Chapter 14: Fulfillment of Contract
"Rooko?" Recks called out into the shadows.
"Rooko… you fool…" Jigen whispered as he looked down at the ground.
"Enough. Rooko Sensei gave his live so we could fight on," Bann turned away from his friends as he spoke and headed for the unsealed Chaos Gate. "We have to honor him by following his orders." He turned the handle and opened the gate. "Let's go."
Recks and Jigen finally turned away from where they had watched their master fall and followed Bann up the steps to the tower's aerie. The spiraled staircase held a treacherous path. They were so close to the dark Cree now. Creeset spawned all around them, attacking. Jigen, Recks, and Bann all dodged their attackers, trying to conserve as much Cree as possible.
"I think we are almost there. Just a little further to the top."
"Stop Bann."
"What? Why?"
"There is something approaching… Dismay," Jigen's eyes widened as he said his last words.
"What's so dismal?"
"I am," said a phantom voice. "I am so glad you remember me Jigen."
"Show yourself you Reckah."
"Reckah? The banished ones?"
"Yes, I come from that race who Queen Janime IV banished so long ago. But she should have heeded our warning. We told her we would strike her square. But you know how prophecies go. They are always misinterpreted."
"Her square. You mean Queen Janime XVI, four squared. What have you done to the queen?"
"Nothing yet. I am much more interested in you and your dragon friend."
"Tiamat? What do you want us?"
Black smoke poured onto the stairs and shaped into a man. Dismay, dressed in his black robes, walked out of the darkness and stood in front of the three.
"Why, only to collect what is mine, of course," spoke the newly shaped sorcerer.
"Is he the one who dueled you?" asked Bann.
"Yes, and what do you mean by what is yours?" Jigen inquired.
"Have you forgotten already? I beat you and your friend in a duel. I let you live only so I could fulfill the contract you both agreed too."
"Contract! What are you talking about?"
"A little known fact about dueling. The loser forfeits his soul to the winner. I own your soul, Jigen! And I want it now!"
The black smoke poured out from Dismay's robes, covering the stares with a thick layer of black mist. When the smoke touched Jigen, it traveled up his body. He was forced to inhale the thick blackness, causing his body to go limp.
"There, that wasn't so hard. Your soul is mine, Jigen. Now, do as I wish."
Jigen's eyes opened again. He stood up straight and glared at his comrades. His irises burned in a bright red as he smirked and laughed uncontrollably at the brothers.
"D.D. Warrior Lady attack!" Jigen said in a hoarse voice.
The silver clad lady appeared out of the Different Dimension, catching Recks by surprise and striking him in the chest. Recks hit the ground hard, blood pouring out of his wound.
"Recks!"
"Now do you see my power? I have turned one against you. You can't defeat him. If you try, you will only kill him."
Bann ran down the steps to help out Recks.
"Sto… cough… stay Bann. You have cough to head to the top of the tower. I will…" Recks had a hard time talking. The sneak attack had knocked the wind out of him. He slowly rose to his feet and took a dueling stance. "I will hold him off. Go now!"
Bann stared at his brother for a moment, then turned, and ran.
"Well Jigen, practice is over. This time it's for real."
"We still haven't had any problems. Something is wrong," Morgen continued to stare at the door. "I can't stand this waiting." He turned toward Zakei and began, "Maybe I should go… Tiamat! Tiamat your awa… what? What happened to Zakei?"
Tiamat slowly turned toward Morgen. His eyes glowed red in the dim light. "I killed him," he said in a hoarse, raspy voice.
Morgen could now make out blood staining his fingers. He looked at Zakei's body, lying still on the floor and could now see the knife sticking out of his belly.
"What madness is this? What the hell did you do to him?"
"The same thing I am going to do to you. Luster Dragon, attack him!"
"What the…? That's a N00by move! Getsu Fuhma, defend!"
Morgen summoned his long-haired samurai. However, Tiamat gave him little time to make his move, so Getsu Fuhma was struck down in attack position, which meant Morgen would take damages.
"You cheating son of a bitch! I cast a spell. What the hell kind of an opening move was that?"
"A good one, especially if I wanna inflict as much pain to you as possible, my big-mouthed friend."
"Big… big mouth! I'll show you a big mouth!"
"I'm sure you will, but first, I would like to kill you. Luster Dragon, attack directly."
"I spring my trap, A Rival Appears. It lets me summon a monster whose power matches yours. I summon Trample Shogun."
A warrior wearing traditional Japanese armor appeared on the field. He wore white armor and road on horseback.
"Hmm… your Shogun is stronger than my monster. I end my turn."
"Good. It's time I attacked you. Shogun, strike."
Trample Shogun drew his long sword and struck Luster Dragon, destroying it.
"Well, at least now I know you will fight. My turn. I summon Masked Dragon. Now I attack you."
Masked Dragon attacked the shogun, but was easily destroyed.
"Foolish move…"
"Was it? I now summon Armed Dragon. Then I can use the power of Level Up! to evolve it."
The little Armed Dragon was surrounded by a familiar red light that caused him to age into his next level.
"Now I can destroy your Shogun. I transfer the power of Luster Dragon #2 to my Armed Dragon. Now attack with Armed Punisher!"
Spikes rocketed out of Armed Dragon, hitting Shogun and destroying him.
"Your turn," Tiamat smirked.
"My turn. I summon Uraby." 'This is bad. If I attack, my Uraby will be sucked into the different dimension and I won't be able to defend myself, but if I don't attack, he can summon a stronger monster to destroy my Uraby and then attack me directly. I am already injured.' Recks grabbed his chest as he thought out his move. "I cast a spell and end my turn."
"Bad move. I summon D.D. Assailant. Now attack his Uraby!"
D.D. Assailant, another warrior from the different dimension, carried a large sword. Even though it was quite heavy, she was trained to be nimble and agile with it. She jumped into the air and struck Uraby, inflicting even more damage to Recks. Then D.D. Warrior Lady charged at Recks to strike again. Jigen didn't take Recks' bluff and Recks was once again struck by his warrior lady. Recks staggered and fell. His soul was now in half. A few more hits and he would be dead.
'I'm out of options. Do I fight… or do I let him kill me? What would Jigen want?' "…"
"This is too easy. Are you letting me win? If you are, I will just have to kill your brother next."
"!"
"Didn't like that? THEN FIGHT ME!11!1337! J00 r th3 SUXXORS!"
"What has he done to you?" 'Wait, was he trying to tell me something?' "I see, I start my turn by summon not one, but two Gilasauruses. Then I summon a shadow monster and fuse one of my Gilasauruses with my Chitoptera to summon Horned Saurus. Now to reveal my Horned Saurus' special ability. During the turn it summoned, I can attack directly with him! Horned Saurus, Dark Screecher!"
Horned Saurus flew high up into the air. It could clearly be seen as a large purple pteradactyl now. As it beat its wings, it made a loud super sonic screech that hit Jigen in the chest and knocked him backwards.
"Then I attack your D.D. Warrior Lady with my Gilasaurus!"
Gilasaurus struck the warrior lady with its jaws while D.D. Warrior Lady stabbed it down the back with her sword. Both were then pulled into the different dimension and vanished from the game.
Jigen lifted himself off the ground. "… ptuh" He spit some blood out of his mouth and licked his lips. "So you've got some fight in you after all. Don't you care?"
"The real Jigen would rather have his soul sealed than be a puppet."
"So, you think I'm not the real Jigen? How about a demonstration of my power? D.D. Assailant, attack his Horned Saurus!"
D.D. Assailant struck Horned Saurus with her flamberge. Before she was destroyed, she absorbed both herself and Horned Saurus into the different dimension.
"You see, I am Jigen the Invincible!"
Next time on City of Fire: Friend or F03?