Legends of the Demon Duelist Tournament of Tears

by Wolf General

The final arc of Legends of the Demon Duelist. A couple of loose ends covered, and quite a few loose ends remaining. Farewell and goodbye.

24. Hatred of Shadow Part 3

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Tournament of Tears

Chapter 24: Hatred of Shadow (Part 3)

Ichigo's arm lowered slightly from his face, revealing that his eyes were burning with a determination that was completely different from the friendly demeanor he had shown earlier. ("I can't lose!")

"…and end my turn." Haku gave Ichigo a smug look. "Come, human. Show me your determination…."

Ichigo took a deep breath and then drew a card. "At this moment, the effect of Chaos Factor activates!" A giant white die fell from the sky and bounced around his field. Finally it stopped on a five. "I must discard a card from my hand." Taking one of his hand cards, Ichigo inserted it into his graveyard slot. That left him with only one card. "I place one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

Haku drew, his expression still determined, despite his sudden lead. "I will not discard for Forest Curse of Apathy." The continuous card exploded into dust. "Now I will summon another Hatred Avenger…namely my Thunder Troll!" There was an explosion of lightning as a huge beastly yellow-skinned humanoid appeared on the field. (1500/1200) "When this monster is summoned, for every dark type warrior on your field, I can destroy one magic or trap card in play!" Lightning crashed down over two of Ichigo's four set cards and blew them apart. "Half of your defensive strategy just disappeared…Ichigo Pilkington."

Ichigo didn't seem overly afraid. "I still my invincible shield, thanks to you."

"That's right…you do, don't you?" Haku held up a card from his hand. "However, this is my Forest Curse of Rust. Its effect destroys one face-up trap in play! In other words…"

Ichigo finished for him. "…Spirit Barrier is destroyed." His face-up trap exploded into dust.

"Now, Ice Outcast's attack power is reduced." (2000/1000) Haku pointed at Night Slasher. "But if my attack lands on your monster, I will still win! Go now, and win this game for me!" The frozen humanoid unleashed a huge missile of ice that hurtled towards Ichigo's monster. "Ichigo…show me your weakness…flip up your traps."

Ichigo watched as the blast slammed into his Night Slasher, blowing it apart. "Darn…that kind of stinks." His face-down card flipped up. "I activate Shadow Aura! When this card is activated while a monster on my field is destroyed as a result of battle, I take no battle damage and gain life equal to that monster's attack!"

Haku- 2650

Ichigo- 1350

Haku sneered. "I knew it! I activate my face-down Forest Curse of Vampirism! When you would gain life points that life gain is negated and is given to me!" A black aura surrounded his body, and then faded. "Thank you for the life points."

Haku- 3800

Ichigo- 200

Ichigo frowned and his other face-down card flipped up. "Night Signal activates when a monster on my field is destroyed as a result of battle! I can special summon a level four or lower Final Shadow from my deck to my field!" A black portal appeared on the field, and a few moments later a futuristic warrior in a power-suit appeared on the field, while Ebony Ninja disappeared. "Final Shadow Void Mercenary is special summoned!" (1700/1600) "When this monster is normal summoned, flip summoned, or special summoned I can select one card on my field and return it to my deck. If I do so, I may search my deck for an equipment magic card that can equip to a Final Shadow I have in play, and then equip it to an appropriate monster!"

Void Mercenary was suddenly holding a futuristic heavy cannon in its arms. "I equip my monster with Void Quantum Cannon, which raises its attack points by 500!" (2200/1600)

Haku frowned. "That weakling can't beat me. End turn."

Ichigo drew. "Are you so certain? Because I only have two cards in play, your monster's attack power is reduced to 1000." (1000/1000) "Therefore, if I attack I'll win against it."

"That's true…except I reveal Forest Curse of Phantom Existence!" Haku smirked as four transparent face-down cards appeared in Ichigo's magic/trap zone. "This quickplay magic card will fill your field with phantom magic tokens. During each of your turns, you may choose to sacrifice one of these tokens to draw a card." He smiled calmly. "Now then…because you have six cards in play." (3000/1000)

However, Ichigo didn't react like Haku would have expected. "That's fine. Void Mercenary, make your attack against his Ice Outcast!" The soldier aimed its cannon at the frozen humanoid and the weapon released a burst of purple and red energy that hurtled towards Haku's monster.

"Are you suicidal, you can't win that…" (0/1000) "What?" Haku threw up his arms just in time to prevent himself from being thrown backwards by the backlash that came from his zero attack monster being hit by the blast. "That's…"

"Void Quantum Cannon reverts the enemy's monster attack points to their original number. In the case of your monster….zero." Ichigo closed his eyes. "Don't look down on me just because I'm human. Judai-sensei is human, but he could defeat any one of you without breaking a sweat. That should be proof enough."

Haku- 1600

Ichigo- 200

Haku snarled angrily and glared at Ichigo. "Don't lecture me, you insolent murdering…"

Ichigo placed the last card in his hand onto his disk. "I summon Final Shadow Cyber Mastermind (1200/1800) to the field in defense mode." A humanoid robot appeared on the field in a crouching position, its red and black glistening in the moonlight. "From my deck, I may add one card with Robot in its title into my hand." A card was ejected from his deck, which he added to his hand. "End turn."

Haku drew, and smiled as his Doom Creepers trap card started to glow. "Weren't you curious why I was able to destroy your Night Slasher, despite my earlier declaration of the effect of my Doom Creepers trap card?"

"Not really." Ichigo glanced at his field. "I didn't draw anything that would have made a difference in that matter."

"How stupid of you…" Haku pointed at Void Mercenary. "Doom Creeper can, once per standby phase, switch its target to a new monster!" Vines wrapped around Void Mercenary. "In other words, you can't use your attacker. Also I place one card face-down on the field and end my turn." As a new card appeared next to his Doom Creepers trap card, he licked his lips. "Your time is coming, you know…"

Ichigo drew. "I sacrifice one of your tokens…" One of the shadow cards in his magic and trap zone faded away. "Also, during my standby phase the effect of my Cyber Mastermind lets me add one Robot card from my deck to my hand." Another card came out of his deck, which he added to his hand. "I summon Robot Minion!" (1500/1000) A skeletal robot appeared on the field and slowly activated, its dull grey-colored body shuddering slightly. "I play Robot Upgrade!" A series of lasers and armor plating appeared around the machine. "This equipment magic card increases the attack of my Robot Minion by 500." (2000/1000) "Laser Shooter!" A blast of red light came from the Robot's arm as it opened fire on the Thunder Troll.

"I reveal my Forest Curse of Shatter!" Haku's face-down quickplay magic card flipped up, and the armoring around the Robot Minion blew apart. "This card destroys one equipment card in play!" (1500/1000) "Therefore, our monsters destroy each other!" The Thunder Troll howled in rage and tackled the Robot, both of them exploding at once.

Ichigo drew a card. "Thanks. The effect of Robot Minion is that when it is destroyed as a result of battle, I can draw a card. End turn."

Haku drew. "I summon Hatred Avenger-Dark Freak!" (1250/1250) A mix of human parts and machine parts appeared on his field. "When this monster is summoned, I may choose to destroy one dark warrior in play. Also, I may draw a card." The Cyber Mastermind shuddered and exploded into dust. "Now I play my Forest Curse of Repeat. One Forest Curse card from my graveyard activates. I choose my Forest Curse of Shatter." The Void Quantum Cannon exploded into dust. "Also, I activate Forest Curse of Slaughter. All tokens in play are destroyed!" Ichigo's remaining shadow cards exploded as well. "That means you cannot draw more cards. End turn."

Ichigo drew. He looked at the card in his hand for a few moments…and then smiled. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting so long for my best. Give me one turn, and that will all change. End turn."

Haku drew. "You don't have one turn! I summon Hatred Avenger Aero Killer!" (1900/0) A transparent humanoid made of air appeared on his field. "This monster can do exactly what Spear Dragon can do…not that it matters! Your life points are finished!" His monster lifted its arm to point at Ichigo's monster. "Air Death Spear!"

Ichigo smiled slightly. "Haku…I got you…"

Haku's eyes widened in understanding. "No! Stop your attack!"

"It's too late!" Ichigo slapped a card from his hand onto his disk. "I activate the effect of Final Shadow Super Ultra Kuriboh of Doom!" A little black furball appeared on the field. "When you attack, I may discard this card from my hand to destroy that monster!" The furball squealed and hopped onto Aero Killer's head. Letting out a little squeak, it exploded with ferocity of a nuclear bomb. "And that's that."

Haku clenched his fist so tightly that if he had blood, it would have been spraying out in squirts. "I'm tired of you games! Don't you understand that my love's life was taken by you? Why…why do you think yourself innocent? You killed her!"

Ichigo's expression didn't change. "Sorry, but all I hear is the sound of Kilomet Sestros laughing as he announces how he trapped my mother in a realm we can never get her back from…" He didn't sound angry…just focused. "I don't have time to deal with your problems…not while she is there!"

Haku snarled in anger. "Then take your turn, you selfish little…"

"You're wrong!" Judai yelled loud enough to break their concentration on the duel at hand. "You're wrong, guy." He looked over at Ichigo. "You're wrong to come at Ichigo like that…to think he's the bad guy in this situation. Look at yourself, you're helping a guy destroy the whole of reality…and you're complaining about losing a girl you loved….don't you think that your priorities are a little screwed up?"

Haku snickered darkly. "I think the one here who has their priorities 'screwed up' is you!" He motioned to everything around him. "Don't you understand that none of this matters to me? When I was alive, Silence and I loved each other with all our hearts…until we burned alive…but before we died we swore never to part if it was possible!" He screamed as loud as he could to the sky, his anger so strong it was almost palpable. "Because of that little brat…because of his demonic blood…she was killed! Ichigo Pilkington, you murdered my lover, and for that I will banish your soul to a thousand eternities of pain! I won't stop until you take this duel seriously!"

Ichigo slowly drew the top card of his deck. "You can stop complaining now, Haku. This duel ends now." He opened his field magic slot on his duel disk. "I activate my field magic card…the City of Shadow, Noirtropolis!" All around them, the world twisted as giant nearly pitch black skyscrapers rose up all around them. "Because your field magic card is gone, Doom Creepers goes to the graveyard."

"Is that so?" Haku snickered and pointed to the buildings, which were covered with vines. "Forest of 1000 Curses has a special ability that prevents it from being destroyed…in other words, you cannot free your Mercenary ever!"

"Wrong." Ichigo crossed his arms across his chest. "City of Shadows first special ability is that when played, one card in play can be removed from the game! My choice is of course your field magic card!" All of the vines dissolved into nothingness. "And therefore, Doom Creepers is destroyed!" The continuous trap exploded, and the vines around the Void Mercenary disappeared. "This is the end for you! I activate Warrior Returning Alive, returning Night Slasher to my hand!"

Ichigo held up another card. "Reinforcements of the Army lets me add one level four or lower warrior monster from my deck to my hand! My choice is Ebony Ninja!" A card slid out of his disk. "My final card to play is Polymerization!" He snapped the named up, a vortex appearing in the night sky. "I fuse Night Slasher, Ebony Ninja, and Void Mercenary together…" The named monsters appeared on his field, and then were pulled into that vortex.

A black form slowly lowered onto the field, and when it brushed its surrounding darkness, it revealed a trench-coat wearing shape that was very familiar to both Ichigo and Judai. "I fusion summon Final Shadow Lord of Knives!" (2800/2300) The humanoid slowly opened its eyes. "Ah, it's good to be back. Now then…" It held up both hands, each of which were holding throwing knives pinched between its fingers.

Haku sneered. "That's an awfully big monster you have…too bad it will do you no good!"

Ichigo pointed at the Dark Freak. "Go Lord of Knives…attack with Infinite Knife Barrage!" The dark warrior threw wave after wave of knives, which tore the Dark Freak to pieces. "That's the end…"

"Not quite…" Haku snickered. "Dark Freak, when destroyed as a result of battle by a dark warrior with Shadow in its title, negates all damage to me from that battle. Also, I may add one trap card from my deck to my hand…and my choice is Barrier of Ultimate Hatred! When all six of the Hatred Avengers are in my graveyard…I cannot take damage. Therefore…" He sneered. "Starting next turn, you can't hurt me!"

Ichigo closed his eyes. "Lord of Knives' special ability triggers. When it destroys a monster as a result of battle, the opponent must discard the top five cards of their deck. For each monster amongst those cards…they take 500 points of damage."

Haku just stood there, eyes wide. "That…that doesn't mean that I've lost…"

"You have been drawing magic cards out of your deck this whole time…I think it is very possible." Ichigo held up his bare fist. "I'll count…start drawing."

Haku, hands shaking, drew the first card. After looking at it, he smirked. "The first is Dark Jammer, and therefore damage to me from this card is zero."

Ichigo held up one finger. "Again."

Haku drew once more. "Damn…Mask of Darkness…" (HLP: 1100)

Ichigo held up another finger. "Care to continue like this, or maybe you should just draw them all at once."

"Shut up!" Haku snapped the next three cards off of his deck. (Tsukoyomi, Spirit Barrier, Apprentice Magician) (HLP: 100) "Too bad Ichigo Pilkington…you were one card off from the win."

Ichigo still had his eyes closed. "End turn."

Haku drew. "That's it, you can no longer defeat me. I place two cards face-down on the field and end my turn." As the two called cards appeared on the field, he hand hovered over the activation button on his duel disk, waiting for Ichigo's turn to start.

Ichigo drew, already hearing the beep of Haku's duel disk as the card flipped up. "And now you cannot take damage…" He looked at the drawn card and frowned…it was a trap he couldn't use in this situation.

Haku caught that look on his opponent's face, and continued to smirk. "There is no way you can win now…"

"Don't be so cocky." Ichigo inserted the card from his hand into his graveyard. "Looks like I have no choice…I activate the power of my City of Shadows! By discarding one card from my hand…I can remove one card at random from your graveyard!"

Haku immediately realized the danger in that. ("If he gets one of the Hatred Avengers…he'll destroy my barrier!") A card shot out of his graveyard and flew over to Ichigo's hand. "Your chances of…"

Ichigo caught the card and looked at it. "Hmmm…Forest Curse of Rust." His lips quirked into a little smile, right before Haku could laugh. "Perfect! When a magic card is removed by the City of Shadows' effect…I can use that card!"

"What?" Haku gritted his teeth. "Forest Curse of Rust…destroys one face-up trap in play." His Barrier shuddered and exploded. "Damn you!"

"Lord of Knives…Infinite Knife Barrage!" The warrior unleashed a spray of knives that tore across the field towards Haku. "This is it!"

"Not quite! I reveal Waboku!" A glowing blue barrier appeared around Haku's body. "All damage to me from battle this turn…" The knives struck the barrier and shattered. "…is zero."

Ichigo sighed. "End turn."

"Don't sound so disappointed. I intend to show you hell soon." Haku drew. "I have it…the magic card that will destroy you! It is my Final Hatred Killer card! By removing the six Hatred Avengers from my graveyard or field, I can special summon their final incarnate!" An explosion of hellish red fire leapt up into the sky. "And that fire is its force…emerge, Hatred Incarnate!" (0/0) A burning red demon exploded out of the ground, magma and flame coming from every part of its horrible-looking body. "This is my final weapon, the ultimate method to defeat you. For every Hatred Avenger in my removed from play pile, its attack and defense are increased by 1000!" (6000/6000) "Now you are finished…attack with Final Fireball!" The demon roared and threw a huge ball of flame that enveloped Lord of Knives, blowing it apart.

Ichigo frowned. "City of Shadow's final ability is like Spirit Barrier for all Final Shadow monsters, except it includes effect damage as well. Therefore, while you destroy Lord or Knives, I survive."

Haku chuckled. "By all means, take your turn. Hatred Incarnate doesn't allow any duelist to fusion summon. Therefore, you cannot hope to win. I know your ultimate power is the power of combination, and without that power you are weak. End turn."

Ichigo just stood there. ("He's right. But if I lose here…") Looking down at his deck, he closed his eyes. ("I believe in all of you. I'm sorry I ever thought otherwise.")

"I'm betting that you wished you had used another deck besides your shadows, am I right?" Haku leaned in a little bit, waiting for his opponent to admit he had made a mistake.

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes. "Nope. This is my deck." He started to smile. "These are my shadows…" His hand rested on the top card of his deck. "And this is my draw!" Glancing at the drawn card, he smirked. "Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards!" He didn't falter in the slightest as he looked at those cards.

Judai smiled widely at his student. ("His confidence and his resolve are back. He can do this now, I know he can.")

Ichigo looked at both of the drawn cards…and his eyes widened at one of them. ("What is this?") He felt a strange tingle from within his heart. ("This power…is it the power of Luna in physical form?") He suddenly realized this wasn't the time to question this. "Here I go! I discard one card from my hand to activate this!" The appearing card was a magic card with a picture of glowing golden moon over the silent City of Shadows. "Moon of Legend!" Up in the sky above them, the moon grew brighter and brighter.

Haku looked up at the sky. "Just what do you think you are doing?"

"I'm about to call upon one of the four gods of the City of Shadows!" Ichigo pointed up at the top of one of the skyscrapers of the city, which was covered by mist. "This magic card can only be activated when City of Shadows is in play." The mist parted to reveal a tuxedo-wearing human wearing a mask and a top-hat. It slowly removed its hat and did a deep bow to Haku. "I applaud you for fighting for your lost love, but this is the end."

Haku stared at the monster, eyes trembling. "What is this? It can't possibly know what is going on here!"

The human leap from the rooftop to the ground on Ichigo's field. It turned to look at Ichigo, and tipped its hat. "My apologies for speaking out of line. By all means, continue."

Ichigo snapped out of his momentary stupor and nodded. "Right. This monster is Final Shadow God Moonlight Romancer." (1400/1200)

"A god huh? Sure…what kind of god would have such low attack points?" Haku snickered, and the Hatred Incarnate roared and pounded its fists into the ground. "I will burn you and your monster alive next turn, Ichigo Pilkington!"

Ichigo sighed. "Every bad guy says that…and then I beat them. Learn from history." His hand snapped up. "When Moonlight Romancer is special summoned, I may choose to add one of its three special magic cards from my deck to my hand! My choice is Moonlight Love!" A holographic card representation of the card appeared on the field. Its picture was that of Moonlight Romancer with a woman swept up into his arms. "One monster in play, during this turn, comes under my control!"

The Hatred Incarnate froze, and a giant glowing pink heart appeared over its head. It stomped over to Ichigo's field and turned to face Haku, snarling angrily.

Haku just stood there, eyes wide. "This can't be…you can't use my own weapon of revenge against me!"

"I didn't intend to." Ichigo pointed at Haku. "Moonlight Romancer, attack his life points directly with Gentleman's Cane!" The gentleman monster gave Haku another bow, and then leapt into the air. He came down with a simple wooden black cane, which he promptly smacked Haku in the head with.

Haku- 0

Ichigo- 200

Haku just stood there, eyes wide as the field faded to reveal that all of the forces of Midnight were either gone or collapsed on the ground.

Ichigo smiled slightly. "From the looks of it we won. Alright, see you later Haku. If you still want to kill me and all that, then just look me up at Duelist Academy. Later." Without even glancing behind him, his smile faded and his face became focused. "Now then…Midnight, it's just you and me. If you want this Game of the Gods so badly, then who I am to deny you."

Judai placed his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "Come on Ichigo, let's go."

-----------------------------------

Midnight sat back in his private chamber, watching through his mind's eye as his potentials began to approach his current location. "They will be here soon. Are your preparations ready, Uremorus?"

The head priest bowed his head slightly, from off to his master's side. "Yes master. The target for the Game of the Gods has been established."

Midnight stretched his neck a little bit. "That odd man was a good warmup, but just like I thought…he couldn't stand against the power of the third dark child." He smiled. "I expect you and your priests to buy me time. Don't worry…Sestros told me he would deal with the intruders as well." Standing, he brushed his robes out. "Make sure the proper opponent comes to my private dueling chamber. If it is the wrong one, then I remove your head and eat it, understand?" Without waiting for an answer, he disappeared.

To be continued…