Author's Note: I just like kicking the proverbial shit out of my characters don't I?
Chapter Nine: Downward Spiral
His head tilted backwards as he screamed to the heavens, pulses of energy flooding through his body. One pulse, then a second, and finally a third, and at long last it seemed done. Slowly, Kirani approached him. "Drake...is that...the real you?"
Violet eyes looked up at her, violet eyes filled with horror, fear, and remorse. Those violet eyes could belong to not a single soul other than the man she had fallen in love with. "Kirani...I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen."
She dropped to his side and embraced him immediately, her touch telling him that everything was alright, that she didn't blame him. Her touch, her warmth, and her eyes conveyed more than words would have. He simply knew her like he knew himself, and that was why he knew it wasn't over. "Kirani...you're on the verge of tears...what's wrong?"
Kirani backed away and stood up, looking down at him, blinking back tears. "This last fight...it's told me something I needed to hear, and so has the Heart of Love. I...as hard as this is to do...I'm leaving Drake."
His stare was blank, as if he didn't understand. Or maybe he couldn't bring himself to understand. "I...but why?"
"I learned just minutes ago that this world isn't safe for...certain people. And I know that you're always going to be right in the thick of it. So the safest thing for...certain people, is if I leave. I'm sorry, but I have to go...I don't want to, but I have to. I can only hope that you'll understand, and that you won't hate me. Just please remember that I will always love you...I just can't be with you right now."
And then, in what was perhaps the most mind numbing event of the day, Kirani uttered a single word that shattered everything for him. "Goodbye."
Then she was gone.
Most bartenders lived unusual lives. It was simply a fact of life that when you ran a place designed for selling alcohol to people who had every intention of getting drunk you'd wind up meeting a lot of odd people. So when the russet haired young man had slumped down on a stool at the bar, he had been almost expecting oddity.
The young man had dropped onto the stool and gazed up at the bartender with a listless look in his violet eyes. "I'd like something…strong. Really strong."
Since he saw no reason in not complying, the bartender took out the most alcoholic drink he had and gave the man a glass of it. Just as the bartender had been expecting, the kid downed it in seconds and motioned for more. "You know, I think I'll just leave the bottle with you."
The contents of the bottle vanished in the next thirty minutes, and the guy still looked just as miserable. With few customers in the bar, the bartender did something that was against his better judgment. He asked what was wrong.
"She…left." That was the only response he got before the kid buried his head in his glass, not looking up. The bartender had expected something like that, because men had a tendency to drown themselves in alcohol when it came to leaving.
"If she left, good riddance right? If she wasn't willing to be with you then you're probably better off without her." Instantly the man knew he had said the wrong thing. The younger man's head shot up, his violet eyes brimming with rage. A hand snapped out and grabbed the collar of his shirt in a flash, wrenching him closer.
"She was my everything…and I am not better of without her!" With a single push the young man tossed the bartender backwards into shelves of various types of alcohol, shattering bottles. At the same time the entire bar started shaking, as if an earthquake were happening.
"All that's left for me without her is…me. And without her…I hate me. I always have, and she's the only one who ever made me like myself. She's the only one who ever made me feel like I deserved to be in this world at all. Without her…who am I really?" He slumped down again, and the shaking of the building subsided.
Then, in what was the oddest thing the bartender had seen in his career, the man swung his left arm violently. It wasn't the swinging that was odd, but rather the fact that everything on the far side of the room that was in the direction his arm pointed suddenly exploded. Wood burst into tiny fragments and glass shattered. "Who am I really!"
The man stumbled off his seat, his shoulders shaking as he tromped towards the door. But something stopped him. It took the terrified bartender a minute to realize what it was. The man's gaze was now fastened on the television screen that was displaying the news.
"Turn it up. Now." Gulping the bartender fumbled for the remote, and turned up the volume on the TV set as quickly as he could. Then he jabbed the volume button with his thumb, hoping it got loud enough in time for the man to hear what he wanted to hear. The bartender didn't want to be blown up.
"This was the scene today at the Kyoto apartment of local resident Tenjiku Ihachi. This mother of two lived alone in her apartment, supported by her two children until this very day. Mrs. Ihachi's disappearance is one of a string of vanishing acts in the past few months, making this one around number five hundred. Police are currently investigating, but no leads have turned up so far. More on this later." The man stared at the screen blankly for several moments, as if trying to comprehend what he had just heard.
"No…no….first Kirani and now this. I'm damned, cursed and damned, anyone who cares about me is damned to suffer…and that's why she left. Mother…I can't feel you at all, and I know…I know the truth." The TV exploded, just like the tables had earlier, raining sparks down on the cowering bartender. The man barely seemed aware of it.
He stumbled away, a deadened look in his eyes. A few minutes later the bartender got the nerve to peak over the counter, and determined that the man had in fact left. Finally he spoke. "W..what the hell was that guy?"
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Drake had experienced tragedy in his life before, but somehow this felt a little bit more like some deity was messing with his life. His father had died when he was very young, but that happened to plenty of people across the world.
When his sister had gone into a coma, it had seemed that things were even worse, but it was also understandable because of his sister's disease. His mother's almost complete and total breakdown at the time was also understandable because she had lost her husband, her daughter, and her son had become violent and she almost never saw him.
Later he had learned that his sister's coma had been caused by the ancient immortal spirit that had been a past incarnation's sister. She had at the time called herself Ihachi, but according to what he had learned she was called Ihami.
After all he had dealt with in Battle City and its aftermath, along with the events revolving around Eikyuu, it seemed that Drake was indeed cursed, or so he thought to himself. But when he and Kirani had finally gotten together, it seemed that maybe that wasn't the case. He could finally be happy in a way that he never had been before. At the same time his sister had been healed and restored by the power of a god, stripping her of her disease completely.
For roughly the next five years he had been at peace, his life had been truly relaxing and wonderful for the first time since he was eleven. Now, at the end of those years, he had been stricken again.
Yumi, who had been part of a truly sickening period in his life, had returned and hurt Kirani, and unleashed the dark personality that lurked within him. This dark personality had proceeded to slaughter human beings and nearly killed Kirani. So of course she left him. And roughly twenty-four hours later his mother was discovered missing.
The first five years of his life had been peaceful, and then his father had died. Then he spent another five or so years before his sister was forced into a coma. About six years after that he got a chance at peace. Nearly six years after that peace started, his life was ruined again.
Those jumps in time in such similar increments, along with how it all seemed to happen at once when it did happen, seemed to prove Drake's theory that somebody in the universe really loved to make him miserable. "Maybe I just don't deserve to be happy."
"You're a pretty negative guy. You Drake Ihachi?" Drake bit back a groan and turned around, discovering a man of similar age, wearing a leather jacket with spiked shoulders and a spiked collar. Everything from that to the steel-toe black boots screamed 'punk' about the man.
"I'm Drake Ihachi. Now fuck off." Automatically Drake had switched to English to match the man's speech. The punk smirked and raised his left arm, which had a jet black DD3 attached to it. The deck was already in, and his life point counter seemed to be active as well.
"Nah, can't do that physically, it's impossible. Besides, I've been sent by a guy to make sure you never duel again, or so he said. I was given a way to make that possible, but first I gotta beat you in a duel. So start up that duel disk and let's get going." He drew five cards, and tapped his booted foot against the ground impatiently.
Drake shrugged and turned away again. "I'm not dueling you. I've got no interest in it. Now go away."
The punk shook his head and snapped two fingers together, instantly forming a dome of darkness around them. "Sorry, can't do that. And with the power of Blood I invoke a Darkness Game to prevent you from leaving. The only way out is to defeat me, Guy Robinson, in a duel." (GLP: 4000)
Drake sighed, and listlessly turned on his duel disk. Then he shuffled up his deck and inserted it into the deck tray. Finally he drew his own hand of five cards, recognizing that there was no getting out of this easily. "Fine, we'll duel. Let's just get this over with already." (DLP: 4000)
"Sheesh, you're impatient. But hey, great things take time. But good moves don't always, so let me start things off strong by summoning Archfiend Soldier(1900/1500) in attack mode!" A purple skinned demon with a cape and a sword formed in front of him, already prepared to attack.
Drake frowned, recognizing the monster but not the name. "Don't you mean Demon Soldier? That's what it's called; I've had it played against me before."
Guy waved it off as if it were nothing. "That's in Japan, but see, the way you guys refer to demons has something to do with the way it's written. In English we can't do that, so to separate it from other monsters that might have 'demon' in their name, we call these monsters Archfiends."
When Drake didn't bother to respond, Guy realized that his opponent didn't really care. "Fine grumpy dude, I'll just set one card face down and end my turn."
Drake drew, and then without looking at his hand he placed the drawn card onto his duel disk. "Hell Spell Striker(2200/1500) in attack mode. Crush Archfiend Soldier."
The brute attacked, rushing in to completely destroy the weaker monster. 'When Hell Spell Striker kills Archfiend Soldier I'll add Magic Saint to my hand from my deck and use its effect to special summon it and go direct for seventeen hundred life points of damage.'
Guy pointed to his face down card, which immediately flipped up. "You've activated my trap card, Bark of the Dark Ruler! Now I can pay increments of one hundred life points to reduce your monster's attack by that amount. So I pay four hundred life points to make it weaker!" (GLP: 3600)
Hell Spell Striker stumbled, and with that opening the purple skinned demon darted in and decapitated the struggling spellcaster. Its head went rolling, and then the rest of it faded away as well. "Hehehe, looks like you need to watch out for traps better." (DLP: 3900)
On the other side of the playing field, Drake was mentally berating himself as he actually looked at his hand. 'I had Shrink in my hand, so I could have dropped the power of his soldier and still won that battle, as well as getting to play Magic Saint like I wanted. Damn it…I haven't made that kind of amateur mistake since early in Battle City. What's wrong with me?'
Finally, he spoke out loud. "I set two cards face down. Then I end my turn." Still he couldn't help but feel like he had missed the perfect opportunity to nearly end the duel in one fell swoop.
His punk opponent chuckled as he held up a card from his hand, which depicted Dark Ruler Hades batting aside a weak little goblin. "I play Blow of the Dark Ruler, which can only be activated if I have an Archfiend in play. It destroys one card on your field and forces you to discard a hand."
Drake's left most set card exploded into tiny pieces. He grimaced since it was better than his other set card, his Shrink card. Looking at the three cards left in his hand, he finally chose one and slid it into the graveyard. "Fine, anything else?"
"Sure is. I summon Shadow Knight Archfiend(2000/1600) in attack mode!" A tall blue skinned demon in silver armor, wings extended out, and a visor covering its eyes now stood next to Archfiend Soldier. Instead of holding a sword, this demon had a sword for a right hand and long razor sharp claws for a left hand.
"Since I've got just that one card to worry about, I'll attack you directly with Shadow Knight Archfiend!" Drake mentally did a calculation in his mind as the knight raced towards him, and then made his decision. The demon's sword-arm slashed him across the chest. (DLP: 2900)
"Just like I remembered, Shadow Knight Archfiend only does fifty percent damage. That's a pretty big disadvantage for any monster, let alone Shadow Knight Archfiend with its high life point payment." Guy shrugged, not exactly bothered by that.
"Well, just let me worry about the payment. You? You should worry a bit more about Archfiend Soldier, because he's attacking you directly right now!" Drake sighed as the monster came charging at him, and then motioned to his set card.
"Speaking of fifty percent, here's my Shrink magic card! This cuts your monsters attack down to fifty percent, so it's only half the damage it might have been!" But that didn't stop it from cutting across his chest, drawing a long line of blood diagonal to the previous attack of Shadow Knight Archfiend. (DLP: 1950)
Guy smirked, still satisfied by what he had accomplished in this turn. "Sheesh, it's only my second turn and I've already got you down to past half life points. Really, you're not as much of a challenge as I might have hoped for. Whatever, just makes this easier for me."
He slipped a card from his hand onto his duel disk, and it appeared directly in front of him, behind Archfiend Soldier. Finally he pointed at Drake, still smirking. "Go ahead and take your turn. I ain't got all day."
Drake silently drew a card, and then held up a Pot of Greed, drawing two immediately. "I set a monster face down and a magic or trap card behind it. That's all."
Guy pointed to his face down card just as Drake was finishing his turn, and it immediately flipped up. "Sorry, can't let you get away with ending your turn so fast. I activate Battle-Scarred, a continuous trap card! First step, I select an Archfiend in play. Shadow Knight is my choice."
Shadow Knight roared at being select, and its gaze settled on Drake. "Step two happens during my standby phase. Whenever I pay life points for the chosen monster, my opponent has to pay them as well. And Archfiend payments are mandatory."
Drake did the math and grimaced, realizing that it would quickly drain his life points. He couldn't afford that. Guy seemed to see the path Drake's mind was taking, and spoke up. "Don't worry, part three of the effect says that if this card goes to the grave, the chosen monster does as well, and vice versa. So if you've got a card that can kill it, you're fine. Do you?"
When he got no response, he knew that Drake didn't. So, since Drake had basically already announced the end of his turn, Guy drew. "And now…the standby phase. Shadow Knight, take what you need."
To Drake's surprise the Archfiend turned around and chomped down on Guy's neck, drawing blood. Guy shuddered, but the wound closed almost instantly after the Archfiend released him. "That was my nine hundred life points. Now, it's your turn." (GLP: 2700)
Shadow Knight flapped its wings and using the lift it flew to Drake's field and bit down on the juncture of his neck just like it had with Guy. Drake felt the blood flowing from the wound into the demon's mouth, and forced himself not to react to it. Finally it was appeased and returned to Guy's field. "You happy now?" (DLP: 1050)
His punk opponent shook his head, and grabbed his newest card. "Nope, I've got even more in mind for you. I tribute you Archfiend Soldier in order to present to you Mefist the Infernal General(1800/1700) who has a trample and discard ability."
Replacing the purple skinned demon was a demon in full armor, riding a horse and wielding a spear. His gaze fell upon Drake's set monster, and he looked eager to go on the attack. "Sure Mefist, take down his set monster."
Mefist raised his spear and hurled it straight at the set monster. But to Guy's surprise it bounced off and hurtled back at him, only to be caught by Mefist. The set monster shimmered and was revealed as a magician in robes that seemed to depict the sky. "Guardian Magician of the Day(1400/1900) has just enough defense to survive." (GLP: 2600)
"You may have defended yourself from Mefist, but your magician won't be so lucky against Shadow Knight. Gut his puny magician!" Shadow Knight's claws slashed right across Guardian Magician of the Day's belly, causing its intestines to roll on out.
"I'll finish up my turn by setting a card face down. Ups to you yo!" Drake blinked, not quite understanding what his opponent had just said. His English had vastly improved over the years, but that didn't seem like proper English at all.
Sighing, Drake drew, and then pointed at his set card. "Reveal face down card, Monster Reborn! I'll use it to special summon the monster you just killed, so welcome back Guardian Magician of the Day!"
Guy shrugged, still confident. "Why should I give a damn about that weakling? I beat it before and I can easily beat it again."
"It's different this time. When Guardian Magician of the Day is special summoned, I get to take Guardian Magician of the Night(1900/1400) from my hand or deck and special summon him to the field!" A nearly identical magician appeared, the only difference being that it's robes looked like the sky at night instead of during the day.
"Now, as Unity Magicians they have a special effect while together on the field. At a cost of one thousand life points I can destroy all magic and trap cards on your field…or all monsters on your field. I choose all monsters!" The two magicians united their wands and sent a stream of energy sweeping across the field, blowing up both opposing monsters. (DLP: 50)
"Since the field is cleared of monsters, I attack you directly with both for game!" Twin streams of magic went straight for Guy. They collided with him, and he was knocked backwards, but didn't look overly harmed. In fact, it looked like a lot of the energy was being leeched away by Guy's set card.
"Hehe, I don't intend to lose so easily so I activated my set card, Dark Energy Collector which converts one source of damage into life point gain. So I gained nineteen hundred attack from Night, before getting hit by Day. All together that's a five hundred point net gain!" His down card vanished, and he lifted his duel disk to show his life points. (GLP: 3100)
Drake frowned, realizing he had spent all but fifty of his precious life points and only succeeded in increasing his opponent's life points. 'This guy should be an easy win. Why is this so much trouble?'
Still troubled he set a monster onto his field, and then a magic or trap card face down. "End turn at that."
Guy drew, and then flipped over the drawn card. "Pot of Greed lets me draw twice…and now it's time for a change in location. Introducing the city of the damned, Pandemonium!"
The darkness around them converted into a hellish city, replete with demons wandering around everywhere. But Drake had quite literally been to Hell, so this wasn't really anything that bothered him. "Next, I summon Infernal Queen Archfiend(900/1500). Now, I use her effect and boost her attack to nineteen hundred."
A red skinned female demon in purple robes emerged, and screamed with pure hatred as her power increased. She glared across the field at Drake, who watched her and Guy stoically. "Now…the set card…I won't trigger it. End turn."
Although he was bothered by Guy's ability to see through his face down card, he still knew he had to continue the duel. So he started off his turn just like any other, by drawing. Surveying the field he came to a distinct conclusion. Defense was what he needed. "First I switch my two face-up monsters into defense mode."
The two guardian magicians dropped into crouching positions, giving him three defenders to protect his life points. "Now I set another monster in defense mode." A fourth joined the other three, giving him a virtual wall of defense that wouldn't be easy to break through.
With that done, he pointed to Guy. So Guy drew, and seemed to be confident in whatever he saw. "Since I now have an Archfiend in play, I can finally summon this guy. Come on out and join your queen, Terror King Archfiend(2000/1500)!"
Taking shape beside the queen was a truly royal looking demon, with bone spikes that seemed to form a crest around his neck and a crown upon his head. He stood with his back completely straight, his hands balancing his sword which was point down against the ground. "Now, Infernal Queen Archfiend uses her effect to increase Terror King to three thousand attack points!"
To Drake's utter disgust, the female demon turned and embraced the king, kissing him. When she released him, he threw back his head and roared in triumph, his power shooting up to equal that of a Blue Eyes. "To end my turn I set one card face down. Now it's your turn."
Drake picked up a card, and then placed it down on his duel disk. Another horizontal monster card appeared on his field, filling up his zones. "That one face down monster, and that's it. Go."
The moment that Guy drew, Infernal Queen was already wrapping herself in crimson energy, her attack points shooting up to nearly match those of Terror King. "Now she gains an additional one thousand points, giving her a grand total of twenty-nine hundred attack points!"
He smirked and pointed at Drake's two guardians, and the demons eyed them like snacks. "Terror King Archfiend will destroy Guardian Magician of the Night, and Infernal Queen Archfiend will kill Guardian Magician of the Day. Attack!"
The two demons flapped their wings, and massive swarms of insects were issued forth, streaking across the field to consume the two named monsters. But Drake was ready for that. "In chain to Terror King's attack I'll activate Mirage Magic, which negates the attack and gives me his attack as life points!"
Guy made a clicking noise with his tongue, and gestured with his left hand to his set card. "A magic card, what a pity. Magic Jammer negates it completely at a cost of one discard, the one card in my hand being the discard."
As soon as he dropped the one card he held into his graveyard, the rainbow barrier that had started to form shattered, allowing Terror King and Infernal Queen to blow away Drake's two face-up magicians. "And that, as they say, is that. End turn."
Drake drew, and felt a rush of feeling coming on. He knew the move he could make right here. "I sacrifice two of my face down monsters in order to summon Black Magician of Chaos(2800/2600)!"
Two set cards vanished, immediately replaced by the leather clad blue-skinned magician. He spun his staff over his head and then slammed it into the ground, causing a card to pop out of Drake's grave. "When this monster is summoned I can take back one magic card from my grave and add it to my hand."
He picked up the card, and then flipped it around so that Guy could see it. It showed a Battle Ox being massively reduced in size. "Shrink will now cut Terror King's attack in half, making him weak enough to be destroyed."
Terror King roared, and casually produced a large white die from out of nowhere. Guy explained as Terror King tossed the die onto the ground. "Whenever Terror King is targeted specifically by an opponent's effect I roll a die, and if the result is two or five the targeting card is negated and destroyed."
To Drake's chagrin, the die ended up on a two, and his Shrink card shattered into nothingness. "Fine, if that was negated, then I'll just set one card face down and end my turn."
Guy barely even looked at his drawn card before Infernal Queen rushed over and gave Terror King another kiss, raising his attack to a deadly four thousand. "Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'll attack Black Magician of Chaos with Infernal Queen and your set monster with Terror King."
Drake understood his opponent's reasoning, because if Drake negated the attack on his Black Magician of Chaos, Guy could still destroy a potential threat in Drake's set monster without risking of activating any effect it might have. "You thought it out, but you forgot non-targeting cards. Reverse card open, Mirror Force!"
A shining barrier formed, and both demons exploded into dust. However, almost immediately two more cards popped out of Guy's deck, and he grabbed them. "When you destroy an Archfiend in any way other than battle and Pandemonium is in play, I get to add an Archfiend from my deck to my hand that has at least a level less."
Drake nodded, not really bothered. Any monsters taken would be low level monsters, and not really much of a threat to his Black Magician of Chaos. "Now, I discard Des Rook Archfiend(1100/1800) from my hand since Terror King was destroyed, allowing me to special summon Terror King back to the field!"
Guy slid the card into the grave, and immediately the royal demon reappeared, stretching out his wings in his triumphant return. "Next I activate the effect of Queen's Succubus(300/700) letting me discard it and one card from my hand to special summon Infernal Queen Demon from my grave to the field."
The female demon rejoined her husband, looking suitably angry at having been destroyed. Black Magician of Chaos gave them a look that said he had every intention of doing so himself. "Since my monsters are no match for yours, I'll move into my second main phase and boost Terror King to three thousand attack points. Then I end my turn."
Drake slid another card off his deck, and assessed the situation. He could attack and kill Infernal Queen and remove her from the game for a nice amount of damage, but it wouldn't finish off Guy. But doing so would leave his Black Magician of Chaos open to being destroyed, and he couldn't handle two hundred damage since he only had fifty life points. "I set one card face down. Then I switch Black Magician of Chaos to defense mode. End."
His opponent drew, and Infernal Queen Archfiend was wreathed in flame, her attack points raising to become greater than Black Magician of Chaos'. "Infernal Queen Archfiend will attack Black Magician of Chaos!"
Releasing a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding, Drake activated his face down card. "Reveal trap card, Mechanical Magic Mirror which can work as one magic card in your grave. I choose to use the effect of Pot of Greed!"
Guy shrugged, because although Drake got to draw two cards, Infernal Queen Archfiend still got to slice Drake's magician in half. "Whatever, draw as many cards as you want, but it won't help. Now, Terror King finishes off that set monster."
As Drake's final defense was blown away, he actually found himself thanking his opponent for using Terror King for that. His remaining monster had been Sage of Unending Darkness, whose backlash for getting his effect wrong was a thousand damage, which would finish Drake off. "I'll set a magic or trap card face down, and end my turn. Sooner or later my royal couple will crush you into the dirt, it's only a matter of time."
Drake sighed and looked down at the cards he was holding. They were good cards, but not really useful right now. However, if he drew the right card then they just might help him out. "I draw!"
He looked down at the card, and then added to his hand. Next he grabbed one of the previous two he had been holding and extended it. The card depicted a line of dark energy swirling together with a line of white energy. "Activate magic card, Chaos Fusion! This card lets me combine one dark monster and one light monster to create a powerful fusion."
With the ease of a practiced duelist he flipped around the two other cards he was holding. "I combine Muse of Darkness(1500/1400) with Muse of Light(1400/1500) in order to create Muse of Chaos(2500/2500)!"
The monster created was a beautiful woman with golden hair in a silvery toga. One of her eyes was black, while the other was white. "Muse of Chaos now attacks Terror King Archfiend!"
The toga wearing spellcaster raised her hand, and a bolt of energy shot out of it, heading straight for Terror King. Guy just looked at Drake like he was crazy. "What the hell kinda move is that? Terror King has five hundred more attack points than your monster!"
"Look again Guy! Whenever Muse of Chaos is in battle, all of the opposing monsters have their effects removed. So for this attack, Terror King's power is reduced to its base of two thousand!" Guy looked over at his monster, and to his dismay it was true. Terror King had indeed dropped back to two thousand attack points.
"I won't let Terror King be destroyed! Reveal trap card, Shattering Fist! This will destroy your monster and break it down into the original components, namely those two pathetic muses!" Muse of Chaos exploded, and the two original toga wearing monsters appeared in crouching positions.
'That was the perfect chance to gain the lead…and now it's gone.' With no other cards that he could play, Drake had absolutely no choice but to end his turn. Still he felt odd, as if there was something wrong here.
Guy drew, and then since Muse of Chaos had returned his Terror King to two thousand, he had Infernal Queen boost him back up to three thousand. "Now, I activate Queen's Wrath! This card can only activate when Infernal Queen is in play. I draw one card, and she can activate her effect a second time!"
Now it was her turn to gain power again, jumping back up to nineteen hundred. It wasn't horribly impressive, but it was good enough for what needed to be done. "Now my royal couple will slay your two pathetic monsters, clearing the way for your imminent destruction!"
Under the assault of the two demons, Drake's spellcasters were easily destroyed. That left him with absolutely nothing on his field against Guy's two powerful monsters. "Go ahead and draw, not like anything you get can save you."
Drake pulled the card off his deck, and smiled slightly. "I bet to differ. Let me briefly reintroduce Muse of Light and Muse of Darkness, because they become offerings from the grave in order to allow me to special summon a trump of mine. Chaos Sorcerer(2300/2000) in defense mode!"
The gray skinned black-clad sorcerer formed, his arms wrapped around himself protectively. Guy looked at it him oddly, apparently unaware of its ability. "By sacrificing its attack for the turn, I can risk it all! Chaos Sorcerer, banish Terror King from the game!"
A burst of chaotic energy shot from the sorcerer's hands, right at the demon. However, Terror King produced his die and tossed it on the ground. "I need a two or a five, and then I can blow away your monster completely!"
Guy's confidence was shattered when the die rolled and landed face-up on a six. With nothing else in play, he was forced to watch as his Terror King reversed colors, and then vanished from existence. "You…you'll pay for that! Infernal Queen Archfiend(2900/1500) with her newest boost will now kill Chaos Sorcerer!"
She slashed him in half with her claws, once again leaving Drake's field empty. Guy shook his head and drew a card. "Sorry, almost forgot to draw that turn. Now, since I've already gotten the rest of it out of the way, I'm done."
Once again, Drake was top decking. But that didn't matter, because the card he saw was definitely a top deck. "I play Monster Returned, which lets me special summon Black Magician of Chaos(2800/2600) from out of play!"
The leather-clad monster appeared again, and slammed the butt of his staff against the ground. Just as before a card popped out of Drake's graveyard and he caught it. "Now, Monster Reborn brings back Chaos Sorcerer(2300/2000)!"
Guy's eyes widened as he realized what this could mean. His only card on the field was his powerful Infernal Queen Archfiend, but he had no traps whatsoever. "Chaos Sorcerer, looks like this comes to luck again. Banish Infernal Queen!"
The queen threw out her die, but like her husband before her it didn't land on a two or a five. Instead it landed on a four, which did absolutely nothing for it. The queen faded away, just as her husband had, leaving Guy's field empty. "Black Magician of Chaos, direct attack with Chaos Scepter Blast!"
A sphere of chaos energy collided with Guy's chest, hurling him several feet backwards. He caught himself before he could fall, and the damage was immediately healed by the power of Blood. "So you finally really damage me huh? A bit late in the game for that." (GLP: 300)
Since he had no more cards in his hand, Drake's turn was over. He just had to hope that Guy couldn't summon anything with over twenty-three hundred attack in the next turn, or he was finished.
Guy slid a card off his deck, and after a quick glance at it he placed it onto the plate of his duel disk. "First I set a monster in defense mode." A horizontal card appeared in front of him.
"Next I activate the continuous magic card Misty Altar! In three more turns its effect will activate and place a ritual card from my deck into my hand. During those three turns Misty Altar cannot be destroyed. End!" A massive golden altar now stood behind him, gifting him with a potential ritual.
Drake knew he had to finish his opponent off quickly, so he immediately pointed at the set monster after drawing. "Chaos Sorcerer, attack it!" A burst of energy struck the monster, but it remained to Drake's surprise.
"Worthless attack. You hit Spirit Reaper(300/300) who can't be destroyed in battle. Got anything else you'd like to do?" Drake looked down at his drawn card at this to see if he had any other options. What he saw made him berate himself again.
'I made the same mistake I did earlier in the game…I just drew Swords of Revealing Light. Had I played it I would have flipped Spirit Reaper face-up, allowing me to remove it with Chaos Sorcerer and go direct with Black Magician of Chaos for the win. Instead I rushed in recklessly like an amateur and accomplished nothing because of it.'
He frowned and shook his head, indicating that his turn was finished. Playing Swords of Revealing Light at this juncture would be completely pointless. "It's your turn Guy."
Guy slid a card off his deck, and then smirked at what he saw. "Time…kind of important isn't it? I play Time Jump, speeding up the turn count of the duel by three, instantly activating the effect of Misty Altar!"
Drake frowned, realizing that he had once again made another mistake. Had he activated Swords of Revealing Light, even the use of Time Jump would have just made it the final turn for Swords. Guy wouldn't have been able to attack with whatever ritual monster he summoned.
The altar faded away, and a card ejected from his deck and into his hand. "Now, I play the ritual I just searched for. Contract with the Dark Master! By offering up the level eight Berserk Dragon(3500/0) from my hand I can special summon Dark Master-Zorc(2700/1500)!"
The demon that was formed stood roughly nine feet in height, with dark purple skin. It had spikes coming out of its shoulders, and horns framing its head along with shaggy green hair. In one hand it held an organic looking sword, and behind it spread out were leathery red wings. "This monster, he's one of my personal favorites. So it's time to activate his effect! Doom Dice Roll!"
Using its left hand, the demon produced a pitch black die. Immediately it tossed it onto the ground, where it bounced and rolled. As it did so, Guy began to explain. "Once per turn Zorc lets me roll a die. If the result is a one or two, I destroy all monsters on your field. If it's a three, four, or five, I can kill one monster on your field. A six on the other hand kills all of my monsters. So let's see what I got!"
The die finished its rolling, and was revealed as showing…a one. "Goodbye monsters!" Both of Drake's monsters shattered like bubbles pricked by needles. That left Drake's field completely open.
Drake stared at Zorc, barely able to understand what was about to happen. Guy smirked and pointed at him, and Zorc leveled his sword. "Dark Master-Zorc, attack him directly!"
Zorc made a sweeping motion with his sword, and an invisible attack struck Drake, creating a ragged wound across his chest which blossomed with his crimson blood. Drake stumbled backwards, and then recovered, staring ahead at Guy. "I…lost?" (DLP: 0)
Guy smirked as the darkness faded away, leaving them in the middle of the street once again. "Yeah, you weren't as tough as you are on TV and things like that. Guess you aren't all you're cracked up to be. But now, just like my backer said, I have to punish you and make sure you can't duel."
He walked up to Drake, and grabbed the cards out of Drake's duel disk and shoved them into his pocket. "You won't need these, because the punishment I choose is that you can never duel again so long as you live. Guess you were right, you don't deserve to be happy."
Chuckling happily, Guy walked off, Drake's cards and pride in his pocket. Drake stared after him, and then dropped to his knees in the middle of the street. "Now…I've truly lost everything haven't I?"
The wind blowing across the asphalt was the only answer the world chose to give him.
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Author's Notes: More on that when we return from these commercials.
Next Time: Drake has been defeated, and with that lose comes his inability to duel. While Drake deals with this newest blow, the rest of the group begin to walk the path towards stopping the Apocalypse. First Ryu and Autumn must contact people around the world with magic, which may prove more difficult than they would have guessed.
See it all in, Walkabout!
Review Response
WolfGeneral: Yeah, the end of the world is a big party favor.
The White Mage: Yep, poor Drake, poor Kirani. Whichever.
The White Mage: Poor Kirani? Your logic for that one escapes me. Weren't you hoping for her to die just a chapter ago?
WolfGeneral: Perfectly understandable.