Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Bloodlines of the Magician

Chapter 6: Jikeidan; The punk hero of Humotoru High School

Yasashiku stared at the grave in front of him, his eyes full of tears and his shoulders heaving as the icy cold rain poured down onto him. ("Mother…why did you die?")

A single hand dropped onto his shoulder. "Come on kid…you're not fit for this weather."

"Go away…"

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"They say that he wanted her to help him with one of his new tricks. He was supposed to get into the box, and then his assistant would throw knives at it. Right before-hand he would drop into a hidden compartment and escape so that it would seem like he disappeared right before the knives hit his position."

"Well how'd the blood get on her?"

"……………"

"Well?"

"She's a much better shot with those knives than we thought. Like an assassin almost…"

Vera listened to the policemen talk, but she barely recognized what they were saying. She was too busy looking down at her hands…at her seven year old hands. The hands that had killed her father.

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Yukio sighed as Vera tossed and turned in her bed, weak groans of pain coming from her. "Jeez…wake up already…"

Yasashiku was in his bed, deathly quiet.

Sarah stood outside of the clinic, her back against the wall and her eyes looking out at the grass. ("Vera…what freaked you out so badly?")

"Hey there babe, what's a cute girl like you doing out here all alone?"

Sarah glanced to her right and blinked in surprise. "Hey…who are you?"

The speaker from before was a huge young man in a fighter's gi, his huge burly arms wrapped across his chest and a big smug smile on his face. "You've never heard of me, you say? Well then let me introduce myself!" Striking a pose, he flexed his arms. "I am the mighty martial artist…the great and powerful…Greg Mason!"

She stared at him like he was insane. "What are you talking about? You don't look all that good to me."

After recovering from his face-fall, Greg leapt to his feet and glared at her. "I'm excellent! Amongst the duelists of this school, I am the fourth best!"

"You mean fifth." Sarah rubbed a finger under her nose. "Now that my sister is here and she has beaten the Duel King of this school, you got down-graded."

He spat onto the concrete. "I'd tear your sister apart in a duel. Yasashiku is good, but his only advantage is the fact that he has those Blue-Eyes White Dragons to help him during his duels. And when those monsters fall he runs out of options." He thumbed at himself. "I, however, am resourceful enough to always have a method to destroy my opponents regardless of what monsters I have on the field."

"You've got quite an ego." Sarah stated this plainly.

"Some call it an ego, though honestly my power is my confidence in the skills that I have worked so hard to hone." Greg looked out at the grass. "Besides, to be too humble is to be meek, and despite the phrase 'the meek shall inherit the earth'…it is not good to be meek. If you are so then you're not capable of protecting anything, whether it is your title or your friends." Closing his eyes, he looked down at the ground.

Sarah sighed at Greg. "Don't try to be philosophical on me. You don't have a brain cell in that head of yours at all, do you? Is brute force always the answer for you?"

He growled at her. "Perhaps…but it is necessary! Strength is my way of fighting and of dueling…"

"…hence why you'll never amount to anything."

Both Greg and Sarah looked up. And Sarah nearly screamed in surprise.

There was someone standing on the wall like it was the ground. "Yo."

"W...w…w…w…what?" Sarah stumbled back towards the grass. "How are you doing that?"

"Practice." The boy, a blond-haired youth wearing a boy's uniform for the school, did a front-flip off of the wall and landed perfectly easy on the grass.

"Jikeidan…" Greg clenched his fist. "What do you want, you insolent pest?"

"Just making sure you behave yourself, that's all." Jikeidan turned around ran a hand through his hair, smiling calmly. "Or could it be possible the lady is actually falling for your charms?"

Sarah flushed bright red. "Falling? I'm not falling for anyone here!"

Greg had heard enough. He charged, letting loose with a series of focused punches and kicks towards Jikeidan. "I will not tolerate your insults to me!"

Jikeidan danced back, each blow hitting nothing but air. "Dear Greg, I'd think after all of the times that you have tried to kill me you would finally figure out that your martial arts style is nothing compared to mine." Catching the man's fist, he flipped him over his head.

Greg rolled and came up swinging. "I'll silence you once and for all this time!"

Jikeidan snapped his head to the side to avoid a single punch, and then skipped back to dodge another one. "You're nearly serious this time. But I'm not impressed yet. You know that you'll never be able to physically defeat me."

"That's beside the point!" Greg threw one more punch, and then pointed at the still-smirking boy. "I'll defeat you on the dueling field then!"

"A duel? Fine." From out of nowhere a duel disk appeared on Jikeidan's forearm.

Greg removed his backpack and took out his disk, strapping it on and slamming his deck home. "Duel!"

Greg- 4000

Jikeidan- 4000

Greg snapped the top card off of his deck. "I'm going to start the battle. I summon Monk Fighter (1300/1000) in attack mode!" A white-haired young man in a yellow gi appeared on the field. "Also, I set one card face-down in play. End turn."

"Your standard opening play…" Jikeidan drew. "And I'll counter with summoning Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (1800/1000) in attack mode!" A grey-robed ninja holding energy knives appeared on the field and struck a calm stance. "Attack Monk Fighter now! Shining Slash!" The ninja leapt forward, knives out to pierce the body of the fighter.

"A direct attack from a ninja?" Greg smirked. "How truly sad that is. I'd think a ninja would be smart enough to attack from anywhere but the front."

"It doesn't matter where he attacks from." Jikeidan narrowed his eyes. "I know what your set card is."

Sasuke's knives slammed down, but were stopped in mid-blow because of the Monk Fighter's arms, which snapped up and stopped the attack.

Sarah gasped in surprise. "H…how did his monster not get destroyed?"

Jikeidan frowned. "Lone Wolf…"

"Huh?"

Greg pointed at his now face-up trap card. "The continuous trap card Lone Wolf can only be activated I have one monster in play and it is Monk Fighter. Now Monk Fighter, as long as it remains my only monster in play, will be impossible to destroy in both battle and with the effects of monster cards."

Both ninja and monk broke away.

"But you should have taken life point damage…" Sarah stared at the strange set-up of the field.

"No…" Jikeidan grimaced. "The effect of Monk Fighter makes it a steel barrier. No matter how much damage I hit it with, he'll take no over-flow. Therefore…"

"The perfect defense lock." Greg sneered.

"Nothing is perfect." Jikeidan slid two cards into his disk. "Two cards face-down. End turn."

Greg drew. As he looked at the card he smirked. "Perhaps you are right…but perfect isn't needed to beat you. I offer Monk Fighter as a sacrifice to call out Master Monk!" (1900/1000) The young fighter disappeared and was replaced by a warrior with long flowing white hair and a beard. "You're time is up. Even now the power of Lone Wolf affects my martial artist, making him strong enough to survive anything you can throw at him! Go Master Monk, tear down his ninja!" The fighter leapt across the field and drove a powerful downward chop onto the ninja, splintering it like wood.

"Now, direct…" Greg blinked a couple of times at what was in the place of the ninja. It was a tree stump. "Where did…"

"Greg…" Jikeidan smirked. "You should never underestimate the power of a ninja. Ninjitsu Art of Decoy allows me to make Grandmaster Sasuke impossible to destroy in battle."

"A replacement technique…" The burly young man clenched his fist. "How cowardly…"

"Replacement technique?" Sarah looked at the trap card. "I'd say that it's a Ninjitsu Art of Decoy if you ask me."

Jikeidan smile slightly. "He's referring to the real ninja skill. A good enough ninja can replace themselves with an object of similar size and weight without their opponent finding out until it's too late to stop the attack." Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke appeared on the field. "The Replacement Technique…"

Greg- 4000

Jikeidan- 3900

Greg pointed at Sasuke again. "Master Monk, crush it!" The martial artist charged.

Jikeidan snapped his index finger under his chin and tilted his head down, eyes closed. "Kawarimi No Jitsu!" Sasuke copied the movement, and when the Master Monk's hand came down it blew another tree stump apart.

Greg- 4000

Jikeidan- 3800

"Damn you! End turn!" Greg clenched his fist angrily.

Jikeidan drew. "It's my turn now…" He looked the drawn card. "I switch Sasuke into defense, and I'll set one monster face-down on the field. End turn."

Greg drew. As he looked at the drawn card a dark smile slid across his face. "Cowardly ninja, you cannot protect yourself with such a maneuver. I activate the magic card Fighter's Crush! This card can only be activated if Master Monk or Monk Fighter is in play. All magic and trap cards on your field…" Ninjitsu Art of Decoy and the other set card exploded into dust. "…are destroyed!"

Jikeidan narrowed his eyes. ("He's gotten better…normally he would beat at my invincible ninja for quite a few minutes…")

"Master Monk, double strike against Sasuke and his set monster!" The warrior flipped through the air and punched both monsters, blowing them apart. "Your defense is…" His eyes widened as Lone Wolf shattered. "How?"

"Crimson Ninja (300/200) when flipped up destroys one trap card in play." Jikeidan winked. "I can still fight back even when pinned under your attack power."

"Perhaps so, but the progress you make from this point onwards will be little. You have no cards left that can match the strength of Master Monk. I know your deck…and I know its weakness. High attack power monsters can crush you if protected from your tricks. End turn." Greg spoke evenly. This wasn't bragging to him, but a fact.

Jikeidan drew. "I'm far from done and you know it. Now then, let's summon something a little stronger than the previous." The card dropped onto his disk. "Go Ninja Brawler!" (1500/300) An orange ninja appeared on the field, holding a knife in each hand.

Greg snarled. "That card…which means that…"

Jikeidan snapped up his hands, his cards out of sight. He began to make a series of incredibly fast hand motions. As he did this, the Ninja Brawler made the same motions. "Kage Bunshin No Jitsu!" Moments later there were ten Ninja Brawlers on his field.

Sarah gasped in surprise. "How…how are there so many of them?"

"The magic card Shadow Replication Technique can only be activated if Ninja Brawler is in play. Every zone on my field will be filled with Ninja Brawler Tokens." (1500/300) "End turn."

Greg drew. "You fool…I know all too well the special ability of your card. However…I'm willing to risk it! Go Master Monk, attack two of those cowards!" The martial artist leapt forward and sent two of the ninjas flying into the air. Then both exploded into clouds of smoke. "When I attack a Ninja Token and it isn't the original, all battle damage to you is zero. However, I'll tear down your monsters one after another! I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

Jikeidan drew. "Alright, here we go! I move two tokens out of my magic and trap zone and into the monster zone, and then I set two cards face-down. The turn is yours."

Greg drew. "And this might just be the last turn. If I hit the original all of the tokens will be destroyed. So now I play the equipment magic card Legendary Black Belt!" A silk black belt appeared around the Master Monk's waist. "When Master Monk destroys a monster as a result of battle you'll take the destroyed monster's defense in effect damage. Also, I play the equipment magic card Monk's Legacy!" Energy flowed around the Master Monk. "This card can only be equipped to Master Monk. For every Monk in my graveyard, this monster gains 1000 attack points!" (2900/1000)

"2900 huh?" Jikeidan shrugged. "Come and get me."

"Also, Master Monk can attack three times per turn now! Go Master Monk, attack the far end Tokens and the middle!" The martial artist hit each Ninja in turn, but was only rewarded with a burst of smoke. "All fakes…end turn."

Greg- 4000

Jikeidan- 3200

Jikeidan drew. "I move the remaining three to the front row and set one card in my field magic card zone." A slot opened on his disk and he placed a card face-down in it. "End turn."

Greg drew. "Master Monk…attack the second to the far left one!" As the fighter leapt he smiled slowly. "I see that look in your eyes…I guessed right."

"That you did…but to no avail!" Jikeidan snapped up his hand. "Reverse card open!"

"You're to no avail, fool! Cyclone!" An explosion of wind hit the opening card and blew it apart. "Also, I play the powerful Cyclone Fist! When there is a Monk in play I can destroy one magic or trap card you have!" Both of Jikeidan's cards exploded into dust. "Your continuous traps don't scare me! Now reveal Energy Surge! By discarding one card from my hand I can increase the attack of one monster in play by 1500 for the turn! And by discarding a Monk Fighter…" (5400/1000) "This duel is over for you Jikeidan!" Greg slammed his foot down onto the grass. "I win. Without your trap cards you cannot win."

Jikeidan smiled slowly. "What about magic cards?"

"What?" Greg blinked in surprise. "How can you do that on my turn?"

Jikeidan snapped a card up. "Exploding Tags is a magic card that activates when a Ninja on my field is attacked!"

"You can't play magic cards on my turn!"

"Who says?" The ninja held up a finger. "My field magic card, Genius Battle, allows me to play cards during either turn! Exploding Tags…" The Ninja Brawler was hit and was blown apart, along with its clones. "…will destroy your monster along with negating the battle damage that would be dealt to me!" Master Monk exploded into dust. "All that effort…only to lose your precious monster."

"This duel is far from over…" Greg's eyes narrowed. "Far from over…"

To be continued…

That's enough, both of you! Do you have to make so much noise right outside of the clinic my sister is resting in?

Don't even bother trying to talk them out of it, Sarah. They won't even listen to the sound reasoning of me, the great Yukio.

The Great Yukio…idiot.

Next Episode: Ninjitsu vs. Taijitsu

To Seeker of the Soul: Kisara has something to do with Yasashiku, though I will say no more for story purposes.

To Time Mage: The Sword Saints and the Cross Magicians are Vera's to use only, much like Ichigo's Cyber Shadows were only for him to use. However, I'll send you the effects if you so wish.

To Wolfy: How can I be ignoring you when I posted three different chapters for three different stories at the same time? I'm not ignoring you! Now then, what is your question?