Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.
Author's Note: Ladies and Gentlemen, because of my bad attendance on chapter postings for this story that I know so many of you are dying to read more of, this is my gift to you. A three chapter bonus!
Tournament of Tears
Chapter 7: Ichigo's rash decision
Midnight sat in the silence of his private chamber, a smile on his face as he watched his forces slowly preparing themselves. ("A war is building…A war to bring the planet to its knees. I want to have both Rikuo and Jourgen at my feet by the time this is done, and I want them both begging for their lives. And if all goes according to plan, that is exactly what will happen.") "What is the progress of preparations?"
A wraith shimmered into existence next to him. "Everything is going as planned, master. However…we have company."
"Company?" Midnight felt outwards…and smiled even wider. "Ah, it's dear Ichigo. I knew he would come here irrationally, hence why I asked Sestros to warp the tournament screen to put him and the boy's mother against each other. After her horrible end, I'm sure he plans on killing both me and the Dark King. But in this case, it will never happen."
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"So where do you think that we are going?" Krieger whispered so quietly that only Erika managed to pick it up with her ears.
The demoness shook her head quietly to indicate she didn't know. Their hiding place only afforded them a little sight room, and most of it was of the deck of the speed boat that Ichigo had hijacked from Duelist Academy. They already knew he would have told them that they couldn't come, so they had snuck on board a short while beforehand. ("The look in his eyes is one of vengeance…he must have heard about his mother…") A tinge of warmth flushed her heart as she imagined how angry he must feel right now. ("He must be barely able to see straight…he just wants to find Midnight and tear his heart out.")
Memories of her experience with her father, Ryu, Midnight, and Sestros flashed through the demoness' head. And she felt strange tingles of both fear and excitement run through her blood. ("My dad is actually a god…which makes me a demi-god.")
Even though the situation was serious, Eri actually had a moment of daydreaming in which she had an army of worshippers under her command. The rest of the daydream was the normal 'take over the world' kind of thing.
Krieger stared at the giddy look on Eri's face for a few moments before he lost interest and tried to get a better look at Ichigo.
Ichigo glared straight ahead of him, unaffected by the winds that threatened to tear him right off the deck of the supercharged boat. With his powers as the Dark Halo, he had sped up the boat's engine to nearly impossible speeds. ("At this rate, I'll arrive at Midnight's position in an hour. And when I find the scum, I'll tear him apart with my bare hands.")
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Rikuo sighed. "So Ichigo took a boat and left?"
Ryu nodded. "Apparently all of the things that Midnight had done on Duelist Academy have been forgotten, because that is the biggest news around the campus at the moment. The Principal says that he won't forgive such delinquent actions, especially not from the Academy's champion."
Rikuo closed his eyes as he asked his next question, his decisions already coming back to haunt him. "What about Daniel? Has the Principal asked Daniel why Ichigo did what he did?"
"Yes…but Daniel offered no answer other than to break down and cry." Ryu sadly bowed his head in respect for the loss of Jennie. "You know exactly what is wrong with him…"
"When a demon loses their mate, they are placed within a position of one of two things. It is either rage…or the deepest sorrow imaginable. And because of how I acted when he wanted justice, he no longer wants vengeance…he wants to die." Rikuo felt like the biggest villain in the world, but he knew that if they didn't defeat Sestros and Midnight, then it wouldn't matter whether they got Jennie back or not. "For now, we continue with our plans."
Ryu took a deep breath and seemed to deflate for a moment, as his mind tried to flush out the mixed feelings he had about Rikuo's decision. "There are almost no other options then to wait for Midnight to make the first move. We sense his location, but you and I both know that charging into the snake's nest would be insanity."
"It doesn't matter now…" Rikuo looked away. "Just make sure that everyone who has the power to fight is ready to do so. Things won't settle down for even a single day. Midnight and Sestros are ready to fight us, and as such they will begin their conquering of the human world as soon as possible."
Ryu grimaced. "Indeed…let's prepare. Foolish actions will only bring disaster."
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An explosion shook the skyscraper Midnight was using for his human world base of operations. Alarms began to blare, and the sound of feet pounding on the floor could be heard as security ran towards the area where the disturbance had been reported.
And what they found when they got there scared them.
A single boy was just standing in the middle of the lobby to the building, his night black hair and eyes mixing with the now dark room. "I want Midnight. Bring him out."
The guards all lifted their guns at once. They had orders to kill anyone who was trespassing, and they were paid enough that the strange feeling of fear they felt wasn't a factor in their decisions.
Ichigo's dark glare washed over them all, one at a time. "I said for you to bring me Midnight. Do it."
Then they fired…
Ichigo stomped his foot into the earth and giant slabs of rock came up out of the ground, stopping every bullet from even getting close to him. "You all have some guts to simply start opening fire on me. I thought about holding back too…" He narrowed his eyes and disappeared.
Seconds later, he stood at the other end of the room. Every single guard was unconscious on the ground with heavy damage to their bodies. They would live, but he honestly didn't care if they did or not. ("Midnight is my target.")
"Halt!" A strong voice yelled.
Ichigo turned to look down the hallway and he saw a man who was wearing a red mask over his face. "And you are?"
"I am a Speaker of Midnight. My name is Shinegro." The Speaker lifted a duel disk, indicating he wanted to fight Ichigo right now.
"Very well." Ichigo lifted his arm to reveal his duel disk, already in place. "I accept your challenge."
Shinegro- 4000
Ichigo- 4000
Shinegro drew his opening hand and a sixth card. "I start, draw! From my hand I summon Castle Guard (0/2500) in defense mode. End turn." A giant metal statue of a soldier holding a shield appeared on the field.
Ichigo drew. "I summon Shining Force-Jet Pterodactyl (1300/700) to the field in defense mode." A giant pterodactyl appeared on the field, its wings wrapped around it defensively. "Also, I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn." As a card shimmered into existence behind his monster, he pointed at his opponent. "End turn."
Shinegro drew. "Now you will feel the true power of Midnight. First is Pot of Greed." A smiling green jar appeared on the field. "This card lets me draw two cards." While he drew two cards, a new card appeared on the field. "Now I activate Guardian Bounce. This magic card can only activate when all my monsters are face-up and in defense mode. I may send one monster on your field back to your hand!" A blast of energy came from his card and hit the dinosaur, making it disappear instantly.
Ichigo picked his monster up from the disk, though he seemed unaffected by the loss of his monster.
Shinegro placed a card onto his disk. "I summon out Castle Crusher!" (1500/1000) A huge steel statue of a warrior holding a giant hammer appeared on the field. "Attack his life points directly!" The monster launched across the field and slammed its weapon down onto Ichigo's body.
Shinegro- 4000
Ichigo- 2500
Shinegro also set two cards into his disk. "I set two cards face-down on the field and end my turn."
Ichigo drew, still seemingly unaffected by the heavy blow he had just taken. "I summon Shining Force-Hyperion (1600/1400) to the field in attack mode!" A silver and gold-covered warrior appeared on the field in a flash of light. "Also, I play this magic card from my hand. It's called Hyper Punch. This card can only activate when Hyperion is in play. My monster can attack all monsters that you have in play, and when it hits a monster stronger than itself, that monster is destroyed after damage calculation! Go Hyper Punch!" Hyperion flashed out of sight, and both the Castle Crusher and Castle Guard were blown apart.
Shinegro- 3950
Ichigo- 1600
Shinegro braced himself against the backlash, and pointed at one of his set cards. "Reveal Conscription! This trap lets me look at the top card of your deck! If it is a monster card that can be normal summoned, then it is special summoned to my field! Otherwise, it goes into your hand!" The card appeared in front of both of them. It was Shining Force-Marble Guardian. (800/2000)
As the white marble statue appeared on the field in front of Shinegro, his face-down card flipped up. "Now I reveal Total Annihilation! This card activates when a monster is summoned to my field! All monsters that share title words with this monster are destroyed!" Both Marble Guardian and Hyperion were destroyed in one blinding flash of fire.
Ichigo frowned. "End turn."
Shinegro drew. "I set three cards face-down on the field and set one monster face-down. End turn." As the four cards shimmered into existence, Shinegro started to chuckle. "So far, I don't see how you are that dangerous."
Ichigo drew. "I summon Shining Force-Jet Pterodactyl!" The dinosaur appeared on the field once more.
"What's that pitiful thing going to do?" Shinegro started to snicker, but then he saw Ichigo's face-down card flip up. "What is…"
"It's Jet Backlash. This card can only activate when Jet Pterodactyl is in play. Both Jet Pterodactyl and one monster on your field are returned to their owner's hands." Ichigo barely flinched as his monster vanished and the card appeared in his hand again.
Shinegro didn't seem quite so happy though, considering he had planned to use his Morphing Jar's effect to get a fresh hand.
Ichigo slid another card into his disk. "Shining Jar can only activate when I have no cards in play and at least one Shining Force monster in my graveyard. I draw three cards." As three cards left his deck, Shinegro's hand started to hover over his disk. ("He plans on using traps to destroy whatever I summon…") "Now I play Shining Revival, which allows me to return any one Shining Force monster from my graveyard to my hand." He held up Hyperion. "Now your defeat is assured in this turn. I activate the magic card Soul Switch! From my hand, one monster will be shuffled into my deck. Then a monster of the same level will be added from my deck to my hand! My choice is Jet Pterodactyl for Gale Spirit Ryu!" (1200/800)
Shinegro knew what was coming. ("He plans on using Spirit Galion to try and defeat me…fool.")
Ichigo held up his Pot of Greed. "Now for the last part of my killing strike." He snapped up three cards from his hand. "Polymerization! Emerge Shining Force-Spirit Galion!" (1800/1200) A flash of energy washed over the field as the dragon-armored warrior was summoned. "Now it's over. I set two cards face-down on the field and activate Building Tempest!" Wind swirled to life around them. "This card allows me to special summon one wind monster from my hand to the field! If, afterwards, a level six or higher wind monster is summoned, all magic and traps in play are destroyed and their owners each take 500 points of damage per lost card!" Jet Pterodactyl screeched its battle cry as it appeared on the field.
"How can you summon another wind monster without any cards in your hand?" Shinegro felt fear now, because he could feel the building energy around Ichigo's body.
Ichigo's deck released a blast of light. "Activate the effect of Midnight Hawk! When there are no cards in my hand I may fuse this monster from my deck with any monsters I have in play!" A building tornado of power rose up from his field. "Come, Shining Force-Lord of Winds!" (3200/2500) A six-winged monster appeared on the field, the entire room shaking as it started to suck in all of the wind around it. "Now go Building Tempest!" All five set cards on the field exploded into dust.
Shinegro- 2450
Ichigo- 600
Shinegro gasped as he realized what was about to happen. "This cannot be…"
"Four Winds Crash!" Lord of Winds disappeared within a tornado that swallowed up Shinegro and blew the Speaker into dust.
Shinegro- 0
Ichigo- 600
Ichigo shuffled up his deck and continued to walk towards the elevator. "I'm coming for you Midnight, and your little puppets can't stop me!"
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Midnight sighed and rolled his eyes. "Why do I even summon these pitiful Speakers if they just keep getting destroyed? Oh well, I'll simply keep sending them until the boy's powers are drained. Since I can't use my full power, he might actually be a threat to me…if but a minimal one."
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Eri and Krieger ran into the empty lobby, their eyes wide at the destruction that Ichigo had caused in exactly five minutes. ("We have to hurry up and catch him!")
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As the cheesy elevator music played in the background, Ichigo gulped as he felt his energy momentarily wane. ("I'm getting tired…already? No, rest will come later. For now I must kill Midnight.")
To be continued…