Author's Note: Back to the original Drake.
Chapter Twenty-Two: Sorrow's Ghost
Drake stopped in the alley, staring at it as if he had been here before. It took him several seconds to realize that he had in fact been here before. 'This is where I was first rescued by Yumi and the rest of the gang. Had it been anyone else…maybe I wouldn't be here today.'
Slowly his gaze drifted to the DD2 that was strapped to his arm, and most importantly to the empty deck slot. He had gotten this duel disk when Battle City was announced, and he had never bothered to upgrade. He had a DD3 in storage, and could technically get any model he wanted as a Kaiba Corp. employee, but he hadn't wanted to. He liked the DD2…but now it was a moot point. "I can't duel again but…that's not the answer I need is it?"
Pressing a button at the base of the disk, he loosened it and slipped it off his arm. Taking in a deep breath he knelt and placed it down on the ground in front of him. Here in this place where his blood had been long since absorbed into the pavement was the perfect place.
"That man, he gave me an answer without realizing. It's not that I can't duel ever again…no, it's a choice I have to make. And my choice…" He paused, still looking at his DD2. This was an important moment for him.
"I will never duel again, because that is my choice."
"Never again? No, you must duel again. And you will."
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"Well, what have we got here? Somebody wandering around the city in the dark of night? Don't you know this is a bad part of town?" A chorus of amused laughter rang through the darkness, the shadows moving with human shapes. All of those shapes were clustered around one figure.
"Basically, that's what I was counting on." The originator of the first voice, a teen of about seventeen with ropy muscles and baggy ripped clothing looked surprised by the calm tone of voice their target had responded with.
"What…what the hell? You looking for a fight or something?" Their target lifted his head, hard violet eyes taking in each of the poorly dressed teens around him. He sighed and raised his right hand, fist balled up.
"A fight? No, you brats aren't a fight at all. I just want to relieve a little bit of tension that's been building up. So I apologize ahead of time but…I'm getting my aggression out on you!" The leader of the gang didn't have time to even move before the older man was in front of him, and then suddenly his world lit up with brilliant pain as something collided with his face.
The sounds of his gang members screaming obscenities, screaming in pain, or just plain screaming was all that he could get from the fight, his vision blocked by a trail of blood running in front of his eyes. It seemed to last only a few minutes before the sounds stopped with one final thump. "Like I said, sorry about that."
Ten minutes later Drake finds himself standing on a street corner in the dead of night, staring into the distance at nothing. There is no traffic on the street, and nobody else on the sidewalks, leaving him alone to contemplate the change in direction he is giving his life. "So, what now? I could continue like everything was normal, stay with my well paying but irritating and unfulfilling job at Kaiba Corp. or…or what?"
No answers were immediately coming to him, just as they hadn't been for the past three days. For some reason he felt cold on the inside, not boiling over with rage like he had been just a little bit before. "It seems like these past few days I've been swinging back and forth between explosive rage and contemplative coldness. Sheesh, and I thought only women go through this crap."
Letting out a sigh he ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head at how ludicrous the universe seemed at times. "What a wonderful life I have. Without Kirani with me, what's worthwhile about the life I've been living? I've basically forsaken any chance of other dreams and replaced them with the dream of being with her forever so now…"
Now he was without a dream, and he had always lived on the advice of his father that a person had to live with a dream in their mind and their heart, or there was no point in living. "We're most alive when we're chasing dreams, isn't that what you said dad? But you never got to tell me how to find a dream. So, how do I find a new dream when my old one is shattered? Or do I just keep pursuing it regardless?"
"Yo!" Drake lifted his head, and then immediately wished he hadn't looked up at all. Because running towards him was someone he wouldn't have wanted to see at any point.
"Guy…what the hell do you want? We've already done a Darkness Game, I had a whole life altering decision I made, and that was that. Aren't we done?" Guy, the Archfiend Duelist who had inflicted a Punishment Game on him previously, was now rushing right up to him, waving like an idiot.
"Heh, sorry man but I really can't let you go. It's kinda embarrassing, but I got told by that one dude that I what he meant by 'make sure you can never duel again' was in fact 'kill him'. So, gotta do that, don't I?" Drake stared at the American, and wondered how exactly in the seven hells he had lost to this idiot.
"Yeah, that's a problem or something. Really, I don't care, so go away. I've got some self contemplation I've got to take care. I could pencil you in next week maybe, but I'm full this week. Seeya." Drake gave the other man a parting wave and started crossing the street, heading away.
Guy stared at Drake's repeating back for a second, and then gritted his teeth, looking furious. "HEY! You can't just walk away from me like that! Come back here so I can kill you!"
"Point of interest, threatening to kill someone isn't really the best incentive in the world. Try saying please or you won't get anywhere in life." Guy clenched his fists, his eyes twitching violently as the older man just casually walked away from him.
The sound of a pistol being cocked was enough to stop Drake in his tracks. He tilted his head to the side so he could look over his shoulders, and clearly saw the barrel of a gun being pointed in his direction. "Like I said, gotta kill ya now. Nothing personal."
"Killing someone is always personal. But I'll warn you right now, and warn you only once. Physical violence is something I excel at, so if you even pull back the trigger on that gun at all I'll stick you into a world of hurt." Guy just smirked, and pulled the trigger back half-way, where only a slight tug would fire it off.
"That so? Guess I got no choice…but to kill you in one shot!" He pulled the trigger, causing a chain reaction in the gun that sent the slug hurtling towards his target at high speeds. There was a shattering sound, and then a twirl of smoke that followed.
Drake looked to his right at the wall of a building, which now sported a little bullet hole in it. It was about five feet away from him. "Your aim…really sucks. Have you ever even fired a gun before?"
"Sh…shut up! I've got a stigmatism! Damn, don't hassle me! I'll just kill you with the second shot, okay? Don't get all worked up!" He swung the gun a bit to the side, trying to line it up with Drake, but when he got the duelist lined up in his sights, he saw something he didn't want to see.
The air around Drake was rippling, and as Guy watched the rippling air spread outwards, and soon Guy felt himself being shoved backwards by some invisible force. "What…what the hell's going on?"
"This power…it's just the tip of the iceberg, it's my patience snapping! I just went from cold contemplation to explosive anger, and you're about to be on the receiving end of all this power shoved into my body for one reason…physical violence with your name on it!" Guy grimaced and pulled the trigger.
His eyes opened as wide as the could go as he the gun fired way to the side, because his wrist had been forced to the right by Drake's grip. The slightly taller man was now standing in front of him, looking very pissed off. "How…so far…but…"
Drake's violet eyes were ablaze with his inner rage, and Guy could see clearly that the other man was capable of and about to tear his head off his shoulders. "I'm tired of your face, and I'm tried of people messing with me at all! I just want time to myself to think through my life!"
Guy waved his heads defensively, whimpering with fear, just a few steps shy of wetting himself. "H..hey! I'll ummm…hey, I…umm…I'll never come after you again? You let me live then right? Deal? Please!"
Drake felt a slight weight lift off his shoulders at the thought of not having to dodge this guy, but it did nothing to halt his anger. "Not good enough!"
He lifted his right fist, ready to propel it directly into Guy's face with beyond bone crushing force. With his own energy increasing his physical abilities it would be easy to kill Guy with a single punch. 'Eh!'
Without a second thought Drake sprang backwards several feet, letting a lump of some kind of energy slam into the place he had been standing moments before. Guy was thrown a few feet backwards by it, but came up stumbling to his feet and running. "I'm surrounded by freaks! I'm getting out of here!"
"What do you want?" There was no immediate response, but Drake could feel it coming before it reached him. Used his boosted muscles he jerked himself to the side in time to see another sphere of compacted energy slam into the side of the building.
'That energy's a lot weaker than mine…but it nearly overwhelmed me anyways. This guy's good.' Dust sprayed out all around him from the impact point, clouding his view of the darkened street. His natural fighting instinct kicked in immediately and he jumped straight up and out of the dust cloud, coming to land on the lamp post.
His violet eyes scanned the area to see what his senses couldn't pick up. 'I can feel his power surging, but I can't pinpoint it, I never figured out how to be exact with it. Damn…where is this guy?'
If he couldn't figure out where the guy was then he would just be dancing around avoiding energy attacks the whole time, with no chance of counter attack. 'Unless…got it!'
A spinning sphere of energy came rocketing towards him, and this time instead of jumping aside he whirled to his left and struck the energy ball with his own left arm. It spiraled off to the side and into the air, vanishing. 'He's there!'
Drake took off like a shot off the lamp post, the arc of his jump taking him in the direction the energy had been fired from. As he got closer from above he began to see a figure standing on the street below, but still couldn't make out any details. 'I've got him now!'
Instead of landing directly on top of the man like he had planned, Drake found himself compromised in the space of a second. Instead of being blissfully unaware of the human missile coming towards him, Drake's attacker looked casually up at him. 'And I'm suspended in mid-air like this…dodging becomes next to impossible!'
To Drake's surprise his attacker didn't fire a bolt of energy like before. This time the attacker jumped straight into the air at Drake, moving at incredible speed. 'Shit, no time to dodge!'
He jerked his body to the side as best he could, but the man's speed was too great and his motion too slow to avoid the attack. A fist struck him roughly in the jaw and propelled him through the air back in the direction he had come. 'Can't let this jerk get the best of me!'
Drake flipped his body over; getting his feet pointed at the same lamp post he had taken off from. Seconds later they impacted, dropping the speed of his flight dramatically. The force of the impact shattered the glass of the lamp post and put the light out, dropping more of the street into darkness. "Come out of the shadows and fight me for real! If you don't, I'll kill you without another thought!"
Dipping into that well of raw seething energy that was always deep within him Drake pulled forth enough power to level whatever got in his path. And his target was clear. "Not coming out? Then go straight to hell!"
He swung his right arm in a downwards arc from over his head, and everything in the path of that arm was ripped apart by a powerful explosion. The street was blown to pieces for dozens of feet, easily enough to cover the area where his attacker had been. 'Damn…with my energy flowing out all over the place like this I can't sense that guy anymore. Did I get him?'
A voice suddenly whispered in his ear, and he stiffened at the sound. "Did you really think throwing around raw power like that could win the battle? You've got huge amounts of power, but you lack the skill and finesse to use it properly."
"Shut up!" He swung around, bringing his left elbow up towards where his opponent was behind him. Instead of striking his attacker in the chest like he had hoped for, the other man hoped up, using Drake's elbow as a brace for his palm. He used his hand to springboard off Drake's elbow and flipped over him.
In mid-flip the other man's foot connected with the side of Drake's head, and he once again found himself being propelled at great speed through the air. He crashed into the ground and skidded along it, bouncing at awkward angles. Finally his body stopped sliding, and he started to push himself back up to his feet. 'This guy's got a lot less power than I do…how's he getting the better of me?'
A foot slammed into Drake's chest, right above his neck, pressing him back down into the pavement. Without the light of a street lamp to clear away the darkness all Drake could do was stare up at the shadowed form of his assailant, and feel regret that he had lost. "Looks like you've got a lot to learn…Daisuke."
"Who the hell are you? What do you want from me? And how the hell do you know my name?" A cocky chuckle drifted down from the figure above him. Something about that cocky air to the voice was familiar to him, like he had heard it before, many times.
"Sheesh, I was certain you'd be brighter than this, with a sharper memory. Really, do you not recognize my voice at all? Heh." The chuckle followed after, and Drake's violet eyes went as wide as he could. The sound of that laughter…was so very similar to his own. The tone of the voice, the manner of speech was…just like a less crude version of the way he had learned to speak.
"Your voice is familiar but, I don't really recognize it. Now answer my questions already, damn…" He felt like unleashing a pure blast of power at the man above him, but couldn't get the desire to do so. His anger was spent, and he felt nothing once again, all that remained was annoyance.
"You really don't remember. Then again, it's been a long time since you've heard my voice…Dai-chan." At that single little nickname, Drake felt his heart skip a beat. The man above him leaned down, his face catching the little bit of light from the nearest lamppost. It was a face that was a bit more tanned than Drake's own, had more lines but also had a more casual look to it. Bright brown eyes were set below a head of neatly combed back dark reddish hair.
"D…dad?"
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"You're going to be okay aren't you Masue? Aren't you?" A young boy with combed back reddish-brown hair stood at the side of a hospital bed. In the bed was a man with similar colored hair and brown eyes. He smiled down at the young boy, his eyes showing that though he was in pain he wanted to remain strong in this moment.
The young boy was Daisuke Ihachi, age four. The man in the bed was Masue Ihachi, Daisuke's father. Sitting in chairs right outside the door were two women, one a girl of about nine with hair the color of Daisuke's, and the other in her thirties with black hair. They were holding hands, avoiding looking into the room.
"Daisuke...I know I told you that it was most polite to call people by their first names but...just this one time...I want you to call me papa. Is that okay?" Daisuke nodded, tears brimming in his eyes, his small hands clenching tightly on his father's big hand. Masue smiled at his son, a smile full of cheer and life.
"Yes...papa. You're going to be okay right? You said you were going to teach me how to play baseball tomorrow. You promised." Masue sighed and reached out with his other hand to place it on his son's head. He ruffled the boy's hair, making it messy.
"I'm sorry Daisuke, but it looks like it's a promise I can't keep. I know I said I'd guide you through life, but sometimes things don't work out. But no matter what else happens, I want you to promise me that you'll always fight hard for your dreams." The boy looked up at his father with tear-filled eyes, his gaze questioning. Something like that was hard for a four year old to understand.
"Just promise me Daisuke. Promise me you'll always remember that. Because we are most alive when we're chasing dreams, and I want you to be alive." The boy nodded once, gulping down a sob that was rising up. He wanted to be strong for his father. He had to be strong.
Masue pulled his son into a tight one armed hug, and he felt tears trickle down on his hospital gown. Touching his shoulder. "I promise papa, I promise." Daisuke titled his head up to look into his father's eyes as he spoke these words, and at that moment the arm around his shoulder went limp. And he found nothing in his father's eyes when he looked into them. They were just...blank.
He backed away, shaking his head in denial as the machines made loud noises, and people rushed into the room. They did things, they said so many things. But it was all so fast, all so unclear to him. All he knew was that in far too short a time the doctors left the room, and said something to his mother. She responded by breaking down in tears and crumpling to her knees.
Daisuke gulped and rushed into the room, grabbing holding of his father's hand. "Papa! PAPA! Wake up papa! You promised you'd guide me in life! You promised me!" He shook his father's arm, desperately trying to wake him up. Tears flowed freely from his eyes and his body became wracked by sobs as he realized the truth. His father wasn't going to be waking up, his father was gone. Dead.
The word had never had any meaning to Daisuke before. It was something that happened to people in stories, or in movies. Not to real people. People couldn't die, especially not his father. His father was such a lively person, such a strong person. He couldn't be dead. "It's not fair...not fair! It's not right! Papa!"
Pain flashed through him as his knees dropped onto the linoleum. He wrapped his arms around himself as he sobbed, trying desperately to understand how his father was gone. "Come back...it's not right, it's not fair, papa come back. You promised, you promised you'd always be there for me!"
A pair of arms reached around and pulled him into a warm embrace. The familiar voice of his big sister spoke to him, right into his ear as she held him tight. "I can't promise that it's all going to be okay. But I do promise one thing. No matter what I'll always be there for you. And since papa's not going to be here to guide you...I can."
Turning in her grasp the young boy looked up into violet eyes that were almost identical to his. He wiped away some of his tears to clear his vision and breathed deeply, trying to calm himself. "You'll be my guide? You promise?"
She smiled down at him and nodded once, her eyes lighting up at the look on her brother's face. "I promise. Remember, I'm your guiding light forever and always. A beacon."
"Of light?" She smiled and pulled him back into her embrace, and he went willingly. He continued to cry, and so did she. She rocked him back and forth until he drifted into sleep. And they simply sat there together on the hospital floor, with their father lying in a bed not five feet away.
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"But…that's impossible! I saw you die, you died while holding me…you can't be my father!" The man above him pulled his foot away, sighing as he stepped to the side. Drake scrambled to his feet, staring wide-eyed at the man who looked exactly like his father. His father who had died when he was four.
"Nineteen years have passed since then Daisuke. And in this moment when the world is slouching towards Bethlehem I am compelled to return here and tell you the truth. All of the truth." Drake backed away from the man who looked like his father, shaking his head in disbelief.
"You can't be my father, I refuse to believe that! You died!" The man sighed again, casually folding his arms across his chest in a way that reminded Drake of himself. Once again he had to shake himself as a reminder that this man couldn't possibly be his father.
"Really, because I died you refuse to believe it? Then in that case do you expect me to believe that just because you died that you can't possibly be Daisuke Ihachi?" Drake saw no way of refuting that, because he really had no explanation as to what had happened to him back then.
"If you really are my father, if you really are Masue Ihachi, then how are you alive right now? And how do you have so much power and skill?" Masue tilted his head a bit to the side as if looking for a way to answer that question.
"You were four when I died, so you really never got to know me very well. I'm sure the moments of my death are basically all you remember of me. So I'll tell you that whatever picture you've concocted of me is wrong, because Masue Ihachi was never alive to begin with. At least, not in the sense other people are alive." Drake eyed the older man questioningly, not quite sure what to make of that enigmatic answer.
Masue smiled, a bright and warming smile that reminded Drake a little of his sister's smile. It seemed that the trait was inherited, and that Drake's own smarmy grin he had gotten on his own. "A thousand years ago I took the position of Holder of the Last Seal. Now I know that doesn't make any sense to you, so I'll explain."
He tapped a finger against his chin, looking deep in thought as he explained. "Every thousand years a powerful spirit of some sort, one whom I have never met, selects three newborns and implants their souls with a seed of power, making them Holders. Each one is supreme in their domain and born for a specific purpose. I was born to be the Holder of the Last Seal for a thousand years, and time caught up with me nineteen years ago…so I died."
"Now, the three Holders exist to seal away a different aspect of an ancient power. Holder of the First Seal keeps imprisoned the physical manifestation of that ancient power. Holder of the Second Seal chains away spiritual link between that manifestation and the actual power. And of course the Holder of the Last Seal entombs the power itself, keeping it sealed deep within the depths of the dark side of the universe. Each Holder lives a thousand years, never appearing to age beyond their late thirties. And we are forbidden to have children."
Drake opened his mouth to ask the obvious question, but Masue silenced him with a smile and by raising his right hand to forestall the question. "You're wondering 'if Holders can't have children, then where do I come into play?' Well the answer is simple. I broke the rule. And I died because of it."
"I don't get it, why did you break the rule? What does it mean?" Masue frowned and dropped down into a cross-legged sitting position, looking rather forlorn as he remembered the events of the past that had led him here.
"I was told at one point that if I ever broke any of the rules of being a Holder I'd have about ten years to live afterwards as my body would begin to fail. But I couldn't help myself, I fell in love. And though those were the best years of my long life, I betrayed everything I had sworn to protect. Because of me, it's quite possible that all of existence is going to end." Drake jerked back, unable to believe what he had just heard.
"What do you mean? How could breaking just one rule make you responsible for the end of existence?" Something about the whole thing just seemed off to Drake, and he was going to make damned sure that he got to the bottom of it.
"I died, but because I didn't fulfill my full thousand years I died without a successor being possible. Nineteen years ago marked my nine hundred and fifty-fourth year as being the Holder of the Last Seal. A new Holder cannot exist until a full thousand years have passed. So for the past nineteen years there has been nothing keeping in check that raw ancient power. And the other two Seals cannot hold without the final one. And that power has the potential and most likely will cause the end of the universe. That's why you're here, and that's why I've forced my way back to this earthly plane to come to you." Brown eyes met violet in an intense staring match.
"Daisuke, I can't explain it fully at this moment without further breaking rules and getting myself caught. If I explain too much then my having come here will have been for nothing. So I'm going to have to teach you. You have enormous power, greater than should be possible for a reason I'll reveal as best I can. But you lack the knowledge and skill to use that power properly, and there are others out there with similar power but with the talent to use it. That's what you have to learn, and you have to do it in one month." Drake eyed his father curiously, not quite sure where this was going.
"I don't get it. What do you have to teach me, and why one month? Something about this seems a bit odd." He frowned as he spoke, folding his arms in a way that was identical to how his father's arms were folded. The older man noticed this and his lips quirked up.
"You have to surpass me in everyway in one month, because in one month is when the Second Seal will break. When that breaks, it will only be a matter of weeks before the First Seal breaks. Then the apocalypse will begin. Before that happens you must learn to harness your power through true skill both in battle, and in Darkness Games. I'm going to make you relearn everything you know about fighting and dueling." Drake turned away and looked down at the ground, his lips set in a thin line.
"Sorry pops, but that can't happen. I've got no dream left, like you always told me I needed. I've got no reason to try and heck if I could or wanted to there's no way I could lose a duel to you. You're out of date, I'm a top duelist." He lifted his head up as the sound of a duel disk clinking together came to him.
He turned around and found that his father had jumped a dozen feet away, a duel disk raised on his left arm, deck already in place. "Is that the case? You seem to be under the impression that you've got real skill to go with that power, but there are people out there who truly know what they're doing. And without learning a few lessons you'll never beat them. So let me teach you a thing or two." (MLP: 4000)
Drake wasn't the least bit surprised when a duel disk appeared in the on position on his own left arm. And the deck too was there, plucked away from wherever Guy had placed it. "I see…but even if you try forcing me into it, as a Punishment Game I can't duel."
"I'm not your ordinary person Daisuke, and when it comes to rules…as I said before, I've broken important ones in the past. So this is no exception!" Drake blinked as what felt like a heavy weight was lifted off his shoulders. He understood what had happened, but couldn't really believe it.
"You…removed a Punishment Game from me? Amazing…so, you really do have power and skill. But why do I need to learn any of this anyways? Like I said, I don't have any reason to." Despite his words to the negative his duel disk still activated, the life point counter ticking up. (DLP: 4000)
"That's what you're going to learn from me. Everything that you need, and if it takes beating you soundly right here then I'll do so if it'll force you to let go of that stubborn streak. Now, draw!" Drake acquiesced, drawing five cards while his father drew six. He'd just have to beat his father quick and get it over with.
"I summon Armed Dragon LV3(1200/900) in attack mode! Then I set two cards face down on the field. That ends my turn." A little baby dragon with orange flesh and spikes extending out of its body now stood directly in front of Masue, with two cards down behind it.
Drake drew, considering what he knew about the little dragon. If he allowed it to mature then it would become Armed Dragon LV5 which had a dangerous monster destruction ability. 'Guess I'll have to kill it in this turn.'
"I play Change of Heart on Armed Dragon LV3 and then sacrificed it for White Sorcerer(2000/2200)!" A man in white robes, his face completely covered, took the place of the little baby dragon, hands clasped together as if forming some strange symbol.
"White Sorcerer, direct attack!" The sorcerer extended both hands, ready to launch its attack, when all of a sudden it vanished, and Armed Dragon LV3 was once again on Masue's field.
"My trap card, Reverse Decisions, allows me to negate one action by the opponent and return the field to as it was before that action was taken. In other words, White Sorcerer and Change of Heart were played for nothing, and my dragon is back." Drake frowned, but let little else slip by. He wasn't done yet, not even after that move.
"I can tell by what you said that my summon was still used, but I simply got my monster back. In that case I can't summon at the moment, so I'll just set two cards face down and end my turn." Two cards appeared in front of him, and then Drake folded his arms back across his chest, awaiting his father's move.
Masue drew once, and then the baby dragon on his field began to grow in size. It changed rapidly, ending up at practically the size of a house. Its skin had changed to a reddish color, and the spikes had become sharper and more numerous. "During my standby phase Armed Dragon LV3 evolves into Armed Dragon LV5(2400/1700)."
The older man pointed to his face down card, and the trap flipped itself up, depicting an Armed Dragon LV7 exploding with fire spraying out of its body. "Level of Destruction allows me to sacrifice a level monster on my field to destroy all magic and trap cards on the opponent's field. The cards to be destroyed cannot be activated in chain."
Armed Dragon LV5's body burst apart, sending a rolling wave of flame across the field. Drake threw up an arm in defense as both of his set cards shattered, and he was unable to do anything about it. 'Damn…I'm completely open, but at least he sacrificed his strong monster for that.'
"You aren't thinking strategically, and that will be your end. Why would I allow Armed Dragon LV3 to evolve into LV5 if I was just going to sacrifice it? The only reason is that I knew I could restore it! Such as with this card, Monster Reborn!" Drake grimaced as the massive red-skinned beast reappeared on the field.
His frown deepened as his opponent slammed down another card from his hand, and a four foot tall metallic bird-like dragon swooped down onto the field. "Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4(1600/1000). Perfect amount of attack power, isn't it?"
Drake set his jaw tight, not revealing anything. His field was empty, but he had an ace in the hole, he usually did. 'I'll show you old man, I'm no slacker duelist. I'm top of the heap!'
"You're thinking that you've got a method to stop me, aren't you? That you're a top duelist who can't lose so easily, right? Well even your current best wouldn't be good enough. But as you are, without what makes you strong, you can't even hope to challenge me. Let me show you...Mind Banishment!" He held up a magic card, and Drake felt the cards in his hand shaking.
"Mind Banishment allows me to name one card, and if that card is in your hand its effect can never be used during this duel. I name Kuriboh Magician(300/200)!" Drake gasped, the card on the far right of his hand clearly showing as the named monster. But how his father had known was an entirely different matter.
"But…how? I don't understand any of this? What am I missing that lets me lose so easily, that made me lose twice?" His father's eyes were set, hardened by determination and nearly a thousand years of experience. Drake wondered if he really could ever have won with those eyes staring at him.
"You lack the two things which make you strongest. Your passion and your dreams. Without passion you cannot fight full strength, and without your dreams you have no reason to fight full strength. That is what I'll teach you, I'll teach you how to recover those two things and surpass your previous limits! Armed Dragon, Horus, direct attack!" Two streams of flame covered Drake, driving him to his knees. (DLP: 0, MLP: 4000)
Drake looked up as his father walked towards him, hand extended for him to take. "What do you say Daisuke? Do you want to find your dreams and recover your passion? For whatever the stakes, is that what you'd like?"
For what seemed and eternity all Drake could do was stare at the offered hand. Thousands of thoughts were flitting through his mind like a hurricane, as an important decision lay before him. Finally he came to his decision and clasped his father's hand. "Yeah, because we're most alive when we're chasing dreams, right?"
Masue pulled him to his feet, and smiled at his son warmly. "Yes, that's right. Now let's go find your dream again. It's time to begin to relearn everything you had known."
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Author's Notes: A little bit of new information for ya, and some action for Drake.
Next Time: Drake's process of relearning what he has known begins, but he is not the only one attempting to learn something. Dalin and Hikari arrive in Kyoto, meeting up with Alice, Isis, and Rishid. Their search for the immortal who can lead them to The Puppeteer brings them face to face with a very shocking face.
See it all in, Lusts of the Immortal!
Review Response
Time Mage: Heh, the truth is out there.
WolfGeneral: Yep, and the Apocalypse doesn't like to wait much. But it has patience.
Black Death X: I was never really depressed or down about it. It's just that I like to write something lighthearted on occasion to mix it up so not everything I do is dark.
G.O.T. Nick: And I thank you for introducing me to that web comic, because it's great fun. And for Revelation of Suffering you'd need to be Dark Drake, because it is after all a soul card.