Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.
Tournament of Tears
Chapter 11: The Arrival of the First Priest of Midnight
Midnight smirked calmly and sat back in his chair. "So now it's all ready to begin. Soon the ritual to begin the end of the world will come about, and then my job will be done. I'll be able to destroy it all in the name of my lost wife…and burn down the grave of those who opposed us."
A wraith formed next to him. "Master…High Priest Uremorus has arrived."
"Excellent." Midnight tapped his fingers together. "Then all is ready to occur in time. Very soon, the battle will end. First though, I must defeat the rest of the duelists who oppose me. Obviously Rikuo and Jourgen, but the children are threats as well. Though I must admit, the power of Pilkington's son might actually be some kind of a threat to my well-being, considering he possesses the power of a demon, a goddess and the Dark Halo. It's incredible to think he is blessed by so many forces at once. Hence why I will personally dispose of him in the end. For now though…" He smirked as five shadowed forms appeared behind his throne. "Greetings, my servants."
"Greetings, our god Midnight." All five of them said in unison.
"Step forward, Uremorus." Midnight heard the approach of his High Priest, and felt tingles run up his spine. Soon the whole world would be theirs to destroy. "I wish to speak with you about a group of interlopers who are causing me trouble. I want you to send one of your lower priests to deal with them."
"As you wish, master." Uremorus turned to face his four lower priests. "Which of you four wish to obey the will of our master?"
"I do." A shadowed form stepped forward. "My name is Revin. I shall defeat them all." He turned and faded from sight.
Midnight smirked. "Excellent…soon it will all be over for them."
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Rikuo snarled and kicked Ichigo once more in the ribs. "For the last time, tell me what happened in there!"
Ichigo sneered and stuck out his tongue at Rikuo. "And if I don't, what will you do? Will you kill me? Or maybe you will fight me?" He struggled against the heavy chains that held him in place.
Rikuo grabbed Ichigo's head by a handful of the boy's ridiculously long hair and forced him to his feet. "I'm not in the mood to tolerate your stupid protests! Just tell me what happened?"
Ichigo glared right into Rikuo's eyes…and then smirked. "I put her soul to a much better use than whatever she had intended to do. You see, I figured out this great method to put all of your souls to use in defeating Midnight. By using my Siphon Soul shadow magic card, I can remove the souls from all surrounding living beings and place them within the blank slates that are the Soul Force cards. Every soul is incredibly powerful when harnessed, and the best way to harness it was to place it within a card. I have the perfect dueling deck…and I'll use it to destroy Midnight. Afterwards, I'll let the souls go."
Ryu was both aghast and impressed at that idea. ("It's horribly ruthless, but ridiculously effective.")
Rikuo narrowed his eyes. "Let them out of those cards, right now. What happened to the compassionate Ichigo we knew?"
"He's being put to the best use to save his mother from Sestros." Ichigo sneered. "I'm not the pansy weakling that you all know, and I'm not a cold-hearted spirit like that stupid Halo either."
"Then what are you?" Ryu was fairly certain he knew, but he wanted to hear it straight from the mouth of the subject.
"I'm the thing that Ichigo has lacked since birth…and that Eri has lacked as well. Their demonic heritage." Ichigo barely flinched when Rikuo punched him across the cheek as hard as possible.
"You dare to say that my daughter wasn't a true demon?" Rikuo snarled darkly and started to squeeze Ichigo's neck to the point of breaking it. "Now you die."
Ichigo's hand snapped out and grasped Rikuo's hand, the chains tearing like wet paper as a burning red aura sprang to life around him. "Remove your hand from me, before I decide you're on the list of beings I have to kill to get to Sestros."
Rikuo let go and snarled darkly. There was never a better time for him to change to his god form, but until Midnight and Sestros were defeated his powers were sealed. "I'll kick your ass after all this madness has ended."
"That time will never come." Ichigo looked towards the warehouse doors. "How about you let me out and I go back to work on Midnight's forces, since I am at full power again."
"That's not an option." Ryu sighed. "Thanks to you, Midnight has begun his attack on New York already. Now the streets are crawling with wraiths. As such, we have to plan our attack carefully."
Rikuo scoffed. "I hate this…we should have just fought them while we were in our god forms and ended it there."
"And then reality would have collapsed…bad plan." Ryu glanced at Ichigo. "So you're…a different spirit?"
"Strike one." Ichigo held up a single finger and winked. "Try again."
"Then are you another personality, like a multiple personality disorder?" The dragon demon didn't like games, and this was no exception.
"Strike two." Ichigo turned to show off his long tail, which nearly went to the ground. "I'll give you a clue. I'm what the children lacked."
"You're…" Ryu's eyes widened. "So that's it…you're a Demon Splinter."
"More or less." Ichigo chuckled. "Because of Ichigo's half-blood and his physical attunement to being a human more than being a demon, I was created. I was a sleeper up until the point he started to wish for more power…even more so than what the Dark Halo afforded him." Turning to face the two full-blooded demons, he sneered enough to show off his fangs. "I granted his wish by waking up. I am all of those hot emotions that Ichigo never could express properly…and I am stronger than anything the rest of you could be."
("There's no lack of ego, which is definitely a wolf demon trait that Ichigo normally never had.") Ryu looked over at Rikuo, who was currently bristling at the mere sight of Ichigo. "You hate it because this is what you wanted your daughter to become?"
"Shut up, Iguana." Rikuo turned and kicked the huge metal door off of its hinges, stomping off into the night.
Griff and Kenshin poked their heads into the warehouse cautiously. "Ummm…."
"It's alright." Ryu rubbed his eyes. ("A Demon Splinter…Rikuo wanted Eri's to come out, since all half demons have one. But no matter how he raised her, she wouldn't change. I find it amusing that Daniel's method of raising his son, plus conditions…equaled exactly what Rikuo was working so hard for.")
Ichigo snickered at Rikuo as the demon left. "Pissed off?"
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Deondre ran over another wraith as he launched towards the center of New York, where he could feel the building energies of Midnight's forces. His motorcycle was running out of gas, and as such he needed to hurry up and get there before he was reduced to walking. Then he saw the almost living barricade of wraiths ahead. Leaping off of his motorcycle, he let the vehicle crash through their ranks. "So, it looks like I'll have to fight then." He lifted up his duel disk…
And then lowered it as a whole car went crashing through the mob of wraiths, dispelling them instantly. ("CJ's here then?")
That thought was lost as soon as he saw what came blazing in at full speed. ("It's…Daniel?") He'd never seen his friend actually throw anything that heavy…and yet at the speed Daniel was moving he was amazed that he had never thought about it until the time.
"I'll take you all on right now!" Daniel's claws slashed another two wraiths. "I'll kill you all if it will take me to my wife! Bring me Sestros!"
Deondre started to run towards Daniel. And then he was sent flying away as a blast of force threw Daniel into him and they both were sent away.
"I'm afraid I can't let either of you go any farther." A black-robed form approached the two fallen demons slowly. "If either of you wish to proceed farther, you must both defeat me."
Deondre came to his feet first, while Daniel still seemed more than a little bit emotionally unstable at the moment. "Who are you?"
"My name is Revin, a priest of his almighty lord Midnight." The man withdrew his hood to reveal a mass of ocean green hair and a pair of eyes that were the same color. "And I cannot allow you to continue causing my god any more problems. So therefore we will now duel, and the winner will be free to do what they will. The loser however…will not be quite so fortunate."
Deondre's duel disk clicked into place. "Fine, I'll brush you aside and then we can move on! Come on Daniel, let's get him!"
Daniel slowly stood up, his teeth bared and his disk already in place. "I'll kill you!"
"Two on one?" Revin nodded. "So be it. Let us begin." The street seemed to clear itself of all rubble instantly, as the sight for the duel was determined to be here.
Deondre- 4000
Daniel- 4000
Revin- 4000
Deondre drew his opening hand. "Let the game begin! From my hand I play the magic card Magician's Summon! Any spellcaster in my hand can now be special summoned to the field!" A purple-robed spellcaster appeared in play. "Dark Magician (2500/2100) comes out now! I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
"Draw!" Daniel opened his field magic card slot and slammed a card home. "Clock Tower activates now!" All around them the landscape changed to reveal the internal body of a huge clock. "All Clockwork monsters in play now gain 200 attack and defense points! Also, I summon Clockwork Alarm (2000/0) to the field!" A giant misshapen piles of gears appeared on the field. "And like all monsters in Clock Tower, it gets stronger!" (2200/0) "Also, I set two cards face-down on the field and end my turn."
Revin smiled at the determination in their voices. "I shall respect you both by not holding back. From my hand I play the field magic card Temple of Midnight!" All around them the field warped and changed as it turned into the insides of a giant black stone temple. "This field magic card cannot be removed from the field, so your Clock Tower card is sent to the graveyard. Also, all monsters with Midnight in their title gain 500 attack points."
Both Deondre and Daniel could feel the power of this place…and it was terrifying to their senses.
"Now I'm sure you both have dealt with the field magic card called the Seal of Orichalcos, correct?" When both of them shook their heads, Revin frowned. "Then allow me to educate you. While this card is in play, I can use my magic and trap card zone to play my monster cards in, which allows me to have a back row of monsters that you cannot attack until you clear away my front row of monsters."
Deondre didn't like this idea, because he knew of many monsters that just by being on the field made themselves a threat.
Daniel didn't care beyond wanting to tear this bastard apart and move on to Sestros.
Revin slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down on the field, and I also summon Midnight Golem (700/1300) to the field." A giant pitch black metal colossus appeared on the field. "And as I said, all monsters with Midnight in their title gain 500 attack points." (1200/1300) "Also, I activate the magic card Dark God's summoning, which lets me special summon one monster from my hand to the back row of my field." A giant strange black metal statue appeared on the field. "So I special summon Midnight Controller (0/1600) and increase its attack with my field magic card." (500/1600) "Now my turn is complete."
Deondre drew. ("Now I'll take down his monster and wipe out his life points with this card!") He held up a magic card. "I activate Dark Magic Attack! This card can only activate when I have a Dark Magician in play! All of your magic and trap cards in play will be destroyed, but during this turn Dark Magician cannot attack!" His spellcaster snapped up its staff and released a huge burst of magic that destroyed Revin's face-down card, though it couldn't eliminate the Temple of Midnight. "Then, to attack you, I'll sacrifice my Dark Magician to summon my Dark Magician Girl!" His spellcaster disappeared and was replaced by a female version of itself. (2000/1700) "For every Dark Magician in my graveyard, this monster's attack points rise up by 300!" (2300/1700)
Revin smiled. "Impressive play. By using the effect of Dark Magic Attack, you cleared the field of any threats to your monsters. And then you sacrificed your monster to summon a creature that gains attack points because of the sacrifice. You are truly a strong duelist…"
"Dark Magician Girl, attack his Golem with Dark Burning!" The magician girl released a blast of pink energy from her wand that hit the golem, but it didn't shatter. "So it's immune to battle?"
"That's right." Revin continued to smile. "My Midnight Golem cannot be destroyed as a result of battle. However, I still take the overflow damage like any duelist would."
Deondre- 4000
Daniel- 4000
Revin- 2900
Deondre breathed a quick sigh of relief at that. ("Good, at least we can damage him during this turn.") "My turn is done."
Daniel had barely been listening. "Draw! Clockwork Alarm, attack his monster now!" The giant machine charged across the field and slammed into the Golem.
Deondre- 4000
Daniel- 4000
Revin- 2100
Right as the Alarm returned to its owner's field, it dropped to one knee. "When Clockwork Alarm attacks, it switches into defense mode after the battle." Daniel held up a new card. "However, the power of my quickplay magic card will change that right now! Go System Overdrive!" The Alarm stood up and started to make insane whirring noises. "At the end phase of this turn, my monster will be destroyed. However, it switches into attack mode and can now attack once more! Go!"
Revin shrugged. "Then I suppose I will take more damage."
"More than just a little damage! From my hand I play Limiter Removal! The attack of all machine monsters I have in play will be increased by double!" (4000/0) "Take this Revin, Alarm Basher!"
Revin frowned as the machine slammed into his Golem. "You're truly attempting to defeat me? Then I must activate the effect of my Midnight Controller right now!" The statue started to glow. "Once per turn, this monster can permanently seize control of one monster on the opponent's field! My choice is of course…Clockwork Alarm!" The misshapen monster started to slow down…
Daniel slid the last card in his hand into his disk. "I activate the quickplay magic card Mystic Wok, sacrificing my powered up Clockwork Alarm to gain its attack in life points!" The machine disappeared before it could be taken control of.
Deondre- 4000
Daniel- 8000
Revin- 2100
Revin continued to smile warmly. "Well played…well played indeed."
Daniel felt like tearing this jerk's head off. "You're mocking me!"
"Not at all." Revin glanced at the two duelists he was facing. "I simply appreciate the power of a good opponent, and both of you are very strong warriors."
Deondre didn't respond, though he rather liked this kind of opponent. ("I beat him and he congratulates me…nice deal.")
Daniel spat onto the temple floor. "Whatever…my turn is done."
Revin drew, and tsked at the wolf demon. "Now now…that isn't right. You should know better than to defile someone's temple." He held up the drawn card. "For that, I must chastise you. I activate Pot of Greed." Two cards left his deck and he inserted two of them into his disk. "I set two cards face-down on the field and then I'll play the magic card Temple Cleansing. This card can only be activated when Temple of Midnight is in play. When this card is activated, all monsters in play that do not have Midnight in their title will be destroyed and all duelists on the field that do not worship Midnight will be dealt 1000 points of damage."
Deondre- 3000
Daniel- 7000
Revin- 2100
Deondre braced himself as his Dark Magician Girl screamed in pain and exploded into dust. ("That's screwed up…of all the ways to take her down…a religious cleansing?")
Revin glanced down at the spot where the spittle had landed, which was now clean. "Please do not attempt to defile this temple anymore. End turn."
Deondre drew. "Hey Daniel, don't do that again please."
"Screw you." Daniel glared at Revin…and then a dark smile crossed his face. "I won't be respectful to anyone who has angered me like this guy has…" He kneeled and ran his claws across the floor, leaving slight gashes in the stone.
Revin narrowed his eyes and then pointed at one of his two face-down cards. "I reveal the trap card Purge the Infidel. This card can only activate if Temple of Midnight is in play with the only monsters in play being monsters with Midnight in their title. Now one player will take 3000 points of damage. My apologies."
Deondre paled and looked at his set card. ("My face-down card is made to oppose any and all attacks…except for direct damage effects.")
Daniel closed his eyes and smiled slightly. "Hit me all you like…I'll take it as a method of paying back Jennie for my failure to protect her." Then the trap card blasted him right in the chest, dropping him to the ground, unmoving.
Deondre stood there, unsure of what had just happened. ("Did Daniel activate a trap to redirect the damage to himself? Or…") He realized right then what happened. ("Revin chose Daniel as the target instead of me, even though the effect of his card would have beaten me?")
Deondre- 3000
Daniel- 4000
Revin- 2100
Revin sighed. "I truly dislike doing that, but for defiling this temple you must pay." Then he looked over at Deondre. "Continue your turn, if you please."
After taking a moment to pray that Revin's last face-down card wasn't something that could kill him, he slid two cards into his disk. "I set two cards face-down on the field. Also, I'll summon Apprentice Magician (400/800) to the field in defense mode." A blond-haired spellcaster appeared on the field in a crouching position. "After that, I'll end my turn."
Daniel slowly stood up, blood dripping from the corners of his lips. "Good…keep making me feel pain. I want to remember what I am fighting for." He drew. "Now I summon Clockwork Grandfather (0/1400) to the field in attack mode and end my turn." A giant grandfather clock appeared on the field.
Revin drew. "I have no problem with you…" He looked to Deondre. "But your friend seems to have a problem with respecting my holy temple. For that…he must pay dearly! I summon Midnight Caretaker (800+5001300/900) to the field, and I'll place it in my back row of monsters." A priest in black robes holding a broom appeared on the field. "This monster's special ability allows me to protect my Midnight monsters from the dangerous effects of magic cards. Now I'll attack your Clockwork Grandfather with my Golem!" The giant black monster stomped across the field and drove its fist towards Daniel's machine.
"Reverse card open!" One of Daniel's two face-down cards flipped up to reveal a picture of a stopwatch that was half buried in sand. "Time Jump pushes the turn count of this duel forward by three!" A silver stopwatch appeared on the field and started to tick forwards. "And for every full turn that passes while Clockwork Grandfather is in play, its attack power goes up by 500, to a maximum of 2000!" (1500/1400) A blast of energy came from the grandfather clock as it blew the Golem back with a beam of energy.
Deondre- 3000
Daniel- 4000
Revin- 1900
Revin pointed at his face-down card, which flipped up. "I activate Temple Justice. This card activates when a battle between two monsters ends and neither of them is destroyed. My monster, because it has Midnight in the title, wins the battle by gaining attack points equal to the half of the attack of your monster." (2050/1300) The Golem charged forward and punched through the Grandfather Clock, blowing it apart. "Also, during the battle you will take the attack of your monster in damage."
Deondre- 3000
Daniel- 1950
Revin- 1900
Daniel clutched at his chest and coughed up blood onto the temple's floor.
Deondre gasped, mostly because he knew how Revin acted when the temple was defiled. And last he checked, blood on the floor was considered defilement.
Revin pointed at Daniel. "Now I attack with my Caretaker." The broom-carrying priest released a blast of energy from its hand that hurtled towards Daniel's stumbling form.
Deondre gritted his teeth and pointed at one of his set cards. "I reveal the trap card Dimensional Wall! The direct damage Daniel would take is now dealt to you!" Then the beam disappeared from in front of Daniel and appeared behind Revin, where it continued to move and slammed right into his back.
Deondre- 3000
Daniel- 1950
Revin- 700
Revin looked over at Deondre…and then smiled again. "You truly wish to protect him then? So be it…I won't hold back against you either." He caught a card as it came out of his graveyard. "I'm sure you remember the first card I set face-down, which you so casually destroyed? It was called Midnight Offering, and it can be removed from my graveyard to let me draw two cards." Sliding two more cards off of his deck, the priest pointed at Daniel. "Attack his life points directly, my Controller!" The metal idol released a blast of black energy that slammed into Daniel roughly, shoving him to his back.
Deondre- 3000
Daniel- 1450
Revin- 700
Revin fanned out his remaining two cards and then flipped one over. "Now I'll activate the magic card Temple's Healers. This magic card can only activate when Temple of Midnight is in play and my life points are under 1000. I gain 2000 life points."
Deondre- 3000
Daniel- 1450
Revin- 2700
"Also, I shall set this last card face-down on the field and end my turn." Revin glanced over at the kneeling and still-bleeding Daniel. "You must be removed before you cause any stains."
Deondre snarled and drew. "It's my turn, so I'll draw!" ("Daniel, you're not in your right state of mind at the moment. I'll protect you until the end though, because that is what friends do!") He looked at the drawn card and then flipped it up. "I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000) to the field!" A scarlet-armored spellcaster in armor appeared on the field. "When this monster is summoned it is given a magic counter!" (1900/1000) "Now it attacks!" The spellcaster leapt towards the Golem…
"Reverse card open!" Revin's face-down card flipped up and a string of black mist slammed into Breaker and blew it apart. "My trap was called End of the Living. This card can only activate against the attack of a non-Midnight monster. That monster is destroyed, and its attack is deducted from your life points."
Deondre- 1100
Daniel- 1450
Revin- 2700
Deondre smirked calmly. "Did you think I didn't use Breaker's ability because of a mistake? I knew he would be destroyed…hence my face-down trap card!" As the card flipped up, Breaker returned to the field. "Magician's Revival! This card activates when a spellcaster in play is destroyed as a result of an effect by my opponent. It gets special summoned back to the field with 500 more attack points!" (2400/1000) "Breaker, attack now!" The warrior-spellcaster leapt forward and slashed across the chest of the Golem.
Deondre- 1100
Daniel- 1450
Revin- 1500
Deondre winked at Revin. "Alright big man, the turn is yours."
Daniel snarled and forced himself to stand up, despite the blood coming from multiple wounds on his person. "I'm still here!" He snapped the top card off of his deck. "And now I'll wipe you off the face of the planet!" The card flipped over to reveal a smiling green jar. "First my Pot of Greed will give me two new cards." He slid one of the new cards into his disk. "After that I'll set one card face-down on the field, and then I'll summon Clockwork Gnome (0/1000) to the field in defense mode." A little mechanical gnome appeared in play. "When this monster is summoned to the field, I can special summon as many of its numbers from my deck as I can!" Two more gnomes appeared in play. "End turn!"
Revin drew, his eyes narrowed at Daniel. "I cannot tolerate such an annoyance and a vandal. Activate the effect of Midnight Controller!" Breaker shuddered and floated over to Revin's field. "Now I use Breaker's effect to remove his counter and destroy your newly set card!" The spellcaster released a glowing crescent of energy from its sword that cut through Daniel's set Mirror Force trap card with ease.
Daniel sneered, his eyes crazy. "Come on, do your worst!" The blood stained most of his suit now, and left him looking like he was about to die at any moment.
Revin pointed at three Clockwork Gnomes. "I attack with all three of my monsters!" The Caretaker, Golem and Breaker all crushed each one of the Gnomes easily.
Daniel spat out another glob of blood onto the temple floor. "Clockwork Gnomes have an ability that lets me gain 1000 life points when they are destroyed. Thanks for the boost."
Deondre- 1100
Daniel- 4450
Revin- 1500
Deondre smiled slightly…until he saw the look in Revin's eyes. ("Oh hell…")
The priest slammed a card into his disk. "I activate the magic card Untrained Medicine. This card can only activate during a turn in which a player or players have gained life points. That life point gain is removed, and that player also loses 500 points for every increment of 1000 they had gained!"
Deondre- 1100
Daniel- 50
Revin- 1500
Daniel bit back a scream of pain and dropped to one knee, his entire body losing the will to move. ("This is an intense darkness game alright…far too intense.")
Revin closed his eyes and motioned to Deondre. "Go."
The Dimension Duelist drew slowly. ("I see…this guy's true power comes when someone defiles his temple. We could probably beat him if we were just to stop screwing this place up, but Daniel's physical condition makes that impossible. Unless he can stop himself from bleeding, then there's only one option!") "I play the magic card Treasure of Slashing Life! This card allows me to draw until I have five cards in my hand!" As he drew, he continued to speak. "However, there is a risk. In five turns, I must discard my entire hand."
Revin smiled at Deondre, still pleased with this duelist's strength.
Deondre didn't return the smile, because he knew what he had to do. "I play Silent Rebirth!" Dark Magician returned to the field in a crouching position. "This magic card returns one normal monster from my graveyard to the field in defense mode!"
Daniel glanced over at Deondre weakly, and then started to laugh. "I see…nice…"
Deondre didn't laugh or smile though, because he knew this was risky. ("I have to be ready to brace myself against the reprisal for this.") "I reveal my D.D. Ring trap card, which will remove your Caretaker from the game!" A prismatic ring appeared around the body of the priest, and then it disappeared. "And then I play my Shatter magic card! This card can only activate when a level five or higher spellcaster monster is on my field. One Undead or Rock monster in play will be removed from the game! And my target is obviously the Midnight Golem!" The giant monster exploded into huge fragments that sprayed everywhere, tearing huge gashes in the temple.
Revin went silent…and then he stopped smiling. "For that, you must die."
Deondre frowned and slid two cards into his disk. "I set two cards face-down on the field and end my turn."
Daniel slowly drew...an even darker smile on his face. "I see now. It's so obvious…" Somehow, he managed to stand up. "Deondre…you don't have to protect my weak ass anymore."
"What?" Deondre blinked in surprise at that declaration. Ever since Daniel had defeated Rikuo, he had never called himself weak. Now though…
"You heard me. I'm weak. Compared to these other duelists, I'm nothing but a minor playing piece." Daniel started to laugh quietly. "I knew it would come…the day that I watched everyone I know surpass me in dueling strength. My existence in this battle is a detriment to your guys chances of saving Jennie. For that…"
"What are you babbling about?" Deondre nearly ran over to slap Daniel, but decided against it because of his friend's physical condition.
("So this is what it's like to realize your own weakness.") Daniel slid the drawn card into his disk. "I activate Coins from Heaven. All players will now draw cards until they are holding six in their hand." He and Revin drew six, while Deondre regretfully drew five. As Daniel's eyes flicked over the six cards he held…a quiet laugh came out of his throat. "So that's it…at least I can make myself useful this one time." He inserted another card into his duel disk. "I play the continuous magic card Life Link. This card will allow me to transfer 500 life points to one other player for every one of their standby phases."
Deondre blinked at this. "You don't have 500 life points!"
"That's true…" Daniel chuckled. "So instead I'll play the continuous magic card Life Convergence. This magic card allows me to prevent myself from having a draw phase, and when a life point cost would be too much I may discard a card from my hand to replace that lost amount. Finally, I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
Revin drew, while Deondre wanted to scream at his friend's foolishness. "I will first play the magic card Temple Upkeep, to cleanse the temple and restore myself of 1000 life points."
Deondre- 1100
Daniel- 50
Revin- 2500
"Also, I will summon Midnight Soldier (1600+5002100/1400) to the field in my first row." The monster that appeared was a black-armored warrior. "Attack the one with no monsters in play to remove him from my sight!"
"Reverse card open!" Deondre's face-down card flipped up and a glowing barrier appeared around Daniel. "During this turn, my Dimensional Shield trap card will prevent you from dealing my friend any damage."
Revin nodded and slid three cards into his disk. "I set three cards face-down on the field and end my turn."
Deondre drew. "And now…"
Daniel discarded a card from his hand slowly, and when his magic card started to glow he gasped out as another huge wound opened up on his body. The blood that splattered onto the black marble already formed pools…
Deondre- 1600
Daniel- 50
Revin- 2500
"Damn it Daniel! Stop it!" Deondre snarled and pointed at his face-down card. "Reveal Remove Brainwashing! This continuous trap card will remove any control effects from the field, so Breaker returns to me!" The warrior-spellcaster floated back over to its master's field. "Now I sacrifice my three magicians to summon Elder Magician of the Dark!" (3000/1400) An aged old man floating in the air appeared on the field. "When this monster is tribute summoned, all face-down magic and trap cards on my opponent's field are destroyed!" All three of Revin's face-down cards exploded into dust. "Now attack my opponent's Soldier!" A blast of energy came from the wizard's staff as it obliterated the armored warrior.
Deondre- 1600
Daniel- 50
Revin- 1600
Deondre saw that Daniel was going to wind up in a physical condition that even a demon wouldn't live through if this insanity kept going. "I set three cards face-down on the field and end my turn."
Daniel continued to smile, and pointed at Revin to go. "Per the effect of Energy Convergence, I sacrifice my draw phase to give Deondre 1000 life points."
Deondre- 2600
Daniel- 50
Revin- 1600
Revin drew. "You are a strange one, but your blood on the floor of my precious temple pushes me to new limits against you! I activate the magic card Temple Cleansing. Now all non-Midnight monsters will be destroyed and you shall both take 1000 points of damage."
Deondre growled and his face-down card flipped up. "I activate Curse of Pain to redirect the 1000 damage that would be dealt to…"
Revin smirked. "You understand it will not hurt me, correct? In fact, you cannot even choose me as a target."
Deondre snarled even deeper. "Then I'll blast myself with it!" His Sage exploded…
"Reverse card…open." Daniel stumbled. "I reveal Barrel Behind the Door, to reflect the 1000 points Deondre tried to reflect back to myself."
"Stop it!" Deondre pointed at another set card. "Reveal my Mage's Heart counter trap! This card will negate your card as long as I have no monsters in play!"
Daniel tilted his head up to look at Deondre. His eyes were filled with tears. "Deondre…just let me go."
"You're not even dying though!" Deondre wanted to hit his friend so hard at the moment.
Daniel's last set card flipped up. "Perhaps…you are not always so smart then. I am dead already…dead on the inside. My entire life was devoted to my family, and I let them all down. My wife is gone…and I'm not strong enough to rescue her. So let me die a hero's death….let me end it here." The revealed card was Seven Tools of the Bandit, which allows the activating duelist to pay 1000 life points to negate one trap card's activation. "So now…I tip my hat to you and say farewell…save Jennie…" Then he collapsed face-first to the ground, the blood coming out of his wounds even faster than before.
Deondre- 600
Daniel- 0
Revin- 1600
Deondre just stood there, his eyes wide. ("Daniel…no…that can't actually be what you think, can it?") He started to move towards his fallen friend.
"I attack you directly for game!" Revin pointed at Deondre and his Golem, along with his Controler, unleashed their attacks.
Deondre stopped in mid-move and his eyes met Revin's. "Shut up! Reveal Magic Cylinder and Redirect Damage! The first deals you life point damage equal to the attack of your monster, and the second cuts the 500 points of damage from your Controller's attack in half, dealing 250 to both of us!" Then he paid the priest no more mind, running towards Daniel.
Deondre- 350
Daniel- 0
Revin- 0
Revin clutched at his chest, and gasped for air. ("This cannot be…I was defeated so easily…") Then he exploded into dust.
Deondre shook Daniel as hard as he could. "Wake your ass up right now!" His ears didn't detect any heartbeat, and so he rolled his friend over and started to perform CPR.
------------------------
Rikuo stood in front of the strange temple that was in the middle of the road, scratching his head at it. ("Now what kind of bizarre human architect…") Then it disappeared, leaving a single person standing in its wake. "Eh…"
Deondre normally had never been one to cry…but in this case he would make an exception. "Rikuo…"
The wolf demon immediately smelled the air…and went numb. ("No….not again.") He felt outwards…for that little sliver of energy that indicated his ever-present link to Daniel. But it was no longer there…it was completely gone. ("Daniel…no…no…")
Deondre set Daniel down slowly…
Rikuo began to move in, when his ears perked up at the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Hey, old man! What was the iguana talking about…" Ichigo turned the corner…and his eyes widened. "…when…he…"
Rikuo was kneeling before his partner's body, his eyes closed tight and looking like he was desperately grabbing for something.
"Hey…" Ichigo looked over Rikuo's shoulder…and blinked. "Who is that guy?"
Deondre's sadness was momentarily pushed down, and he looked up at Ichigo like the boy was insane. "What do you mean, 'who is that guy?"
"Did I say it in Swahili or something?" Ichigo pointed at the bloody corpse. "Who…is…the…dead…guy?" He spoke each word slowly, as if talking to a child.
Deondre just kneeled there, his eyes wide. And then he stood up and with all of his strength decked Ichigo across the face, flooring the boy easily.
"What the hell was that for?" Ichigo leapt to his feet. "I didn't kill him, if that is what you are thinking!"
Deondre snarled and got ready to hit again…
Rikuo gasped loudly…and then went silent as he sniffed the air.
Deondre turned…to see a pile of sand where Daniel's corpse had been. "What in the…hell?"
"This wasn't Daniel at all…" Rikuo just stared at the sand. "It was a fake?"
"But if it was a fake…" Deondre suddenly felt very confused. "Then, where's the real Daniel?"
To be continued…
Author's Notes: Hey, regardless of everything else, I'd appreciate it if you guys dropped off a review when you finished reading my chapters. Obviously, you don't have to, but I'd thank you for it.