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: Zero Radiance by Adriel Touchstone :
Episode II – Signs of Sapphire
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Andrew and Vincent had returned to Andrew's house after the ordeal of the previous night. Too enamored with the boy who saved their son to ask questions, Andrew's parents welcomed Vincent to stay as long as he needed to. He was staying in Andrew's room on the second mattress that pulled out from under the first.
"So," Vincent said, lying on the bed. "You get all that?"
Andrew blinked. "Uhh... the DC guys are after kids because they have strong Dream Drives... the Dream Drive is what lets humans think and be creative... you had an exceptionally strong Dream Drive that awakened and gave you powers when they attacked... so now you have powers like the ones you used to beat that guy in the black suit... and when you beat him, you expended his Dream Drives so you could shatter his Zero Zone... and the Zero Zone is the figurative place where the Dream Drive lives... that guy's natural Dream Drive was black because darkness had filled his Zero Zone... is that right?"
Vincent closed his eyes and nodded, grunting in assent. "Don't forget, we still don't know what's going on with you. You probably have a normal Dream Drive. I tried to wake it up. Nothing's happened yet."
Andrew sighed in resignation. "Yeah... well, what now? We can't just go looking for these guys, right? We're just kids."
Vincent sat up. "Of course we can't. Right now, we're going to train you for a few hours to make you useful. They only operate at night."
"Useful? You can't really expect me to duel them, can you?" Andrew was a bit unsteadied by Vincent's silence. "Or... do you think I can fight them? No way... I could never do that!"
Vincent now opened his eyes, staring straight into those of Andrew. "If they come knocking and I'm not around, what will you do, then?"
Andrew didn't have an answer. The two sat in silence for a moment.
"Come on." Vincent said.
"Why is that card in your deck?" Vincent asked as Andrew summoned the Paladin of White Dragon. 1900/1200 "It was a ploy to boost card sales, trying to convince people that the Blue Eyes White Dragon was going to be released, which it never was."
"That doesn't mean it's not a good card!" Andrew replied. "It's plenty strong to defeat your Crimson Knight, since my Heavy Storm destroyed the Armor of the Crimson Order and Crimson Sword you used to strengthen it!" As Andrew declared this, his monster surged forward and slashed at Vincent's monster. However, Vincent's knight glowed red and countered with its own sword, stabbing through the paladin as it was slashed across its stomach. 1400+500/1000 "What!" Andrew shouted as his monster shattered. "Wait... oh yeah, your monster's ability..." (A LP: 900 V LP: 4000) "Man, I haven't even touched your life points yet..."
Vincent drew. "You have a long way to go. Maybe a fresh start will help after I defeat you." He slid his drawn card into his disk. A card with the picture of a symbol woven onto a banner, hanging from a wood plaque appeared. "Crimson Crest revives one Crimson Knight in my graveyard at the cost of a Crimson equip spell. I discard Crimson Shield." Vincent's monster reappeared, standing powerfully before Andrew. 1400/1000 "Attack."
As Vincent's knight moved in for the kill, a brown furball appeared and exploded, knocking the warrior back to its own side of the field. "I discard Kuriboh to negate the damage of your attack." Andrew said.
Vincent closed his eyes and smiled. "Effective. End turn."
Andrew slid a card off of his deck and looked at his hand. Suddenly, his expression switched to one of glee. "Alright! The duel is mine now! I remove from my graveyard Paladin of White Dragon and Kuriboh to special summon Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning!" 3000/2500 A brilliant sphere of light appeared in front of Andrew, shattering to reveal the legendary warrior. "Now even with all your equips and special add-ons and stuff, I can finally get rid of your knight! I bet you used up all your revival cards already!"
Vincent looked unafraid. "He's not focusing on the duel. He'll use his monster's removal ability to get rid of my monster, rather than run it over and use the soldier's second attack to finish me."
Even as he said this, the Black Luster Soldier's sword began to glow with a bright light. "Try and negate this attack! Black Luster Soldier, remove his knight from play!"
As Andrew bellowed the command, his soldier leveled its sword at Vincent's knight. A beam of pure white light fired from it, striking the warrior and seeping through its form. As the Crimson Knight lost its features completely, becoming a simple white silhouette, the light dispersed from the center outward, leaving nothing in its wake.
"Very good." Vincent said, applauding weakly. "Now tell me, how will you finish me off if you can't attack this turn?"
"I...what?" Andrew blinked.
"In your haste to get rid of my knight, you used your soldier's removal effect. If you had simply attacked it to destroy it, you would have done me 1100 points of damage. Combined with its second attack, you would have won the duel." Vincent drew a card.
"But I..."
Vincent didn't bother to address Andrew's weak stuttering as he put a card into his Duel Disk. "I activate Crimson Emblem." The same symbol that was on the Crimson Crest card appeared, this time on the armor of an unknown warrior. Vincent discarded a card from his hand and the Black Luster Soldier's armor suddenly turned dark red, the symbol on the card emblazoning itself in the monster's armor in bright red energy. "By discarding a monster from my hand to the graveyard, I can take control of a monster on your side of the field with an equal or lesser level."
"Game." However, as Vincent was about to order his monster to attack, he tensed up. "...in broad daylight?" he thought to himself. "Andrew, something's happening in the park again. We have to leave." Vincent's DuelDisk disappeared. Andrew's began to malfunction, no longer receiving a complementing signal. Shutting it off, Andrew was secretly grateful to not have been struck down by his own monster's blade. He ran after Vincent.
The park bore not only the signs of the previous night's encounter, but new damages as well. Benches and trees were strewn in disarray across the entire area. The top of the park's central fountain had been sliced off and was lying a few feet away from the main body. Water was spurting everywhere as a result. The whole place had an odd bluish glow
"Looks like someone got here first." Vincent, who had transformed into his fighting mode, said as he knelt over the body of a black-suited man. "His Zero Zone is intact, but..."
"It's no longer connected to his mind." came a voice. A boy – a young one. Vincent and Andrew both looked around, trying to find its source.
"Uh, where are you?" Andrew asked, projecting his voice in all directions.
"Be careful." the voice replied. Neither of the pair had much of a chance to register this thought before a torrent of black energy ripped through the area, completely decimating the fountain.
"Aha!" came yet another voice. A man. "So you two were the ones who took out our man! Red, we expected... and some other kid."
"Hey, I have a name, you know..." Andrew said, getting a bit annoyed at being constantly dismissed as 'that kid'.
"I'm sure you do," the man said, brushing Andrew off yet again. "At any rate... Red, you might be able to take us on individually, but this time, he's sent two of us to take you out."
"He?" Vincent said, jumping out of the way as a second torrent of energy blasted through the area.
"If you beat us, we'll tell you who he is." the second man, dressed identically as the first, said as he walked into the open.
"If I beat you, I'll make sure there's not enough left of you to tell me anything." Vincent replied. His sword materialized.
"Alright then." the first man said, his mouth twisting into a dark grin. A Dream Drive on his right arm flared to life as a large, thick sword appeared in his right hand. "Let's get him."
The second man activated a Dream Drive on his own right arm, producing an identical sword.
"Vincent!" Andrew shouted. No one paid him any mind – Vincent was slowly backing up as the two black-suited men advanced.
"That must be the power of the Dream Drive – the power the DC wants."
"Do I have them? The powers, I mean" Andrew asked, still wary of Vincent.
"I don't know."
Vincent's words rang through Andrew's mind.
"If they come knocking and I'm not around, what will you do, then?"
"What will I do..." Andrew whispered to himself.
"What will you do?"
"STOP!" he shouted. All three of the other men stopped their movement and turned to face Andrew. "You..." he said, pointing towards the first man. "You're going to duel me now!"
"Kid..." the man said, completely turning around and walking towards Andrew. "You're not worth the time." He rushed forward, sword in striking position.
"What will you do?"
"I'll fight." Andrew started running at his opponent. He focused himself, willing anything to come to his aid. For a moment, he felt something solid in his hand, but it phased back out of existence. Suddenly met with his opponent's sword staring down his throat, Andrew raised his arms in defense.
"ANDREW!" Vincent shouted, engaged in a sword duel with the second man.
Spurts of white mistlike energy shot from his Duel Disk, rapidly materializing as the black-suited man drew closer. A clang of metal was heard and Andrew opened his eyes tentatively. In front of him, the Paladin of White Dragon had its swords crossed, blocking the slash of the DC agent.
"Fine," the man said, relaxing his posture. "The name's Forty Two. I'll take you on." The sword on his right arm disappeared in a burst of smoke as a DuelDisk appeared on his left arm in an identical burst. He frowned as the Paladin did not disappear. "Alright... you'll need all the help you can get, anyway."
"I hardly imagine that's your actual name." Andrew said as he drew six cards. "Whatever just happened was luck. Vincent was right, I need to focus better. I don't have any room to screw up this time." He threw a monster down. "I summon Queen's Knight in defense mode!" 1500/1600 A red and purple armored woman appeared in front of him, crouching. "I set two cards face down and end my turn."
Forty Two drew his own six card hand. "Such weak monsters... I'll show you true power. I summon Black Horde!" 500/500 x5 Five black blobs of inky shadow appeared on the field. "This monster is treated as five when it's summoned. Now I activate the spell Hive Mentality! This card allows me to sacrifice all but one of my attacks during my battle phase. In return, I can attack and defend with the combined strength of all level three or lower monsters on my side of the field! Destroy his Queen's Knight!"
The five monsters merged into one, becoming a sort of wave that flew at Andrew's monster. It was met, however, with a swirling vortex of energy. "Negate Attack prevents you from destroying my monster." Andrew said.
"Fine," the agent replied, ending his turn.
Andrew looked at his hand. "Man, I have King's Knight and Gilford the Lightning in my hand, but I can't summon them both in one turn. And I have to normal summon both of them to get their effects..." Andrew's mind was racing.
"Focus." said the boy's voice from earlier. Andrew looked around, still unsure of where the boy was.
"Whatever, he's still right. I have to find a way to get three monsters out to summon Gilford and trigger his effect, but if I do that, then I can't summon him. It's a paradox." He clenched his jaw, then relaxed. "I have to focus. What are my options? My facedown card is Call of the Haunted and I have King's Knight, Gilford the Lightning, White Dragon Ritual, and Graceful Charity in my hand." He looked at all his cards. "White Dragon Ritual is useless since my paladin is already on the field... wait."
Andrew's eyes widened as he realized what to do. "Alright! I play Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and then discarding two!" He did just that, drawing Kishido Spirit, Old Vindictive Magician, and Kaiser Seahorse. In return, he discarded King's Knight and White Dragon Ritual. "Now I play my trap, Call of the Haunted, to revive the King's Knight I just discarded!" 1600/1400
"Silly boy, are you trying to get Jack's Knight onto the field? Unfortunately, you have to normal summon it to do that." Forty Two mocked.
"I know that. But I don't need Jack's Knight for this! I tribute all three of my monsters and summon Gilford the Lightning!" 2800/1400
The silver-armored, red-clad warrior appeared on Andrew's side of the field in a bolt of lightning. "If your power is darkness, then I'll use light to banish that darkness! Gilford, wipe out his field!" Gilford raised his sword. A bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, striking the blade. Gilford flew over to the other side of the field and began to spin rapidly, creating a vortex of lightning. All five manifestations of the Black Horde monster were sucked into the vortex and destroyed.
"That doesn't matter..." the black-suited man said as Gilford proceeded to strike him. (FT LP: 1200) "I'll show you that even light is consumed by the DC." He drew. "Thanks to you, I can now run you over! By removing from play the Black Horde in my graveyard, I can special summon Black Rabid Horde!" Vincent watched as the black monsters appeared again, this time much more violent looking – the puddles were bubbling and throbbing erratically. "This monster's attack points are equal to 500 plus 100 times the number of end phases the original Black Horde was on the field. Luckily for you, that number is simply one. So, each of my monsters has 600 attack points. One would think that Hive Mentality wouldn't work, since Black Rabid Horde is level 4... but all I need to do is activate Hive Evolution to change that fact!"
Another continuous spell appeared on Forty Two's field. "By paying 1000 life points, I can allow Hive Mentality to work on monsters of level four as well! His monsters pulsed in unison as they received the powerup. "3000 beats 2800! Black Rabid Horde, attack Gilford! Black Rage Wave!" Forty Two's monsters melded again and flew at Gilford, wrapping around the hero and consuming him. (A LP: 3800)
Andrew slid a card into his hand. "Premature Burial... even if I did revive Gilford, he wouldn't be able to stand up to that thing..."
"Why not revive that monster that was on your field at the beginning of the duel?" the boy's voice rang out.
"That's even worse. I don't..."
"Dream Drive. When you learn how to use it, you can make a new deck of your own cards."
Andrew's brow set itself in determination. "Alright." He breathed in as he activated Premature Burial. (A LP: 3000) "I... summon Paladin of White Dragon and activate its effect to summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon from my deck!"
Brilliant white light exploded from Andrew's deck as his monster transformed into the legendary Blue Eyes.
"This... this is impossible!" stuttered Forty Two.
"You're right," Andrew said, holding up his Duel Disk. "It is." There was no card representing the Blue Eyes. Instead, there was a rectangle of pure light. Apparently, he still wasn't strong enough to make a physical card.
"Now I summon Kaiser Seahorse to the field." The purple and blue aquatic monster appeared next to the Blue Eyes. 1700/1650
"You... you're cheating! There are only three Blue Eyes and Kaiba has them all!" Forty Two had completely lost his composure at the sight of the legendary dragon, still radiating white light.
"Blue Eyes White Dragon, eliminate the rabid horde with your White Lightning!" The Blue Eyes rose further into the sky and roared loudly. More and more white light radiated from it, finally striking down the horde.
"Moron, you didn't even activate your spell's effect." Andrew said upon seeing his dragon still intact and Forty Two's life points at zero.
Forty Two twitched. "Wait... I'm... I'm alive? I can still...think?" He shakily got up.
"Not for long." said the boy's voice. A blue arrow flew from the sky and struck Forty Two in the back. White light materialized around him.
"The Zero Zone..." Andrew said, identifying the light as the same that had surrounded the man from the previous night. A strange noise like an air valve being closed sounded through the air. The light faded.
As Forty Two fell to the ground again, the blue arrow began to slowly disintegrate.
"Hello." said the boy's voice, now sounding much more localized. Andrew felt a tap on his shoulder.
End
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I forgot to mention this last time, but I'll be updating this fic weekly. I still need characters submitted, check my forum for where to do it.
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