Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Tournament of Tears

Chapter 5: Battle against the Dark Realm (Part 2)

Jennie's eyes widened huge in terror, as many of these beasts were beyond her mental capacity to comprehend. No mortal or demon mind could fathom some of these creatures, and yet Sestros stood like a king amongst them. "You…what are you truly?"

"I killed their king…" Sestros sneered coldly. "So therefore I am now the Torture King no longer…I am the Dark King. And you, my dear, are the first plaything of my minions."

Jennie gripped her fear tightly and pushed it away, rage entering her eyes. "That's what you think, you sick freak! Draw!" She looked at the drawn card and a deep cold swept over her. ("Pot of Greed…but his Dark Realm forces me to discard any cards that I draw outside of the draw phase.") "End turn."

Sestros looked at his opponent's field and then at his own. He had his Dark Realm field magic card in play, which forced both players to discard any cards they drew outside of their draw phase. Also, he had his field trap card Temple of the Darkest God, which allowed him to draw three cards instead of one during his next draw phase, as long as he had discarded a card during the last turn. Finally, his Altar of the Darkest God card made it so any time that an effect discards from his hand, it is treated as if she had caused it.

And then there was the thing that made Sestros so powerful…his Duel Prescense. It was some kind of special ability that only incredibly high level supernatural duelists possessed. In Sestros' case, his was the ability to gain life instead of lose it if a dark attribute monster tried to cause it to him. And in combination with his DNA Transplant continuous trap card that made it so all monsters gave him life points.

Jennie grimaced, her Flame Champion (1900/1700) the only thing standing between her and Sestros' Advanced Guard of the Dark Realm. (1600/1400) "What's the problem, getting cold feet already?"

Sestros drew three cards, thanks to the effect of Tracker of the Dark Realm. And as he looked upon the drawn cards he locked onto Jennie's face like it was a bulls-eye and he was a gun. "I have you now. I activate the magic card Book of Moon!" Energy flowed from the card in his hand and it washed over the Flame Champion. Seconds later, there was a face-down monster card where the Flame Champion had been. "This magic card allows me to flip one face-up monster on the field face-down immediately upon activation."

"Even face-down my monster has more defense points than your creature has attack points, so it really isn't a problem." Jennie swore that she could feel the hot breath of the demons down her back.

"Do you think I did what I did without any proper thought beforehand?" Sestros held up another card. "Now I activate Thunder of Dark Realm. This magic card will destroy one face-down card in play." A bolt of black lightning fell from the sky and struck the set monster, blowing it apart upon contact. "You're nearly beaten, foolish child. After Thunder of Dark Realm activates its first effect, its second effect triggers now. I discard one card from my hand." He slid the last hand card into his graveyard.

Jennie gulped quietly, but otherwise didn't seem to show any signs of being worried.

("That obviously means that she has something face-down on her field.") Sestros shrugged it off. "Don't be a fool, Jennifer. The card I discarded was another of the demons of Dark Realm!" All around him the aura of dark energy picked up once more. "This one is called Military General of the Dark Realm." (2300/1400) A silver-armored giant demon riding a giant silver-armored demonic horse appeared on the field. "This duel is nearing its close, because the effect of my General sends two cards from your hand to the bottom of your deck when it is discarded by the effect of my opponent's card, which thanks to Altar to the Darkest God, is every card." Lightning struck Jennifer's hand and her hand card disappeared. "Now I attack you directly for 3900 life points of damage!" Both of his demon monsters charged forwards at once.

"Activate my face-down Waboku trap card!" A glowing shield of energy appeared around Jennie's body. "This trap card negates all battle damage you would inflict during this turn."

Sestros shrugged it off. "End turn."

"Draw!" Jennie drew and a slight smile crossed her lips. "I'll end this right now! I activate the magic card Backlash of Advantage! This magic card activates when my opponent has more cards in play then I do. He takes damage equal to 1000 times the number of cards he has against me. However…" Her lips lifted up to reveal her fangs. "If I have no cards in hand or field, then my opponent takes 2000 life points per card instead. Considering your seven cards equals 14000 points of damage…it's the end for you!"

Jennie- 3600

Sestros- 0

Jennie smirked as the holograms on the field disappeared. "Now take me out of this dark place."

"Take you out of this dark place?" Sestros chuckled. "You misunderstand your situation. Win or lose, you stay here unless I choose otherwise. And since this wasn't a darkness game, you have no power over me." Sestros faded away. "You lost the moment I was chosen as your opponent. Next time though, I won't hold back by limiting my powers."

Jennie just stood there in stunned silence, while the demonic hordes seemed unsure whether to attack or not. After all, she had defeated their new king…

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As the darkness orb disappeared, Sestros strolled out of it with a dark smile on his face. "I lost to Jennifer Pilkington, but because of certain situations she won't be coming back from where we had been. Therefore, I win by default."

The Mediator narrowed his eyes, an equally dark expression on his face. "And in return, you'll be destroyed and she'll be rescued. I won't excuse anyone who cheats to win!"

Sestros tilted back his head and started to laugh, right up until the point his now removed from neck head was sent flying into the nearest wall.

Daniel's eyes showed nothing beyond a savage fury that was meant for one thing: Killing Sestros over and over again.

Jasmine joined him moments later…right until Sestros grew tired of being disemboweled and blew them both through the farthest away wall. And then he instantly was returned to normal. "That was a stupid waste of energy…" His head tilted up to see that the entire stands (excluding Midnight) was standing and preparing to attack. "So…you all want to play then?"

The Mediator slowly drew his sword. "I'll make sure you can't come back from what I'll hit you with."

Everyone in the stand prepared to jump…but they went silent when a calm laughter echoed from amongst them.

Midnight stood up slowly. "Now then…I was growing tired of this game."

"Game?" The Mediator mentally contacted Heart, Mind, and Hand to prepare for the worst. But he felt cold when no mental response came. ("I need you three…")

"The game of pretending that we were weaker than you." Midnight disappeared and appeared alongside Sestros, both the two demons smiling as if they had just tricked the entire world. "Let me ask you something…how do you think we wouldn't sense you? Your power is suitable enough for me to notice you. As such, Sestros and I prepared a clever plan that involved making use of you, Pilkington."

Daniel's eyes widened as he stumbled out of the hole in the wall. "The Chains of Time…"

"Correct. We wanted you to seal Sestros away in time, so that he could discover the Dark Realm and trick you all into thinking the threat was over. Honestly…did you think I was afraid of Chaos?" Midnight turned slowly to face the stands. "I plan on doing exactly what the stupid little spirit child planned on doing in the first place! Why would I fear what she was going to do?"

Halo lifted a finger to point at Midnight. "Excuse me for a moment while I blow your head off."

Midnight tilted his head up and met the black eyes of the enforcer of shadow games. "As for you…" Suddenly Halo was flying upwards through the air, screaming in pain as blood sprayed from the two huge holes in his chest. "…stop thinking you're something overly powerful, you little shit. You're the enforcer of gods, yet I am your boss. Do you think that only good gods were in on the darkness game pact? I helped create you, and I can help destroy you."

Rikuo snarled from somewhere deep within his throat. The snarl of something beyond supernatural.

Midnight tilted his head over to look at Rikuo. "Oh yes, the Destroyer of Gods. I can't forget about you and your silly little special ability." His face slowly twisted into a scowl. "However, you forget that without your godly powers, you won't get the chance to consume me!"

Rikuo felt the building energy…and smiled hungrily. "I think you're overlooking one important thing…" Energy exploded from his body and blew everyone around the wolf demon into the nearest wall, leaving them imprinted there roughly. For the human duelists, this was extremely painful. And then Rikuo changed, his hair shooting down to his back and his eyes changing to red. "I am Fenrir, the Bringer of Ragnarok. I can destroy all gods in an instance, if I so choose. So watch your words, Midnight."

Midnight tapped the side of his forehead. "I sensed it, if only faintly. However, there is no way that you can possibly defeat me in battle. Because…the six god children of Bahamut are mine to command."

"Not for long." Ryu calmly stepped alongside Rikuo, unaffected by the forceful energy that nearly crushed anyone else. "I will kill you and get the six children to their graves."

Sestros started to laugh. "Isn't this just a little god-fest, no?" He glanced over at Midnight. "Should I simply kill the iguana?"

"You would be annihilated…" Midnight frowned. "I've heard that many of the ancient gods long ago were connected to souls…but this is incredible. For both Bahamut's soul and Fenrir's soul to not only be demon generals…but rivals…"

"It's fascinating, but honestly I don't care." Sestros flexed a hand. "You think I can't do anything because they are gods? Are you stupid?"

"I understand you could kill either of them, but together they would manage to defeat you forever." Midnight felt the air start to move, and he turned to face the Mediator, who was in mid-swing. "Tell me something…do you think you're in the current league you face?"

The Mediator was blown across the room by the sheer force released by just Midnight's words.

Rikuo didn't even bother to look at Ryu. "Jourgen…what do you think? Should we dispose of this trash…"

"It won't work." Ryu frowned, his hair starting to turn silver. "Against the likes of these two, anything but teamwork would result in death. However…we won't be able to defeat the likes of these two if only we team up. We need more help to assure our victory. Remember, if we fight then we assure Earth a hellish backlash as a result of our actions. Gods avoid fighting for a reason."

"Shut up already." Rikuo knew that physically fighting either of these two jerks was out of the question, but that didn't mean he needed to try and negotiate with them. "I just want them dead…is that so much to ask? I hate this whole god thing, but it's this or we die like dogs."

Sestros snarled and clenched his fist tightly. "I just want them dead, and you know that it doesn't matter whether we fight or not, Midnight. So let's do it and end this already!"

The dark dragon god shrugged his shoulders gently. "Honestly, I don't think we can do it. My power is the same as Bahamut's, but Fenrir's ability to consume gods might destroy us both. You aren't a god, but thanks to your constant regeneration you might still be affected. In the end…I think we should end this through the most effective method possible…"

Sestros knew what that meant…and sneered because of it. "So that means we will…"

"What are you…" Rikuo's words stopped in his throat as his connection to Fenrir was shattered instantly. His hair returned to normal and his eyes followed.

Ryu frowned as his silver aura of energy dissolved like dust. ("This can be a problem…") A dark frown crossed his face. "So that's your plan? You intend to call out a God's Truce?"

Midnight nodded. "At this time, it would seem most prudent. From this point onwards, none of us may use our god powers. However…the game has just begun." He looked over at the Mediator. "I grow tired of your tournament, so it ends here." There was a flash of light and everyone was blinded.

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Rikuo opened his eyes to see that he was standing on the field where he had fallen to Akuma so long ago. "We're back at Duel Academy?"

Daniel stood up slowly…and then he turned to face his other half. "We have to save…"

"I can't do that, even if I had my god powers again." Rikuo closed his eyes. "I can't do anything of the type, because only Sestros knows how to get to that dimension." His face stung as his other half punched him hard enough to rattle his brain.

"Don't lie to me! You know how to save her…you…" Daniel was silenced as Rikuo head-butted him hard enough to knock him unconscious.

"I'm sorry partner…but this is where you lose your usefulness to our cause." Rikuo looked away in shame as he walked towards where Ryu had been. ("I understand the feeling of this situation…it will be a worldwide battle between Midnight's forces and us. And in this situation, Daniel would only bring ruin to us with his anger. His mate…my mate's other half…") His nails dug into his hand as hard as possible. "…is gone…"

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Ahran felt it like a kick to the head. He had his own body now…but he could tell that Ichigo had both Alahandra and Halo back in his mind. Because he was crying…and he wouldn't stop. "Ichigo…"

Ichigo continued to cry, his mind unable to accept the possibility that his mother was gone…and he wasn't there to even try to protect her. ("I have to be stronger…she can still be rescued!") Then he cried more, a deep pain burning within his chest.

("Ichigo-chan…please don't cry anymore…Rikuo will bring your mother back…") Alahandra felt a sudden mental hand over her mouth.

("Don't try to comfort him in this situation…because he won't accept it. His true purpose has revealed itself now…") Halo felt even his cold heart melt in sympathy for his host, but he wouldn't let his feelings interfere here. ("Ichigo Pilkington, this is the first test to your way to full demon power. To become a true warrior and a true demon duelist, you must first show all those who would threaten those you love that if they do so, they will die horrible and bloody deaths.")

Ichigo couldn't agree more…and from somewhere deep within his soul, a single spark of something flared…and then went silent once more. ("I…I feel…life?")

To be continued…