Author's Note: Evil stuff!

Chapter Eleven: Dead Men Tell Tales

"Hey, where do you bury your royalty?" A curious look was all he got before the other man walked away. That had been the fifteenth one today, and it didn't seem to be getting any easier.

The man who was all negative aspects of Daisuke Ihachi, who still continued to call himself Drake, was starting to get annoyed. "Fuck, this is just annoying. I should have grabbed a Spanish book, these damn Europeans don't know a lick of Japanese. Ain't even civilized people if you can't speak the lingo."

It barely occurred to him that his walking around in the heat of Spanish weather wearing a long black sleeveless trench coat and not sweating an ounce made him seem even more out of place than he already was as an Asian in Spain. "Damn it, how the hell am I supposed to figure this shit out if nobody understands me?"

He strolled down the street, his muttering and cursing in Japanese frightening those people who passed him in the street. He paused as he felt a pulse of energy, and then excited shouts. "Hmmm, I wonder what's going on."

Following the shouts of excitement he reached a park that anybody would have considered beautiful, as it faced a large ancient fountain. Of course his attention wasn't on that, but rather a duel that was occurring in the park. "This'll be lame, a couple of wimps dueling. And I won't even be able to understand what they say!"

The two duelists, one in everyday clothes and the other dressed in a much fancier outfit, including a red cape and a wide-brimmed hat, were facing off. The regular looking fellow had a Berserk Gorilla(2000/1000) on the field as well as a face down card. The opponent just had one face down card.

The first man called out what was an obvious declaration of attack in Spanish, and Berserk Gorilla rushed in. His opponent smiled dashingly and pointed to his face down card, and spouted off a long string of words in what sounded like a show-offy tone. When the set card revealed itself, Drake couldn't help but chuckle. "Zero Gravity eh? And since Berserk Gorilla is forced into defense mode…it explodes."

The beast monster did exactly that, bursting into thousands of pieces, leaving nothing left. Since that monster had been his summon for the turn, he was done, and his opponent drew. Again the man spouted some cheesy sounding lines in that same cocky tone, and held up his drawn card, revealing a Cyclone magic card. "Goodbye defense. Hell, this guy doesn't seem half bad."

Next the fancy looking fellow threw down a monster card and a demon riding an armored horse rode out, its attack reading at a steady sixteen hundred. More bullshit spouted by the man, and then his monster charged in, bowling over the first man easily. "Ooo, and the loser bites the dust." (LP: 2400)

The fancy man finished his turn by setting a card, and then gestured in a placating manner to his opponent, who drew furiously. In an enraged tone the man slammed his new card onto his duel disk, and what looked like a Battle Ox(1700/1000) was summoned. Not having seen the card itself, Drake couldn't tell if it was the original or the Enraged version. "Bah, either way it's not worth the time it takes to draw it."

Before the man could even declare an attack, the second duelist revealed his face down card, a Raigeki Break. He discarded one card from his hand, and the minotaur was blown away. Growling in irritation the man slid another card onto his duel disk and finished his turn.

Once again the cocky duelist drew, and held up a new magic card. A wave of ice flowed out of it, covering up the set card, and Drake understood. "A Cold Wave huh? Looks like this duel is over."

The cocky duelist tossed out another of the horse riding demons, and declared an attack. The two demons smashed into the other duelist, and he was tossed to the ground. The ground roared at the man's triumph, chanting something. "Emilio! Emilio! Emilio!" (LP: 0)

Choosing to switch to English, Drake stepped up where the fallen duelist had been. He glanced over his shoulder and in English scorned the fallen duelist. "Hey weakling, watch close and maybe you'll see how it's really done."

The cocky man chuckled, and reshuffled his deck. Seconds later he spoke in a lilted English. "So, we have another challenge? Well, we are glad to accept, and once again prove the might of Emilio Vimirez, the greatest matador of Spain. Perhaps you will be a worthy opponent for us."

Drake threw back his head and laughed, causing the spectators to look at him like he was crazy. Once he was satisfied with his laughter, he stopped. "You know, you're so cocky with all that third person shit that I think I actually like you. I'm Drake, and I'll be stomping you flat today."

He raised his left arm, and his duel disk unfolded. Immediately his life point counter activated, and he snapped five cards off his deck. "At least I know something I'll get out of this duel. When I win, you'll become my guide in the city." (DLP: 4000)

Emilio laughed airily, not bothered by Drake's confidence in the least. "Another overconfident challenger? Very well, we accept your challenge! However, when you lose you will become our valet for a full week." (ELP: 4000)

Emilio drew his own opening hand, and then calmly gestured to Drake. "Please, we always let the challenger take the first turn. Enjoy your confidence while it lasts Drake."

Drake shrugged, not even bothering to look at his hand. At this point he was more interested in his opponent than in his own hand. His power would win in the end, as it influenced how well he drew. "This duel…it's just so dull as it is. I'll spruce it up with a little darkness."

A black aura flickered around him as a purple fog rolled in around the entire park, and soon it was engulfed in a large black dome. "Welcome to a level five Darkness Game. Here the wagers and the battles are deadlier than anything you've ever faced. And since I've invoked this power, I'll end my turn."

Emilio shivered, his entire body going cold in the strange surroundings. He noticed that the audience seemed to be frozen still, and assumed that it was a holographic effect of the field card his opponent had played. "You'll regret only playing that field card as we attack you directly this turn!"

His opponent just smirked in response. "Very well, if you refuse to respond, I'll take the fight to you. Demon Picador(1600/1400) in attack mode! Direct attack!" The same demon on a horse that he had used in his last duel appeared and rushed at Drake.

Drake smirked and cracked his knuckles, causing a pulse of power. The picador was blasted backwards, causing him to be unharmed. "Don't be stupid, I'm the darkness itself, so I can't be harmed by any creature or effect that uses the power of darkness. Got any other worthless moves?"

Emilio frowned, contemplating the situation. 'That must be the effect of his field card. I suppose that means neither of us will take damage from dark monsters or effects. I have monsters that aren't dark types, so I'll be fine.'

Sliding a card from his hand face down, Emilio was prepared to take on whatever was thrown at him. "We'll just set one card face down, and pass the turn to you."

Drake drew, and Emilio was surprised to notice that he now had seven cards in his hand. Which left him to wonder about the nature of the field card. 'Can it be played from the deck? That must be it. Truly a unique card then.'

"Bah, I can see it in your eyes, you assume to fucking much about me. I set one magic or trap card face down. End turn." A single card appeared in front of him, it being the only thing between him and Picador. Although Picador couldn't hurt him.

Emilio threw down his drawn card almost immediately. "Demon Banderillero(900/700) in attack mode. However, since both of our monsters are dark types, we can't really attack can we?"

The other duelist rolled his eyes, and pointed to his face down. "Don't give me that stupid shit. Reveal trap card, Face The Horror! This forces all of the opponent's monsters to attack, and for each monster that fails to deal life point damage, one card in your hand or field will be destroyed."

Demon Picader and Demon Banderillero both launched their attacks, but were blown away by the power Drake displayed. Since they were dark types no damage was done. "Since you couldn't hurt me, you have to choose to either destroy two cards in your hand or two on the field."

The matador frowned, but complied and slid two cards from his hand into his graveyard. He still had two cards he could use at a later date, so he wasn't worried. "End turn."

Drake drew again, and sighed. "I was hoping you'd be a stronger duelist, but so far it looks like you're as weak as most others. Really, I thought I had felt inner strength from you, but I guess I misplaced that power. One card face down, and end turn."

Emilio growled, irritated at how casually his opponent was acting about his skills. He was Spain's best duelist; he wouldn't be mocked like this! "I'll find a way around your field card sooner or later! Until then I summon Demon Bull(1900/1400) in attack mode."

A hideous looking pitch black bull appeared, scrapping its hooves against the ground, snorting as it stared across the field at Drake. But Drake looked less than worried, in fact he was pointed to his set card. "Trap of Darkness lets me pay one thousand life points to activate a trap from my cemetery. So since it's my only trap, I use Face The Horror. Come and get me." (DLP: 3000)

The matador couldn't do anything but watch as his three monsters charged in, just as they had previously. A single pulse of power stopped them in their tracks, just like the past two times. "And of course like last time you have to destroy cards in hand or on your field. What will it be?"

Growling he slid the last two cards in his hand into the grave, and then watched as his set card shattered, leaving him with just three monsters in play. Drake tapped a finger against his chin, smirking. "You were so angry you let the third person slip. Whoops."

Realizing his mistake the matador bit back a snarl, knowing he had to keep his cool against any opponent. Being angry at the bull meant almost certain doom for the matador, while cool focus allowed for continued success. "We end our turn."

"Oh, it's back now. I play Trap Restoration, discarding two traps from my hand to pick a trap card up from the grave. And now I'll set a card face down. End turn." Emilio realized immediately what had just happened. He was in trouble in his next turn, because the set card could only be one thing.

The moment Emilio drew, Drake's face down card was already flipping up. "You saw this coming right? Face The Horror and attack me, and watch your cards come tumbling down!"

He didn't even pay attention as his monsters attacked and failed, as it was the same as before. "This time we allow our three monsters to be destroyed by the effect of your trap card. That leaves us with cards to play."

His three monsters shattered, giving him just one card in his hand to play. "We set one magic or trap card face down. End turn."

Although he had just one card on the field and no monsters, he still wasn't that worried. He still had all his life points, and his opponent apparently didn't have any monsters in his hand.

"You're just as gullible as my previous opponents for the most part. I set one magic or trap card, and end my turn." Emilio didn't understand what Drake was talking about, with being gullible. What wasn't he seeing about this strange duelist?

Slowly Emilio drew, contemplating the situation. "Pot of Greed. We're sure you know what that does." A quick glance told him that the cards weren't supremely effective, but they would do for later. He just needed another card to make the combo work.

He nodded to Drake, knowing that it wasn't worth playing the cards yet, not without the needed piece. But to his surprise Drake chuckled as soon as he ended his turn. "You shouldn't have done that. You activated my continuous trap card, Pain of Neglect. If you fail to summon a monster during your turn you take one thousand damage."

Emilio gasped, feeling a cold hand reach into his chest and squeeze. He dropped to his knees, clutching at his chest as his vision went blurry and his breath shortened. "This…this really is much more real…isn't it?" (ELP: 3000)

Drake smirked, happy that his opponent was finally catching on. "That's right, a Darkness Game isn't a field card, it's an ancient dark magic. Its powers makes this quite realistic. As for the failure to damage me, it's just like I said, since I am the darkness I can't be hurt by darkness. I guess you could say I've become so powerful that my presence is projected as an effect in a duel."

Finally Drake looked down at his drawn card, and placed it amongst his other cards. Next he grabbed the card that was on the far left and slid it onto his field. "Since Pain of Neglect only works against you, I don't have to worry. End turn."

Emilio growled, realizing he would have to at the very least summon a monster, or risk losing a quarter of his life points each turn. "We summon another Demon Picador(1600/1400) to the field!"

"Not a chance. Activate counter trap, Broken Heart! This negates your summon and removes that monster from play." Emilio frowned as the monster he had attempted to summon faded away. And since he was still without the needed card to complete his combo, he had to leave it at that. But that meant he would feel the pain again. (ELP: 2000)

Here he was, Spain's best duelist, and yet he was getting picked apart by this strange Asian duelist. What was worse was that Drake didn't even seem to be trying, and he was still winning. 'What is this person? He's not an average duelist!'

The sudden dark grin that spread across his opponent's face didn't bode well for her at all. Drake snickered darkly, looking at whatever he had drawn. "Damn, you're lucky that I want you alive, otherwise I'd just use this card I drew."

Emilio shivered, somehow knowing that his opponent wasn't kidding at all. Whatever it was about the card he had drawn, if it was used then Emilio's life wouldn't be worth a Euro. "Since I can't use this card, I'll just set a card face down. End turn."

The moment Emilio drew, he knew he was in trouble. He hadn't drawn a monster, so there was no way he could stop the damage that was coming at the end of the turn. "I…I end my turn."

The hand clenched onto his heart, squeezing it tightly, dropping him to the ground, panting heavily. The pain was so intense that he could barely breathe. 'Is this what dying feels like?' (ELP: 1000)

Drake sneered as he drew his card, not yet looking at it. "Geez, you're so fucking pathetic! Is this the best that your country has to offer? A pathetic little Matador with no strength at all? Bah, if that's the case then just take your turn and don't make me have to waste any more time!"

Although he could still feel the pain in his chest, Emilio's rage was blacking it out. Never before had he been so insulted, and worst of all his opponent was insulting his home country as well. "I won't waste your time any longer! My draw!"

The dark duelist opposite him smirked, well aware that his plan had worked. The rage Emilio was feeling was drawing out his true strength, and hopefully that would be enough to actually make this duel worth Drake's while. 'This guy better be stronger than he lets on, or I'll kill him straight off.'

Emilio flipped his drawn card around, revealing a ritual card. "Activate ritual card, Ritual of Calling the Dark Matador! For this ritual to work I must discard six levels worth of monsters, and I discard Ushi Oni!"

Energy swirled around his field, and a tall demonic form with long expansive wings appeared. "Prepare yourself my opponent, for I have called upon the power of Demon Matador(0/0)!"

Drake snickered, not impressed at all. "Oh please, even if that thing had a billion attack points it couldn't hurt me, since it has no attack points. I know that pathetic demon's effect as well, and since I won't be battling it, there won't be any problems."

It was Emilio's turn to smirk confidently as he reached for another of his cards. "Actually, Demon Matador is just the first step in revealing my ultimate monster. Step two requires that I sacrifice Demon Matador, which I will!"

A shaft of light speared through the matador, engulfing it completely. Drake looked on patiently, curious to see what his opponent planned on summoning. "Meet the supreme monster of my deck, Master Matador-Paseo(2000/2000)!"

A tall Spanish man in the clothes of a matador now stood in front of Emilio, flashing a red cape in one hand and a sword in the other. "When Master Matador –Paseo is summoned to the field, all magic and trap cards are destroyed."

The matador flicked his cape, and each of Drake's traps, as well as Emilio's, shattered into dust. "Also, Master Matador-Paseo is a light type monster. Paseo, Slash of the Matador!" Drake didn't even budge as the warrior slashed its sword against his chest, nor was he injured like Emilio had been. (DLP: 1000)

Emilio slid the last card of his hand into the graveyard, and Matador began to glow with intense light. "By discarding one card from my hand when Paseo is my only card on the field I can send the opponent's hand to the grave!"

Drake shrugged and slid his remaining cards into his cemetery slot. "Looks like you're stronger than you appeared at first glance. Good to know, but really, do you think that single monster can possibly stand up to my power?"

"Let's just see shall we? Paseo is far from a weakling, and am I far from being a weakling as well. As long as Paseo is on my field, you can't defeat me, and I'll prove it in this next turn. End!" Paseo made a slashing motion with his sword, grinning confidently as Drake drew.

Emilio pointed to Drake, smirking as he did so. "Paseo's third effect activates now! By paying five hundred life points I can force you to discard the card you drew!" (ELP: 500)

Drake shrugged, and discarded the card to the grave. "So, my hand and field are empty. Guess that means you can finish me off in your turn. Whatever."

The matador snatched a card off his deck, and then made a slashing gesture with his right hand. "For insulting me and my home country I will defeat you utterly! Paseo, attack him directly and win me the duel!"

Paseo charged at Drake to make the final killing blow, but all energy from the building attack was shunted into a metal contraption that floated above Drake. He smirked and held up a trap card that seemed to have come from nowhere. "Negative Energy Decoy activates when I would lose the duel from an instance of damage. That instance is negated. Oh, and it activates from my deck before being removed from the game."

Emilio growled, irritated that it would take three additional strikes to finish his opponent off. "I end my turn."

His opponent slid a card off his deck, not bothering to look at it as he had many times before. "See, just like I thought. You don't have the life points to stop my draw. Now, let me show you that I'm satisfied with your power by giving you a send off!"

He slammed the card into his duel disk without ever having looked at it. "I activate Armageddon Meteor! Normally it deals just one thousand damage, but you forced me to discard a Death Meteor, which changes things. Now since there's one in the grave I can deal you fifteen hundred damage!"

Emilio screamed in horror as a massive meteor emerged from the darkness, vaporizing his monster and exploding directly above him, throwing him to the ground. The impact was enough to knock him out. Drake just smirked, satisfied with the outcome. "No reason to kill you since you're my guide to the city now." (ELP: 0)

He snapped his fingers, banishing the darkness. That left him standing across from Emilio, who was standing up. The crowd stared at them in confusion, not sure what was going on. But they clearly saw that Emilio had been on his knees, and his life points were at zero. Drake turned to face them. "You all! You remember me defeating him right?"

Despite their confusion, they nodded slowly, influenced mostly by wanting to have some explanation in their mind for the strange gap they all had. "Fine, since we've got that out of the way, Emilio, let's get going. I need you to show me how to get somewhere."

To the crowd's surprise the fallen matador rose fully to his feet and started following after the Asian duelist as he departed, his jet black trench coat flaring out behind him. As soon as they were out of ear shot of the crowd, Drake had his first question. "Where would dead royalty be buried in a cathedral here?"

Emilio looked at him like he was strange, but felt like he had to comply to the request for knowledge. Of course he had no idea that he was bound by the rules of the Darkness Game to answer. "Perhaps you mean the Almudena Cathedral? Of course no kings are buried there, but some people joke that the beginning of the project was the signing of Felipe the Second's death warrant."

Drake spun Emilio around and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him close. "Listen here damn it! I don't have time to fucking play around, so tell me some damned cathedral where your royalty would be buried here in Madrid!"

The matador gulped, fearing the enraged look in Drake's eyes. It swore to rip him to pieces if he failed to answer appropriately. "The project of Almudena Cathedral was started by Felipe the Second, but it wasn't completed until the late nineteenth century, and wasn't even christened as the Almudena Cathedral until 1993. There are no cathedrals in Madrid that hold buried royalty!"

Growling Drake tossed him to his left, slamming the matador into the brick wall of the closets building. "There's supposed to be a place where underneath the royalty of Spain are buried, and it's under a cathedral here in Madrid! I know it! So if no royalty are buried under this place, why the fuck did you bring it up?"

Emilio gulped again, trying to speak despite his fear. "But…this is the closest place I can think of. Since it took over two centuries to complete it saw the rise and fall of many kings before its completion. And…and there's a rumor that Felipe the Second wanted it built to pacify the dead below the Earth or something like that. Everyone believed he spoke of pacifying Hell itself!"

Drake released Emilio's shirt, letting the other man drop to the ground. He chuckled, folding his arms across his chest. "A place that saw the rise and fall of Spanish royalty, a place said to have been constructed to pacify the dead. Beneath the Earth itself no less. Yes, it all fits together. Emilio, you're going to take me to the Almudena Cathedral, and we're going to go beneath it."

He heard his new lackey stuttering in response, and it was Drake's piercing violet gaze that pacified him. "But, there isn't anything beneath it. It's built on top of solid ground, there aren't any caves or anything below it. Some people even looked, now that I think about it. Probably based on the same rumors you might have heard."

His captor smirked and gestured for Emilio to stand up, which he did. Then Drake looked him right in the eye, and grinned. "There's one difference between me and them. They looked using conventional methods. I'm going to find it with the power of the darkness. If the dead are pacified by its presence, then that means the dead lurk beneath, and that means darkness. I'll use that to find a way in. Now come on and show me how to get there."

Knowing better than to argue, the defeated matador hurried off, hailing a taxi as quickly as he could. The sooner he got this whole crazy experience out of the way the better. He didn't want to have to deal with this lunatic any longer than necessary. 'This guy will be the death of me if I'm not careful.'

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Anyone else would have been awed into silence by the beauty of the tremendous cathedral that they stood outside of. Drake didn't even seem to notice his surroundings; instead he was wandering around almost randomly, muttering beneath his breath. Emilio fluttered around, trying to be helpful.

"Look, you're not helping me. I can feel a pulsing darkness, but it's being subdued by this damned cathedral. I'd blow the fucking thing out of the way, but that much dark energy would attract unwanted attention. So I'm gonna do this the hard way." Emilio didn't understand, but knew better than to argue.

After several more minutes of wandering around, Drake stopped at a random wall and pressed his hand against it. Dark energy swirled around his outstretched palm, and then there was a crackling of light, white energy sparking out to strike Drake's hand. He jerked it back, grinning. "Just like I thought, I found one of the key points in the seal this place has."

Again he reached out his hand, but this time when he hit a glowing barrier he pressed his hand hard up against it, and the side of the wall started glowing. To Emilio's shock a wide spread pattern of strange symbols and Latin were all over the wall. "You, can you read Latin? Tell me what this line here means; it seems to be important in the structure of this area of the seal."

Emilio stumbled forwards, and looked up at the line Drake was pointing at. It took him several seconds, but he was able to translate it. He praised his lucky stars that he had been required to learn Latin in school. His reminiscing about school days was cut off when Drake cuffed the side of his head. "Dumbass! Read it if you can, don't just stare at it!"

Nodding his head in compliance, Emilio began to read. "Beneath the Earth lies that which should not be touched by human hands. The dead protect it, and the dead are pacified by the living. As long as God blesses Spain, no human hands will ever touch the Concordance."

Drake nodded, and then brushed Emilio aside. He extended on finger, tracing those letters, and his finger left behind a darkness that consumed the letters, making them black instead of white. "This specific line seems to protect this part of the seal, it's a connection for one quarter of the building. You break one, the others will patch it. You corrupt it, and the corruption will spread. Like a virus, I'll bring down this building's seal in order to take that which lies beneath the Earth."

As the darkness slowly began to spread, Emilio began to feel as if he had made a pact with the devil. This man was far from normal, and obviously evil. But he was still curious about what this was all about. "Err…what exactly is this Concordance that it mentioned?"

The violet eyed man folded his hands against his chest as he waited for the spreading darkness to take over. "It's an ancient book called the Concordance of Legends. Apparently it contains secrets about the fundamentals of how the world works, things that aren't contained anywhere but the book. According to whispers, whoever has the book will have access to all the knowledge that was deemed too dangerous for human hands."

His eyes narrowed, a wide demented grin spreading across his features. "If I'm right, then whoever can hold and understand the secrets in the Concordance will be granted power beyond anything else. In other words…the secret to apotheosis should lie within this book."

Once again, Emilio couldn't help but ask, even though he somehow knew he really wouldn't like the answer. "What exactly is apotheosis?"

Drake's dark grin got even darker as he explained simply. "Apotheosis is the process of a human being becoming a god. When the Concordance of Legends is mine, I'll become a god of darkness."

Emilio could only hope and pray that he failed in getting the Concordance. Or if that failed to work, then he would just have to hope that Drake was wrong. As terrifying as he was already, he would be billions of times worse if he could actually become a god. 'Dear Lord, let the dead pacify him!'

His prayers were interrupted when Drake laughed out loud, pointing to something that had just appeared a few feet away. It was a tunnel with steps leading down beneath the cathedral. "Just like I thought, a cavern hidden in the darkness, hidden by the power of the light. Stay here Emilio, I might need you later. Hell, when I become a god, maybe you can be my high priest!"

Without another word, he walked down the tunnel, passing out of Emilio's sight. Then the tunnel itself seemed to vanish. Emilio was glad that he didn't have to go down that tunnel, because he had felt something coming from it. 'That tunnel leads to…evil. Nothing living is down there, nothing good.'

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Drake stopped as the stairs bottomed out. The ground he was standing on was covered by a thick, otherworldly mist. What he felt down here was evil in a way he nothing he had felt on the Earth was. This was truly a place where the darkness gathered, a place where evil flourished. 'A darkness that gives even me the chills.'

Shaking off that feeling, he advanced forwards, his hand holding a ball of black flame that strangely enough provided light for him. His footsteps echoed down the tunnel, the only sound that could be heard. At least until the voice came to him. "You disturb the dead. The dead have remained pacified. Come no further mortal, or death shall take you!"

"I am no mere mortal! I am the darkness itself, darkness incarnate! Bring on your dead you bodiless motherfucker, and I'll burn them all to ash!" The voice didn't reply, so all he could do was continue walking down the tunnel.

Whispers in the darkness told him that somehow, he wasn't alone. His suspicions were confirmed when the tunnel ended in a massive cavern, and corpses of all shapes and sizes, and conditions as well, meandered around. 'I've wandered into Night of the Living Dead.'

The dead seemed to ignore him as he walked past them, their rotting bodies brushing up against him as he pushed in farther. The cavern seemed to grow thicker with them as he continued towards the center of the cavern. Eventually they grew so thick that he was shoving through a wall of decayed flesh before he was even half-way there. 'There are tens of thousands of them in this cavern alone!'

Briefly he considered burning them to ash like he had suggested to that strange voice, but knew that he risked striking the Concordance if he did so. He didn't know if it was protected by a barrier, or just these walking corpses. He didn't want to risk destroying the object that could make him a god. 'Damn it…it'll take forever to get there at this point!'

"Mortal, you approach too close to that which human hands should never touch. Advance no further or be consumed by the dead." Drake looked around for the origin of the voice, but just like before it seemed to come from everywhere, including in his hand.

"Listen you intangible fuck! I already said I'm coming to get it, and no amount of rotting lumps of flesh can stop me! The Concordance of Legends will belong to me!" The bodiless voice laughed the sound chilling and terrifying, even to Drake. There was something about that laugh that embodied something…sinister.

"So, they call it the Concordance of Legends now do they? Mortal, you know not what you seek. The dead protect it, and the hands of a human shall never touch it. If you wish to lay your hands upon that which humans should never touch, then you must become one of the dead. Is that your desire?" Drake shivered as the eyes of thousands of undead turned to look upon him, the large mass of bodies now facing him, surrounding him on all sides.

"Go to Hell!" Again that sinister laugh echoed in his mind and throughout the cavern, and even the corpses seemed to laugh.

"You are for more interesting than the last mortal to enter this place. You will make an excellent addition to my collection. Mortal, prepare yourself to join the dead. Your foolishness has caused this, for you have failed to see the truth." Drake tilted his head up to look at the cavern ceiling, hoping to catch a sing of something there.

"Oh? And what exactly is it that I'm missing?" The thick fog that layered the ground coiled around his feet, and to his surprise it began to solidify, and his legs couldn't move.

"Mortal…this is the place that births things even Hell itself fears. You walked through a convergence into the place with no name. This is the place where Evil was born into the world. Mortal, your death's crescendo will become a symphony in this place, to echo throughout time. Your suffering will be eternal. Prepare for the symphony of your demise!"

And as one the mass of dead creatures attacked him.

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Author's Notes: Somehow I just like the evil Drake a lot. I guess I just like evil characters.

Next Time: Dark Drake's struggles continue, but he isn't the only one with struggles awaiting him. Takuya and Kai step up to the plate to unearth the artifact capable of measuring the balance of good and evil in the universe. But an artifact of such power is bound to be guarded.

See it all in, The Beast That Awaits Beneath the Earth!

Review Response

Time Mage: You seem to forget that they have to get in touch with as many people with magic as they can. Those were just the ones they already knew about. Pegasus is going to help them find more.

WolfGeneral: Yeah, Pegasus was and always will be a truly powerful duelist. That's the primary thing about the Doom Arc that I didn't like, which was Mai defeating Pegasus, even with the aid of the Orichalcos. After all, it took Yugi's all even without Pegasus using the Millennium Eye to beat Pegasus, and we know Yugi can beat Mai. And of course Kaiba beating Pegasus in the movie miffed me as well.