Tournament of Tears
Chapter 38: Ties of blood
Ichigo ran through the fallen remains of the city, his body feeling so heavy. ("I need to find Ryu and the others. Since Rikuo wasn't foaming at the mouth when he came in, that means that at least Eri is alright!")
Erian followed from a distance, amazed by Ichigo's ability to refuse to give up despite the fact that his energy must have been completely drained. ("Are all beings of this planet this determined? Shouldn't he go lay down?")
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Rikuo growled darkly. "This power you speak of is nothing special then, if it is simply the darkness. I will crush it like I have crushed your other darkness…"
"You don't seem to understand the difference. That's a shame, because if you don't understand the difference then you will experience the truth behind it the hard way."
"The hard way? What's that?" The wolf demon glanced over at Ichigo for a few seconds, and was glad to see that he and that other boy were gone. ("Good, they've probably gone to find out what happened to Jourgen and the others. Hopefully Jourgen will fill them in on what we've learned.")
"But of course, painfully." The Dark King threw back his head and laughed, lightning crashing down amongst the huge spires of his field magic card. "Now draw your card and let the duel continue, Rikuo! I will enjoy tearing down your abilities and killing you, so that I can leave this dimension forever without any regrets!"
Rikuo looked down at his deck. ("I've only got 1800 life points left. I need to play this carefully.") "Draw!" Holding the drawn card at a distance, he looked upon the dark form of Sestros' kingdom with disdain. "I won't lose to such a weak beast!" Flipping the card over, he smiled and threw it onto his field. "Here's a page from Daniel's book of tricks, I special summon Bubble Cyber-wolf!" (1000/1000) A blue and round-bodied metal wolf appeared on his field and howled. "When this monster is summoned and I have no other cards in play I may activate a trap card from my hand!" The ground at his feet exploded as the towering form of his Irios the Steel Monarch appeared in play. "I play Call of the Haunted from my hand, special summoning Irios!" (2700/2300)
"Its attack isn't enough to touch my life points, fool!" Sestros sneered, right until he realized that Rikuo was sneering right back at him. "That look…"
"That's right, Limiter Removal!" Rikuo flipped the card in his hand over to reveal the most dangerous magic card of the machine type monsters. "All machine type monsters that I have in play have their attack power doubled at this time!" (5400/2300)
Irios made a series of strange metal growling noises and then it drop-kicked Goldd in the head, blowing it apart.
Sestros- 1100
Rikuo- 1800
Rikuo pointed at Bubble Cyber-wolf, which howled. "Bubble Cyber-wolf cannot be affected by magic or trap cards, however I will attack your life points directly with it!" The blue machine opened its jaws and released a spray of blue water that slammed into Sestros and dropped the Dark king to his knees. "At the end phase of this turn, all machines affected by Limiter Removal are destroyed." Irios exploded.
Sestros- 100
Rikuo- 1800
Sestros snarled as he forced himself to continue to stand. "I will not bow to your will or your power! Draw! Also, by the effect of Dark Charger I draw an additional card!" Flipping the drawn card over, he drew two cards. "Pot of Greed allows the activating duelist to draw two cards. After which I activate Pot of Avarice, shuffling the five monsters in my graveyard back into my deck. Afterwards, I draw two cards." Shuffling his deck, he looked at Rikuo angrily. "You were close to beating me right there, but not close enough." Replacing his deck into its slot, he drew two cards.
A dark haze fell over the field…and suddenly lightning came crashing down onto Sestros' field. "I special summon Hellroth, Killer of Dark World." (2000/1400) From within that lightning a dark form of a spiked-chain wielding demon appeared in play. "This level five monster can be special summoned, at which point you draw one card. Also, because of the effect of my kingdom Hellroth is powered up!" (2500/1400)
Rikuo snapped the top card off of his deck.
"Now Hellroth, crush his machine!" Sestros watched as the chain of his monster pierced through the metallic wolf and through Rikuo as well.
Sestros- 100
Rikuo- 300
Rikuo felt blood staining the inside of his jacket, but he knew that now wasn't the time to worry about his injuries. "When Bubble Cyber-wolf is sent to the graveyard and I have no other cards in play I may draw two cards." Adding two more cards to his hand, he knew they were approaching the most dangerous part of the duel. If either of them made a mistake the opponent would pounce on it in an instant. "Draw!"
Sestros just smiled calmly, his blood-red eyes reflecting the infinite patience of a being that could not die. "Rikuo, you understand that the truth of the matter is that the mortal world will forever remain dead."
"Excuse me?" The wolf demon snarled angrily. "If you're going to babble about random things then just don't speak."
Sestros turned his back on his opponent, taking in the beauty of the darkness around him. "The night is my strength. I have achieved the one thing that no other being except the gods has ever known. That is unending life."
Rikuo spat onto the ground in disgust. "And still you keep on babbling! I activate Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two from my hand!" One of the two cards seemed to shine brightly, even in the oppressive darkness. ("This is going to be an all or nothing turn all right. As long as none of the cards in his hand are dangerous, I've won!") "I set one card face-down on the field and activate Emergency Provisions!" His face-down card shimmered and then exploded. "By sending magic and trap cards from my field to my graveyard, I can gain 1000 life points."
Sestros- 100
Rikuo- 1300
Sestros still was looking away from the dueling field, and was taking in the sights of his own kingdom. "It is a beauty that even a creature such as yourself can appreciate, correct Rikuo?"
A deep snarl erupted the wolf demon's throat. "I've had enough of you! I activate Premature Burial, paying 800 life points to revive the card I discarded!" A green-armored humanoid appeared on his field and chuckled coldly. "Jinzo's out to finish this!" (2400/1500)
Sestros- 100
Rikuo- 500
Sestros still wasn't even looking at his opponent. "Did you say something, Rikuo?"
"I summon Heavy Mech Support Platform!" (500/500) An enhanced suit of armoring appeared around the body of his Jinzo. "This monster card can equip to one machine monster in play and increase its attack and defense points by 500!" (2900/2000) "Blast Hellroth into dust! Cyber Energy Shock Boost!" A pair of red lasers shot from the eyes of his cyborg and slashed the demon apart into numerous little pieces. "Now, discard your save card and let's keep going, Sestros!"
"Save card?" Sestros turned to look at Rikuo. "Whatever do you mean?"
Sestros- 0
Rikuo- 500
Rikuo was speechless, while the horrors of the Dark Kingdom retracted all around him. "You mean…that was it? I succeeded?"
"Congratulations." Sestros walked over to one of the few remaining walls in the area and rested his back against it. "It's a shame that duel didn't accomplish anything."
"What are you talking about, I won!" Rikuo pounded his right fist into his open left hand. "Alright Sestros, now it's time to restore all of the damage caused by Midnight…"
This left the Dark King chuckling. "Rikuo, you're getting yourself worked up over a hollow victory. Or have you noticed that I'm not worried for a reason." His eyes looked upon the battered and drained form of what was once a being he feared, if slightly, in his heart. "The Game of the Gods requires that I am removed from this dimension or killed for it to be your victory."
Rikuo's heart slowed in his chest, and despite his hazy train of thoughts he understood immediately what that meant. ("This can't be…")
"And since you do not possess the power to banish me from this dimension, you cannot meet those requirements. In other words Rikuo, the Game of the Gods final round will forever be either a draw or a victory for me. We can duel again if you wish, but even if you win it will all be for nothing." Pushing himself off the wall, the Dark King felt his suppressed powers pushing him towards Rikuo like a missile. "But for your sake, I'll let you vent some of your anger at me considering because of me your daughter will die no matter what you do."
Rikuo let out a feral roar and charged right into the path of Sestros, every fiber of being preparing to commit itself to trying to destroy something that was supposedly impossible to destroy.
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They were all safe. It was the biggest thought in his mind at the moment. All of them had been deposited in the remains of a skyscraper, and they were all currently either rested up against a wall of lying on a blanket.
Ichigo felt real relief as he looked upon the sleeping faces of all those he cared about in this world. ("Even Ryu is asleep, he must have been really exhausted. I'm guessing he did most of the work saving everyone, while Rikuo just ranted and raved about nothing useful.")
Walking amongst them like a silent ghost, Ichigo felt strangely warm inside. ("I wonder if this is how dad felt whenever he'd walk in to check on me during the…") That warmth pulsed within him and faded. ("Dad…") Kneeling down next to Eri, he very carefully removed the deck from her jacket pocket and fanned it out, looking over the cards that were apparently from his father's final deck before he had died. ("It's strange, but when I look upon these cards part of me thinks 'why aren't these my birthright?' But then I look upon them all, and I understand that I would have never played cards like this.")
I never…father…
Blinking a few times, Ichigo looked around him to find the source of that voice he had just heard. Then he looked down at what sat in his hand and realized that it was the deck the voice had come from. "What in the…"
("It is called a psychic imprint.") Halo chimed in sagely. ("It can only be created by someone with psychic powers or who has access to someone who has psychic powers. They allow someone to imprint a message onto an object or set of objects that can only be 'heard' by a specific person or persons.")
Ichigo nodded quietly and closed his eyes, clearing his mind so he could hear this message better. ("The voice sounded like dad's…")
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Ichigo, if you can hear this then I can only assume that Eri used this deck. Let me start off by saying that I entrusted that deck to her as something of a ethical lesson. Maybe if the cards she used were good and pure, then she would gain some of their traits...
………… Yeah, I know it doesn't sound likely but I figured it was worth a shot.
The real reason I gave them to her was because she never seemed to be able to enjoy her deck. That, and I didn't want to force those cards on you because I knew that you'd feel obligated to play them. Fostering your creativity and your love of your own kind of heroes has been a little dream of mine, so doing such a thing would be unforgivable.
Now then, by now you know the truth. Yes Ichigo, I passed away by the time you have listened to this message. I'm assuming the clone probably met its end of life a short while ago. Please don't hate Ryu for keeping that secret, because I asked him to do so. I didn't want to leave you and Jennie alone without me, at least…that was my original intention.
Then I thought about it more, and I pondered whether I was simply afraid of dying and being forgotten. While the premise scared me, I didn't truly find that to be the core reason for all of this. No Ichigo, the reason I wanted that clone to be around was so that it could do one important thing. I wanted it to teach you my final lesson.
The world of the demons is a cruel one, filled with hatred and anger. It's a path that once you set down is hard to leave, and until you can get away from it you are left a monster with only the most base of instincts on your mind. In other words, you are Rikuo but without the moments of sanity. Anyway, enough bashing on the psycho-wolf, I'm sure he gets enough of that from everyone by now.
You have become powerful Ichigo. Incredibly powerful in fact. That wasn't what I wanted for you. I never wanted you to become some kind of pseudo-god that could destroy beings with a thought. In fact, it was the exact opposite of what I wanted you to learn.
My biggest mistake in life was to think that vengeance through death was the only answer. It has, in fact, been the thing that will forever sentence people like Rikuo, Sestros, and Midnight to an endless spiral of destruction that you cannot escape from.
Love is the answer. I know it sounds corny, but there is a power behind such a soppy emotion. It's the kind of power you may have seen already. I'm sure you've felt it before, when you dueled against Chaos and Eri was killed. Your love for her awakened the power of the Dark Halo, and allowed you to completely overwhelm and destroy an opponent that you shouldn't have stood a chance against.
Sestros will interfere. I'm not sure how, or why, but he'll interfere and cause huge problems that nothing any of you can do will fix. If that's the case Ichigo, I have to ask you to please duel him with all of your might. No matter what happens though, I have to ask that you do not hate him. Simply duel him, and take with you these last words.
I love you. I love you because your heart is filled with something that I never could keep because of the life I had no choice but to enter. That thing is a child-like innocence that makes you a real hero. Anyone else can pretend they are good, but there is a shadow in their heart that will always make them doubt themselves. While you have doubted yourself in the past, it is not for those reasons. Remain true to your way of doing things, Ichigo, and the strength needed to fight against this type of enemy will come.
I love you, Ichigo. Tell this to your mother, to Ryu, to Erika, to Rikuo, to everyone. Let them all know I died with their best interests in my heart, and that I hope all of them the best. Tell your mother, most of all, not to grieve for me. Though I died, I didn't die with regrets. In fact, I died knowing that my legacy would be carried on by you. That is more than any father could ever hope from his son.
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Ichigo slowly opened his eyes, tears staining his cheeks. All of the words he had heard rang over and over in his head, and with no other thoughts in his head he curled up into a ball and cried, letting out all of those feelings that had come from these last few days.
Erian watched from just outside the giant hole in the side of the building, all the while a small war raging not too far away from behind him as Rikuo did everything he could to strike down Sestros. ("Ichigo…")
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Rikuo couldn't feel his arms, and he didn't even realize they were lowering until the weight of the Howling Sword pulled them to the ground. ("Damn it, that's the fiftieth time I've thrown that attack into his face. What more can I do?")
Sestros didn't even bother to brush himself off this time. "Come now Rikuo, isn't this getting boring for you? Hurry up and change to a different attack method already. Not that it will do you any good. In about thirty minutes the reality you know will end, and with it the last remnants of everything connecting me to this pitiful world."
"Maybe so, but if that's the case I'll be sure to make those last thirty minutes last as long as possible!" Forcing his blood-covered arms to lift, Rikuo's burning eyes locked onto the body of the creature he hated with all his being. "Feel the last honorable strikes of the demon race, Sestros!"
The Dark King watched that weapon slowly rise up to strike the ground and create another shockwave that would end up accomplishing nothing. "You know what?" Lifting his hand up, he aimed it right at Rikuo's chest. "Die." Then a beam of red light leapt from his outstretched hand and pierced right into Rikuo's heart, blowing a hole clean through it.
The mighty wolf general shuddered slightly, and then collapsed back-first to the dirt. ("Damn it…I couldn't even defend properly…")
Sestros turned on one heel to walk away. "It has ended finally. Now to return to my dimension and…"
Rikuo felt no more pain. There was a warm hand holding his head up for a moment, before he felt the back of his skull rest against something soft and clothed. ("What?")
"You did the best you could Rikuo." Ichigo ran a hand through the hair of the demon that looked like an evil version of his late father. The boy was tired, and truly he didn't think he had the power to go on. But his father's last request was rightly made. "Put down your sword, soldier."
Rikuo felt his burning anger, or what was left of it anyway, fading away slowly. "Ichigo…can you save the world this time? I'd do it…but I'm kinda sleepy right now…"
"Yeah, don't worry about it." Ichigo smiled softly. "I'll do everything I can to make sure that the world will be saved."
"That's…good…" Eyes closed, Rikuo Amero felt the cold hand of death grip his heart and bring it to a halt.
Ichigo gently placed Rikuo's head against the ground, and stood up. "Sestros, there is one last opponent you have to face."
"Is there really?" The Dark King looked at the wreck of a being before him with disdain. "Boy, you don't have the power leftover to take on a low-rate duelist, so what makes you think that you can take the likes of me down?"
Ichigo slowly activated his duel disk, his weakened body trembling just to stand in proximity to the energy coming off of the last challenge between him and saving reality. "Twenty five minutes until the end. Do you think that taking me down with such a time limit is impossible then?"
"Say what you wish, fool." Sestros' rusted duel disk activated once more. "One more duel for the road, before I kiss this sad excuse of a dimension goodbye and move onto bigger and better things."
Ichigo- 4000
Sestros- 4000
To be continued…