Team Zero: Orichalcos

Chapter 35: Rebirth, Black Flames and Mirrors

"Attack!"

Lucien's mighty phoenix monster opened its golden wings, making streams of its golden fire into a golden sun sphere, hovering just in front of the monster. Seeming to move in slow motion, the great bird flapped its wings down sending the giant fire ball hurdling towards the crouching warrior.

"Phoenix Fire!" Lucien cried as the attack began to launch.

Gritting his teeth, Reku waited till the ball of flames was almost to his monster before pressing a button on his duel disk. "Open trap card, Fire Wall!" With a 'whoosh' sound, a towering wall of flames shot up form the arena floor in front of the crouching defenseless warrior.

"Fire Wall normally is a devastating trap card, stopping all attacks from monsters that aren't water or fire element. But..." Lucien held up his duel disk and tapped the corner of his phoenix card. Under his finger, the red sphere showing the monster to be of fire attribute. "The Phoenix of the Nephths is fire."

"Why yes it is." Reku said with a calm stance. "So?"

"So..." Lucien was taken back by Reku's calmness. "So, you wasted your trap!"

"Did I?" Reku pressed a button on his duel disk causing one of his other two set cards to flip up. "This trap is called Elemental Change and here's how it works. I select one monster on the field and that monster becomes the attribute of which I call." Smirking slightly at Lucien's dumbfounded look, he pointed to him. "I call Wind! Making your monster's attack negated by the power of my Fire Wall!"

Lucien watched as the massive fire ball collided affectless on the wall of raging flames. Sighing as the wall faded away with a wisp of smoke left, Reku's Warrior of the White Flame still crouching unharmed on his field.

"So he was able to stop my attack. But how long can he dodge my attacks?" Looking at his hand, Lucien saw nothing of usefulness for this turn. "I will end my move then."

Nodding, Reku pulled the top card off his deck and looked at its face. "Hey, hey, alright." A wide smile creased across Reku's face. Looking up, Lucien saw two eyes filled with happiness and glee.

"What did you draw that you are so happy about?" Lucien questioned as Reku moved the Warrior of the White Flame off his duel disk.

"Just the reward for anyone who is talented enough to keep the Warrior of the White Flame on the field until its attack power hits zero." Reku commented as his hologram faded out of sight. "I sacrifice it to summon the Warrior of the Black Flame!"

With a roar of black flames, Reku's field was engulfed with a twister of fire. A mighty cry of power could be heard from inside the tornado that echoed across the dome of cheering fans. Lucien watched on in amazement as the twister was cut in half from the inside by a fiery red and black tipped sword.

Onto Reku's field, a warrior in raven black and fire red armor stepped. A large, curved sword crashed to the ground sending sparks of black fire skipping across the floor. A royal knights helmet was sitting on his head, showing only the tips of his brown hair underneath. Opening its solid white eyes, no pupil, no iris, it glared out at the golden bird. Firm faced, the monster raised its sword so to be pointing with the tip at the bird. A snake of black flames began to encircle the blade. (2000/2000)

"I had no clue such a card existed." Lucien said, studying the warrior that now opposed his monster. "But even so, in attack power it cannot best my monster."

"Normally, no." Reku shook his head, still with his pleased smile in place. "But again, in this game even the weakest of monsters can topple the mightiest of foes!"

"Wait?" Ronin looked over at Akina and Sachiko. "When did he get that card?"

"I got it for him." Akina smiled. "Paying him back for getting me the loyal knight cards."

"I see, I didn't know that there was a Warrior of the Black Flame." Ronin commented, looking back at the warrior.

"So its special ability will destroy my Phoenix?" Lucien questioned to Reku. "You know that if my monster is destroyed by an effect it will come back?"

"I know." Reku said holding up his duel disk. "My monster gains a transfer ability. The Warrior of the White Flame gave its attack up to its defense, well the Warrior of the Black Flame can work backwards. The difference is that I chose when the transfer happens."

Reku-1000 LP
Lucien-1700 LP

(Warrior of the Black Flame 3000/1000) "I give up life points equal to how many defense points I transfer. I give up 1000 defense points and 1000 life points to the monsters attack power." Lowering his duel disk, Reku pointed to the golden phoenix. "Attack now, Black Flame Sword Slash!" Nodding, the monster took off in a dead run at the golden bird. Pitch Black flames flying off his sword as he charged, the monster took to the air in a running leap. Keeping the sword extended, the warrior's sword pierced through the chest of the phoenix. Roaring, the monster was consumed with black flames from the inside out. Extracting his sword, the monster left the bird to burn in the consuming flames.

Reku-1300 LP
Lucien-1100 LP

"Oh, and my monster also gives me life points equal to half of the damage you take from a battle involving him." Reku explained where the 300 extra attack points had come from. "So, with that attack, I feel I will end my turn by summoning my Thing in the Crater (1000/1200) in defense mode." Reku exclaimed as a miniature curved stone wall appeared next to the black armored knight. From a small cave, two beady eyes peered out over a small pool of boiling lava.

"I'll take my move then." Lucien announced, "draw!" Adding the card to his hand, Lucien calculated some possible moves. "I think I can take out your monster, but first, I want to know something." Lucien looked up to Reku who cocked an eyebrow.

"Alright, what do you want to know?" He asked, willing to answer Lucien's question.

"Why did you say that you didn't have lots of time left? What is going on in this tournament that seems to have everyone on edge. What is going on?" Lucien almost demanded to know from Reku.

"Um..." Reku was at a lost for words. "Well, you see..." Searching for the right words, Reku took a glance over his shoulder at his team mates. Getting nothing but three shrugs, Reku looked back at the golden brown haired boy who had asked the question. "Would you believe me if I said a 10,000 year old power seeking an even older and greater power was sparking a war up between good and evil?"

"What?" Not quite the response Lucien was expecting, he quickly brushed it aside. "What an active imagination you have."

"Actually, I've never been more awake to reality as I am now!" Reku said in his head, what stopped him from saying out loud was the thought that there was no way to explain this without having seen it for himself. "Well, that team there uses one of the powers. The Seal of Orichalcos. With each win it is stealing the souls of the loser."

"Really? Or is it that maybe it has a higher intensity set on its hologram that are causing weaker duelists to faint after a loss?" Lucien questioned in a non-believers voice.

"That doesn't even make sense...why wouldn't the duelist faint at the activation of the card then?" Reku shook his head at Lucien's doubt. "Maybe he is better off not understanding this." Looking up, Reku smiled wide. "Your right, I'm just playing a bad trick on you."

"Thought so." Lucien smiled, getting an answer he believed. "So the power level on that hologram is set really high. Now what is going on with that powerful gemstone card you played back in the restaurant."

"Um..." Reku searched for a believable excuses. "Well...you see. Its...a...fake knock off card?" Reku shrugged, he was out of explanations.

"I see, so how were you able to play it? Novelty cards don't get read by any style of duel disk." Lucien questioned Reku, who was backed into a metaphorical corner.

"Um...special...knockoff card. Yea, it is able to be read, and made by a dear friend of ours." Reku smirked, motioning to his teammates. "Same with there Orichalcos card, just no where in the rules did Kaiba say that you couldn't use them."

"Yes he did, it says that no novelty cards can be used because all duels will be fought with duel disks, and duel disks don't read them."

"But they read these." Reku emphasized his point. "Since they can be read, they don't violate that rule."

"I...guess so." Lucien said looking down at his hand. "So you are a cheater? Using a novelty card just cause it can break Kaiba's rules."

"Nope, I haven't used it once during the tournament. Neither have any of my friends used theirs. We only plan to use them once, if I can get us passed this round." Reaching to the deck box strapped to his side, Reku pulled it open and held up his Ruby Crystal card. "I don't even have it in my deck. No need to worry about it." Smiling wide, Reku closed his eyes and bared all of his teeth in a nerdy smile.

"Filling the kid with stupid lies." Chime grunted. "Oh well, he will soon see the truth. More than likely when it is his soul being ripped out by the force of my power."

Taking a more serious face, Reku put the card back into his deck box. "It is them that have been cheating. I don't see why Kaiba, Yugi, or Joey haven't stepped in to put a stop to them."

"They must have some sort of hold on them. Like black mail or something." Lucien realized, turning their heads, both of the kids looked at the three best duelists, Kaiba, Yugi, and Joey.

"More than they could possibly know." Kaiba angrily thought without making a sound.

"How could that kid know about the history of the Orichalcos! I'm even starting to wonder how she can still use it. The Orichalcos god is gone." Yugi asked the spirit who materialized in an astro form by Yugi. No one was aware of his presence but Yugi.

("I also wonder about that Crystal card he was talking about. I think it is more than just a knock off card. I feel the same presence off of it as I do the Orichalcos, but not a dark presence. Just the same feel.") Yami responded to the young boy. ("There is more here than we understand. But, I think we know the other destiny that I have been sensing. I believe that him and his team mates are more entangled in this than anyone.")

"Then him and his friends are the ones that are fighting the power of the Orichalcos?" Yugi looked back at Reku and then down at Ronin, Akina, and Sachiko. "I wonder what is exactly up with them."

("As do I.")

"Well," Lucien looked down at his hand. Grabbing two of the cards out of it he held them out to the side. "I guess that is all I wanted to know, so back to the duel. I activate two magic cards, Monster Reborn and Premature Burial!" Moving his arm, he thrusted the two cards so the faces were pointing towards Reku. "I revive my Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400/1000) and Sacred Phoenix of the Nephthys (2400/1600) respectively to my magic cards."

Reku-1300 LP
Lucien-300 LP

In a rush of energy, the golden bird and the ice covered monsters burst back onto the field. Reku braced himself from the shock wave that shot off from the two of them. Looking on, Reku watched a brown backed card form next to the two of them indicating a set monster.

"I set one monster card face down before I activate this." Grabbing a card, Lucien thrust it forwards as well to show Reku the face. On the card, a shadowy monster was gaining massive amounts of energy from off the image of the card. On the chest of the monster, a gold and silver symbol rested. Reku's eyes widened at the name of the card; Monarch Guild Force!

"Oh no!" Reku words were filled with terror.

"Monarch Guild Force activate now!" Lucien called, sliding the card into his duel disk. "Heres how it works, I send all cards in my hand to the grave, next I sacrifice all my monsters that have Monarch in there title and designate one monster on the field to increase the attack of that monster by 2000 for each Monarch sacrificed. Since the attack of my Phoenix will surpass 4000, my magic card will destroy it, but this will be the end of the duel for you."

Disappearing in an uprising sparkly light, the frost Monarch turned into streams of pale white light that flowed into the mouth of the golden bird that hovered a few feet off the arena floor. As the end of the stream flowed into the mouth of the awaiting beast, it let out a roar that brought a wave of cheers from the spectators sitting around the dome. (4400/1600)

"This is it!" Lucien cried out, whipping his arm out towards the black flaming warrior. "Attack now, Phoenix Flame!" In the same fashion as before, the large mechanical looking phoenix created a huge sphere of red hot flames. Flapping its wings forward with a mighty thrust, the huge ball of flames was sent flying out towards the Warrior of the Black Flames.

Crashing into him, Reku watched as his monster was engulfed, disappearing in side the giant ball. Bowing his head in defeat, Reku noticed something he had forgotten about.

Reku-400 LP
Lucien-300 LP

"What!" Lucien was in shock that the attack hadn't finished off Reku. "What is going on! You should have lost 1400 life points finishing you off!"

"Shoulda, woulda, coulda." Reku smirked as he pulled a card out of his duel disks magic/trap card zones and held it up for Lucien to see. "I activated a quick play spell card, Sacred Blue Flame. I had forgotten that I had set this, maybe good I did. It increased my monsters attack by 500 points (3500/1000). That saved my life points by making me only lose 900 of them."

"Lucien picked up his Sacred Phoenix card and moved it to his graveyard. "I end my turn, and due to the effect of Monarch Guild Force, I must destroy my Phoenix. Don't worry though, this isn't the last time you will see him." Lucien proudly stated knowing by the look on Reku's face that he didn't have anything in his hand right now to whip out the rest of his life. He just hopped that Reku would get a bad draw.

"Draw!" Reku announced, snapping the top card off his deck. "This will be helpful I think." Reku thought staring at the card. "I end my turn." Reku announced without doing anything.

Lucien felt a wave of joy from his opponents move. "Good, nothing more to defend with." Lucien reached for his deck. Grabbing the top card off he made his announcement. "Draw!" With a rush of flames, the great Phoenix of the Nephthys appeared on Lucien's field again. Smiling, he moved the card he had just drawn towards his duel disk. "I sacrifice my set monster, Spirit Reaper, to summon Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch (2400/1000)!"

In a tower of light, the set card hologram faded away being replaced by the large, white armored Monarch of fire. Peering out from under its armor, the large monster took the ball of fire it was tossing up and down in his hand, and sent a spark of it flying out and hitting one of the cards in Reku's hand."

"What did my Monarch hit? If it is a monster, you are pretty much doomed." Lucien smiled as Reku scornfully reached for the indicated card. Holding it up, no one could believe Reku's luck. It was a monster, but...

"Raging Flame Sprite (100/200). This monster only has three stars on it." Reku said, sliding the card into his graveyard.

Reku-100 LP
Lucien-300 LP

"Oh well," Lucien shrugged, pointing to the rock wall monster Lucien issued his command. "Thestalos, attack his monster!" Winding back another fire ball, the armored monster shot it forward with incredible speed and force. Flying at such a speed, the fire ball looked like a comet flying through the night sky. Crashing into the stone wall monster, it blew it to pieces on contact.

"Thing in the Crater has a special ability!" Reku announced as he slapped down one of the remaining two cards in his hand. "I summon one Pyro monster to the field. Come out Twin-Headed Fire Dragon (2200/1700), defense mode!" Appearing over a horizontal card, a red and blue, double headed dragon monster appeared hovering inches off the ground. A long tail like claw swung back and forth with the monster as it flapped its wings to stay a float.

"Sacred Phoenix of the Nephthys attack Twin-Headed Fire Dragon with Phoenix Fire!" Lucien yelled pointing to the new monster. In a rush of flames, the monster again launched a ball of flames that engulfed the dragon monster. All that was left of the monster after the fire ball burned out was a plum of smoke that rose up into the air before vanishing. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Reku yelled as he added another card to his hand. "I'm almost backed into a corner." Reku grimaced at the fact he didn't have any monsters. "I set two cards face down, that ends my turn." Reku's last two cards appeared face down before him.

"My move then." Lucien added the card he drew quickly into his left hand. Whipping his right arm out. "Time to finish. Phoenix Fire!" Before the monster even had the chance to make the fire ball, one of Reku's set cards flipped up.

"Go Zero Gravity!" Reku called, smiling a bit as Lucien's two monsters fell down to the ground, shifting into defense mode.

"You are great at stalling." Lucien sweat dropped as he moved his cards first to their defense position then back into attack mode. "I shift my monsters to attack, ending my turn."

Taking a big gulp, Reku slid the top card off his deck. Giving a faint smile he pointed to his other set card. "I activate my set card, Jar of Greed! This will let me draw one card off my deck." Grabbing another card, he added it to his hand and slapped down the first card. "I summon my Reflect Bounder (1700/1000) in attack mode." Reku's voice was somewhat shaky as the mirrored monster appeared on his field. The red ruffly cape flowing back in an invisible wind. "Turn end."

"No!" Lucien realized that Reku had just put him into a tough choice. "When Reflect Bounder is attacked by a monster, the attack of the monster that attacks it is taken out of my life points. I'd lose if I attacked!"

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To Darksoulki: Yes I shall finish Last Guard of the Spirits.

To LucienShadowMaster: Don't hurt yourself now thinking too much.

To John: I'd bet, but then again, I know exactly how this is going to play out card for card.

To Vyser Adept of Dragons: You seem pretty confident that Reku can win.

To J.G. the Game Master: I found out that I am terrible at writing romance scenes. I tried once, with Reku and Akina, well that was more of a psychological thing. Then Ronin and Sachiko, which turned out a lot better, but I still suck at romantic writing.
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