Sorry I couldn't get this up yesterday; I had pinkeye :(. But I still got it up! RER!
Mirage of Nightmare
Zane was in his room, lying on his bed, just staring at the ceiling. It had been 3 days since he was put under "house" arrest. And although internet was cut off from his computer, there was still a dueling program where he could duel against the computer, and his PDA had a few games; if he didn't have those or his deck he thought he would probably be driven crazy.
There was also another reason why he needed his PDA. Throughout the three days, Alexis had been mailing him information about what was going on; mainly about Jaden and Syrus mysteriously losing their souls. If it happened while they slept… then there's probably someone or something entering their dreams and taking their souls, Zane thought, trying to figure out the mystery. Although did they have to duel, or could they just take it some other way because it's a dream? Or maybe it doesn't have to do with dreaming… just sleeping. Maybe they can take the souls just when somebody is sleeping just because the soul isn't inhabiting the body. But if they can do that why only Jaden and Syrus? Why not everyone? And if they had to duel in their sleep… I can understand my brother losing, but Jaden? He's the second best here, excluding Masato. And if they must duel, and this person is better than Jaden, than the only one who even has a chance of getting their souls back is myself. But how am I supposed to do that when I'm stuck in here? I need to break out… but that would make them trust me even less. But if I then saved Jaden and Syrus they woudl trust me, even if I did need to break out of my room to do so! So now I need to plan…
It took Zane about an hour, but he finally was ready. He took a deep sigh, and charged towards the door as fast as he could. He had to do this on the first try or else they would know he was trying to do something. His shoulder painfully came in contact with the wooden door. After a split second, the door shattered and Zane was in the hall. The guards were startled, and Zane wasted no time as he immediately began to run down the hall, with the guards soon following. Zane soon ran through the doors from the Obelisk dorm—it was times like this he was happy he had gotten a room on the first floor. He continued running across the grassy field, ignoring the paved roads, for he had to get to the Slifer dorms in the shortest time possible. He looked behind him and saw the two guards catching up to him. He took out a deck—made with random assorted cards he didn't need—and threw them at the guards. The guards saw the object coming towards them break apart and they stopped to put their arms up in defense. However, they realized they were only being attacked by pieces of cardboard when the flimsy things came in contact with them. They took off again, but the diversion had given Zane the time he needed to get farther ahead of the guards. He reached the Slifer dorms, climbed the stairs, and busted opened Jaden's dorm's door into the empty room. He closed the door, and put a chair against the doorknob to lock it. Zane took a deep breath to calm himself down. He climbed into the lumpy bed and closed his eyes….
Zane woke up in the ancient room made of old rocks.
"Hello," A voice said. Zane turned around and saw the black man. "Are you ready to duel and join your two little friends in the shadows?"
"You have Syrus?" Zane demanded. "What have you done with him?"
"Weren't you listening?" The strange man laughed. "They are in the shadows! Hm…. You're acting like you actually care for your brother. You usually don't. Now, are you going to duel or not?" he asked as a black duel disk materialized around his arm.
"Of course!" Zane shouted as a duel disk appeared around his.
"DUEL!" Both players shouted.
Zane: 4000; XXXX: 4000"I'll go first!" Zane declared, drawing a card(6). "After all, I'm the one at the disadvantage: I don't even know your name!"
"You can call me Nightmare!" Nightmare laughed, introducing himself.
"Okay," Zane said. "It's time to duel!"
With the villain:
The man was at his desk, waiting. Where is Nightmare? He thought. He should be here by now. Maybe I should check what happened to him. He got up and walked into the God room (the room with the stone tablets and the bowl of water). He waved his hand over the bowl and gasped as the image of Nightmare's and Zane's duel appeared. That fool! What does he think he's doing! If he loses this, he'll lose the two souls he's captured, and this will all have been for naught! Although if he wins... He just needs to win. Or else being sent to the shadows will seem like nothing compared to what will happen after.
Back at the duel:
Zane inspected his hand as he thought, I need to start off easy. I have no idea what trick he's going to pull. He began to put a spell card in his duel disk but then stopped himself. No… not yet. I need to save that in case he pulls off something big and I need something to win. "I'll set a monster(5) and end my turn."
"I thought you were supposed to be good!" Nightmare laughed. "I'll start off with Nobleman of Crossout(5)! Now your face-down monster is going to be removed from play!" A man in silver armor with long blonde hair appeared in front of Zane's card. He brought his sword down through the card, destroying it. "I'll then summon my Death Medic(4;1300/1200) in defense mode! I'll set a card face-down(3) and end my turn." A rotting zombie with blue skin, and a ripped stain cloak appeared, kneeling on his knee.
What's he doing? Zane asked himself as he drew a card(6). I was defenseless! He could have summoned that monster in attack mode and reduced my lifepoints to 2700… but he didn't. But why? Does he have something else planned or... Or is he testing me? Well, there's only one way to find out! "I summon Drillago(5;1600/1100) in attack mode! Now, attack his Death Medic!" The drill-filled monster jumped forward, and quickly drilled through rotting doctor. "I'll end my turn with a set spell/trap(4)."
"My draw(4)," Nightmare said, drawing his card. "Ah… perfect! I'll summon my Headless Knight(3;1450/1700) in defense mode! I'll end my turn; let's see your Drillago get through my knight!"
"Oh, my Drillago won't do that," Zane smirked, drawing his card(5). "My Cyber Dragon(2100/1600) will, for I tribute Drillago to summon my dragon(4)!" The drill monster disappeared and was replaced by Zane's signature giant metal dragon, which roared at Nightmare. "Now, attack!" A blue energy ball appeared in Cyber Dragon's mouth, which then launched at Headless Knight and destroyed him. "I end my turn."
"My draw(4)," Nightmare declared, "I'll set a monster(3) and end my turn."
What is this guy doing? Zane asked himself, drawing from his deck(5). All he does is summon monsters to defend himself. What is he planning? "First I'll summon Cyber Phoenix(4;1200/1600) in attack mode! Now, Cyber Dragon, attack his face-down monsters!" The dragon let out the energy burst again at the card backing. A small black sphere appeared for a second, and then was shattered by the blast.
"I gave you my Dark Wisp(0/0) to destroy," Nightmare said, nonchalantly. "I didn't really need him, considering Cyber Dragon is your main card. Besides, now your turn ends, meaning I get to draw a card(4). For this turn I'll just summon Spirit Reaper(3;300/200) in defense mode. Oh, and if you didn't know, he's not destroyed in battle!" The purple-garbed spirit appeared on Nightmare's field, holding his scythe in front of him for defense.
"Draw!" Zane shouted(5) and gasped. I don't have this card! But… Zane smiled. This card is pretty good. It'll help. "I activate the equip spell Phoenix Wing(4)! I may need to tribute my Cyber Phoenix to play this card, but it's worth it! You see, not only does my Cyber Dragon still retain the immunity from targets, but it also gets 400 extra attack points and has the pierce ability! So now, attack his Spirit Reaper and inflict 2300 big ones to Nightmare!" Cyber Phoenix rose up and merged with Cyber Dragon so that its mechanical wings stuck out from the dragon's back, increasing its attack to 2500. A giant energy ball materialized in Cyber Dragon's mouth, and he launched it at Spirit Reaper. However, the energy ball was absorbed by Spirit Reaper instead of passing through Spirit Reaper into Nightmare.
"Sorry!" Nightmare laughed. "But I activated my trap card: Spirit Barrier! So now as long as I have a monster I take no battle damage!"
"Fine," Zane growled. "I end my turn."
"So I can draw now(4)!" Nightmare smiled. "First I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light(3)! Now, for three turns, none of your monsters can attack. I'll summon my Multiplying Virus(2;100/500) in defense mode, so now he gains a counter. I'll end my turn." Many shining swords descended down upon Zane's side of the field, immobilizing Zane's monsters. Then a small black down appeared next to Spirit Reaper.
"How will that help?" Zane laughed as he drew a card(5) and Nightmare's virus split into two black dots, both with a size equal to the original dot. "Huh? What happened?"
"My virus got a counter," Nightmare explained. "You see, when my Virus is summoned, and during each of our standby phases, he gets a counter."
"But what do the counters do?" Zane questioned.
"Oh, you'll find out when you need to," Nightmare chuckled. "However, by that time it'll be too late!"
"We'll see about that," Zane said. "I'll just pass this turn." One third of the swords disappeared from Zane's field, letting his Cyber Dragon start to move a little bit.
"Then I can draw(3)," Nightmare said, "And my virus gains a third counter. I'll also pass."
Zane furrowed his brow as he drew a card(6) and Nightmare's virus split from three dots into four. "I'll start this turn by summoning my Cyber Soldier of Darkworld(5;1400/1200)! Next I play the spell Free Kill(4)! Here is how it works: my Free Kill spell selects one monster on my field at random and destroys it. Then it selects one card in your hand and sends it to the graveyard!" Zane said as a mechanical blue and purple soldier appeared on the field.
"But if it selects your Cyber Dragon," Nightmare chuckled, "You'll have destroyed your favorite monster!"
"I don't think so. Remember my Phoenix Wing's effect? It can negate any card that targets my dragon, so if my Free Kill does choose to kill my dragon, I can just negate my spell card," Zane explained as a spinning sword appeared between Zane's Cyber Dragon and his Cyber Soldier of Darkworld. It slowed down, and then finally stopped, pointing to Cyber Soldier of Darkworld. The sword launched through the soldier as a dagger appeared in front of Nightmare. It spun and spun until it stopped pointing to Nightmare's left most card. It lurched forward and stuck itself through it, sending it to the graveyard(1).
Phew, that could have been bad, Nightmare reassured himself. He only destroyed my other Dark Wisp, which will only hurt him in the end.
"I think I'll just end my turn here," Zane said as half the remaining swords dematerialized, leaving only one third of the remaining swords.
"My draw(2)," Nightmare said as his virus' counter number increased to 5. "And I'll play my Pot of Greed(1), letting my draw 2 cards(3) Then I play Graceful Chairty(2), letting me draw three cards(5) and discard 2(3). However, I discarded my Treasure Box so I can draw a card(4). I'll then set 2 spell/traps(2) to end my turn.
This is the last turn before his Swords of Revealing Light wears off. I better make it count! Zane thought as he drew a card(5), and then smirked. "All right, I'll play what I just got: Mystical Space Typhoon(4)! And I'm going to destroy your Spirit Barrier, so next turn when I attack you'll take damage!" A small tornado erupted from Zane's card, destroying Nightmare's barrier. "I'll end my turn with a set spell/trap(3)," Zane said as all the swords disappeared, releasing Zane's Cyber Dragon.
"And I'll begin my turn!" Nightmare laughed as he drew a card(3), "And I'll start off with two copies of a spell card known as Replay(1)! Here's how it works. First I roll two dice," Nightmare explained as two blood-red dice appeared in his hands. He threw them on the ground and the dice landed on a 2 and a 6. "I'll select the 6 I rolled, so now I get to conduct my standby phase 6 times for each replay, which is 12! But also because I used 2 Replays, I get two extra, which means 14 counters for my Multiplying Virus!" Nightmare laughed as the number of dots jumped to 20.
"It doesn't matter!" Zane cried. "Your counters do nothing!"
"I told you, you'll find out eventually. They have a very powerful effect. Well, it's powerful at least when you use it right… and I always do!" Nightmare gloated. "Anyway, I'll activate the final card in my hand! Well, it won't be the final card in my hand for long, because it's Card of Sanctity(0)! So now you get to draw only 3 cards(6), while I draw twice as many(6)! First I'll tribute my Spirit Reaper for Death Swordsman(5;2200/1000)!" The pale multi-handed warrior appeared and roared at Zane's Cyber Dragon.
"I'm sorry," Zane said, "but your swordsman's attack is only higher than my dragon's original attack! Not his current!"
"Oh, that will change soon. Don't worry," Nightmare chuckled. "I'll end my turn my setting a spell/trap(4), just like you did."
"I draw and increase my hand size to seven(7)!" Zane shouted, doing just that as Multiplying Virus got a 21st counter. "Wow, this has been an interesting duel," Zane chuckled. "It's been this long, and not one of us has lost a single lifepoint! But that's about to change, because I attack your virus with my Cyber Dragon!"
"I don't think so, because I activate Gift of the Martyr! So by tributing my virus, my Death Swordsman's attack increases by 100 until the end of the turn!" The twenty-one dots flowed into Death Swordsman, giving him a slight attack boost.
"Fine, then I'll attack your Death Swordsman!"
"Again, I don't think so!" Nightmare yelled. "I activate Ghost Shield, letting my remove my virus in my grave from play to negate your attack!"
"Again, I can negate that effect with my Phoenix Wing!"
"Do you want to?" Nightmare asked Zane slyly. Zane gasped as Death Swordsman got a huge white aura, and his attack increased to 4400.
"Wh…wh…wh-wh-wh-what did you do!" Zane yelled.
"Oh, its my two monsters' special abilities," Nightmare explained. "You see, when my virus is in my grave and removed from play, the number of counters it had when it was destroyed is treated as the number of copies in the grave or removed from play. So because my virus has 21 counters, it was treated as if 21 Multiplying Viruses were in the grave, and then 21 monsters were removed from play. Then my Death Swordsman's effect kicked in, which increases his attack by 100 whenever a field or zombie type monster is removed from play. And so because it was treated as if 21 monsters were removed from play, my swordsman's attack rose by 2100!"
"I have to set a monster(6), a spell/trap(5) and end my turn," Zane sighed as Death Swordsman's attack insignificantly lowered to 4300.
"Then before you end your turn I activate Musterings of the Dark Spirits! And don't worry; you'll see what it does during my standby phase! So now where was I? Oh yes! I was about to draw a card(5)! And during my standby phase, I'll play my last Replay(4)!" The red die appeared in his hand and he threw it, as it landed on the three. "Perfect! I can now go in my standby phase three times, letting me activate the effect of my musterings card activates three times, summoning 3 Dark Spirit Tokens(2100/2100)! You see, each standby phase, it summons a Dark Spirit Token whose attack and defense are equal to the number of fiend and zombie monsters I have removed from play times 100, and I have 21, thanks to my Multiplying Virus!" Zane took a step back in fear as three giant shadow balls with glowing red eyes appeared on Nightmare's field. "I'll then play my Double Destruction card(3), letting me remove my Headless Knight and Death Medic in my grave from play to destroy two of your spell/traps, and I'll choose your two side cards! And now my Death Medic's effect activates, giving me 1000 lifepoints!" Headless Knight and Death Medic appeared and smashed into Zane's two side spell/traps, destroying them. A small aura appeared around Nightmare as Death Swordsman's attack rose to 4500.
Zane: 4000; Nightmare: 5000"And now you are about to see the real point of my deck!" Nightmare yelled.
What? Zane gasped in his mind. Now I'm going to the real point of his deck? So his Death Swordsman strategy wasn't? But… but its so powerful1! And if that was so powerful, then how strong is his main strategy!
"I activate Attack of the Dark Spirit(2)! This tributes all my Dark Spirit Tokens and inflicts direct damage to your lifepoints equal to the total attack strength, which is 6300!" The three spirits merged together into one huge shadow ball, which launched itself at Zane. However, a white cylinder appeared around Zane, saving him.
"Ha!" Zane laughed. "I activated my Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment, reducing all my effect damage to 0! I was saving it for my Power Bond, but… I think using it now was more appropriate."
"Fine, I can still attack your Cyber Dragon withmy Death Swordsman, halving your lifepoints!" The death swordsman unleashed a giant energy burst at Zane's Cyber Dragon, destroying it and then launching it into Zane.
Zane: 2000; Nightmare: 5000
"I'll have to end my turn here by setting a spell/trap(1). But don't worry, I'll finish you off next turn."
"We'll see if there even is a next turn," Zane growled as he drew a card(6). "And this will work well; I play Fissure(5) to destroy your Death Swordsman!"
Nightmare growled as a giant pole came and smashed Death Swordsman, destroying him. "It's such a waste when such strong monsters are destroyed by a single useless spell card, without any effort. However, now I'll summon a monster with even greater power! I activate the trap Nightmare Growth! Prepare to face the monster you are most afraid of!"
"I'm not afraid of any monsters," Zane sneered.
"Oh really?" Nightmare questioned.
"Really," Zane responded. "And why should I be? There has been no monster that I haven't been able to defeat!"
"That doesn't mean you're not afraid of any monsters!" Nightmare laughed as his small black ball that appeared started tochange into a monster. The ball grew. And grew. And grew, until it was huge. Then three tendrils started to come out at the top, and they grew and formed into three heads. The ball finally finished morphing and Zane stared up in horror at the Cyber End Darkness Dragon(4500/3000) staring down at him. "Oh, this is just marvelous! Now you will never win!"
"I doubt it," Zane shouted. "I play Card of Demise(4)! Letting my draw 5 cards(9) but forcing me to discard my entire hand in five turns. However, I doubt that will be a problem! First I play Spell Reproduction(8), letting me discard two spell cards from my hand(6) to add Mystical Space Typhoon back to hand(7). I also discarded Treasure Box, so now I can draw another card(8). I'll then play Mystical Space Typhoon(7) to destroy your Ghost Shield! Next I tribute my face-down Proto-Cyber Dragon(1100/600) to summon my second Cyber Dragon(6)! Then I'll play Premature Burial(5) to summon back Proto-Cyber Dragon!" Zane continually said without stopping.
Zane: 1200; Nightmare: 5000"And because my Proto-Cyber Dragon was special summoned, I play Inferno Reckless Summon(4), letting my summon my second Proto-Cyber Dragon from my hand(3) and my third from my deck. And although Inferno Reckless Summon would let you summon out any other copies of Cyber End Darkness Dragon, I doubt you have any. But continuing your defeat, I'll play the final card you are going to see: Power Bond(2)! So I can now fuse my three Proto-Cyber Dragons together to form Cyber End Dragon(4000+4000/2800)!"
Nightmare watched in horror as Zane's white version of his dragon grew until it was much bigger than his dragon, but then he realized something. "Wait! You dragon requires Cyber Dragons to fuse! Not Proto-Cyber Dragons!"
"Yes, but that's where my Proto-Cyber Dragon's special ability comes in. You see, as long as they are face-up on the field, they are treated as Cyber Dagon. So now, Cyber End Dragon, attack his Cyber End Darkness Dragon! End Nova Blast!" The giant dragon formed a giant blue energy ball, and launched it at the black dragon, which exploded, sending Nightmare to the floor.
Zane: 1200; Nightmare: 1500"Now, Cyber Dragon, end this duel!"
The dragon unleashed a energy ball—which seemed much smaller because of the previous one—directly at Nightmare, and destroyed the rest of his lifepoints.
Zane: 1200; Nightmare: 0"You lost! Now release my friends!" Zane demanded.
"Fine," Nightmare said as the mist turned into spirits, and then combined into a purple sphere around Nightmare. The sphere glowed, and then turned white, and then flooded Zane's eyes with blinding light, which was abruptly cut off.
Zane opened his eyes to see the empty slifer dorm, and then the door burst open the two guards get in. "Get up. Now." One demanded.
"Okay, okay," Zane said as he got up and put his hands above his head. "But just let me tell you that I freed Syrus and Jaden, so….."
"We'll take you to Sheppard and see what he has to say," the second guard said as they began to lead Zane to the main building.
"Zane," Sheppard began. "You should not have broken out of your room. However, we are grateful that Syrus and Jaden are back. But, you could still be with their side, and this could have been a plan to get out trust back. You've shown us that you can break out of your room, so I will be doubling the number of guards you have. Also, concerning the upcoming break,we are not allowed to keep you here against your will, so you may leave if you wish to.You are dismissed."
"Yes, thank you," Zane said as he left. Well, at least it's a start to earning their trust back. And it's a good thing that I won't be here during the break. For I have something I need to do...
Original Cards
Death Medic; Zombie/Effect; Dark; 4; 1300/1200; When this card in your graveyard is removed from play, increase your lifepoints by 1000. If this removed from play card is sent to your graveyard, inflict 1000 points of damage to your opponent.
Dark Wisp; Zombie/Effect; Dark; 1; 0/0; This card is only destroyed as a result of battle with LIGHT monsters. If this card is destroyed as a result of battle during your opponent's turn, your opponent's turn automatically ends.
Phoenix Wing; Equip Spell; This card cannot be activated except by tributing one "Cyber Phoenix" on your side of the field, ignoring its effect. This card can only be equipped to a machine-type monster. Increase the ATK of the equipped monster by 400. When the equipped monster attacks a monster in defense mode with a DEF less than the ATK of the equipped monster, inflict the difference as battle damage to your opponent's lifepoints. You can negate the effect of a card that targets this card or the equipped monster. When this card is sent fromthefield to the graveyard, draw 1 card.
Multiplying Virus; Fiend/Effect; 2; 100/500; When this card is summoned, and during each of your standby phases, put 1 counter on this card. When this card is in the graveyard or removed from play, it is treated as if the number of "Multiplying Virus" in the graveyard/removed from play is equal to the number of counters that was on this card when this card was removed from the field.
Treasure Box; See chapter 13 original cards for effect.
Replay; Quick-Play Spell; Roll a die. The number of times you may conduct the phase you activated this card in is equal to the number you rolled. If you activate 2 or more "Replay" in a row in a chain, roll a number of dice equal to the number of "Replays." You may then select one of the die and treat it as if you rolled that number for all the "Replays." Also, increase the number of times you can conduct the phase by the number of "Replays" activated (this does not apply if you activate 1 "Replay").
Death Swordsman; See chapter 18 original cards for effect.
Musterings of the Dark Spirits; Continuous Trap; During each of your standby phases, special summon one "Dark Spirit Token" (Fiend/Dark/4/X00/X00) to your side of the field in defense mode. X is equal to the number of fiend and zombie-type monsters removed from play at the time of the summoning.
Double Destruction; Spell; Remove up to two fiend or zombie-type monsters in your graveyard to destroy that many spell or trap cards on the field.
Attack of the Dark Spirits; Spell; Tribute all "Dark Spirit Tokens" on your side of the field and inflict direct damage to your opponent's lifepoints equal to the total original ATK of the tributed tokens.
Nightmare Growth; See chapter 19 original cards for effect.
Well, there we go! Nightmare is gone and Syrus and Jaden are back! Yay! Oh, and props to Ryu Jonesu for the idea for the next chapter! Oh, and this is my longest chapter yet, so yay:)
Chazz: Ug, I think I liked it better when Jaden didn't have his soul. But at least I'll get a break from him during the break. But what's this? This stupid girl keeps on annoying me! And… she has a shadow card? Well, the duel is on andI'd better win, or else! I do not want to spend my break in the shadow realm! Next time,on Chapter 21: Fake Trap! But wait…. What do they mean by "Fake?"