Disclaimer: No I don't own Yugioh. And it's me, Wolf General, with another chapter of great fun.

Between Black and White

Chapter 10: A stand against your hunters

"Hey bartender, another round of drinks for the house!" Rioge tipped up his glass and the entire bar cheered once more. "That's right guys, drink to your heart's content! It's all on my dear and best friend, Amarai! Three cheers for the guy!" Another hearty cheer came up from all around them.

Amarai glared at Rioge, and then sighed helplessly. "Just put it on my tab, bartender." He couldn't believe this crap. It wasn't like the money he was spending meant anything to him. What got him angry was the fact that he had to remain nearby Rioge in case he suddenly blacked out. ("I hate it…I thought he could save me from such a horrible fate, but instead I just find myself spending money so he can get dead drunk, and I'm not making any progress towards my goal while it is happening.")

The bartender placed the phone receiver behind the bar back into place and looked over at Amarai. "Hey buddy, I just got a call from your brother. He said he's waiting for you outside."

Amarai froze up, and suddenly Rioge seemed oddly sober.

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Amarai slowly stepped outside, and then proceeded down the alley on the right side of the bar. ("If it is him, then he wouldn't meet me in public.") Sure enough, there was someone waiting for him in the darkness of the alley. "So, is it really you?"

The shadowed form shifted slightly.

Amarai frowned slightly and lifted up his hand to look at the item that had been thrown at his face. "You're obviously not my brother. He knows about the Flash techniques, so he would know that I could block whatever this is." Glancing at the tiny thorn that had been thrown at him, he dropped it to the ground and stomped on it. "So, what's the deal? Are you just an assassin from those same…"

"Assassin?" The voice was oddly quiet and relaxed, as if it had expected that thorn to be stopped. "Assassins kill for their own greedy purposes. My purpose is to bring you to my master, and whether it is dead or alive is now your choice, demon."

Amarai's eyes flashed, and he brushed some of his overgrown silver hair back. "You know what…I'm sick and tired of running from you guys. Let me show you something…"

"Nothing you have could possibly catch me by…" The shadowed figure stopped in mid-sentence as it found itself staring at a toothed barrel. "What…"

Amarai calmly locked his eyes onto the assassin's body and made sure his finger was tightened onto the trigger of Bahamut's Flare. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you, so begone before I make sure there isn't a body for the police to identify."

"I don't think so…foolish demon." The shadowed form took a single step forward.

"Your mistake." Amarai pulled the trigger…and nothing happened. "Huh?" Tilting the weapon so he could see its handle, his eyes widened at the fact that the counter was empty. ("Out of shots?") He relaxed his muscles and started to breathe in, but nothing happened to the handle counter.

"There's no point. That thorn was coated with an effective poison that locks up demonic energy sources. Whatever that gun was supposed to do has been negated." The shadowed form stepped into the barely dim light, its form seeming to be more or less human. "Now then…"

There was a click noise of a gun's hammer being cocked. "Now that's not very sportsman-like." Rioge stepped into the alley from behind the shadowed form. "Don't move, if you please."

Amarai knew that they had won. Despite the fact that his demonic energy was apparently on lockdown for now, he knew that Rioge had the necessary spiritual strength that he could destroy this guy in an instant. But he felt it… ("My brother…") "Rioge…make sure he doesn't run."

"Not a problem at all…" Rioge twirled the revolver he was holding on one finger, yawning tiredly. "So anyway, what should we do with him?"

"He's going to tell us who his master is and where we can go to find him, because otherwise he's going to die." Amarai stepped forward, his eyes locked onto his would-be assailant. "Don't count us unprepared just because your master thinks himself some kind of highly intelligent person. Believe it or not, Rioge and I are pretty quick to react in a clever way."

"I wouldn't tell you such a thing, I have no reason to. My death is unimportant…" The dark form started to prepare itself to retreat. If it was destroyed in the process than so be it.

Amarai's mind flashed with another image of his brother. "You'll duel me. If I win then you'll tell me what I want to know. If you win…I'll come with you to your master."

"Amarai, are you sure you want to…" Rioge instantly realized that look in his 'employer's' eyes. "So troublesome…alright, go ahead. I won't interfere."

"I assume you know how to duel, right?" Amarai's duel disk appeared out of thin air and he slid his deck into place. "Otherwise, this will be a pointless fight."

"I know how to duel…and I'll bring you to my master." The shadowed form's arm twisted slightly and suddenly it had a duel disk. "Very well, I accept your challenge. Let the darkness emerge…"

Amarai gave Rioge a confident smile right before the darkness orb sprang to life around them. "Do you mind telling me your name?"

"Not at all. My name is Arum, remember it well." Then he drew five cards off of his deck. "I will begin."

Arum- 4000

Amarai- 4000

Arum drew. "A good start to your destruction. I place one monster face-down on the field and end my turn." A face-down monster card appeared on the field in front of him.

Amarai drew. "You're underestimating the power of my deck already. Cyber Dragon's special ability lets me special summon it if you have a monster in play and I have none!" (2100/1600) A metallic serpent-like dragon appeared on the field and roared. "Evolution Burst, burn that set monster to ash!" The monster sprayed the set monster with flame and it evaporated. "I place one card face-down on the field and end my turn." A single face-down card appeared right behind his Cyber Dragon.

Arum drew. "You can't expect me to not know about your deck, fool. The monster you sent to the graveyard is Mushroom Beast. Its special ability lets me send the top three cards of my deck to my graveyard at any time, once per game." Pulling the top three cards off of his deck, the shadowed form slid them into the graveyard. "Now I play Trap Booster. This quickplay magic card lets me discard a card from my hand to activate a trap card from my hand."

"A trap card?" Amarai frowned slightly. "That's quite a high cost just to play a trap card right now."

"Don't worry about my strategy, demon." Arum discarded a single card and inserted another card into his disk. "I activate Destiny Destroy! This card allows me to send five cards from my deck to my graveyard. So I choose these five…" He held up five monster cards and slid them all into the graveyard. "And now my strategy is nearing completion. I place two cards face-down on the field and end my turn." Two more cards shimmered into existence in front of him.

Amarai didn't like this at all. ("He's dropping cards into his graveyard for something, but whatever it is…") He drew. Looking at the drawn card, he smiled and held it up. "First, I play Pot of Greed." Drawing two cards, he fanned them both out and then he looked up at Arum. "Field magic, Cyber Civilization!" All around them huge futuristic skyscrapers exploded to life, dissolving the darkness that was their background. "All Cyber monsters in play gain 200 attack and defense points, and you cannot activate cards in your graveyard, from your deck, or from your hand." (2300/1800)

Arum chuckled strangely. "You actually think that's my strategy? Foolish demon…"

"I never said such a thing, did I?" Amarai held up another card. "Magic card activate, Mirror Head Attachment!" The head of the Cyber Dragon was replaced by an almost crystal-like head that glittered in the lights of the Cyber Civilization. "It's already over, go Cyber Dragon, direct attack!" The metal dragon roared and released a powerful blast of fire that hurtled towards Arum.

"Reveal Creeping Mold! This trap allows me to destroy your monster if I have at least three monsters in my graveyard!" Arum spoke calmly, not afraid at all. This duel was his to win, since Amarai's demonic energy was currently sealed up. A wave of green slime exploded from the trap card and swallowed up the Cyber Dragon. "You got too cocky." Then he gasped as the slime shuddered and exploded into dust, revealing the Cyber Dragon. "What happened?"

Amarai chuckled. "I think you're underestimating me again. Mirror Head Attachment activates when the equipped monster is targeted by an enemy's trap. I can send it to the graveyard to negate that trap and destroy it."

Arum returned the chuckle. "That means your dragon is finished, as I reveal my Doom Blossom trap card!" The other face-down card flipped up. "This card destroys your monster if I have at least three plant monsters in my graveyard, and then you take half that monster's attack points in damage. Therefore, suffer for your insolence against my master's plan!"

"You talk too much." Amarai's face-down card flipped up. "Cyber Xerox's special ability allows me to copy one card you have used since the last turn! And my choice is Trap Booster!" Taking a card from his hand, the dragon demon discarded it into his graveyard. "By discarding a card, I can activate a trap from my hand! Go Cyber Mine Detector!" Doom Blossom exploded into dust. "This trap card triggers in response to another trap card from your field. During this turn, all your trap cards are negated and destroyed if I have a Cyber monster in play along with Cyber Civilization!" The Cyber Dragon unloaded a blazing ball of fire onto Arum.

Arum- 1700

Amarai- 4000

Arum grunted as the fire died down. "So it's true…you are just as powerful as I had thought, if not more so. No wonder there are so many factions after you."

Amarai narrowed his eyes. "End turn."

"However…" Arum drew. "I'm far from done! Now it is time to reveal my strategy to you, Amarai Reiki!" His field magic card slot opened. "Field magic, The Lost Paradise!" All around them the city exploded, replaced by a barren wasteland. "While this field magic card is in play, I may draw two cards once per turn." Sliding two cards off of his deck, Arum slid one into his disk. "Now I trigger Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Adding two more to his hand, he inserted another card into the disk slot. "Research on the Pot of Greed is a magic card that allows me to draw two cards if used during the same turn as Pot of Greed." Fanning out his five card hand, he nodded. "Yes, this is the strategy that will crush your chances of winning."

"Is that so?" Amarai smiled confidently. "Bring it on."

"As you wish! I activate the magic card Paradise Revived!" All around them a golden light filled the air. "By discarding a card from my hand and sending The Lost Paradise to the graveyard, I can activate a special field magic card from my hand!" Huge trees and holy music replaced the dreary settings of the wasteland. "Welcome to Gaia Paradise."

"Gaia…Paradise?" Amarai looked around him in amazement. "Very beautiful, but is there a point to it all?"

"Of course." Arum placed a card onto his disk. "Come out, my Holy Caretaker!" (0/1300) An old man wearing brown robes appeared on the field. "This monster's special ability lets me sacrifice it while Gaia's Paradise is in play to discard a card from my hand, and in return I may draw four cards." Sliding his monster and his hand card into the graveyard, he drew four new cards. "Now then, Amarai…let us bring this duel to its next level. I play Smashing Ground to dispose of your Cyber Dragon!" A giant fissure opened in the ground and swallowed up the machine monster. "Your time draws to a close already, Amarai Reiki. I place a single card face-down on the field and then I end my turn."

Amarai drew. "This coming from the guy with no monsters on his field and 1700 life points left." Holding up the drawn card, he smiled calmly. "Let me show you something special. Graceful Charity lets me draw three cards and then discard two." Sliding three cards off of his deck, he dropped two of them into his graveyard slot. "Ready, I activate Polymerization!" A swirling vortex appeared in the sky above him. "Now, from my hand, I play Cybernetic Fusion Support! At the cost of half my life, I can remove fusion component monsters in my graveyard from the game to fuse!" His graveyard whined and spat out three cards. "I remove my three graveyard Cyber Dragons from the graveyard to special summon their ultimate fusion!"

Arum- 1700

Amarai- 2000

"Cyber End Dragon, huh?" Arum wasn't impressed by these tactics. "A big monster like that won't mean a single thing to my strategy."

"That's true…if my intent was to bring out Cyber End Dragon! Come out now, Cyber Behemoth Dragon!" (2600/2300) A giant composite of the three removed Cyber Dragons appeared on the field and roared loudly, the sound shaking the trees of the paradise wildly.

"You removed your three Cyber Dragons for that weakling? It won't be enough…"

"Just wait and see." Amarai held up one hand. "Behold the power of my dragon! Once per turn I can remove one magic or trap card in play from the game!" The face-down card on Arum's field faded away. "Direct attack, Cyber Elimination Burst!" The giant dragon let out a deafening roar and released a blast of concentrated green plasma towards Arum. It washed over the still concealed duelist like a tidal wave.

Arum- 100

Amarai- 2000

"Your life points…" Amarai looked completely surprised.

"Don't be so surprised, Reiki." Arum didn't seem that injured from the force of the blast. "Gaia Paradise allows me to discard one card from my hand when you attack me to raise my life points by 1000 before the attack hits."

Amarai calmed down, it could have been a much worse effect. "End turn."

Arum drew. "And now it comes for you…Gaia Paradise lets me discard two cards from my hand to draw five, once per turn." He did so, and then placed a card onto his disk. "Now, I play my ultimate killing maneuver. By removing eight plant monsters from my graveyard, I can special summon this creature…" There was a blast of light as a golden form lowered onto the field. "Embodiment of Gaia (?) is summoned. For every card in my graveyard its attack and defense points are equal to 200 times that number." (3400/3400) "Now I play Paradise Light! This card equips to my Embodiment of Gaia!" The light around the unseeable form grew brighter. "Burning Light of Creation!"

The Cyber Behemoth Dragon roared in pain and them exploded into dust.

Arum's shadowed form slowly came into view, revealing an almost humanoid form. The only thing breaking the image of an ordinary human in street clothing was the surgeon's mask he wore and the fact that his arms and legs were longer than they should have been. "Embodiment of Gaia, when equipped with Paradise Light, gives me life points equal the monster it destroys in battle."

Arum- 2700

Amarai- 1200

Amarai felt his body shaking in the face of this burning light. ("It's so hot…but that shouldn't affect me…")

"The poison in your system is a powerful, yet only one time useful chemical used by master and his servants. You see, it will seal away your demonic power temporarily, leaving you as weak as any other human. It only can work on one target once, because after their body becomes immune to it. However, this one time will be enough. Without your demonic power, how do you intend to stand against me in a darkness game, Amarai Reiki?"

As his mind reeled from the burning light of the Embodiment of Gaia, Amarai couldn't think of any kind of answer to that question. Without his demonic power, could he win this kind of duel?

To be continued…

Keiji is locked in a Darkness Game with one of Juushin's deadly Seed Puppets,

and it's not looking good for him. Without demon energy and without knowledge of

what exactly he's up against, how can he fight back, especially now that

Dolgrune's trump card, The Hive, is in play?