Disclaimer: In case I haven't made it clear, I do not own anything.

Thanks for putting up with my absence; thanks to a glitch in the server, my damn computer couldn't get me onto the site. But at any rate, the last chapter of my fic revealed that Hiei is ready to go to any lengths to destroy his opposition, even outright terrorism. Despite this, Kaiba refuses to bow to him. Also, Yami and Y. Bakura had begun their duel, and if you think that the thief was tough last time, you've only seen the tip of the iceberg...

This chapter begins the first duel for Yusuke, as well as an insightful look into Kagome's role in this ancient game, as well as her link to Yami. Hiei, meanwhile, has set his sights against Kaiba and Botan, while a powerful new foe is revealed, and it's not who you think.

Chapter 19: Viral Assault

Yami vs. Y. Bakura

"It's my move, Pharaoh, and let me assure you, it will be the final turn that I make. I shall begin by playing one card face down on the playing field. I shall then summon the dreaded Thousand Eyes Idol in attack mode!" Immediately as the thief played his monster, a thick black fog began to lie about the field, from which emerged a hideous creature: a caped, elliptical green creature with striped legs, arms, and hat, every one of its thousand malevolent eyes focusing their gaze upon Yami. (0/0) "Next, I shall play this Magic card, Temple of the Kings!" From the Idol's mists emerged an overwhelming presence, as a vast, Pantheon-like structure rose from the earth. Emblazing it were thousands of ancient symbols from a bygone era, similar to those found in ancient Egyptian palaces. "The end is near, Yami, but I have one final move to make. You see, the power of the Temple of the Kings grants me the ability to activate Trap cards directly from my hand, so I shall activate the Crush Card Virus trap, and I shall use it to infect my Thousand Eyes! Finally, I shall sacrifice my demon to completely obliterate every monster with 1500 or more attack points in your deck!" The Thousand Eyes Idol exploded into thousands of fragments, each containing billions of parasitic germs that converged on Yami.

As soon as they were struck by the legendary virus, the Vampire Lord and Chaos Black Magician began to writhe and retch as their very skin began to rot into nothing. Within seconds, both monsters were little more than dust swirling about the field. "I'm afraid it doesn't stop there, Yami! I also activate my facedown card, Pact with the Dark Master! This Ritual Magic card allows me to sacrifice monsters whose levels equal 8 or more, so I shall sacrifice the Dark Necrofear in my hand!" The hideous creature emerged onto the field, but was quickly consumed by thick tendrils of an evil force. "What I have unleashed is a power beyond your feeble comprehension, a force of evil so great that not even your Dark Magician could defeat it. Now behold the demon known as Dark Master Zorc, the ultimate Ritual Monster!" The pillar of shadows began to glow with a grim light as it tore open, revealing a towering figure with golden armor and crawling with the dark tendrils used to summon it. (2700/1400) "Now, my demon, attack my opponent's life points directly with Scream of Lost Souls!" The huge demon spread it's blood-red wings and took to the skies, while at the same time mumbling what sounded like an ancient chant, whose words also started to form itself into an ethereal text. This text, in turn, warped and twisted itself into a massive spectral figure, vaguely humanoid in form. The Dark Master gripped this figure and sunk it's teeth into the effigy, and began wailing to the bowels of the earth, phantom blood dripping onto the ground. These wails of sadism rocked Yami to the core, taking out over half of his life points. (1300/4000)

"I can see that I have weakened you, Pharaoh, so I shall end my turn by placing a card in the ancient temple behind me!" As he placed the card from his fusion deck into the field card slot face down, the same image, only translucent, hovered for what seemed like an eternity before sinking into the depths of the ark. "Your move, Pharaoh."

The card Yami drew, while weak, was more than enough to defeat his opponent.

"This duel isn't over by a long shot, and I will cement my victory by activating my Magic card, Card of Sanctity! It will allow us each to draw cards into our hands until each of us has six cards in our hand!" Both Yami and Yami Bakura drew. "Next, I shall play this Magic, the dreaded Monster Reborn, to resurrect from my Graveyard the Dark Magician!" The Magic card formed an Ankh shape upon the ground, glowing with an unceasing light that shaped itself into an eight-foot tall, purple clad mage wielding a staff, in which was set an emerald. (2500/2100). "Finally, I shall summon the Magic Devourer in Attack mode! To end this strategy, I shall discard three Magic cards from my hand to activate my creature's ability, raising his attack and defense power by 3000!" The hideous creature absorbed the arcane magic, and became in form a large tank lined with barbs. "Now my creatures, attack the thief with everything you have!" The Devourer struck first, using twin cannons mounted on it's sides to bombard the Dark Master until it lay shattered on the floor. The Dark Magician, meanwhile, was collecting a ball of dark energy at the tip of his staff, which he rammed into his opponent's chest. (1300/1200)

"I will end my turn by placing one card face down. Do you want to surrender?"

"Never! Did you really think that by destroying one of my monsters you could make victory for you inevitable? My Dark Master may have been powerful, but it is a miniscule threat compared to the hellish nightmares that await you, for soon you will know the power of the true Infinite Lord, the Dark Master Hiei!

"You may have been able to defeat my master's weak servants, but his army of duelists is completely unstoppable! It would take an act of God to save you now! But believe me, their is no divine intervention in this city, for the closest thing they had to a god vanished off the face of the Earth over 40 years ago!"

Before Yami could even puzzle out this information, a small, insignificant sound reached his ears. A sound that pierced his soul much in the same way the name Kikyo had.

Is that...crying?

Hotel Room, Center of Town

The demon smiled to himself as he watched the pathetic morons that skittered about like frightened ants, unknowing of the horrible war that was happening beneath their feet. Completely oblivious to the soon-coming wrath of God that would soon dominate them, these pathetic buffoons crawled around on the city streets searching for some purpose to their neo-utopian life style, subconsciously begging of the universe some form of self, pining in unison for one thing: knowledge.

And in this city, the only knowledge of significance was the will of the demigod rulers.

Standing upon the hardwood floor which had supposedly been hewn from a 500 year-old birch, this cruel and critical demon began to search through his vast collection of Duel Monsters cards, the skills of which he had learned from an even older creature than he, and occasionally removed from his deck some worthless strategy in place of a stronger one. As he did so, his swift, pale digits skimmed over his most powerful cards, the greater part of which had droplets of a dark red fluid, no doubt the ones whose original owner's Schwarzvald had slain.

As powerful a duelist as Seebach is, he has one fatal flaw; his deck standards are much too high.

Sesshomaru placed the improved deck back into his gauntlet, and began to drum his gaunt fingers upon the wrought iron coffee table, upon which was a bottle of gin from the same material. Picking up the bottle, he studied it's intricacies with morbid fascination, tracing each individual contour with a well-trained hand. This was the work of a true artisan, the equivalent of which he had not seen in many years. However, each embossed scene reflected a deep-rooted psychosis, perhaps the work of a narcissist.

"Relax, Lord Sesshomaru. The metal-smith who created this little wonder was perfectly sane, a strange irony since he was Botan's second cousin."

The wolf demon stood to his full, intimidating height, his long, platinum locks, flowing white robes, and cold hazel eyes a direct opposite to the gothic uniform that Hiei was known to sport. Hidden beneath these clothes was a strange weapon, the Tensuaiga, capable of saving an army of demons with one block. Yet these proportional differences were the exact converse of the power ranks.

"We meet at last, Lord Hiei."

The superior demon, with one motion, brought a small, wooden stool from out of the shadows, and proceeded to place what seemed to be a small, black jewel with a chink in it upon this seat. "Please sit down, Sesshomaru. We have articles of business to discuss." While Hiei said this, one of his vassal's poured some of the gin into small goblets, each lined with a colorful array of glass beads worth thousands of dollars. As with the drink bottle, each was inscribed with indiscernible text from an erstwhile era.

"As you know, Yugi Mouto, Seto Kaiba, Lord Inuyasha, and the rebel Botan have become contestants in this tournament, and as such I have begun an all-out campaign against them. Thus far, Kaiba and Yugi are in the process of gaining their third tournament key, seven of which are needed to enter the finals. However, if we can finish them off beforehand, we can proceed onto taking control of this pathetic mud ball. Most of my servants have made outstanding process in this field, but I do not trust their overall skills. Thus you have become a factor.

"I am ready to make you a deal that I don't believe you will be able to refuse, but if you choose to up the ante, I shall make no such agreement and you will not walk away from this meeting alive. For I what I have planned is the ultimate obliteration..."

As if on cue, five shadowy figures emerged from the alcove.

"These duelists have been employed from a specific branch of my organization, each with a different background, and a grudge against our mutual enemies. With the exception of one of my lieutenants, each has also been tested for loyalty, and so I trust them wholeheartedly. Your job is to enter the finals and make certain that Kaiba and Yugi are dealt with. The gentlemen behind me will help you accomplish this."

"And as for my payment? I'm not doing charity work, Hiei."

The smaller demon stood for an instant before extracting a long papyrus scroll, which he then proceeded to unfurl. "If you should defeat Kaiba or Yugi, this shall be your reward." For printed on this ancient scroll was the Tetsuaiga.

"You shall give m...me t...the ancient sword? In which case, when may I start?"

Hiei opened a small box near him, in which was a standard Duel Gauntlet. "In order for you to reach the final rounds, you will need this device, which will allow you to duel anywhere in the city limits. However, I do not want you to face the real enemies yet, but instead use this five-member team to deal with that." With that said, Sesshomaru stood as well, and placed the gauntlet on, ignoring the merciless waves of pain it caused him.

"Impressive. Now if you will excuse me, I must be going." Following their new commander's lead, the other five duelists left with Sesshomaru, leaving Hiei alone with his other lieutenants.

Everything is coming into place just as I hoped it would. Not only is Yami about to lose his duel with the tomb robber, but Kaiba is about to experience the same devastating loss that I have, the loss of the only person that ever loved him. As if that wasn't enough, Yusuke will soon be trampled into the dirt by the intercontinental champion himself, while the rest of those pathetic baboons stare on as I butcher their leaders. And before long, I shall finally obtain the ultimate power of the gods that was meant to be mine!

Before Hiei could move onto more professional thoughts, however, one of his less illustrious seconds entered. "Master Hiei, as you requested, we managed to gain the information on the progress of Kaiba, Yugi, Botan, and Yusuke. Thus far, Kaiba and Yugi are each engaged in a duel for their third key; Yusuke has begun his first duel, while Botan is in the process of gaining her fourth." This reporter was completely hidden from view by a full face mask made out of clay from the sacred Mt. Hiei . "The other duelists have made no such progress, save Schwarzvald and Youkai Kurama."

"Excellent work. And as for you, I want you to begin your next tag-team duel as soon as you can. In fact, I have already assigned you another partner, one Kazuma Kuwabara."

"Ah, yes, one of the dimwit's other friends, I'd surmise. Wasn't he the one that messed up in his duel with Seto Kaiba?"

"The very same, but with your guidance, I am absolutely certain that this mistake will not happen again. As far as I am concerned, Kuwabara may be a complete moron, but his deck is just the type of power our organization needs at this point." Hiei turned towards the open window, his all-powerful deck nestled into his Gauntlet, and his attention turned to the alley way where Yami and Yami Bakura were squaring off. "I can assure you, Yami has no idea of the shock he is about to get from encountering Kagome for the first time," muttered the demon, more to himself than to the other entity in the room. "Her role in this ancient conflict runs much deeper than she or the Pharaoh can comprehend, for it was by her and Yami's doing that the shadows were sealed, at the price of her own life. Neither one can completely understand the beings by whom they were created, and thus shall they fall."

Silence.

I can only assume that the psychic walked out on my tangent. No matter, for even if she doesn't get rid of Yusuke, this certainly will.

Hiei smirked coldly as he removed a circular object from a small, cold duffel bag, an object with limp, mousy brown hair upon which ice shards had started to form, glazed eyes that had once been a lovely hazel color, and a pale, frightened expression explained by the crude cut of the evisceration.

What Hiei held in his hands was the severed head of Keiko Yukimora.

Yusuke vs. Bandit Keith

"I'll make the first move, you stupid punk." The dreaded Machine duelist looked at his hand, in which was the first of his many new cards. "I'll start this show by placing four cards facedown, and I'll also place a monster in face-down defense mode." What this little freak doesn't know is that every card I placed facedown is a magic, just so he'll be intimidated not to attack. "That wraps up my turn."

"In that case, let's bring the game up a notch!" Yusuke looked at the cards in his hand with morbid humor. "I'll start by placing a monster in defense mode, followed by the activation of this Magic card, Seal of the Ancients!" A stone cross with an ancient symbol carven of alabaster appeared, while at the same time glowing a bright red. "In exchange for 1000 of my own lifepoints, I'm allowed to look at every face-down card you have on the field." The red light coming from the seal revealed every one of Keith's cards: Raigeki, Dark Hole, Guard of Card, Life-Shortening Magic, and Cyber Jar. "I see you were trying to keep me from attacking you by placing so many face-down cards, but I'm afraid that it won't work, for I activate the Magic card, Heavy Storm, which annihilates every Magic and Trap card on the field, followed by two more cards face-down. If this is how you're gonna be dueling for the rest of the fight, then you're even more of an ass then I thought. Take it, blondie."

The second Keith saw the card in his hand, he realized that this duel would be even simpler than he expected. "I'll flip up my face-down monster, Cyber Jar!" The bomb-like structure, bristling with the ultimate technological advancements, appeared. (900/900) "You're screwed, Yusuke! Once this all-powerful weapon activates it's time detonation sequence, every monster on the field will be destroyed, removing that pathetic excuse for a defense from the field. Cyber Jar, detonate!"

Deep within the programming of the superintelligent weapon, the command activated an electrical pulse that began moving through the false synapses towards the explosives storage, filled to the brim with highly delicate materials. This electric message, in turn, sparked a fuse connected directly to the volatile chemical compound. The end result was a massive explosion similar to a supernova, which began to drag every monster on the field into the resulting black hole, including the Cyber Jar that triggered it.

"Not only does the Jar wipe out every monster on the field, it forces each of us to draw five cards from our decks, and from these five cards summon or set any monster with 4 stars or less." Keith managed to summon Mechanicalchaser, a rotund green android armed to the teeth with edged weapons (1850/800) , as well as the dreaded Drillago, a yellow machine whose appendiges could at will form drills capable of shredding a 5-foot thick wall of galvenized steel, (1600/1100), and placed a monster in defense mode as well. Yusuke, on the other hand, summoned Soul Tiger, an ancient feral spirit, (0/2100), a Giant Soldier of Stone, (1300/2000), both in defense mode, and placed a monster in face-down defense mode as well.

"If you think this turn is over, Yusuke, you have no idea of what's coming next, for I sacrifice Drillago and my face-down monster to summon the all-powerful Dark Invader!" As if the event was already rigged, the field literally became one of pitch blackness. Absolutely nothing was visible, and for an instant it seemed that Yusuke had died again. "Keith! What the hell is going on?!" But a dim light, cloaked by the shadows of the field, answered the question perfectly. For from this light was emerging one of the most hideous creatures he had ever seen.

Surrounding the area around the creature was a huge battlefield, loaded down with corpses of dead monsters and thick with the stench of death. In every direction houses and villages were burning, and the screams of women and children being brutally tortured was the dominant sound, but what could cause such devastation was revealed in Keith's monster.

The demon stood over 12 feet in height, bound by a thick, sinewy build and mostly hidden by the blue hooded cloak it wore. In one of this's creature's taloned hands was a razor-sharp, bloody axe, while the other held a human head. Around it's neck was a black talisman. (2900/2450)

Yusuke collapsed onto the ground, sweating profusely in outright terror; since Keith's monster was obviously the strongest on the field, the only thing protecting him was his three defense monsters.

How am I supposed to win?

To be continued

Well, it took me long enough, but I finally finished this chapter. Remember, the more you review, the more you update.

Ok, next time will see the revelation of the mystery character that Yami hears, as well as the completion of the two duels. Botan, meanwhile, will try to find Hiei's hidden stronghold, but will ultimately fall victim to one of Hiei's soldiers. The next chapter will also begin Joey's first duel, as well as reveal one of the "mystery duelists."

One more thing: next chapter will reveal the lieutenant Hiei was talking to earlier this chapter.

Read and Review!