Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.
Vanguard Generations
Chapter 15: The Land of the Dead
"Shinsei Zeru, awaken."
Shinsei groaned and rolled onto his side. "Let me sleep already."
"There is no time for sleep, or have you forgotten already? You were defeated."
Shinsei's eyes snapped open as his memories flooded back to him, of what had happened before. He had been defeated by Victoran…and then there had been burning pain, followed by nothing. All around him there was darkness, a living void that seemed to actively try and suck all light from everything. "Where am I? What happened?"
"You were killed." The voice was all around him, like the air itself was speaking to him. "And such a loss was great, hence why you are being given a single chance."
"A chance?" Shinsei tried to stand, but he couldn't move. It was like he was just a consciousness, with no body to control. "I still don't get it…if this is my chance, then what exactly…"
Suddenly he was standing, which meant his body was back. There was a dull gray floor, which held him up amongst the blackness of the void. On his arm rested a duel disk, already activated and deck already in place. "This place…"
"It is the location of your duel. This is your only chance to return to the living world. Defeat your opponent and destroy them, or else you will take their place. Is this acceptable?" The voice was still too strong and omni-present to be discerned as whether it was male or female.
"For a chance to defeat that high and mighty ass, I'll take any provided chances. I accept." Shinsei cracked his knuckles, ready to win and return to his world to settle the score he had with that jerk.
"Very well." The voice faded, and a humanoid form appeared at the other end of the gray platform. It brushed back its red hair and smoothed out its robes, the sword at its side indicating it was a samurai…a samurai Shinsei knew very well.
"Kenshin?" Shinsei's eyes widened in surprise at the fact that his opponent was his Guardian. "Wait…doesn't that mean…"
"Yes." Kenshin nodded solemnly. "If I lose this duel to you, then I will have my physical and spiritual body torn asunder, leaving me in a place worse than any concept of hell a human mind could imagine. And if you lose that will be your fate." A duel disk flashed into existence on his right arm, his robe's sleeves pulled back. "Do you wish to go first or should I?"
Shinsei snapped his arms up. "Wait! This doesn't make any sense, we're a team! Why do I have to try and destroy you for another chance at life?"
"I do not make the rules, I simply follow them." Kenshin drew his opening hand. "Prepare yourself, Shinsei. It is too late to look back now!"
Kenshin- 4000
Shinsei- 4000
Shinsei bit back his next argument and drew his opening hand as well, more on reflex than eagerness. ("This isn't right. Kenshin and I are partners, why should he and I fight each other?")
"I'm first, since you cannot decide." Kenshin drew the top card of his deck, adding the card to his hand masterfully and looking over each of the cards in turn. "Understand this before I begin, Shinsei." His eyes were deadly serious. "I will not hold back in the slightest. Defeat me at your best, or else I will tear you apart."
Shinsei tried to muster his resolve and return that look, but he actually flinched away instead.
Kenshin removed a card from his hand and lifted it up. "I play Reinforcements of the Army to search my deck for a level four or lower warrior type monster and add it to my hand." A card slid out of his deck, which he grabbed and placed it onto his disk. There was a flash of light as a human in armor carrying numerous backpacks appeared on his field. "I summon Supply Soldier in attack mode!" (0/0)
Shinsei blinked at the new monster as it tripped and fell, buried underneath its cargo. "You….you're serious?"
"Of course. This monster may not be able to deal damage, but when it is sacrificed I may draw two cards." Kenshin inserted another card into his disk. "I activate Withdrawal from the Army. This card sacrifices a warrior type monster on my field to let me add a level four or lower warrior type monster from my deck to my hand." His Supply Soldier faded away and another card left his deck. "I search for Blade Knight, and after adding it to my hand draw two cards because my soldier was sacrificed."
Even though his willingness to duel was very low, Shinsei still had enough sense to realize that Kenshin's strategy was off. ("He gained an extra card, but in return has to go with no monster to protect him during the first turn. That's not a trade-in most duelists would make. So either he isn't quite as good at dueling as he thinks, or those face-down cards are some kind of strategy to help him stop my attacks for the next turn.")
"What's the matter, Shinsei?" Kenshin's deadly serious look did not relent. "Draw your card."
"Oh…right." Shinsei half-heartedly drew the top card of his deck. His mind already knew which cards in his hand he would use, but his drive to do so was non-existent. "Kenshin…there has to be another way…"
"No, there is not. This duel will finish." The samurai sounded like he had no plans on changing his mind.
Shinsei frowned. "I'll find a way out of this without either of us dying!" He snapped the drawn card up. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon during my standby phase to destroy the set card on the left!" A burst of wind came from the card, and that burst swallowed up and shattered Kenshin's set card.
Without skipping a beat Shinsei threw a new card onto his disk. "Now I summon Elemental Hero Aquaman (900/1100) in attack mode!" A fountain of water came from the ground as a warrior dressed in a fish-scale suit appeared in play. "When Aquaman is summoned and I have no cards in play, I may draw two cards. If I do so, I must then discard one card from my hand." Sliding two cards off of his deck, he glanced at them both and then inserted one into his graveyard slot. "Aquaman, attack his life points directly!" The superhero leapt across the field and drop-kicked Kenshin on the shoulder, right before it returned to Shinsei's field.
Kenshin- 3100
Shinsei- 4000
("That's surprising, I was expecting some kind of trap.") Shinsei inserted two cards into his duel disk. "I place two cards face-down on my field and end my turn."
Kenshin calmly drew, unaffected by the kick. "A good starting play, Shinsei, but you were too careless. This duel won't be as cut and dry as you think." His face-down card flipped up. "Warm Household is a continuous trap that triggers during my standby phase. Now during each of our standby phases we gain 1000 life points."
Kenshin- 4100
Shinsei- 4000
He placed a card onto his duel disk and a silver-armored knight appeared in play. "I normal summon Blade Knight in attack position." (1600/1000) His cold gaze fell over Shinsei's two face-down cards, and after a moment he pointed at Aquaman. "Battle!" The warrior leapt across the field, sword raised to slash through the superhero.
"Reverse card open!" Shinsei pointed at one of his face-down cards and a green field of light appeared between Aquaman and Blade Knight. "Draining Shield will negate your attack and give me life points equal to the attack of the negated monster!"
Kenshin placed the card he had separated from his hand before he had declared his attack into his disk. "I play Broken Mirror. This quickplay magic card negates one attack-stopping trap card when played, and also negates that trap's other effects as well." The green barrier faded. "Therefore, since the chain is over, battle continues!" Blade Knight's sword slashed through Aquaman easily.
Kenshin- 4100
Shinsei- 3300
Shinsei braced himself against the powerful backlash of his monster being destroyed. As soon as he could he pointed at his face-down card. "I reveal Hero Signal! When a monster on my field is destroyed as a result of battle, I may special summon a level four or lower Elemental Hero from my deck to the field!" A large humanoid made of stone appeared on his field in a crouching position. "My choice is Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) in defense mode!"
Kenshin glanced at his hand cards. "Clayman's defense power makes it strong enough to withstand my Blade Knight even when its special ability is in effect, is that what you were thinking?" He slid two cards into his duel disk. "I place one card face-down on the field and activate Shield Crush, destroying one defense mode monster in play." A blast of green light fell over Clayman and it exploded. "End turn."
Shinsei grimaced and drew. ("His deck is prepared to deal with anything I can bring out, isn't it?") "During my standby phase, Warm Household raises my life points by 1000!"
Kenshin- 4100
Shinsei- 4300
He threw a card onto his disk and a blue-armored superhero appeared on his field, a small cloud of bubbles accompanying it. "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200) to my field in attack mode! When it is summoned and I have no other cards in play, I may draw two cards!" Adding two more cards to his hand, Shinsei looked up at Kenshin angrily. "So the time we've spent together so far, our working together, was for nothing?"
"Exactly." Kenshin's eyes seemed to waver somewhere between their normal blue color and a goldish-yellow.
Shinsei gritted his teeth and moved on. "I activate Living Factory. This magic card lets me select one effect monster in my graveyard and add it to my hand. My choice is Elemental Hero Aquaman!" Holding up the called monster card, he used that same hand to grab another card and hold them up together. "I activate Polymerization to fuse Aquaman and Bubbleman together!"
The fish-scaled superhero appeared alongside its blue-armored counterpart and they were sucked into a swirling vortex above them. From within it emerged a version of Bubbleman that was wearing heavy diving equipment on itself.
"Elemental Hero Aqua Bubbleman (1400/800) is special summoned to my field, and when it is summoned, if I have no other cards in play but it, I may special summon one Elemental Hero from my deck!" A whirlpool appeared on the ground next to the superhero, and from within it a gold-armored superhero with very sharp-looking implements all over its body appeared on the field. "I choose to special summon Elemental Hero Edgeman!" (2600/1800)
Kenshin's golden eyes reflected no fear, despite the monsters he was facing.
Shinsei opened his field magic card slot and placed a card into it. "It's time for a change of scenery, I activate Skyscraper!" All around them huge buildings rose up into the sky, changing the void around them to a cityscape. "When an Elemental Hero on my field battles with a monster that is stronger than it, it gains 1000 attack points during the damage step! Aqua Bubbleman, attack Blade Knight now!" The ocean-traveling superhero leapt towards the silver knight. (2400/800)
Kenshin- 3300
Shinsei- 4300
Kenshin barely flinched as they clashed, the Elemental Hero easily winning. "When my knight is destroyed, I activate my face-down Heart-warmed Dreams trap card. When Warm Household is in play, I may send my hand back to my deck and shuffle. After that, I draw cards equal to the number I shuffled in plus two." He did so, and looked up just in time to get slammed into by Edgeman.
Kenshin- 700
Shinsei- 4300
Shinsei frowned at how calm his Guardian was acting. ("What's with him? Why is he so relaxed when he's losing so many life points?") "I proceed to my second main phase, where I set one card face-down on the field and activate the continuous magic card Mirage of Nightmare. End turn."
Kenshin drew. "During my standby phase you draw four cards, and I gain 1000 life points. During your next standby phase, those that you drew through the effect of Mirage of Nightmare become sacrifices to it when it randomly discards the same number of cards that you drew."
Kenshin- 1700
Shinsei- 4300
Shinsei's expression remained emotionless, though in his mind he wasn't worried about the downside of Mirage of Nightmare.
Kenshin could tell that Shinsei was smiling inside. "You think this is a game?" His dark eyes darkened even moreso. "I activate the field magic card Political Battlefield." All around them the buildings of Skyscraper shook and blew apart, leaving them both standing in a large open room that looked like it was meant to house a large number of very important people. "Within this place, whenever a monster I control battles with a monster of the same type as it, both monsters are destroyed and you take the attack of my monster in damage."
"That shouldn't be so bad, considering how powerful my field is looking right now." Shinsei shot a glance at Edgeman meaningfully.
"Indeed it is." Kenshin held up a new card. "I activate the equipment magic card Snatch Steal!" Edgeman shuddered and floated over to his field. "While equipped, Edgeman remains my monster. Also, during your standby phase you gain 1000 life points. However, that won't matter at all! Go Edgeman, Power Edge Attack!"
Shinsei gasped in surprise as Edgeman tackled his Aqua Bubbleman, both of them exploding upon contact.
Kenshin- 1700
Shinsei- 3100
Kenshin coldly pointed at Shinsei. "And because my monster was destroyed, you take Edgeman's attack in damage!" Lightning crashed down from the ceiling and slammed into Shinsei's body, sending him into a fit of spasms before he crashed to his knees.
Kenshin- 1700
Shinsei- 500
Smoke rose from Shinsei's kneeling body, and he wasn't moving at all.
Kenshin inserted two cards into his duel disk slots. "I place two cards face-down on the field and end my turn. Now, Shinsei, fight or be destroyed."
Shinsei slowly stood up, his shoulders still shuddering from the pain of the electrical attack. "I draw…and activate Emergency Provisions!" His face-down card flipped up. "I send one magic or trap card in play to the graveyard to raise my life points by 1000! My choice is obviously Mirage of Nightmare!" His continuous magic card disappeared. "Also, Warm Household raises my life points by 1000!"
Kenshin- 1700
Shinsei- 2500
He looked down at his hand and then slid a card into his disk, trying to shake off the dizzy feeling coursing through his body at the moment. "I play The Warrior Returning Alive, selecting a warrior type monster in my graveyard and returning it to my hand!" He held up Bubbleman and threw it onto his disk. "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman again! And like before, since I have no cards in play besides it, I draw two!"
Adding two more to his hand, Shinsei slid a card into his disk. "Go Bubble Shot! I equip it to Bubbleman and raise his attack by 800 points because of it!" A large bazooka-like device appeared over the superhero's shoulder. (1600/1200) "Bubbleman, attack directly!"
"Reveal Soldier of Fortune!" One of Kenshin's two face-down cards flipped up. "This trap card lets me special summon one level three or lower warrior type monster from my deck if I have no monsters in play!" A warrior wearing tin armor appeared on the field, a little tin lance in its hand. "Tin Knight (100/200) is summoned in attack mode!"
"I continue my attack! Bubble Shooter!" A blast of water went from the weapon's barrel to the knight, blowing it apart. "That takes most of your remaining life points, Kenshin."
Kenshin- 200
Shinsei- 2500
"True…" Kenshin watched as Bubbleman exploded into dust. "Did you forget about my Political Battlefield though?"
Kenshin- 200
Shinsei- 2400
Shinsei paled slightly. "Of course…not. Yeah…" He looked at his hand and frowned. "End turn."
Kenshin drew. "That might have been your end, but instead, during my standby phase, I remove Tin Knight from my graveyard, and send three cards from my deck to my graveyard to add one magic card from my deck to my hand." After fulfilling the requirements, he added a card from his deck to his hand. "Also, Warm Household raises my life points."
Kenshin- 1200
Shinsei- 2400
The samurai placed a card onto his disk. "I summon Queen's Knight." (1500/1600) A female knight in armor themed after a playing card appeared on the field. "Then I offer her as a sacrifice to my Familiar Summon! Emerge, Wanderer of Twilight!" His monster vanished and a holographic window appeared over his head to indicate he was in play now. (1800/1500)
Shinsei blinked in surprise. "You can summon yourself?"
"Indeed." Kenshin inserted the last card in his hand into his disk. "I activate the equipment magic card Divine Phoenix Blade!" A winged sword appeared on his back. "This card raises my attack points by 300." (2100/1500) Suddenly the samurai was standing behind Shinsei, his katana slowly being sheathed. "Lucky for you it was a weak equipment magic card." Then he was standing back on his field, while Shinsei was clutching at his chest where he had been slashed. "End turn."
Kenshin- 1200
Shinsei- 300
Shinsei stood up weakly and drew. "You made one mistake though…." Orange light flowed around his body as Warm Household increased his life points.
Kenshin- 1200
Shinsei- 1300
Kenshin lifted his eyebrows questioningly. "And what might that be?"
"It's this!" Shinsei held up a card with a picture of an orange and blue swirl. "I held back! Polymerization is the card I choose, which lets me fuse the Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Necro Darkman in my hand!" Black lightning crashed down across his field as a silver and black version of the lightning Elemental Hero lowered onto his field. "Come out now, Black Lightning Striker!" (2200/1400) "When this monster is summoned, one monster on your field is destroyed!"
Kenshin's face-down card flipped up. "And you have just placed yourself in the worst possible position. I reveal Bloody Past. This trap card activates when Kenshin; Wanderer of Twilight would be destroyed. Instead I may offer that monster to summon its next form!" His eyes became fully golden and his voice grew truly dark. "Kenshin the Battousai (2500/2000) is summoned…and with this dark form of myself comes a new power. I destroy all monsters in play with less attack power than my own, including monsters on my field." Black Lightning Striker yelled in pain as it exploded into dust. "Now your big advantage has disappeared, Shinsei. During the next turn I will kill you."
Shinsei frowned and held up another card. "Not yet! I activate Miracle Fusion! This card allows me to remove monsters from my field and graveyard to fusion summon an Elemental Hero monster! I remove Bubbleman and Clayman to special summon Elemental Hero Clayman!" (1900/3000) A large round-bodied superhero appeared on the field in a crouching position. "I summon it in defense mode and place one card face-down. End turn."
Kenshin drew. "My life points increase by 1000."
Kenshin- 2200
Shinsei- 1300
Looking at his drawn card, the dark samurai pulled three cards out of his graveyard. "Divine Phoenix Blade can be returned from the graveyard to my hand during my main phase by removing two warrior monsters from my graveyard." Holding up the two removed cards, he showed Queen's Knight and Kenshin; Wanderer of Twilight.
"You're removing your previous form? Why?" Shinsei narrowed his eyes, his entire body telling him that this was a truly dangerous situation. Kenshin was, without the slightest doubt, out to kill him.
"To prove that I am not the Kenshin you wish for, that is all. I have never been, and I grow weary of waiting for you to learn the truth behind me." He held up two cards. "I equip myself with the Divine Phoenix Blade first." The sword reappeared on his back. "My other effect is that when I am equipped with an attack-raising weapon, the boost doubles." (3100/2000) "Also, I equip myself with Relic of the Bloodiest War." A normal-looking katana appeared in place of his normal one. "This card normally increases my attack by 1500, but in this case, because you have a monster in play, I gain an additional 400." (6900/2000) "I attack!"
"Reveal Invincible Hero!" Shinsei's face-down card flipped up and a golden aura appeared around Mudballman. "During this turn, Mudballman cannot be destroyed!" He watched as Kenshin's form flickered to indicate his god-like speed attack. "It won't work Kenshin. And since the effect of your field magic card requires that my monster or yours be destroyed by the battle, its powers of destruction and damage do not activate."
Kenshin narrowed his eyes at Mudballman, a black aura around his body. "Disappear from my sight, weakling." Seconds later, the superhero faded. "Any monster I cannot destroy is removed from the game, thanks to Relic of the Bloodiest War. End turn."
Shinsei drew, but before looking at the drawn card he remembered those words. ("Grow weary? I don't get it…what am I missing? Is there something I haven't done yet?")
"I am one of the strongest kinds of Guardians, because my powers can increase and change with time. That is why I cannot understand how an energy-deficient fool like you could hope to drive me." Kenshin's fist clenched tighter. "Why can't you just figure it out already?"
Shinsei just stood there, trying to fathom what that meant. ("Does he think I have some kind of power? Of course I don't…")
Shinsei stumbled to his feet, eyes locked on Victoran. All around his body was a dull blue light that was getting stronger. "I won't lose to you…I refuse to surrender…I'll defeat you!" A blast of wind blew across the field and upset some dust, but otherwise nothing special happened.
("That time…is that what he was talking about?") Shinsei lifted up his eyes to meet those hell-filled golden eyes. ("There is more to me than I think?") He didn't notice it, but his deck glowed a deep gold color for a moment. Glancing at the drawn card, he watched as the orange light of Warm Household increased his life points.
Kenshin- 2200
Shinsei- 2300
"From my hand I activate Pot of Greed!" Shinsei drew two cards. ("Featherman and Wildman…that's not enough.") "I activate Graceful Charity next, allowing me to draw three cards. After that, I must discard two from my hand." Adding three more cards to his hand, he discarded two. ("Still nothing, but I have one last draw card left.") "I activate Research on the Pot of Greed. During a turn where Pot of Greed has been activated, I may draw two cards." Adding two more cards to his hand, his eyes widened in amazement. ("What is this? These cards…")
Kenshin growled angrily. "What are you waiting on? Make your move already!"
Shinsei lifted up his eyes calmly. "You're not Kenshin."
"Excuse me?" The samurai grimaced. "I think you're losing your mind. You know I am who I declare to be, there is no other Kenshin, correct?"
Shinsei chuckled quietly to himself for a few seconds… "Really? Let me finish using these cards and then I'll ask again!" He snapped up a card and slammed it into his field magic card slot. "I play Kingdom of Legend!" All around them the conference room shuddered and collapsed, replaced by huge spires and other stone structures as they were transported to the inside of a giant castle. "Within this place, when I have no monsters in play, I can special summon one Elemental Legend from my hand to the field!"
The earth in front of him exploded upwards as a giant knight with a stone axe almost twice its size appeared on the field. "I special summon Elemental Legend Boulder Axeman!" (2800/1200) The giant warrior waited patiently, its helmet pointed towards Kenshin like it was watching him with disgust.
"What are you looking at?" Kenshin's hand reached towards the hilt of his Relic…
Shinsei threw another card onto his disk. "I normal summon Elemental Hero Wildman!" (1500/1600) A bronze-skinned wild warrior appeared on his field. "It's time for me to back up my words! I will win, but I won't hurt Kenshin! I activate Transcendence Fusion!"
Kenshin's eyes widened in true fear as a glowing portal filled with all kinds of different elemental forms appeared between the two monsters. "Transcendence?"
"That's right. I fuse Wildman and Boulder Axeman together!" Both of his monsters were pulled into the vortex. "And special summon Legendary Elemental Hero Wild Axe!" A much more powerful looking Wildman with Axeman's giant axe over its shoulder appeared on the field. (2600/2600)
"Its attack isn't even half of mine, what can it possibly do?" Snickering, Kenshin drew his sword, which was glowing with black energy. "I will slay it next turn."
"Sorry, there is no next turn." Shinsei smiled as Wild Axe lifted the heavy weapon above its head effortlessly. "Wild Axe is activating its special ability…Planet Shaker!" The axe fell and slammed into the ground, shaking the small platform nearly to the point of breaking.
Kenshin stumbled and fell to one knee. "What could that possibly…." His eyes widened as his two swords shattered, leaving him weaponless. "How could this be?"
"Planet Shaker forces all of the enemy's monsters to defense mode. Also, it destroys all equipment cards. Thirdly, all face-down magic and trap cards on my opponent's field would be forced to activate right now or be destroyed. Finally, all monsters in my opponent's hand would be forced to the field or to the graveyard if it was impossible for them to be special summoned." Shinsei shrugged. "Of course, only the first two effects were necessary."
Kenshin tried to stand, but no matter how hard he tried his legs wouldn't move. "I'm still in defense mode…you won't wipe out my life points!"
"True…" Shinsei pointed at Kenshin. "Go Wild Axe, Strike of Gods!" The warrior threw the axe across the field, the handle of the weapon crashing into Kenshin and nearly throwing him off the platform. "Now that your field is clear, I activate the second effect of Transcendence Fusion!" Wild Axe leapt into the still open portal, Wildman and Axeman emerging seconds later. "By sending it back to my hand, I can break down the fusion of my monsters! Go Axeman, Strike of Gods!"
Kenshin managed to stand up just in time to get slapped down again by the flat of the giant axe.
Kenshin- 0
Shinsei- 2300
Shinsei calmly watched as Kenshin screamed in pain and was blown into nothingness. "Nice trick…" He smiled slightly as the phantom form of Kenshin, the non-Battousai Kenshin, appeared next to him. "Apparently they thought I would be tricked. Good thing you woke up, huh?"
Kenshin smiled back at his Vanguard. "Now then, shall we go?"
"Yup. I have to return the favor to a certain someone with a trap-hater complex." Turning, Shinsei walked right off the edge of the platform and disappeared. His purpose was clear, and he intended to follow through with it. ("Victoran…I will defeat you this time. This time, it won't be an execution. It will a duel. And I never lose a duel when I truly mean to win.")
To be continued…
Notes: Elemental Hero Black Lightning Striker was created by Time Mage, not myself.