spellweaver we now draw until we reach a monster, then all other drawn cards are shuffled into our decks."
Steadily the two drew until each one held the necessary card. But Rikuo wasn't concerned with the monster he had drawn, but rather the other card he had gotten. "You wanted Fenrir's power? You wanted to taste it for yourself so you revived it...well now I'll let you taste its power!"
He slammed his drawn card into his disk, and the ground began to quake as the massive form of Fenrir(4000/4000) started to take shape. "Monster Reborn revives Fenrir, and with his attack power all it will take is one single strike!"
The mighty wolf god roared, shaking the darkness to its core and Drake as well. The punk duelist grimaced as he stared up at the jaws of that beast. 'Damn...'
"Fenrir, blow away Guardian Magician of the Day and all of Drake's life points!" The wolf god lunged forwards and slashed with its claws, tearing straight through the magician and then into Drake's shoulder, driving him to the ground. (DLP: 1350)
"Sorry Rikuo, but I don't die so easily. My Shrink magic card may not have saved me from damage, but it did save me from losing the duel." He chuckled, pulling himself up to his feet with one hand, while the other held the bloody wound on his shoulder.
"Damn it! Just die already! Fine, take your damned turn, I don't care." He finished his turn by slapping a monster onto his duel disk, and letting it appear face down.
Drake shuddered and drew, glad to see Fenrir fade as quickly as it had reappeared. "Now we draw for magic..."
The two duelists drew, and then Drake moved quickly, knowing that blood loss would soon do some serious damage. Already his energy was being leaked away into the darkness, and he no longer had the focus to draw on Rikuo's rage for power. "I summon Twisted Spellweaver(1800/600) and he attacks your set monster."
"Pretty stupid move Drake. You just flipped the mighty Cyber Jar(900/900)! Now all monsters are blown away, and we pick up five cards. Any level four or lower monsters amongst those are summoned." Drake grimaced as they both picked up five cards and scanned through them.
Rikuo frowned and placed two of his drawn cards onto his duel disk, letting them appear in defense. Drake placed one monster face down, and then slapped the other face-up. "Skilled Chaos Magician(1800/1600) appears and blasts the right most set monster!"
The wolf demon smirked and held up the recently blasted monster. "You just destroy Nano-Virus(0/0) which means you have to discard your hand until its half the size of mine. So discard until you hold two cards, and all of it at random."
Drake grimaced but was forced to comply. Finally he held up the last two cards and then slid them onto his duel disk. "Two cards face down, and that's all."
Rikuo drew, giving him a total of five cards in his hand. He fanned them out, and then slammed one down onto his duel disk. "I sacrifice my set Mecha Assembler(1500/1500) who counts as two sacrifices for a machine. This lets me summon the mighty Irios the Steel Monarch(2700/2300). And since he's my only attacker...his attack doubles!"
Drake groaned as a fresh burst of pain washed over him, some of it brought on by the coming of the gigantic metallic monstrosity who now had more attack power than virtually any monster could boast. "Irios attacks Skilled Chaos Magician!"
"Activate Shot From The Dark! With it I'll activate Mirage Magic from the grave, negating your attack and giving me fifty-four hundred life points." He sighed with relief...until the energy beam flew straight to Rikuo and into the demon's duel disk.
"Not exactly punk. My Life Theft quick-play lets me steal one life point bonus that my opponent would gain and give it to myself. Now I set two cards face down and end my turn." He smirked and waved the one remaining card in his hand idly back and forth as he waited for Drake to take his turn. (RLP: 5550)
"You want power? Here's mine! Skilled Chaos Magician and his counters are traded in to summon Black Magician of Chaos(2800/2600)! Then I'll trigger my set Magician's Circle and summon White Magician of Chaos(2800/2600)!" Two leather clad magicians instantly appeared, one in black the other in white.
"Now I activate Magician's Storm and blow away your magic and trap cards!" The wolf demon shrugged and snapped his fingers, causing both of his face down cards to flip up.
"Time Seal prevents you from drawing next turn and Jar of Greed lets me draw one new card. Really you wouldn't have been destroying a threat anyways, so it was a waste of a card." Drake frowned and shook his head, realizing he had just wasted his magic card for nothing. And he had returned it with Black Magician of Chaos.
"I activate Shrink from my hand, and reduce Irios' attack points by half. Now, Black Magician of Chaos blows it away and removes it!" Rikuo grunted as his machine was shattered into a million pieces. (RLP: 4100)
"Now White Magician of Chaos attacks directly! Chaos Scepter Blast!" The sphere of chaotic energy struck Rikuo dead on, but he just pushed back against it and let it strike the ground and explode. (RLP: 1300)
"End turn." He breathed out heavily, praying that it would be enough. Currently he had the advantage, but there was no telling what Rikuo could do given an opportune moment. He was good at that sort of thing.
Rikuo smirked and held up one of his three cards. "I play Soul Exchange, letting me sacrifice monsters on your side of the field for myself at a cost of my battle phase."
"Now, time to introduce you to power. Activate magic card, Emergence from the Lands of the Dead! By discarding one card I can normal summon a monster from my cemetery, and I think I'll sacrifice your three monsters to normal summon Fenrir(4000/4000)!" Drake groaned as once again the behemoth of a wolf arose, and roared its rage at Drake.
"That thing just keeps coming back. I swear it wants to eat me." Rikuo snickered and pointed a thumb at his god.
"Actually, it does. But that will have to wait until my next turn since I have no battle phase. But since you can't draw and the cards you hold are totally useless to you...I guess things won't be a problem for me will they?" Drake could have sworn that Fenrir laughed just like Rikuo did, or at least as much as a gigantic wolf could laugh.
Drake felt his entire body quiver as the blood dripped past his fingers. His vision swam, and in a brief moment he discovered that he was on his knees, not having noticed falling to them. "Damn it...I'm not going to be able to win unless I do what I've been avoiding, and losing isn't an option. Rikuo...this is the last move I would have wanted to make, but it must be done!"
"Bah, there's nothing you can do and you know it! You can't even draw!" Drake shook his head in response and then pulled his deck out of its holder.
"You're wrong Rikuo, because there are two cards in my deck that can be placed into my hand at a cost of my draw phase. Since I don't have one, that makes this perfect. Now, the card I added is summoned. Shadow Manipulator(1400/1200)!" A magician cloaked in shadows materialized, holding the shadows close to his body.
"When this monster is summoned you may take one random card from my deck, and I may do the same from yours. If either of us gets a monster then Shadow Manipulator gains two hundred attack points. Now, make your pick." The two duelists approached each other and fanned out their decks.
Rikuo frowned, and then snatched a card from Drake's deck at random. "Ha! Random or not, this is an excellent draw, but it's not a monster so it doesn't matter. I got your Halt Play magic card, so even if you set cards I can prevent you from playing them."
Drake nodded, his hand hovering over Rikuo's deck. He grimaced, hating what he was doing, knowing that he couldn't avoid it. He could see the terrible aura, and he knew exactly what it was. Closing his eyes he placed his hand on the card and picked it out. "I didn't draw a monster."
They snapped their decks back into position and then walked back to their places. Rikuo whirled around and saw Drake with the card he had gotten hovering right in front of one of the activation slots. "Stop being such a coward and play the card!"
"So be it Rikuo...the card of greatest evil that can be found in your deck, the card that I could feel innately. That power will end this duel just like it ended our last duel! Go, Hell Meteor!" Rikuo's eyes went wide as the massive bell of hellfire formed in the darkness above them and began descending.
At that very same moment another Darkness Game came to a conclusion, and Rikuo's eyes returned to their normal color. He blinked, and then he looked down at Drake. "An illusion? All of it was...false. Then finish me off!"
He beckoned to the meteor and then it struck, exploding with tremendous force and blasting a huge crater into the ground. When the darkness faded away it could be seen that the devastation had even leaked into the real world, and trees had been scorched by the power. "Good game Drake...and in this situation I'm glad I lost." (RLP: 0)
Rikuo marched over to Drake and slapped a hand on the other duelist's back. "Don't think you'll get out of a rematch, because the next duel is mine. Now, it's time to find whoever tricked me and make him pay."
"Sleep now. Find later. On second thought, I think I'll pass out from blood loss, if that's okay with you." Drake hit the ground face first and stopped moving.
"Great...he wins and I still have to drag his lifeless ass around. Pain in the ass, him and all his friends."
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Next Chapter: Into the Underworld
Author's Notes: At long last Rikuo vs Drake concludes, and now more plot will be revealed as the gang moves to take on the real challenge. The Underworld of Dueling...
Review Responses
John: Potentially more Kuriboh. I happen to like the little furball so he pops up a lot.
WolfGeneral: I had a totally free day, so I got lots of writing done. Plus my tv isn't working so...
Time Mage: Okay, seriously with the Drake thing...shut up. Drake could barely control Fenrir, and Supreme Sage of Balance is NOT a god, therefor anyone can control it. The cannon isn't targeted, so Fenrir couldn't save itself. Also, Hitokage has personality, he's just a very calm and relaxed person. And full of himself.
Gryphinwyrm7: A whole month? Where are you going? At the time I wrote the duel I didn't have the info on Davis' Tri-Armor cards, but they will probably show up in his next duel.
G.O.T. Nick: You were right, he shouldn't have acted so confident. Also, I would like to say that the GS2 and PS3 thing was deliberate, but it wasn't, because I've had the Game Console set planned for a while now.
Original Cards:WG(WolfGeneral), TM(Time Mage), G(Gryphinwyrm7)
Hitokage: Attack Leeching, Soul Viewer(WG), Soul Master(WG), Soul Reaver(WG), Soul Charger(WG), Soul Leech, Soul Warden(WG), A Villain Emerges(WG), Dark Tower's Defense(WG)
Kodowari: Game Console 3, Game Console X, Game Controller, Game Chip, Cheat Code-Ability Unlock, Emergence from the Lands of the Dead(WG), Hell Meteor(WG)
Rikuo: Fenrir(WG), Nano-Virus, Mecha Assembler, Irios the Steel Monarch(WG), Life Theft
Drake: Twisted Spellweaver, Skilled Chaos Magician, Shot From The Dark, White Magician of Chaos, Shadow Manipulator, Halt Play
Anime Cards
Drake: Mirage Magic, Magician's Circle
