Author's Notes: Much duelage now continues.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Of Insects and Dinosaurs
Rikuo snarled and swung his fist directly into the door, smashing it down and clearing a path for him. "I'm tired of all this stupid walking around and avoiding traps, and if I don't find something worthwhile soon I'm gonna have to kill somebody!"
"Geez, you sure are an arrogant guy. But it doesn't matter because I'll still wipe the floor with you." Rikuo paused, somewhat recognizing the gravely voice that had just spoken. But from where he couldn't quite be sure.
"Show yourself mortal!" Immediately after he finished speaking the area around them lit up, revealing Rikuo to be in a steel chamber surrounded by people watching them. There on the other side was an opponent that was slightly familiar, but different at the same time.
"By the look on your face I'd say you recognize me, the great and powerful Rex Raptor! Well now I'm new and improved from my old days, and I'll take you down with ease thanks to the strength I've gained from the Underworld of Dueling! Let's get this going so I can show you!" He smirked and unfolded his duel disk, which was revealed to be a dark green disk that slid out almost like a blade. (RRLP: 4000)
Rikuo narrowed his eyes at his opponent, taking in the differences. The old Rex Raptor had been shorter, while this one was about the same height as Rikuo. His face was also marred by a thin scar on his right cheek, and he seemed bigger than before as well. "So the little runt has grown up a little eh? Doesn't matter, I'll just have to walk all over you." (RLP: 4000)
"You're cocky for a guy who's about to lose. Go ahead Rikuo, show me what you can do, and from I can see in my hand I'll be able to drop your life points by at least half in one turn!" The crowd cheered at this cocky announcement, but it only made Rikuo think.
"Keh, already you reveal your strategy, you're an idiot even if you're better than before. I start off by summoning Ancient Gear Soldier(1300/1300) in attack mode!" A rusted mechanical soldier with a gun attached to its arm stepped up and out of his card, leveling its weapon at Rex. The dinosaur duelist hardly seemed bothered by this.
"Finally I set one magic or trap card face down and end it at that. Let's see that move you were talking about." He smirked, proudly displaying a fang over his lip. Rex growled in irritation and drew his sixth card.
"You want to see what I was talking about? Well here it is, I play Polymerization! This lets me fuse together two of my dinos in order to summon this mighty creature. Hell-Horn Saurus(2000/1600)!" A black pterodactyl looking monster shrieked as it flew out onto the field, flapping its leathery wings to keep it aloft.
"Feh, that monster can attack directly the turn its fusion summoned, I know. You practically gave away your move last turn by saying you could take half my life points. Its such an obvious move for a guy who uses dinosaurs. But really the only dinosaur here is you, washed up, a complete has-been! Or were you ever a been at all?" Rikuo snickered at his own joke, and he was joined by the crowd.
"I'll show you that nobody makes fun of me and gets away with it! I'm ten times the duelist you'll ever be! Hell-Horn Saurus, attack Rikuo directly!" The creature swooped down, slammed one wing into Rikuo's chest. He grunted and slid backwards, but otherwise he didn't seem hurt. (RLP: 2000)
"What do you have to say to them apples?" He expected to see Rikuo annoyed, but instead the demon just started laughing.
"Even after all these years you're still an amateur! I knew about your move ahead of time thanks to your boasting so I prepared accordingly with the quick-play magic card Ascetic's Enlightenment! When I take damage I draw one card for every increment of one thousand I took. That means I draw twice!" Rex grimaced as his opponent slid two new cards off his deck.
"You're so cocky huh? Well show me what you've got dog boy! You can't beat Hell-Horn Saurus or me and you know it!" Rex started to laugh, but it faltered fairly quickly when he saw Rikuo's eyes begin to glow red.
"You shouldn't have called me dog boy little dino breath, now I'm gonna have to hurt you, by starting with your monster. Go, Brain Control!" A spectral pair of hands attached to a brain launched out, seizing control of Hell-Horn Saurus an dragging it over to Rikuo's side of the field.
"My dino!" Now he was completely defenseless, and Rikuo had thirty-three hundred attack points worth of monsters.
"I don't need to go easy on you Raptor, I'll finish you off right now! I tribute both of these monsters for Irios the Steel Monarch(2700/2300) and since he'll be my only attacker after having been sacrificed for...that means his attack power doubles for the turn!" Rex's eyes widened in horror as the clunky machine monster gained enough power to crush him in one strike, reaching fifty-four hundred attack points.
"Direct attack! Finish him off immediately!" Irios charged in, ready to deck Rex. But suddenly the dino duelist's frightened demeanor changed as he slammed a card from his hand onto his strange duel disk.
"Now you've fallen into my trap! I knew you'd launch an assault against me, but I didn't expect you to go all out like that! The magic card Dino Crush can be played from my hand during the turn that a dinosaur goes to the grave. It destroys one monster on the opponent's field and deals half of its attack in damage to them. So you lose!" A massive dinosaur foot stomped down on Irios, crushing him completely.
"Here comes the damage, twenty-seven hundred of it, enough to finish you off!" The foot swung towards Rikuo who was thrown straight into the wall by the force of the strike. But he sprang back and landed on his feet, still cocky.
"Your magic card doesn't finish me, all it does is save you from losing. Go quick-play magic card, Curse of Pain! This redirects the damage to your life points instead of mine!" Rex's eyes widened as his life points took a shocking drop, going below Rikuo's. (RRLP: 1300)
"I set one card on the field and then it's back to you Raptor." The wolf demon smirked confidently even as his opponent drew for the turn.
"You'll pay for your cocky attitude. This direct attack will finish you, so come on out Giant Rex(2000/1600)! Attack him directly and finish him off!" A giant dinosaur with a fin on its back emerged and charged towards Rikuo.
"Whatever, reveal face down quick-play magic card, Distraction Device!" Giant Rex stopped in front of a little box, peering down at it. Suddenly a boxing glove shot out of it, nailing the dinosaur in the chin and sending it stumbling backwards.
"Damn it...you may have negated my attack, but that doesn't mean I'm done. I'll throw in one card onto the field and then that's all for my turn." Rikuo chuckled in amusement, surprised to actually see Rex set a card. He was notorious for not using magic and trap cards, but it seemed he had changed.
Rikuo glanced down at his hand of cards, and then selected the monster he wanted to summon. "I summon Super Electric Turtle(0/1800) in defense mode. Then I set one card behind it and end my turn."
The giant turtle with S and N on each side of its chest stomped out, glaring at Giant Rex. The dinosaur merely licked its lips in anticipation. "A giant turtle is your answer to my mighty dinosaurs? Pathetic!"
He snapped a card off his deck, and then pointed at the turtle. "Giant Rex will stomp that thing flat! Attack!"
Just as he said, the dinosaur charged in and crushed the turtle with a single stomp of its foot, obliterating it and leaving just a single face down card to protect Rikuo. "Now I set another card face down and end my turn!"
Rikuo drew, and then slowly placed the card onto his duel disk. "I'll just set one monster face down. Do see if you can beat it Rex, otherwise I'll be really bored this whole duel."
"I'll show you bored! I normal summon Gilasaurus(1400/1200) and have it attack the set monster!" A raptor monster appeared and then charged in and bit down on Rikuo's set monster. It shattered into a million pieces, but those pieces became energy that gathered on his field.
"Thanks Raptor, you just let me special summon a level four or lower union monster from my deck by flipping my Union Builder(200/100). Guess I'll just summon X-Head Cannon(1800/1000)!" He slapped the card down onto his duel disk and it emerged as a mechanical creature with cannons pointed right at Rex.
"It's nothing compared to Giant Rex. Squash it!" Giant Rex rushed in, in order to kill the machine. But a small laser appeared mounted on X-Head Cannon, peppering the dinosaur with little red lights. Then it fired a volley and blew away the dinosaur. (RRLP: 1200)
"Keh, you walked into that like an amateur. Laser Guidance System equips to one machine and boosts its stats by three hundred. In addition it can no longer be targeted by trap cards. Looks like you fossilized your own dinosaur!" He started to laugh, but was cut off when Rex doubled over with laughter.
"You want fossilization? Well I'll give it to you! Continuos trap card activates, Fossilization! Whenever a dinosaur is destroyed it comes back as a zombie with a boost of two hundred points. Meet Giant Zombie Rex(2200/1800)!" The destroyed dinosaur reappeared, this time as a massive skeleton with little bits of flesh hanging from it.
"Giant Zombie Rex will crush X-Head Cannon flat!" The zombie dinosaur followed the path its predecessor had taken and bit into the cannon. Unable to take the strain the machine blew up, pushing Rikuo back with the force. (RLP: 1900)
Rex Raptor smirked, now confident that he could still win. So his turn was over, giving control back to Rikuo. The wolf demon frowned, realizing that he would need another method to work with or he wouldn't actually win this. 'He's better than I gave him credit for. I still have to win though!'
He glanced down at his cards, and then slapped two cards into place. "I set one monster face down, and then I set a magic or trap card behind it. Go ahead Rex, show me what you've got. Take me down if you want."
"And I do want to! I sacrifice Gilasaurus for Dark Driceratops(2300/2000)!" The raptor was replaced by a giant monster with a hooded bone pattern and spikes along it, all of them ready and able to deal some damage.
"This monster can deal damage through defense, so I'll have it destroy your face down monster!" The monster plowed right through Rikuo's set monster, blasting it into nothingness and leaving him with just one measly face down card. (RLP: 1800)
"Gear Golem the Moving Fortress(800/2200) is just barely weaker than your monster, so I didn't lose much in the way of life points. Also it triggers my trap card, Scrap Yard. That lets me draw one card for each level star of my destroyed machine, making a total of four." He slipped four more cards off his deck, restoring his hand to a workable size.
"Since you have no more cards in play it doesn't matter at all! Giant Zombie Rex, attack him for game!" The zombie stampeded towards Rikuo, but all of a sudden a force of energy wrapped around it, halting its strike.
"Super Electric Turtle when in the graveyard lets me negate one attack once in the game. Since you killed it earlier I was able to save myself from your attack. Guess that means the duel ain't over yet right?" Rex growled, but was forced to end his turn.
"You've given me more trouble than I would have guessed Raptor, and though you've improved quite a bit from your old days, you're still no match for me. Activate Silent Dead, to revive X-Head Cannon in defense mode." The machine returned, not really visible that it was in defense at all since it had no legs to crouch on.
"Now,
I activate Bonds of Brothers, paying one thousand life points to
special summon Z-
Metal Tank(1500/1300) and Y-Dragon
Head(1500/1600) to the field from my deck. Then I remove them all
from the game to create XYZ-Dragon Cannon(2800/2600)!" The three
familiar monsters merged together, becoming the familiar mechanical
platform of death. (RLP: 800)
"No way!" Rex stepped back in horror, counting the cards needed to finish him off.
Rikuo held up the four cards in his hand and then slapped them together and shoved them into his graveyard. "Yes way! I discard my entire hand to destroy all four cards on your field!" Four missiles fired off, blowing apart each of Rex's cards in play.
"XYZ-Dragon Cannon, finish it with Hyper Destruction!" The blasts of energy knocked the punk dinosaur duelist back, leaving just a door opening behind him. Assuming that this was where he should go the wolf demon walked through it without another thought. (RRLP: 0)
Rex's eyes spun round and round in his head as he lay on his back. "I hate my life."
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Drake looked down at the door that was lying on the ground and noticed the imprint of a fist on it. "Looks like Rikuo has been having his share of fun. Now I guess it's my turn."
"Yes, he has. And now it's your turn to feel the wrath of a true duelist kid!" Drake stepped into the room that was beyond the door, and suddenly discovered himself in what looked like an underground arena, surrounded by people watching him.
"Gee, that's just weird, a giant underground dueling ring. Not that I should be surprised. So, who's my opponent?" Lights came down on a duelist with teal hair that was nearly as tall as he was. He wore a black vest with a spider drawn on the front, covering his chest, and he also had a pair of nasty looking glasses on his face.
"I will be your opponent! You may have heard of me, I'm Weevil Underwood, former Japanese Champion!" He laughed in a very sickening manner, and Drake stared at him for a second, and then smirked.
"Oh yeah, I think I know you. I heard about you at Duelist Academy...in Duelist History Class." Weevil snarled, his entire body shaking with rage as he raised his arm, unfolding his Orichalcos Slider, something Drake recognized. (WLP: 4000)
"I'll show you who's history! Prepare to taste my wrath kid! I'll show you the power of my insects!" He fanned out a hand of six cards, and prepared to take his turn.
Drake shrugged and activated his own duel disk, preparing to start it up. He drew five cards, looked down at them, and then looked back up at Weevil. "Sorry bug boy, but I don't want to taste anything that came from you." (DLP: 4000)
"Brat! I'll teach you a lesson in respect! I set one monster face down and one magic or trap card behind it! End turn!" The two cards appeared in front of him, and then he was done.
"Is that all? Guardian Magician of the Night(1900/1400)! Attack his set monster!" The night-robed magician raised his wand to fire, but suddenly he was forced to his knees as if by a heavy burden.
"Fool, your monster is too strong and too weighted down by his own power to attack. And it's all thanks to my continuous trap card, Gravity Bind! As long as this trap remains in play no level four or higher monster can attack, even mine!" He cackled in that annoying manner of his, having succeeded in stopping Drake's attack.
"You're an annoying little guy you know that don't you? Fine, if I can't attack for now I'll just have to set two cards face down and hope I draw what I need. Either way you're still locked down as much as I am." Two cards formed behind his magician, finishing his turn.
"Locked down? I'll show you true strategy by flip summoning Swarm of Locusts(1000/500) whose flip effect destroys one magic or trap card on my opponent's field!" A huge number of bugs swarmed across the field and descended on one of Drake's two set monsters, consuming it in just a few seconds time, leaving nothing but dust floating in the air.
"Now using its other effect I flip it face down. Then I set a monster face down and end my turn!" Another monster appeared beside the now once again face down monster, and it was once again Drake's turn.
"Using low level insects huh? Interesting strategy, but I doubt it will help. However, I still can't attack so I'll just build up an attack force for later with Skilled Chaos Magician(1800/1600). Go ahead." Seeing no point in setting any magic or trap cards, that was all he was going to do.
"Fool! I flip summon Swarm of Locusts!" The swarm of insects rushed across the field and consumed Drake's remaining set card, leaving him with just his two monsters. But since both were stronger than Swarm of Locusts it hardly mattered.
"Next I flip summon Plague Beetle(0/1500) whose flip effect deals you three hundred points of damage!" An ugly purple beetle appeared and sprayed noxious gas at Drake, who threw up an arm to cover his mouth from the gas. He coughed and retreated, his eyes stinging from the effects. (DLP: 3700)
"I flip both of them face down according to their effects. Then I'll set one monster face down and add a face down card to the mix as well! See how you can deal with this, my unlimited strike tactic, that lets me reuse these monsters again and again to clear away your strategies and then launch one finishing strike against you!" He cackled again, and Drake reached up a hand to rub at his ears.
"You're one loud annoying guy. You're especially cocky for a guy who used to be what? Three feet tall?" Weevil scowled, the crowd laughing at him as they pictured him in the old days when he was short enough that he saw eye-to-eye with Yugi Motou, quite literally.
"You'll regret bringing that up!" Drake shrugged and slapped another card onto his duel disk, summoning a magician in red robes.
"Sunrise Magician(2000/1300) in attack mode, and that's all. Back to you little guy." Weevil snarled and snatched the next card off his deck, still pissed by Drake's cocky manner.
"I
flip both of my monsters, not destroying a card but dealing three
hundred damage non-
the-less. Also, my remaining set monster will
crush you completely. Just watch!" Even as Drake retreated from the
poison gas Weevil was reaching for his last set monster and flipping
it up. (DLP: 3400)
"Meet 4-Starred Ladybug of Doom(800/1200)! Her flip effect destroys all level four or higher monsters in play, so that means all of your monsters are destroyed!" Drake's eyes widened in surprise as all three of his monsters exploded, leaving him completely defenseless.
"That's right! Stare into the face of defeat, the power of my insects! I summon Swarm of Scarabs(500/1000) and then I launch an all out assault against your life points!" He cackled again as his monsters swarmed around Drake, picking and biting and stinging until they were satisfied. (DLP: 1100)
"Now, I flip all but my ladybug face down since only she cannot flip back down. But know this, Swarm of Scarabs can destroy one monster you have in play when it is flip summoned, so even if you try and defend you will fail!" Drake grimaced, realizing that he had to make a good draw in order to beat down this annoying duelist.
He looked down at his newly drawn card, and smirked. "You mentioned Battle City, which ran under ante-rules where the winner took the loser's rarest card. Well I won this next card in an ante-rule duel against a girl named Autumn who used it to get some damage in. Meet the rare and powerful Raigeki!"
Weevil stumbled backwards in horror as the bolt of lightning hit his field, blowing apart each and every one of his monsters. "I can't believe you have a card that rare! Unbelievable!"
"It is pretty wild isn't it? Well, since Gravity Bind is still active I'll set two cards face down and set a monster in defense mode, emptying my hand. Then it's back to you." Weevil frowned, realizing that he would have to make up for his losses now or never.
"What a perfect draw! I summon Leghul(300/350) in attack mode, and then I activate Cell Split which creates a clone token of it with the same effect!" Two worm-like insects appeared, their pincers clacking together in anticipation.
"My two Leghuls will now attack you directly!" The two insects zipped across the field, and each one bit into Drake, each of them on his shoulder. Drake screamed in pain as one of them bit into the wound caused by Fenrir, tearing through the bandages. (DLP: 500)
The audience roared as Drake's shirt began to be stained by the blood of his wound. Weevil looked confused by this, it didn't seem like such an attack should have done that much damage. "It looks like you came to us already injured, making this duel that much easier! How pitiful! Take your turn weakling!"
Drake's vision fuzzed for several seconds as he unsteadily reached for his duel disk and drew, the card shaking as he held it up. "The only weakling here is you...and I'll prove it. Flip summon Sage of Everlasting Light(500/400) and use its flip effect, guessing heads!"
The coin tossed into the air, and Drake attempted to reach out and catch it. But his vision fuzzed over again, and he missed it. It bounced across the metal floor, stopping in the middle of the ring. Weevil approached it, and then burst out laughing. "Tails! You failed, so discard the top five cards of your deck!"
Drake grimaced but did as his own card demanded. "It doesn't matter...still, I have a monster that's under level four. Attack a Leghul!" Weevil shrugged, not bothered by the fact that one of his two monsters was just blasted by the attack. After all, it was minimal damage. (WLP: 3800)
"Now...activate Magical Well, searching for a magic card. That ends my turn." He flipped through his deck until he found what he wanted, and then he reshuffled and returned his deck to its spot. Meanwhile Weevil had drawn, and seemed amused by what he saw.
"Such a sad state of affairs that my opponent is going to die so pathetically in front of me. Oh well, come out Skull-Mark Ladybug(500/1500) and suicide yourself against his Sage!" The little ladybug with the skull on her back slammed into his magician and both exploded. (WLP: 4800)
"When that insect is destroyed in battle I gain one thousand life points, so you've accomplished nothing. Now, Leghul attacks you directly...go for the right shoulder!" Drake screamed in terrible pain once again as the insect dug its pincers into his wound, drawing even more blood. (DLP: 200)
"You can't fight me, not with that injury! Surrender and maybe I won't have all my insects go after that wound to finish you!" His howling cackle was really starting to grate on Drake's last nerve, and he had no intention of letting the little bug get the better of him.
"Weevil, you're nothing but a gnat, the most worthless insect! Small, annoying, and completely harmless! Now I'm going to kick your ass with the use of Hell Spell Striker(2200/1500) and the magic card I selected, Magician's Storm!" Weevil looked on in terror as his Gravity Bind and set card were destroyed by the effect of Drake's magic card.
"I've got others, all I need is two hundred more damage and then you're done!" Drake grimaced, grabbing onto his shoulder as his head swam. He was quickly losing blood, so he would have to finish this up fast and use his Disc to repair some of the damage.
"Hell Spell Strike when it kills a monster adds one monster from my deck to my hand, although I can't summon or set that card this turn. Hell Spell Striker, destroy Leghul!" The beastly magician slashed apart the little insect, doing some significant damage to Weevil's life points. (WLP: 2900)
He pointed to one of his two face down cards, which immediately lifted off the ground. "Instant Effect lets me activate cards even now, effectively making my set card a quick-play. So I reveal that last face down card, Chaos Fusion!"
A warp of energy appeared in front of him, and the card from his hand along with his striker merged into it, coming out as a towering magician with a sword and a shield. "Hell Spell Striker and Heaven Spell Vanguard(1500/2200) fuse to become Chaos Spell Paladin(3500/3500). And since he was summoned during the battle phase...he attacks directly!"
Weevil screeched and turned around to run, but was caught by the sword on the back, propelling him face first into the far wall. He dropped to the ground, and finally the holograms faded. A door behind him opened, and Drake knew where to go. "At least its over...just nearly over. A little bit more and we're done." (WLP: 0)
Drake walked through the door holding his shoulder, leaving Weevil face down on the ground. Weevil stared at the cold hard steel beneath him and sighed. "I hate my life."
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Next Chapter: Two Sides, One Coin
Author's Notes: Rikuo and Drake put the smack down on Rex and Weevil. Now it's the time you've all been waiting for. Dalin versus Dalin, one good, one not-so-good! Angels versus Dark Angels, a match that's bound to blow you sky high!
Review Responses
G.O.T. Nick: I pretty much just wanted her to finish him dramatically with a cool connection like that. Why do you have to be unlucky to be named Cameron?
Original Cards:WG(WolfGeneral), TM(Time Mage), G(Gryphinwyrm7)
Rikuo: Ascetic's Enlightenment(WG), Irios the Steel Monarch(WG), Distraction Device(WG), Union Builder(WG), Laser Guidance System(WG), Scrap Yard(WG)
Rex: Dino Crush, Fossilization
Drake: Guardian Magician of the Night, Skilled Chaos Magician, Sunrise Magician, Sage of Everlasting Light, Magical Well, Magician's Storm, Instant Effect, Hell Spell Striker, Chaos Fusion, Heaven Spell Vanguard, Chaos Spell Paladin
Weevil: Plague Beetle
Anime Cards
Rikuo: Super Electric Turtle, Bonds of Brothers
Rex: Giant Rex
Weevil: Cell Split
