Disclaimer: No, I do not own Yugioh.
Tournament of Tears
Chapter 16: Time's Signs (Part 4)
Eon turned and walked off, disgusted by this sight. ("You were too weak to understand. For that, death is your only reward in the end.")
Ichigo's eyes slowly closed, a single mote of light touching his forehead.
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Daniel sighed and looked over at Ichigo's crib. Then he gasped as he realized his deck was there. "HEY! No Ichigo! Not the fusion deck, anything but the…"
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Ichigo latched onto his father, grinning from ear to ear. "You did it daddy, you won!"
Daniel smiled and ruffled his child's ears. "I owe it to you, kid."
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Ichigo's eyes slowly opened, and his hand started to twitch.
Eon froze and turned to look at Ichigo's fallen form. "Hmmm…what's this? You can still stand?"
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Daniel looked up at Ryu sadly. "I'm dying, aren't I?"
"Yes." The dragon demon wouldn't sugar coat it at all. "The disease you have is going to kill you within a month."
"Is there anything I can do?" Daniel pursed his lips, looking out at the sight of Ichigo being chased by Eri, just outside his window. "Is there anything I can do to spare him from the pain?"
Ryu nodded weakly. "There is a method that will create a clone of you, though I can't promise how long it will last. It will be you in every sense of the word, though when it breaks down I don't know what you would have wanted…"
"Just do it." Daniel smiled weakly. ("I'll miss you…Ichigo…grow up to be a strong man.")
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Eon watched Ichigo attempt to stand, only to collapse face-first to the ground. "There is no point. It is done."
"No…" Ichigo felt another mote of light brush past him. "No more…"
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Daniel ruffled Ichigo's ears and then pointed out to the boat that would take them to the airport where they'd fly to the meeting place assigned by both North School and Duelist Academy. "Don't worry. You'll do fine. I'll be with you in a moment." Turning, he walked over towards the restroom, trying to hide the incredible amounts of pain that he was experiencing.
Ryu heard the door open and frowned deeply as Daniel walked in. "You said your goodbyes then?"
"Close enough. Do it." Daniel collapsed face-first to the ground, his heart nearly stopped already.
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"No more!" Ichigo tried to scream, but it just burned more and more as the pain he had endured was catching up to him. ("Why must I…why must I see this now? When I'm dying, why must these images come to me?")
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The Demon Splinter stood behind Ichigo, frowning darkly. "You're giving up so easily then?"
Ichigo covered his face with his hands. "LEAVE ME ALONE! Why do I have these voices in my head? Why?"
"Ichigo, is there…" The teacher started to ask, but went silent as Ichigo ran out of the classroom.
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Ichigo wanted to stand now, but it wouldn't happen. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to get up. ("I…I…")
Small motes of red light rose up from his deck and graveyard. They swirled around him slowly, almost as if they were trying to help him stand up.
("So the spirits of your friends want to help you?") Eon scoffed. "No such help will work. He is lost forever, and you all know it."
The motes of light moved angrily, and then they all pressed against Ichigo's forehead.
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Ichigo screamed and clutched at his bloody body, wishing the pain would go away. "No more, please!"
A pair of comforting arms wrapped around him slowly. "It's okay Ichigo…we're here to help you…"
Ichigo screamed and blew the speaker away from him with a burst of mental energy. "NO! No more voices…no more! I don't want to hide behind masks anymore…I don't want to have to pretend to be that which I am not! I can't stand against these tragedies, and still smile. That isn't an option! But I can't just angrily fight them either! No matter what I do, I've lost!"
"That's not true at all!" Kenshin almost leapt towards Ichigo, but thought better of it after seeing what had happened to Eri. ("He's repelling all outsiders. Why?")
Ichigo pounded his fists into the ground over and over again. "GET OUT! STOP USING ME LIKE I'M YOUR PERSONAL TOY!" His face buried itself in the stone. "I don't want to be the vessel for any of you anymore. Just get out!"
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All of the motes of red light were blown back, and then they began to dissipate slowly.
Eon sighed. "So you'll destroy their spirits then? So you'll leave them all to fade out of existence forever?"
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"So you'll force them all to die then?" The Demon Splinter grabbed Ichigo's head and slammed it into a wall as hard as he could. "FOOL! After all this, you're going to break down and cry? Like a child? Like a helpless little child?" He continued to savagely beat Ichigo's mental self as hard as he could. "Well let me give you a little hint! In this situation, you can't even get rid of me! I'm you, and I was created by you! So how about you stop your horrendous bitching and grow a spine, pansy?"
Ichigo's eyes opened slowly, and he locked onto the Splinter. "I'll kill you!" Then he tackled the being, both of them locked into an insane wrestling match.
The Splinter pondered whether or not it should simply snap the neck of the stupid human and control the body forever more, but something told him that wasn't wise. "I need you, fool! We can't do this separate, so you had best get over your pitiful human fears and move on!"
Ichigo's thrashings weren't anything more than that now, so the Demon Splinter wasn't even close to getting injured. "Just get out! Why can't I live a normal life? Why can't I just live like I wanted to…I just wanted to duel! No darkness games, no life-risking situations…I just wanted to duel! And yet all of you dragged me into…"
A slim hand hit his face as hard as possible, knocking him to the ground.
Ichigo stared into space for a moment, and then looked up to see Alahandra standing over him, tears in her eyes. "Ala…handra?"
"Yes." The blond-haired girl kneeled down and hugged Ichigo's head to her chest gently, completely ignoring the Splinter's surprised reaction. It never thought that the weakling goddess incarnate could actually strike someone like that. "Ichigo…you're trying too hard."
"Trying too hard?" Ichigo's eyes widened slightly and he stared at her. "What do you mean?"
"He's not trying hard enough…" The Splinter was silenced as Halo's hand wrapped around its mouth.
"Be quiet, you obnoxious brute." The dark-haired version of Ichigo looked down at the fallen duelist with a rare smile on his face. "Ichigo Pilkington…you are only being I have ever existed within who possessed the will to bring me out."
Ichigo sniffled and hugged Alahandra tighter.
"I thought that you would have been some kind of incredibly violent soul…but in the end I was completely caught by surprise." Halo kneeled down and hugged both Alahandra and Ichigo gently. "Ichigo Pilkington, you are the kindest being I have ever seen. You are also the biggest martyr I have ever seen, and because of that you try far too hard to take all of the world's troubles onto yourself."
Alahandra was crying too. "You miss your mother, and you fear that you can't save her because there are too many powerful opponents in your way, right?"
Ichigo silently nodded, his true feelings coming out. "I'm scared…I've been scared ever since I turned into a girl. I don't want to show it, but…"
"Shhh…" Alahandra pressed a finger to his lips. "Don't bottle those fears up inside anymore, don't hide your emotions."
Ichigo closed his eyes weakly. "……Halo scares me to my core, because he is so willing to kill. He frightens me because I feel like every time he is about to kill, I'm willing him on. Alahandra, I hate how you make me seem like such a weirdo all of the time…"
The Splinter sneered coldly. "You big…"
"And you!" Ichigo stood up and punched the Splinter as hard as he could, somehow nearly flooring the mighty demon. "You're just an insufferable ass!"
"It takes one to know one!" The Splinter was about to attack again…but stopped short and smiled slightly. "Nice punch, by the way. Maybe you aren't so weak as I believed."
Halo stood up and placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "Listen…Ichigo, we need to…"
"Just a minute…just…let me…" Ichigo hugged the Splinter tightly, much to the demon's displeasure. "I'm sorry for trying to force you out…all of you."
"That's fine…" The Splinter gasped as the breath was squeezed out of him. "Now let me go before my ribs break!"
Alahandra hugged Halo. "He's…he's finally accepted us, hasn't he?"
Ichigo released the Splinter and turned to face his female side. "You guys are welcome to stay, if you don't hate me."
Alahandra and Halo both nodded, and then all three of them looked at the Splinter.
"Of course I'm staying…someone has to keep this kid's psycho tendencies in check." The demon snapped his head away and huffed loudly. "He's certifiable at this rate."
Ichigo, Halo, and Alahandra all shared a laugh at how true that was.
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The red motes of light were suddenly pulled into Ichigo's head, and then they all disappeared.
("He's taking them in now?") Eon tilted his head to the side. ("Why?")
His answer came in the form of a burst of energy so strong it nearly knocked him over. Ichigo slowly stood up, his eyes reflecting an inner peace he lacked his entire life.
("What is this…is this what I was hoping for?") Eon frowned from underneath his mask. ("No, it's significantly stronger…") He looked down at his disk and gasped. "How can this be?"
Ichigo- 0- 1000- 2000- 3000- 4000
Eon- 7400
Ichigo's deck released a blast of light, and returned to full size. "Draw!" As the card left his deck, Eon was nearly sent flying away by the powerful force of energy that accompanied the pull. "I play the magic card Armor Attraction! From my deck, one Power Armor monster card will be special summoned to the field!" An explosion of lightning arched across the dimension and a suit of crackling electrical armor formed around his body. (1800/1500) "I special summoned Power Armor-Lightning Crasher! This armor can attack three times per turn!" Then he was in front of Eon, his fist cocked back to strike.
Eon barely had time to react before a heavy punch was landed to his midsection, winding him instantly.
Ichigo- 4000
Eon- 5600
Ichigo uppercutted Eon as hard as he could, and then landed a full force blow to the Priest's chest.
Ichigo- 4000
Eon- 5600- 3800- 2000
Ichigo landed on his field and stretched his neck out a little bit. "End turn."
"How did you regain so much health?" Eon's mask began to fall away. "How did you heal the damage to your body? And most importantly…" His revealed mouth quirked into a dark smile. "How does it feel to possess such amazing power?" He drew. "During the standby phase, River of Time raises my life points by 2000!"
Ichigo- 4000
Eon- 4000
"Also, I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn." Eon's barely hidden face smirked. This was what he wanted…he wanted Ichigo's true power, his true deck. ("His deck which allows him to fight against the things that he hates…and that he wants to defeat.")
Ichigo's now-helmeted head tilted to the side, and as he drew a giant guillotine blade fell from the sky to cut his single hand card in half. "Treasure of Slashing Life…but it doesn't matter." A surge of power came from him and cracked the remains of Eon's mask even more. "In the end, you will die. My ultimate power has been unleashed, and therefore you cannot win." Motes of light started to get absorbed by the armor. (2200/1500)
Eon gasped in amazement at what he was seeing. ("Such amazing power…he can actually physically raise his attack power by absorbing the energy of River of Time!")
Ichigo's hand lifted slowly, a ball of energy at the end of it. (3000/1500) "I'll destroy you…completely and utterly." (3500/1500) "In this one hit." (4000/1500) "My final attack! Radiant Flash!" The armor's ball of light turned into a glowing cannonball of destruction that hurtled towards Eon, its mere prescense showing the intent to kill that was reflected in Ichigo.
"Reverse card open! Tower of Epoch!" All around the dimension warped and hardened, changing into the inside of a giant hollow tower. At the center of the tower, there resided three strange containers which had their openings at the top. "This continuous trap card will negate the random effects of the dimension. Also, it will allow me to special summon a new kind of monster to the field." There was an explosion of energy and when it cleared, Eon stood on the field wearing a skin-tight suit of a black metallic substance. "The monster is called Warrior of Epoch. Its attack and defense power is equal to my life points." (4000/4000)
Ichigo's attack had stopped in its track. And by his stance, his divine anger seemed to have been calmed. (1800/1500) "I see…impressive…"
Eon snapped his fingers and a huge holographic version of a card appeared in the air behind him. "I draw and attack your armor!" He launched towards Ichigo like a madman. "Prepare to feel my retaliation!"
Ichigo's hand snapped out to reveal a strange-looking, grenade-like weapon that rested in his palm. "Wrong! From my graveyard I activate my Magnet Mine!" Throwing it, he threw up his arms to shield his eyes right as it exploded.
When the explosion cleared, Eon was standing back where he had been before, and he still wore the armor of the Warrior of Epoch. "Excellently played. Your trap stopped my attack and would have destroyed my armor, if not for its special ability. I may sacrifice 500 life points to stop this card from being destroyed." His arm was across his face. "However…" An explosive aura of power sprang up and nearly tore the tower apart right there. "You've brought me to no choice. I must fight you with my true power." His right arm unfurled and dropped a piece of his mask to the ground. "My full power…it's been so long since I've ever risked bringing it out. Now I must win quickly, or I shall die."
Ichigo- 4000
Eon- 3500
Ichigo narrowed his eyes, the HUD of his armor scanning his opponent's field over and over again, calculating every possible chance occurrence. "Eon…throughout this duel you've been trying to bring out my best powers…why?"
"Why, he asks…" Eon started to laugh, and when he tilted his head back his short silver hair glittered in the dim light of the tower. "Why, he must know….why, he doesn't understand."
Ichigo narrowed his eyes. Something about this guy was beyond crazy or sane…this guy was off the deep end.
"Actually, I'm sure at this moment you think I'm nuts." Eon's head snapped down to reveal a face Ichigo knew all too well. "You're wrong." It was Ichigo's own face that sneered back at him.
To be continued…
Some kind of illusion to make himself look like me? No, there's no time to speculate! I have to hurry and finish this duel before the souls of everyone become permanently locked inside my head. If that happens…
You don't have time to speak to the readers, Ichigo!