This chapter was a nice change in pace. I hated writing last chapter, if I hadn't used Vasago like I did I don't know how I would have pulled that off… Thankfully, all the other Mavericks are smart enough to duel somewhat well, so there will be no more problems like Gaia.
Erestor Telemnar: I can't say I feel sorry for Tundra, because she's one of my least favorite Mavericks. Hence why she was the one to teach Gaia. Muahahahaha. And I looked at your story, so far it's coming along wonderfully! I fully recommend that everyone here should check it out; I see John and DarkFictionWizard already did.
John: I'm glad you liked the duel; it was a hard one to make interesting.
Captain Obvious: Probably. Funny how Gaia of all people ended up with such a complicated deck, huh? Maybe Juno made a mistake in the order of handing them out!
Chapter 6: Combined Forces
"Yeah, it's me. You guys ok?" Matt asked as he stepped inside the temple, the door closing behind him.
"We wouldn't have been if it hadn't been for you," Sakura said, standing up as well. "Thanks for the assistance."
"No problem." He looked over at Kisara. "Is this Draken's girlfriend?"
Kisara blushed as Kazel snorted in amusement. "It seems that you can't escape your legacy."
"They say they aren't boyfriend and girlfriend… but it's obvious they're at least going in that direction," Amy joked. "Her name is Kisara, and her Soul Monster is Kazel."
"A Red Eyes Black Dragon? I'm surprised you couldn't kill that guy by yourself," Matt commented, eyeing Gaia's corpse in disgust.
Kazel went over to it, grabbing it by its armor with her teeth. Then she went over to the doors, which opened automatically, and tossed it outside, where it went flying several feet away from the temple.
"Out of sight, out of mind," Kazel stated, coming back into the temple as though nothing had happened. "As for what you thought of him, just know that he had amazing endurance and that his armor was incredible. He was no ordinary human."
"We were lucky you had come by," Amy said. "Even after I beat him in a duel, he was more than ready to kill us. But your Soul Monster… he was just unbelievable!"
"He's a Masked Beast Death Guardius, but he's called Masque." Matt sighed. "A Soul Monster that doesn't have a soul… somewhat strange, huh? But I'm serious, he has no personality whatsoever, and exists only to take orders. Well, enough of that cheery subject. What are you guys doing here?"
"Why don't we sit down?" Amy suggested, going over to the back of the room and doing so, leaning against the wall. "This might take a while to explain."
"Alright," Matt shrugged, following suit.
Amy told him everything they knew about the Emissaries, Limiters, and Mavericks. Matt remained silent until she was done.
"So, Larka's a Limiter? Interesting. And this Gaia Axe was a Maverick? Just how many are there?"
"At least two, since we've run into Dark Scythe and Gaia Axe," Sakura replied. "But I'm sure there are more. The problem is, we don't know how many."
"You said Max and Hope went to the forest?" Matt inquired.
"Yes. Why?"
"I was trying to find Max, but if he's there then I probably won't be able to find him today," Matt explained. "I'll stick with you guys until tomorrow and tell him what I need to at the meeting place."
"What did you want to say to him?" Kazel questioned.
"It's Brandi. She's been getting worse," Matt said grimly. "Her temperature has been rising… it was 102.9 last time I was there."
"Will she be ok?" Kisara asked worriedly.
"I don't know… but I thought Max should be aware of what was happening."
"It's getting late outside," Kazel stated. "So you're right, you really don't have any chance of finding him tonight. But I can give you a lift tomorrow with everyone else so you can find him then."
"Thanks, that'd help." Matt looked around the temple, seeing the bloody pictures. "Are we planning on spending the night here?"
"I for one would prefer being outside," Amy said. "But that really isn't an option-who knows how many Mavericks could be in this area? We'd be safer in here."
"Unfortunately," Sakura sighed.
"Unpleasant, but we'll live," Matt said. "You think we should call it a night soon?"
"Probably," Amy agreed. "I can't think of anything else we need to do…"
Kazel suddenly stood up, ears perked. "Actually, we have one more task."
"What would that be?" Matt asked.
"We have visitors," Kazel announced. "We must give them a welcome."
As she said that, the door flew open, and two people stepped inside, the door shutting again as they did.
The two of them wore long, black trench coats with silver zippers going down the front. They also had hoods that were down, so only their faces were revealed. Their faces looked very similar, as did their hair. Both of their hair was spiked, almost like dreadlocks but not quite. The one to the left had black hair with red streaks while the one on the right had black with yellow streaks. The one on the left had red eyes, while the one on the right had blue. Otherwise, they were pretty much identical.
The one on the left looked over them, and shook his head. "Looks like the Limiter isn't here."
"You're with Juno?" Amy asked, leaping up. Sakura summoned her staff to her hands as Kazel stepped forward, teeth bared.
"Juno? Completely wrong," he replied. "We're with Sarius, but that doesn't make your situation any better. Remember that Sarius wants that Limiter as well, and if we have to kill her friends to get to her, we'll do just that."
The other one glared at him. "You know Sarius' orders as well as I do…"
"Yeah, yeah, complain to someone who cares," the first said. "Fine, if it makes you feel better, I won't make any sudden moves without asking you first."
"Who are you two?" Matt asked as he went forward.
"I'm Mach, and he's Shadow," the second one said. "We usually do missions together, and this one is no exception. If there is a way we could duel you at the same time, we would prefer to."
"A tag team duel? I'm up for that," Matt said, turning on his Duel Disk. "Which one of you wants to join me?"
"Let me," Kisara replied.
"You sure?" Amy asked, surprised that she had volunteered.
"You already dueled. You shouldn't have to do so again," Kisara said.
"My wing may not be completely pain-free yet, but I'm more than ready to help out," Kazel stated, coming up next to Kisara as she also prepared her Duel Disk.
"Then we get to be the cheerleaders," Sakura joked.
Masque appeared, and the duo's Soul Monsters did as well. Shadow's was a humanoid male. He had on a white shirt with no sleeves and long white pants. On each of his hands was a gold, white, and blue fingerless glove that covered his wrists as well. Further up his arms was a gold armlet. He had a royal blue cape on too. His face was concealed by the gold hood that he wore. His clothes seemed to be an Egyptian style.
Mach's had a human structure but did not really look like one. It wore black armor with silver designs that covered its whole body. The only difference in this was on the lower portion, where there was a large red jewel. On both of its arms were what appeared to be another piece of armor. However, the left one was a shield, and the right was a blade. It also had a helmet with a jewel that was smaller, but the same color as the other one. Its eyes were red.
"Due to our lack of knowledge on the monsters in this game, could you please explain what yours are?" Mach requested.
"If you do the same for us. Mine is a Masked Beast Death Guardius, call him Masque. Hers is a Red Eyes Black Dragon who goes by Kazel. I'm Matt, and she's Kisara."
"Mine is a Servant of Horus named Ishbal, and Mach's is an Iron Knight Gear Freed that is called Elric," Shadow explained. "Let's get on with it, shall we?"
Kisara: 8000
Matt: 8000
Shadow: 8000
Mach: 8000
"May I go first?" Kisara asked.
"We don't care," Shadow shrugged.
"I summon Doublecoston. (1700/1650) Then I lay one card down and end my turn."
Shadow raised an eyebrow at the ugly, snickering monsters. "Not something I'd expect a girl to be playing, but ok. I lay one monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"I summon Red Cyclops. (1800/1700) That's it for me," Matt stated.
"I lay a monster in defense mode as well, along with two more cards," Mach said.
"I switch Doublecoston to defense mode and then summon Spear Dragon," (1900/0) Kisara announced. "It attacks your monster Shadow."
"What!" Shadow looked at his monster and swore. "My own Spear Dragon. And due to its effect, which does damage even if I'm in defense mode, I've lost a major amount of Life Points…"
"You put a Spear Dragon in defense mode? How dense are you?" Sakura said in disbelief.
"Hey, I'm new at this, ok?" Shadow snapped. "I didn't expect her to have one as well."
Kisara: 8000
Matt: 8000
Shadow: 6100
Mach: 8000
"Still, it works in my favor," Shadow stated. "I'll take this opportunity to summon Black Flare Dragon of Horus Lv 4! (1600/1000) It attacks your Spear Dragon. Since it had to go into defense mode after attacking, it doesn't stand a chance. I don't think you will stop me?"
"I will not stop it," Kisara agreed.
"Then I lay one card down and end my turn. That triggers my Horus' effect. Since it destroyed a monster on your field, I can sacrifice it to bring out its next form from my deck."
The small silver dragon vanished, being replaced with a much larger one.
"This is Black Flare Dragon of Horus Lv 6. (2300/1600) Now go ahead, Matt."
"My pleasure," Matt said. "I switch Red Cyclops to defense and lay one other monster in defense mode. I also lay a card face down, and then I'm done."
"I'll flip over my Craftsman Kotetsu," (500/500) Mach began. "His reverse effect lets me search my deck for an equip magic card and put it into my hand, and shuffle my deck afterwards. Then I summon Iron Knight Gear Freed. (1800/1600) He attacks Kisara's Doublecoston!"
"I activate Emissary of Harmony in response," she said. "This trap makes you do zero damage this turn through battle, so my Doublecoston survives."
"Then I'm done."
"I needed it for this turn," Kisara explained. "Now I can sacrifice it to summon my Red Eyes Black Dragon." (2400/2000)
"But a Red Eyes costs two sacrifices," Amy pointed out.
"My Doublecoston counts as two sacrifices when it is for a Dark Main-Type. I'll have Red Eyes Black Dragon attack your Horus."
"Sorry, I can't let you," Shadow responded. "I activate Magic Cylinder, negating your attack and dealing damage equal to your monster's attack."
Kisara: 5600
Matt: 8000
Shadow: 6100
Mach: 8000
"I lay one card down and end my turn..."
"Then it's time for this Horus to have his moment of fun," Shadow said. "He attacks Red Cyclops."
"Not a smart idea," Matt stated. "Because that triggers Masque's Deck Master ability! If a monster destroys one of mine in battle, and it's a higher level, then it's destroyed!
As the mask went flying at Horus, Ishbal suddenly began chanting something under his breath, clapping his hands together. A white barrier appeared around Horus, and the mask was destroyed when it hit it.
"Ishbal's Deck Master ability prevents you from using cheap tricks like that," Shadow smirked. "If that is all, I will end my turn, and Horus' effect activates once more. This Horus has the same one as my Lv 4 had; now he will become his final form."
Everyone stared at the new dragon that formed. With immense silver wings, a huge glimmering silver body, and large, dagger-sharp claws, it was certainly an intimidating sight.
"This is Black Flare Dragon of Horus Lv 8. (3000/1800) Let's see if either of you have anything that can compare to him."
"Sure, I can overpower him," Matt said. "I activate my trap card, Avatar of Apophis! When activated, it becomes a monster. (1600/1800) Then I sacrifice it, along with my face down Melkid Four-Faced Beast, (1500/1200) to special summon Masked Beast Death Guardius! (3300/2500) He attacks Horus!"
"Looks like you forgot about me!" Mach grinned. "I activate Chained Dynamite! This trap becomes an equip card onto one monster, and I choose Horus! It raises his attack by 500, meaning your Death Guardius is no match for him!" (3500/1800)
Kisara: 5600
Matt: 7800
Shadow: 6100
Mach: 8000
"I'd normally be a bit more sorry for losing my Death Guardius, but his effect will still help me," Matt stated. "For when he is destroyed, I can equip a Bequeathed Mask onto one of your monsters, so I'll give it to Horus! This means he's now under my control!"
"Not happening," Shadow smirked as the mask went flying towards Horus. The dragon shot a black beam at the mask, obliterating it.
"What? How?"
"Horus can negate and destroy any magic card I wish for him to," Shadow explained. "Care to do anything else?"
"Yeah, I'll lay two cards down and end my turn," Matt said.
"Then it's time I go to work," Mach said. "I play a magic card, Remove Restraints! By sacrificing an Iron Knight Gear Freed, I can search my deck to special summon my most powerful monster; Swordmaster-Naked Gear Freed!" (2600/2200)
This monster looked much more human than Iron Knight Gear Freed had. He wore nothing but a blue loincloth, brown boots, and white bandages around his arms, but even so, he was quite intimidating. Perhaps it was his wild, dark black hair, or his narrowed eyes. The slim blade he carried did not seem very deadly, but they could tell there was more to it than what met the eye.
"And now it's time to give him a power up," Mach continued. "I equip him with The Fused Sword, Murasame Blade! This raises his attack by 800! (3400/2200) But even more importantly, his effect is activated."
"What do you mean?" Matt asked.
The Gear Freed suddenly lunged at the Red Eyes Black Dragon, slicing through it with his now glowing-yellow sword. It was almost too fast for the spectator's to see; all that remained to show of his handy-work was the Red Eyes Black Dragon, which fell apart in pieces before vanishing.
"Whenever I equip something onto him, he destroys one monster on the field," Mach explained. "Now Gear Freed attacks Matt!"
"I'll activate my trap card in response!" Matt declared. "It's my Pole Position!"
"What does that do?" Mach inquired.
"Nothing to you," Matt told him. "But it makes it so that the monster with the highest attack strength can't be affected by magic cards. In this case, it's Horus."
"The only reason that would help is if you were trying to stop Mach from equipping cards onto Horus," Shadow pointed out. "It still seems like a wasteful move."
"That's why I'm going to activate Cyclone on my Pole Position, destroying it!" Matt exclaimed. "Care to stop me Shadow?"
"Um… why the hell would I stop you?" Shadow said sarcastically.
"Then your Horus is doomed," Matt grinned. "When Pole Position is destroyed, the monster with the highest attack is destroyed as well!"
"Ah, clever," Shadow nodded. "Too bad you overlooked one flaw in your plan."
"Huh?"
As the Horus was about to be hit with the blast from Pole Position, Ishbal began chanting once more. A white barrier surrounded Horus, nullifying the blast.
"What? He stops traps too?" Matt said in disbelief.
"Ishbal's Deck Master ability makes it so that the only way Horus can be destroyed is by battle," Shadow said. "Well, you could still send him to my hand, but I doubt you have any cards that can pull that off. A pity, no? Too bad you didn't ask for specifics earlier."
"Damn it…" Matt muttered.
"If that's over with, my Gear Freed's attack will go through," Mach stated.
Kisara: 5600
Matt: 4400
Shadow: 6100
Mach: 8000
"This looks bad…" Sakura murmured.
"It isn't over until it's over," Amy replied. She looked nervous too though.
"It's your turn, Kisara," Mach said.
Kisara looked over her hand, and shook her head. "I can get rid of Gear Freed but that is it…"
"Just go for whatever you think is best. I'll follow up to the best of my ability," Matt assured.
"Alright... I activate my trap card, Cry of the Living Dead. This lets me bring my Red Eyes Black Dragon back to the field in attack mode."
"Then I activate Kazel's Deck Master ability. Ready?"
"Always!" Kazel smirked, eyes flashing. Then she began to glow red, and let out an earth-shaking roar.
The Red Eyes on the field answered her with a screech of its own, and took to the air as Kazel's aura began to flow into it. Then it shot out a powered-up fire blast, smashing into the Naked Gear Freed. It exploded, leaving nothing remaining of the monster whatsoever.
Mach looked at where his monster had been standing moments ago, but still seemed as calm as ever. "What exactly is your Soul Monster's effect?"
"If I have a Red Eyes Black Dragon I can choose to destroy one monster on the field. My Red Eyes Black Dragon cannot attack the same turn though. I lay one more card before ending my turn."
"Not bad, getting rid of Gear Freed," Shadow said. "Too bad you can't do the same for Horus. He'll attack your Red Eyes Black Dragon."
Kisara: 4500
Matt: 4400
Shadow: 6100
Mach: 8000
"I also lay one card. Go on Matt."
"Not much I can do," Matt sighed. "I lay one monster in defense mode and a card of my own as well."
"You may have destroyed Naked Gear Freed, but remember that my whole deck revolves around Gear Freed, like Shadow's revolves around Horus," Mach said. "I play a magic card, Warrior's Return. This allows me to take one Warrior Sub-Type from my Cemetery and put it into my hand, so I will choose Iron Knight Gear Freed. I summon him and activate another Remove Restraints!"
"Another? You're pretty damn lucky," Matt commented.
"Well, I have three in my deck," Mach shrugged. "So that allows me to special summon another Swordmaster-Naked Gear Freed. (2600/2200) Then I'm going to activate Elric's Deck Master ability."
Elric gestured to Horus, who still held the Chained Dynamite. Obediently, the Horus tossed the Chained Dynamite at Matt's monster. It instantly exploded.
"My Cyber Pod… (900/900) What the heck was that?"
"Elric's ability lets me send one of my equip cards to the Cemetery to destroy one of your monsters," Mach explained. "Now I'll attack Matt with my Gear Freed!"
"I activate my trap card in response, Destruction Ring!" Matt said. "I'm taking your monster down with me! It destroys him and deals us all damage equal to his attack!"
"As thrilling as that would be, I won't allow it," Shadow interrupted. "I activate my own trap card, Imperial Control. This negates all trap cards on the field-besides itself, of course."
"So now we're without magic and trap cards," Matt growled.
"Correct," Mach nodded. "Now that he is not being stopped anymore, Gear Freed's attack goes through."
Kisara: 4500
Matt: 1800
Shadow: 6100
Mach: 8000
"Anything you can do?" Matt asked Kisara as she drew.
She shook her head. "I lay one monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"Then say goodbye to your pal," Shadow smirked. "I summon Sapphire Dragon. (1900/1600) It attacks your defense monster."
"My Lord of Dragons… (1200/1100)"
"Then Horus does the finishing blow to Matt!"
Another beam of black energy slammed into Matt, causing him to go flying back.
Kisara: 4500
Matt: 0
Shadow: 6100
Mach: 8000
"Are you alright?" Amy asked worriedly, going over to him.
"I've had worse…" Matt muttered, getting up. "My pride's more injured than anything."
"I'd say it's about time we finished this up," Mach said. "I equip Naked Gear Freed with Demon Axe. This raises his attack by 1000! (3600/2200) Then I move Elric to the field. (1800/1600) Gear Freed attacks and Elric finishes you!"
Although Elric was swift, it was still nearly impossible to see Naked Gear Freed's attack. She collapsed as sudden pain spread through her from the two strikes.
Kisara: 0
Matt: 0
Shadow: 6100
Mach: 8000
"Pathetic," Shadow shook his head. "We're mere novices at this game and we beat two who have grown up with it? You really don't deserve to live after that…"
Kazel growled, and Masque hissed softly.
Shadow did not seem concerned with them. "Weaklings, all of you. Shouldn't be a problem to dispose of you…"
"Shadow!" Mach snapped. "You're forgetting our orders again!"
Shadow rolled his eyes. "You and your orders! You have to always follow them right to the dot, don't you? Yeesh, both you and Sarius are too soft…" He glanced at the group. "Thank your lucky stars for Sarius' commands and Mach's absolute obedience. Sarius told us not to kill you if you lost to us first, because we're merely 'testing' you… but don't think you're getting off the hook that easily. You've used up your warning; next time we meet, if we win, you are as good as dead."
Without further adieu, Shadow left, Ishbal vanishing. Elric did so as well, but Mach remained behind for a few more moments.
"Shadow's right, I am a bit too kind-hearted for my own good," Mach laughed. "Ah well… I just wanted to tell you, I'm hoping you win next time. Like he said, I take my orders very seriously, and Sarius said to kill you if you lost a second time. This was decided because if you can't stand up to us, then you have no chance of surviving the trials ahead. Now that you know what to expect, prepare yourselves. Even though I don't want to kill anyone, I will follow Sarius' commands without hesitation. So get ready…" Then Mach exited too, the door shutting once more.
Kazel looked over Kisara worriedly. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," she replied.
"No need to worry due to the shield and all," Matt shrugged, recalling Masque to his Soul Card. "But that was just embarrassing… I can't recall the last time I've lost a game."
"They were really strong for first time players," Amy said. "I don't blame either of you for losing."
"I don't care how strong they were, it's no excuse," Matt stated. "I'm going to have to think this over before we face them again…"
Amy looked over at the door. "I don't think they'll come back tonight, and we really need some rest. You can consider how to improve your chances of winning tomorrow."
"I agree," Kazel said. "Nothing will come out of worrying over it."
"I guess so," Matt sighed. "But still, I'm not tired… how about I take first watch while the rest of you get some sleep?"
"I'll take the second one, and Kisara can be last," Amy volunteered.
"You're sure?" Kisara asked.
"I don't mind, I often wake up in the middle of the night due to sleepwalking," Amy said. "Speaking of which, have you ever heard that joke about what writing utensil people use when they're asleep?"
"Sure, crayons," Matt replied. "I always thought that was stupid."
"It is, because it is markers! One time, when I was spending the night at Hope's house, I woke up in the middle of the night to find myself at the bottom of their stairs with a marker in my hand."
"Um… that's unique…" Kisara blinked.
"Don't mind her, she gets pretty worked up over some of the simplest issues," Sakura joked.
"I'd resent that, except that it's true," Amy said. "Anyway, good night."
"Same to you," Matt said, walking outside.
Soon the four inside were fast asleep, while Matt sat outside on the steps, looking through his deck. For despite what Amy said, he wanted to be ready for their next encounter as soon as possible.
To be continued…