Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.
This is Wolf General, and have I got a special treat in store for all of you out there. Because of the importance of this little duel, it's time for a special 'hour-long' episode of Walking Another's Path! That's right, not one but two chapters worth of dueling fun in one chapter! By the way, Time Mage is currently having difficulties writing his chapter, hence why I'm posting for now.
Walking Another's Path
Chapter 8: The Showdown; Amarai's Secret Power…Resolve Soul
"Yeah it is…and I know just the strategy to beat you with now." Amarai drew, the card flickering gold for a moment when he drew it. "I play Side Deck Breaker. At this time both players may access their side decks and replaced cards located there with cards from their deck." Removing a small set of fifteen cards from his pocket, he took out his deck and made a few adjustments to it before replacing it. "Alright, Flash Duel preparations complete."
Rioge slid his deck back into place. "Yeah, I was hoping you were ready for this…now then, let's get this duel started for real."
They both smiled slightly, eager to test each other's ability at drawing. "Duel!"
Rioge drew the top card of his deck. "I feel a lot better all of a sudden." His lazy demeanor was gone, replaced by a much more predatory look. "I hope you can hold against me for a while. Because here comes my Bio Gunfighter!" He threw the drawn card down onto his disk and a strange plant-like humanoid appeared on the field. (1700/1400) "I have a lot in common with this guy, and he is a pretty good method to prove my real power too. When he's summoned I can add one equipment magic card from my deck to my hand." A card slid out of his deck and he inserted it into his disk. "I play the equipment magic card Bio Pistol!"
The Bio Gunfighter sneered and yanked his own arm off, the removed limb shifting into a gun-like shape. (2100/1800)
"400 extra attack points…is that it?" Amarai was a little worried though, because he was wide open to its attack.
"Kind of, but not quite. While this guy has this weapon equipped I can make good use of his other powers, but that comes later. Since you used your turn to let me put him into my deck, I'll do you a favor and not attack. End turn." Rioge smiled darkly. "However, after this there's no holding back from me, got it?"
"Got it." Amarai drew. ("A Flash Duel isn't something I am prepared for…it's a duel where both duelists pit their spirits against each other. The supernatural energy released by both clashes so strongly that it's even more dangerous to the users than some darkness games.")
Rioge narrowed his eyes slyly. "You're getting awfully thoughtful, considering how few cards you have available to you."
"True." Amarai placed the drawn card face-down onto his disk. "I place a monster face-down on the field and end my turn." As the card appeared in front of him, he realized just how small the space they were dueling in was. ("There's so little room to move…its almost scary to think what summoning one of my Cyber Dragons would have been like had it been a darkness game.")
"Draw." Rioge looked at the drawn card. "Well well, it looks like the duel is turning into a one man show, huh?" Pointing at the set monster, he made a gun with his hand. "Bang." The Bio Gunfighter snapped up its pistol and released a spray of glowing red seeds that struck the set monster card, blowing it up upon contact.
Amarai caught a card that was spat out of his deck. "The effect of my Cyber Librarian (100/1500) is that when it's destroyed as a result of battle I can add one continuous magic card with Cyber in its title from my deck to my hand. My choice is Cyber Armory."
("A combo he's working towards?") Rioge slid the drawn card into his disk. "I'll place one card face-down on the field and then I'll end my turn."
Amarai drew and held the card up to show a smiling green jar. "Pot of Greed allows me to draw two cards." Sliding two extra cards off of his deck, he looked at both of them and nodded in agreement at his new strategy. "Without my Cyber Dragons you've greatly restricted the power of my deck, but you haven't totally sealed it."
"I didn't intend to seal your deck away. I had those cards in my deck to stop your Cyber Dragons because they would have been troublesome, and I used my Flash Draw skills to make sure I used up all of those discard and seal cards all at once before I began the real duel with you." Rioge pulled a cigarette out of nowhere, put it into his mouth, and lit the end of it with a lighter that appeared out of nowhere just as fast. "If I was aiming to truly lock you down, I would have Flash Drawn my Treasure of Slashing Life, and then used the three Time Seals, Don Zaloog, and Prohibition cards I would have drawn to end this duel without a single chance of you every getting a single turn in."
Amarai narrowed his eyes nervously. ("This guy…he speaks about those events like there is no way he wouldn't have drawn those cards.")
"Don't get it? Do you think my Flash Draw is just a fancy nickname I stuck to my drawing skills?" Taking a drag of his cigarette, Rioge blew a single puff of smoke into the air. "Come now Amarai, do I look like I'm that kind of flashy guy? My Flash Draw special ability lets me expend my energy to draw as if the gods of luck kissed my feet. Essentially, I cannot lose any duel if I felt like it, because the opponent would never get a turn in."
"What are you talking…" Amarai started to argue that fact, but froze as Rioge held an outstretched palm towards him. "Huh?"
"Exodia, Obliterate. Game." Rioge took another drag of his cigarette. "Get it? I own all kinds of cards, including the rare Exodia set. Using my Flash Draw, I could draw all five pieces of the Forbidden One on my first turn and the duel would end there. And just in case the opponent were one of those super-sneaky types who used traps or magics to stop such an effect, I'd just make my draw Absolute Victory."
Amarai had heard of Absolute Victory, which was a counter quickplay magic card created by Industrial Illusions to counter the flow of duelists who used trap cards such as Final Breath to shield themselves from defeat against instant win cards. Its ruling made it impossible to overcome, in that when activated in chain to a game-winning effect it made the opponent lose, regardless of whatever possible card effects were printed and in play. And the ruling was placed by Pegasus J. Crawford himself, which made it unable to be superseded by anyone. "Then…"
"Why don't I just run that deck and beat everybody?" Rioge took one last puff of his cigarette and then flicked it out of sight. "Because I don't give a rat's ass about winning or losing. I just want to experience a good duel, that's it. I don't use my Flash Draw normally, unless it's to set up situations where those duels would occur."
Amarai felt uneasy now, because it didn't sound like Rioge was bluffing. ("No, he's completely serious…and that's terrifying. He could, if angered, draw any card in his deck to take me down.") Looking at his hand, he felt chills run down his spine. ("I…I can't beat this kind of…")
"Stop being scared already, it ain't worth the time." Rioge sighed. "Hopeless guy, thinking just because I have that kind of power that I'd use it against you. If I wanted you beaten then I would have allowed that darkness game to occur, right? That's why I don't like you demons and your darkness games…it's just far too troublesome to be worth it."
Amarai just stood there, his eyes wide in amazement at this opponent. ("He…he's right.") Smiling slowly, he chuckled. "Rioge Mario, was it? I've never heard of you…and yet you've just earned my ultimate respect. Let's duel with our fullest skill, and not with our powers! Field magic card, Cyber Civilization!" As he closed his field magic card, the subway inside changed to a towering silver city that surrounded them. "While this field is in play, you cannot use your graveyard, cards in your hand during my turn, or your deck activation cards, if you have any!"
"Quite a restricting card you got there, huh?" Rioge smiled slightly. "However, I ain't worried too much…I still got my set card, right?"
"Right." Amarai slammed a card into his disk. "Continuous magic card, Cyber Armory!" Behind him, a giant silver structure slowly rose up into the air. "While this field magic card is in play, I can use it as long as Cyber Civilization is out to discard an equipment card from my hand to add an equipment card from my deck to my hand." Revealing a Premature Burial card, he inserted it into his graveyard and pulled his deck out of its slot. "End turn."
Rioge lifted his eyebrows a little bit. "Oh? That's it?" Drawing, he pointed right at Amarai. "Okay, then take this." The Bio Gunfighter aimed its pistol right at the dragon demon, but didn't fire. "Hm?"
Amarai smiled slowly. "From my hand, activate Pacifism Ring." A glowing golden ring appeared around the plantman's wrist. "This equipment magic card will stop your monster from attacking for this turn, and at the end of this turn it will go to the graveyard. When that happens, I can draw a card."
Rioge smiled slightly and inserted the card in his hand into his disk. "Then I'll just set this little guy face-down, go ahead." The golden ring shattered and Amarai drew. ("What a guy…he's trying to build up to some kind of combo through Topdecking…")
Amarai drew. ("What's he setting down? Why is he…") Looking at his drawn card and then the card he got from Pacifism Ring, a slight smile crossed his face. ("So…I'll use that then?") "Rioge…let me give you a little treat. I'll show you…the glowing strength of my soul."
"Glowing strength of your soul, you said? Huh?" Rioge lazily tilted his head to the side. "I must admit…now I'm curious as to what you've got."
"I play the continuous magic card Unlock Thy Soul." As the card appeared on the field, his body started to glow with calm silver light. "Also, I place one monster face-down on the field. End turn."
("Unlock Thy Soul?") Rioge drew. "I ain't making it that easy! Equipment magic card, Bio Double Shot!" Energy flowed around the body of the Bio Gunfighter. "Now my guy can attack twice, so it won't be so easy for you to hold me back with a single defender! Double Shooter!" The plantman unleashed a powerful spray of glowing red seeds that blew the set monster apart, and then pounded into Amarai's body.
Rioge- 4000
Amarai- 1900
Amarai sighed and brushed himself off. "My face-down was pretty weak…just a Science Soldier (600/800) with no effect. Of course…" He drew. "It saved me." A glowing counter appeared around his Unlock Thy Soul. "Two turns to go until I can activate it, so I'll just set a card face-down on the field and end my turn."
"Still just buying time? You don't have that luxury, buddy." Rioge drew. "Bio Gunfighter, snuff him out! Double Shooter!" The monster threw up its gun and opened fire twice, Amarai disappearing within the cloud of smoke from the exploding seeds. "Is that it?"
"Nope." Amarai brushed himself off once again, that smile still on his face. "Nutrient Z raises my life points by 4000 before your first attack landed."
Rioge- 4000
Amarai- 1700
Rioge closed his eyes and laughed. "What a guy…buying time until the showdown huh? Now I really need to know what you're working towards bringing out."
Amarai closed his eyes and rubbed his index finger under his nose. "Just relax and give me one more turn then." He drew and another counter appeared around Unlock Thy Soul. "Activate Cyber Defense Network!" A glowing barrier of green light sprang up between him and Rioge. "Until my next draw phase, you can't attack because Cyber Civilization is in play!"
Rioge drew. "That's good, you put me in a position where I can't attack…but, you also understand that I still have two cards I can't use yet simply because I'm already too well prepared for what may be coming. I want to see it…bring it to me. Let me see the power of your soul, this shining power you spoke of."
Amarai closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "I promised to show you it, and therefore I'll bring it out to you. Prepare yourself, Rioge!"
"Prepare myself? That ain't necessary…I'm already ready." Yawning, Rioge popped his neck a couple of times. "But please hurry…I'm getting tired of waiting."
"Sorry to make you wait, I'll make sure it's all worth it!" Amarai drew the top card off of his deck and Unlock Thy Soul had three counters around it. "Here it goes…I play the continuous magic card Counter Economics! Unlock Thy Soul transfers its counters to one card in play or it can sacrifice these three counters to let me gain 1500 life points…" The three counters of light flashed over to Counter Economics. "Behold…the shining power of my soul…" Unlock Thy Soul exploded and a silver ball of light appeared between Amarai's cupped hands. "May it awaken within my hands, Bahamut's Flare!" There was an explosion of fire as a huge silver gun covered in different ornamentations to make it look like a dragon appeared in his hand. "The Flare of Bahamut…is here."
"Oh?" Rioge lifted his eyebrows in minor amazement. "What a pretty toy…"
"Toy?" Amarai hefted the heavy weapon like it was nothing. "It's far more than that…."
"Yeah, I figured as much. Flare of Bahamut right? That's the god of the dragon demons, right?" Rioge closed his eyes and smiled. "Hmm…a gun too. How ironically perfect is that? Let the showdown begin!"
"Yeah…let the showdown begin." Amarai closed his eyes. ("Forgive me…I must use this weapon against this kind of opponent…nothing else would do.")
Rioge grinned at he felt it now…a gathering energy coming from his opponent. "You're becoming more and more powerful in such a short amount of time…what do you call this power, Amarai?"
"What do you think? It is my Resolve to beat you…my Resolve to show you the truth, and to learn who has been after me…and to restore myself to normal…all these things and more…" Slowly, he lifted the 'dragons' mouth to point right at Rioge. "Are you ready, Rioge? This power…it will not be easily pushed down!"
Rioge just kept smiling. "You keep getting me more and more excited…I can't help it…I just need to see your power in full! Show me it…all of it right now!" His hands trembled in excitement, his lazy demeanor completely gone. "Give it to me…your all…"
"So be it…Counter Economics…can be sacrificed to allow me to draw a card per counter on it!" Amarai drew three cards. "And with it, this duel is beginning now!"
Rioge smiled slightly. ("He'll need a Heavy Storm card to clear the field of my set cards for such an effective maneuver…otherwise his attack will just be negated completely and utterly.")
Amarai closed his eyes slowly. "Bahamut's Flare…my Gun Soul…is equipped to nothing at the moment, only on the field as a static card." He lifted one of the drawn cards up. "So let me give it something to equip to! Dragon Buster Armor Emergence activate!" The held up card flashed with bright light that filled the inside of the subway car. When it cleared, it revealed a humanoid suit of dragon-themed power armor standing on the field, the Flare of Bahamut in its hand. "And this is my fighter…it will use the weapon of my soul against you. Its attack and defense are equal to half of my remaining life points." (850/850) "Also, the power of my Bahamut's Flare, it gains 700 attack points." (1550/850)
Rioge smirked. "Hey now buddy, your monster doesn't have anything close to what I have in attack power on my field."
"True…" Amarai pointed at the Bio Gunfighter. "Dragon Buster, attack now with Bahamut's Flare as your weapon!" The powered armor leapt right at the Bio Gunfighter without the slightest hesitation. "Give him a triple blast." Then three large bullets of blood red energy exploded from the mouth of the weapon, hurtling towards Rioge's field like three comets.
"There's gotta be more to it than what you're showing me…" He glanced at the holographic system over the Dragon Buster's head. (2450/850) ("What?") "Reverse card open! Secret Weapons equips to my Bio Gunfighter and gives him a nice power boost of 500!" (2600/1400) "That ain't all though, it also gives him access to a new power…secret Bomb Fruit!" The plantman aimed its hollow stump where its arm had been at the approaching comets and fired out three blue fruits that slammed into each of the blasts and blew them apart. "With these Fruit Bombs, he can counterattack and destroy your monster, dealing you half of your lost monster's attack in damage. Essentially…it's pretty much the end." A trio of the glowing blue bombs exploded out of the smoke cloud and hurtled towards the Dragon Buster.
"Is that what you think or is that what you wish?" Amarai slid a card into his disk. "Go Buster Shield!" There was a flash of light as a glowing force field of emerald energy sprang up and intercepted the incoming attacks, blocking out the explosions and rocking the whole car. "This quickplay magic card negates any battle that one monster with Buster in its title enters into."
"Not a bad save, but still not enough. Take a look at your field before you argue too…because from what I see you have only one card left, while I've still got my set card and the two I'm holding, along with the single one that I'll be drawing." Rioge fanned out the two cards in his hand. "I warn ya…it won't be so easy beating me."
"I never said it…" Amarai stumbled slightly and then dropped to one knee, his entire body shaking. ("Damn…I…I got too carried away and released too much of my energy…") He looked at the handle of Bahamut's Flare and frowned at the five remaining bars of light that were on it. ("This…this isn't good…I'm too…I just can't lose here.") "I place one card face-down on the field and then I end my turn."
Rioge drew. "Hey…you alright? You're starting to look a little pale…" Pointing at the Dragon Buster, he closed his eyes slowly. "Here you go, Bio Gunfire!" The plantman opened fire on the machine monster, which shuddered as it was pummeled by glowing red seeds. "You're about to lose your soul, buddy."
"Not…now and not ever!" The Dragon Buster took the attack and was pushed back slightly by the energy. "Dragon Buster, while in attack mode, can't be destroyed as a result of battle!"
Rioge- 4000
Amarai- 950
Rioge sighed. "So troublesome…but whatever you say. Alright, the turn…"
"Wait…reveal Insurance Company…" Amarai's Cyber Armory card disappeared. "This continuous trap card, once per turn, can send a magic or trap card on my field back to my hand to give me a 300 life point boost."
Rioge- 4000
Amarai- 1250
Rioge chuckled. "Okay, I'm still not that impressed. End turn."
Amarai drew. "I'm not trying to impress you at all, if you haven't figured it out by now. I activate the magic card Recycle Reward! By having a machine monster on my field and at least one machine type monster in my graveyard, I can remove my graveyard from the game. I may draw one card plus an extra one for every ten cards removed." Drawing two extra cards, he looked at them both and nodded slowly. ("Okay…this isn't the time to surrender or to hold back…")
There was a moment of silence as both of them took a quick breath. They had already expended some of their energy, and neither was quite ready to call it quits. "Activate Insurance Company!" Cyber Civilization disappeared as it returned to Amarai's hand.
Rioge- 4000
Amarai- 1550
Rioge took this time to get a good look at the weapon his opponent was wielding. ("Bahamut's Flare, he called it…") Looking at the silver gun, his lips quirked into a smile. ("Interesting, but not exactly terrifying kid. I hope there's more to it then just a power boost depending on the number of blasts it fires.")
Amarai looked at Bahamut's Flare five remaining lit bars. ("Five shots out of eight…I burned way too much of my spiritual energy out with those attacks from before. However…") He was already committed to this duel, so he was going to have to make sure the other five found their mark. "Secret Weapons only stopped that one attack…so take four more!"
The Dragon Buster snapped up Bahamut's Flare and fired four more shots from it. (2750/850)
"Reverse card open!" Rioge's remaining face-down card flipped up. "Crimson Breaker! This card activates when the opponent attacks my Bio Gunfighter…that attack is negated because my monster gains another 400 attack points!" (3000/1400) The plantman's hair shimmered crimson red and fired out like a spray of needles, piercing the four balls of light and blowing them all apart. "Return fire! Bomb Fruit!" Six glowing blue fruit exploded from the monster's stump and hurtled towards the Dragon Buster. "You're done!"
"Not yet!" Amarai slammed a card into his disk. "Proof of Buster activates when a monster with Buster in its title is about to be destroyed…I offer two cards from my hand to negate the attack and destroy your monster!" There was a flash of angry green light as it slammed into the Bio Gunfighter and blew it apart.
Rioge closed his eyes and sighed. "How troublesome…"
("Only…one…shot…") Amarai stumbled, his eyes going in and out of focus rapidly. ("Damn it…stop spinning world, please!") "I place one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
"You're not quite that smart, are ya?" Rioge drew. "I know what each of those bullets are, they're your body's demon energy in concentrated form. You're trading in a huge portion of your power for a boost that's barely worth it."
"Hey…I got rid of you field didn't I?" Amarai tried to play off the fact that Rioge was right about Bahamut's Flare. It required a huge hunk of his demonic energy just for a single shot, and to fully load the gun he had to nearly give it all of his energy, which once fired wouldn't come back for a while.
"Sure you did…except…" Holding up a card, Rioge smirked. "Sorry buddy, but I play Bio Invincibility. From my graveyard, one Bio Gunfighter will be returned to my hand and I can discard any number of cards to get my Bio Gunfighter support cards back…Crimson Breaker, Bio Pistol, and Secret Weapons. Plus, when Crimson Breaker returns to my hand, you take 400 points of damage!" A spray of crimson needles fell out of nowhere and tore into Amarai's body.
Rioge- 4000
Amarai- 1150
Amarai stumbled. "Not…not yet!"
"Of course not yet!" Rioge slapped a card onto his disk. "Bio Gunfighter, revive yourself!" The plantman reappeared on the field. "Bio Pistol!" (2100/1400) Once again, the creature pulled off its own arm and turned the limb into a gun. "Ready?"
"I'll show you ready…bastard…" Amarai felt mad now at the fact that he was running out of energy so quickly. ("I…I can't lose here! If I can't win this kind of battle, what chance will I stand against someone like my brother?")
"Here I come, Amarai. Bio Shooter!" The Bio Gunfighter opened fire, spraying a wave of red seeds right at the Dragon Buster.
"Insurance Company…activate!" Amarai held up his face-down card. "And of course the perfect combo card, Insurance. When Insurance is returned to my hand it lets me gain 500 life points, so in combination with Insurance Company I gain 800 life points."
Rioge- 4000
Amarai- 1950
"Not bad, two cards face-down and end turn." Rioge watched Amarai quietly now, wondering what the dragon demon could do with only one shot of his weapon left. He wasn't at all worried about Amarai drawing something deadly… ("The real threat is that gun, but only if he understands how to make it work…")
Amarai took a deep breath and then drew. "I place one card face-down and return it to my hand with Insurance Company." The face-down card flashed out of sight and appeared back in his hand. "It was Insurance, so I gain another 800 life points."
Rioge- 4000
Amarai- 2750
"Go Graceful Charity!" Amarai drew three cards. "Now I discard two." Sliding two cards into his graveyard, he smiled at Rioge weakly. "It looks like I'm nearly done for…huh?"
"Naw, you still got a little fight left in you." Rioge returned the smile. "However, you'd better hurry up and make that last shot count."
Amarai dropped to one knee, sweat dripping down his face. ("I'm too drained though. What can I possibly do to this kind of opponent? I might have chosen the wrong weapon, but still…") "It's too late to go back on my word now."
"Amarai…" Rioge smirked. "Come on, ya loser, give me something to be afraid of already."
"Yeah…hang on…" Amarai collapsed face-first to the ground as his body realized it was nearly drained of all its energy.
"Honestly…" Rioge sighed and lit up another cigarette, taking a seat. "I guess I have a little bit of time on my hands now. He'd better hurry though…even I ain't infinitely patient."
--------------------------
"Amarai…" An aged man with a white beard stood a few feet away from an adolescent Amarai. "You're forcing it out too much. For your dragon's breath, it must be a relaxed thing, like breathing." Aiming his open palm out a nearby window and towards a nearby mountain, the man silently released a ball of burning energy that launched instantly into the mountainside, blowing a small crater into it. "You see…"
Amarai dropped to one knee, panting in exhaustion. His blasts never even made it half of the way to the mountain, and each one was so much of his energy too. "I…I can't be compared to someone like you though. Your power…"
The old man chuckled. "My power? Compared to yours, it's nothing at all."
"But you fired off five of those blasts, and I'm already exhausted after two! It's not possible for you to build up that much demon energy and…"
Sighing, the old man whacked the boy on top of the head with his walking stick. "What are you, stupid?"
Rubbing the top of his head, Amarai glared at his teacher. "Then how do I do it?"
"I can't tell you that, my child. You must learn it on your own, after all." The old man lifted up his hand, a ball of burning energy floating in it. "I'll give you a hint though…it has to do with color…"
"Color?" Amarai looked down at his hand. ("Color? What about color?")
"You're trying to hard to figure it out. It should be natural as the air you breath." Turning, the old man walked away without another word, leaving his student to figure the secret behind a dragon demon's breath attack to himself.
--------------------
("How…how did he do it? I never figured it out, no matter how hard I trained I couldn't increase my power beyond eight attacks, and it translates to my Bahamut's Flare.") Taking a deep breath, he stood up and tried to shake off his dizziness. ("No…I can win if I give it my all…I know I can!")
Rioge stood up and flicked his cigarette off to the side. "Are we finally done playing?"
"I…I won't play anymore…" Amarai looked at the cards in his hand. ("These are the best out of my hand cards, but what can I do with them?")
"Breath and then think. Jeez…you're such an uptight guy…" Rioge shook his head sadly. "Really, relax…"
"Everybody keeps telling me that, and they keep…" Amarai just stood there, frozen in mid-sentence. ("Wait a second…Color? The blasts were really red, but the old man's were a much lighter orange. Of course!") He smiled and took an even deeper breath. "Air. I place two cards face-down on the field. End turn." As the two cards appeared on the field, his smile got even bigger. "Make your last turn count, Rioge. I figured out what I've been doing wrong all this time, and thanks to my face-down cards…it's the end for you."
"Those are big words coming from you." Rioge decided to draw normally. ("I want to see what this guy has.") Looking at the drawn card, he chuckled and slid it into his disk. "I activate Crushing Trap! One monster in play will be completely destroyed!"
"Reveal Time Jump!" Amarai smirked. "Anything this card chains to is negated, and the turn count increases by three." He watched as Crushing Trap disappeared. "Rioge…this is it!"
"You got one shot, and it's my turn you know." Rioge pointed at the Dragon Buster. "Bio Gunfighter…blast him." The plantman snapped up its pistol and opened fire.
Amarai watched the approaching spray of glowing red seeds with a calm smile on his face. "Take a look at this…" The Dragon Buster lifted its arm to show the ammunition counter on Bahamut's Flare. It was at eight.
"You reloaded?" Rioge blinked in surprise as the eight counters got brighter and brighter. "What's going on?"
Amarai held up one finger. "During my standby phase my weapon can reload itself if I simply breathe air into its ammunition chamber. I figured it out…dragons don't breathe pure fire; they need air to propel that fire. What I was shooting before was simply heavy lumps of demon energy. They weren't effective at all. However, I just figured out that the proper mix for a dragon's attack is air and their energy, making it easy to fire multiple shots since it barely costs you anything considering how much damage you can do."
"But why are they getting brighter?" Rioge blinked at Bahamut's Flare started to shudder.
"Simple…if I have all eight counter on it during one of my standby phases…I can fire the ultimate power of Bahamut's Flare!" Amarai held up his hand, and the Dragon Buster mimicked the action. "Prepare yourself." The seeds were almost to their target. "Tenryudan!" Then the Dragon Buster pulled the trigger, and everything disappeared in a wave of flame.
Rioge felt the holographic waves pass over him, but knew immediately had they been real he would have been flash-fried instantly. As the blast cleared, he realized his field was empty. "You can fire all of the counters at once during the standby phase to destroy all cards I have in play?"
"Yup." Amarai smiled as the Dragon Buster held up the handle of Bahamut's Flare to show it at eight shots again. "Time Jump essentially makes three turns pass at once. The first turn recharged my ammunition, the second let me fire the Heaven Dragon Bullet, and the third recharged my weapon's ammunition again, since all it needs is some air and a small bit of my power."
Rioge did some quick math in his head. "Nicely done Amarai, but even if you fire off all of those shots it'll only equal 3950 total attack, not enough to…"
"Those weren't bullets, those were lumps of my demon energy…an inefficient method of shooting. In this case….I'll let you taste my weapon's real power!" Amarai drew. "For every bullet fired, Bahamut's Flare powers up the battling monster by 400 points! Rapid…Fire!" The Dragon Buster snapped up the weapon and pulled the trigger in rapid succession, spraying Rioge with blasts of demon energy mixed with air. (4750/850)
Rioge- 0
Amarai- 2750
As the field disappeared, Rioge brushed himself off and chuckled. "Not bad at all, not bad at all. You can definitely deal with anything most guys can send after you…and I'll deal with the rest."
"Huh?" Amarai's head tilted to the side slowly. "What do you mean?"
"There was no bomb and there was no threat to you from me, because I just decided that I like you Amarai Reiki." Lighting up another cigarette, Rioge took a puff from it. "Therefore, I'll travel with you and keep you on the right track. That's my way of helping you deal with your 'problem'."
Amarai face-fell. "You got my hopes up for nothing!"
"That's true, I did huh? Oh well…how about we get some dinner once this train reaches its destination?" Rioge patted the fallen dragon demon on the back. "Your treat, of course."
To be continued…