Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.
Tournament of Tears
Chapter 8: Continuing Assault…and Regret
The Mediator dropped to his knees at the massacre he found in his private dimensional quarters. "Heart…Mind…Hand…" His eyes closed and he punched the ground as hard as he could. "Those animals…why would they do this to you?"
The corpses strung up along the walls didn't have any answers for him though.
("I only wanted to bring her back from the dead…") The Mediator lifted his head up to look at the giant painting on his wall. It was of a woman in golden garbs. "Celestia…my love…"
So long ago, he had lost his true love to a deadly soul-wasting disease. Despite the fact that he had the power to bring the dead back to life, this disease had completely and utterly destroyed his chances of doing it properly. And so he went into a deep depression, and his mind started to slip. He had once been a powerful warrior of the highest caliber…and then he learned of the human world and its wonders. The powerful beings there could have possibly been his answer to rescuing his true love. Once the tournament had ended, he was going to duel the winner. If he won, then the winner would use their immense power to revive his true love's soul. But now…that dream was gone.
"I've lost it all." The Mediator slowly stood up and started to cry quietly. ("My servants are dead, my tournament has ended…and my love will forever remain but a memory now.") He wished with all of his heart that it wasn't the case…but he knew the truth. No one would help him now. ("I have one of two choices available to me. Either I go to the human world and try to help defeat those two beasts…or I stay here in this dimension and live with my sorrow forever…")
His sobs echoed out from amongst the empty corridors of his dimensional hotel. There was no answer in sight…he needed time to think.
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Ichigo snarled as the elevator door refused to open on the second floor, which is where it had stopped on. ("Is this some kind of bull…") He lifted his hand and pressed it against the metal of the door.
Seconds later the steel caved in and Ichigo strolled into a much smaller lobby than the one he had left. "Hey Midnight, come out before I trash your building!"
Footsteps caught his attention immediately. "I am your opponent for now, Halo." The speaker was a man wearing a blue mask.
"Another Speaker of Midnight?" Ichigo snarled. "Why do I have to keep fighting these pitiful weaklings? Where is Midnight?"
"Defeat me and you shall see." The blue masked Speaker's disk clicked into position.
Two minutes later…
Ichigo tapped his foot a couple of times on the stone. "Well? Where is he?"
"The top of the tower…" The blue masked Speaker exploded into dust.
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Midnight sighed loudly. "So single Speakers are no longer even a slight challenge to him, huh?" His hands rubbed his chin for a moment, before he snapped his fingers. "I call upon you…Jyashin, Haku, Julius, Silence."
Dark smoke filled the room…and then four forms emerged.
The first was of a dark suit of samurai armor, with no human inside it. "Jyashin has come to your call, master Midnight."
Standing alongside the suit of armor was a young boy wearing all leather clothing. "I don't know why you needed to call so many of us, boss. Just I, Haku, will be enough to beat the intruder."
"Shut up, stupid child. If anyone will beat him, it is I, Julius." The third speaker was a man wearing a tank-top and a pair of summer shorts with sunglasses on.
"…." The fourth speaker was a pale tiny woman in pure white robes.
Midnight sighed. "Just go and deal with the intruder. Honestly, I just want him dead now."
"Yes sir!" All but Silence said, right before they disappeared.
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Ichigo reached the fifth floor, blowing through each and every Speaker he met on the way up. ("This is getting ridiculous indeed.") Then he felt four building signals of fairly significant energy near him. ("Ah…here's something.") Ichigo knew that Halo was currently controlling his actions, but he didn't mind. The dark spirit had an agenda against Midnight, so Ichigo didn't mind letting him do the fighting until they actually got to Midnight.
The four Speakers formed at the other end of the long hallway, each one a different distance from Ichigo. "Now you face all of us!"
Ichigo shrugged it off, because he realized that they all wanted to duel him separately. "Shall we make it a chain game then?"
They all nodded. ("Perfect...he may keep his field at the start of each duel, but his life points also are that way.")
Ichigo's duel disk clicked into place and he inserted his deck. "Who's first?"
"That would be me." Julius stepped forward, his disk in place. "And I'll go first."
"Fine." Ichigo yawned. "Duel!"
Julius- 4000
Ichigo- 4000
Julius drew roughly, as if he was in a rush to defeat Ichigo. "Now I summon Dark Logic (100/100) to the field in defense mode." A floating grey brain appeared on the field. "While this monster is in play I can draw an extra card during my draw phase. Also, I set two cards face-down on the field and end my turn." Two cards flashed into existence behind the brain, while snickers came from the other speakers.
Ichigo drew. "Then let me bring this duel to its close as quickly as I can! First I play the magic card Graceful Charity to let me draw three cards, as long as I discard two from my hand after doing so." He slid three cards off of his deck and a slight smile crossed his face. ("This setup will help me keep my resources as the duels against these four move along. So firstly I'll discard Hyperion and Polymerization.") Sliding the two hand cards into his graveyard, he licked his lips and eyed Julius' field like a hungry man looks at a buffet. "Now I play Polymerization, fusing Flux Beetle and Jet Pterodactyl from my hand to special summon out Shining Force-Jet Beetle!" (2500/2300) A giant green beetle that looked like it was meant to fly appeared on the field. "Now go, attack his Dark Logic!"
"Reveal Dark Matter!" Julius' face-down card flipped up. "This trap card activates when my Dark Logic falls under attack by the likes of you. It will negate the attack and destroy your monster!"
Ichigo smiled calmly. "Are you so sure about that? Go Jet Beetle! Charging Slam!" The insect opened its wings and charged right at the brain. A glowing ball of black energy appeared on the field, but was suddenly dissipated into little wisps of black. "Jet Beetle cannot be affected by trap or magic cards while it is attacking. Also, it deals damage through defense!" Dark Logic was instantly annihilated, and then Julius was struck hard by the power of the charging insect monster.
Julius- 1600
Ichigo- 4000
Ichigo held up a finger. "But I'm not done yet. I also set…"
Julius stumbled to his feet angrily. "I'm not finished yet! Reveal Dark Return! This trap can only activate when Dark Logic is destroyed as a result of battle! It returns in defense mode!" The grey brain appeared on the field once more.
Ichigo rolled his eyes. "As I was saying, I set two cards face-down on the field and activate Coins from Heaven. Now we both draw until we are holding six cards in our hand." While he drew a whole new hand of six cards, his opponent only got three cards. "Alright, I'll end my turn here. I need to preserve these cards for your friends."
Julius growled and drew two cards. "I'll crush you with my mental prowess! From my hand I activate three quickplay magic cards, which are all called Dark Wave! This card can only be activated while Dark Logic is on the field. Now you must guess what type of card is the card I present to you. If you guess correctly, then you may either draw one card or shuffle two cards from your graveyard into your deck. If you are wrong, then I may do that instead." He held up three cards.
"The first is a trap. The second is a magic. The third is also a magic." Ichigo did this off of instinct, and off the fact that his opponent probably didn't run any monsters but Dark Logic.
Julius snickered. "Wrong on the first two, right on the last." Energy flowed from the three Dark Wave cards on the field. "Now I choose to draw two cards, while you get to either shuffle one card from your graveyard into your deck, or you get to draw one card."
Ichigo grasped a card from within his graveyard slot and shuffled it back into his deck. "I choose to return Graceful Charity to my deck."
Julius held up a card from his hand. "Now your field is finished! I activate Dark Break! This magic card can only be activated if there is a Dark Logic in play and three Dark Wave magic cards in my graveyard! All cards on your field are returned to their owner's deck!"
Ichigo frowned as his Jet Beetle returned to his fusion deck, while his two set cards disappeared back into his deck. "Impressive, but you don't run anything other than Dark Logic monster-wise, so I'm safe."
"You're quite right, but that doesn't mean you are safe by a long shot! From my hand, I activate the magic cards Dark Crush and Dark Pull! The first magic card can only activate if I have a Dark Logic in play and you have no cards in play! You take 2000 points of damage!" A wave of mental energy came from the grey brain, which washed over Ichigo and left him on his knees.
Julius- 1600
Ichigo- 2000
Julius sneered as his other played card started to glow. "Dark Pull is a quickplay magic card that can be activated whenever I play a magic card with Dark in the title. If the other magic card deals life point damage, I gain back that much life!"
Julius- 3600
Ichigo- 2000
"And finally I set one card face-down. For my last move though, I'll play this!" Julius snapped his hand card up. "Dark Copy! This card lets me copy one card in your graveyard! Afterwards, that card is shuffled into your deck. I choose Coins from Heaven!" Six cards left his deck and were now his new hand. "Luckily for you, if the card effect I copy is a draw effect then my turn ends immediately."
Ichigo stumble to his feet and drew. ("I won't lose…for my mother's sake, I won't lose!") "From my hand I play Shining Jar! This magic card allows me to draw three cards if I have no cards in play and at least one Shining Force is in my graveyard!" He drew three cards and fanned them out. The cards in his hand were mostly unusable at the moment, but maybe these three would give him an option. "And I see my option! First I play Cyclone!" Julius' face-down card shattered into dust as a blast of wind hit it. "Also, I play Shining Hero! From my deck comes one light attribute Shining Force monster! Shining Force-Heal Angel!" (1600/0) An angel wearing golden robes appeared on the field. "Attack his Dark Logic now!" She flew across the field and brushed her hands across the brain's surface, blowing it apart instantly. "Finally, I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
Julius rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "You think you can beat me that easily?" He drew. "I play the magic card Dark Revival. Dark Logic is special summoned back to my field." The grey brain reappeared on the field. "Now I play Dark Blank. This continuous magic card can only be activated when Dark Logic is on the field. If and when Dark Shuffle is activated, you only may draw half the number of cards you shuffled into your deck. However…now I defeat you with another Dark Blank…and then another!" Two more of the continuous magic cards appeared on the field. "When there are three of these in play, you may not draw cards through the effect of Dark Shuffle. Now I play another Dark Break!"
Ichigo gasped as his Heal Angel and his set card vanished back into his deck. ("This deck is so strange…")
Julius held up a single card. "And now I activate the power of Dark Shuffle. This card can only be activated when you have no cards in play and Dark Logic is on my field. You shuffle your hand into your deck and then draw the same number of cards…but in this case you don't get that option thanks to Dark Blank!"
Ichigo snarled and shuffled his entire hand into his deck. After that, he simply reinserted the deck into its slot and stood helpless. ("I can't lose to this guy…I can't…")
Julius smirked and held up his last card. "Now I play Dark Shatter. This card destroys all magic and trap cards in play as long as Dark Logic is on the field." A blast of dark psychic energy blew the three Dark Blanks apart. "When Dark Blank is destroyed, it is removed from the game. And when the only people who lost cards to the effect of Dark Shatter are me, then you lose 500 life points per card."
Ichigo paled as Dark Logic started to scream, and he dropped to his knees in complete and utter pain.
Julius- 3600
Ichigo- 500
Julius sighed. "This is truly what master Midnight called the four of us out for? You're barely worth the time. End turn."
Ichigo opened his eyes and stood up. "That broke it…you're losing right now!" He drew. "From my hand, I summon Shining Force-Element Commander!" (700/500) A cyborg appeared on the field. "When this monster is summoned and I have no cards on my field, I may draw two cards." After he drew two cards, he pointed at Dark Logic. "Go Element Flash!" Lightning came from the machine's hand as it blew the grey brain apart instantly. "Now I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
Julius drew. "You think I'm in danger of losing? First I play Pot of Greed." He drew two more cards and placed one onto his disk. "Now I summon another Dark Logic." Another of the brains appeared on the field. "Also, I play my last Dark Break." Ichigo's field faded away into his deck. "End turn."
Ichigo drew. "I summon Shining Force-Dark Reaper to the field!" (1000/1700) A hooded Grim Reaper appeared in play. "Attack!" It leapt across the field and slashed its scythe right through the Dark Logic. "Now my turn ends."
Julius drew. "I play Dark Lost. This card activates when I have no cards on the field or in my hand. I draw two cards." He placed a card onto his disk from his two new cards. "My final Dark Logic, along with one card face-down on the field. End turn."
Ichigo drew. "I set one monster face-down on the field and attack with Dark Reaper!" The Grim Reaper leapt across the field and slashed through the face-down monster…and then it and the set monster were blown apart. "What?"
"My face-down card was Dark Retribution. This trap can only activate when Dark Logic is destroyed as a result of battle. All monsters in play are destroyed." Julius shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry boy, but you won't win…"
Ichigo sneered coldly. "That's where you're wrong! The effect of my face-down Shining Force-Aroma Revival Flower (0/1600) is that when it is destroyed by an effect, I add one Polymerization from my graveyard to my hand and I draw one card." Ichigo fanned his new hand out…and when he looked at the drawn card he nodded to some invisible force. "It ends here! Go Shining Fusion!" Light exploded from his graveyard. "The monsters in my graveyard fuse together now…and then are returned to my deck! So I fuse Dark Reaper with Aroma Revival Flower to create…Shining Force-Flower Reaper!" (1500/2400) A wooden version of the Dark Reaper appeared on the field. "When this monster is fusion summoned, if my opponent has no cards in play…it reduces his life points to zero! Vines of Undeath!" Huge vines exploded out of the ground and wrapped up Julius….until he exploded into dust.
Julius- 0
Ichigo- 500
Jyashin stomped up next, and shuffled his deck together. "Now then little man, are you ready to face me?"
("No…I'm not.") Ichigo knew he had to, but he was tired after just one duel…how would he manage to beat all four of these annoyances if they were all as strong as his first opponent. "Duel!"
Ichigo- 500
Jyashin- 4000
To be continued…
I'm exhausted…but I can't give up until I've reached Midnight and I have beaten him!
Ichigo, stop straining yourself!
Get out of my way Eri, I'm doing this with or without you!