Chapter 20: Spiritual Dealings
Only 5 minutes after Damian exited Kaiba Land, he saw Scott, Ghassan, and a third person running down the street. The third person was wearing a cloak similar to Giga Gagagigo, but he was slimmer, and wearing glasses.
"Damian!" Ghassan called out. The three ran towards him. Ghassan noticed some cuts in Damian's clothing and skin. "Damian, what happened? Were you attacked?"
"Well...yeah. Not sure if you guys will believe it, but a duel spirit challenged me to a duel. Giga Gagagigo I think. Damage was real, like in a shadow game."
"So The Light was serious. He sent someone after you." Scott stated.
Damian nodded. "Guess he had the same worries as Ghassan did. I was getting too attached for his liking."
"He's correct. He assisted Jaden and his friend prepare for the tag duel, and he was outright saddened when the Princeton boy ended their friendship." The Light said in Scott's head.
"This is why I told you not to get too attached. The Light's our only way home, and now he wants you dead." Ghassan told Damian.
"I mean...I dunno." Damian replied. "When it looked like I was about to lose, I started to hear him in my head. He wanted to take over the duel and win it for me."
The cloaked figure nodded. "Like I suspected. He wouldn't mind absorbing your soul, but what The Light really wanted was to get a step closer to controlling your mind." Damian's eyes widened upon hearing the cloaked figure's voice.
"So the whole attack was a set-up." Scott stated.
"Did you accept his offer Damian?" Ghassan asked.
Damian shook his head, before turning to the cloaked figure. "Since when did you work for The Light of Destruction?"
The cloaked figure reeled back a little bit. "Since he revived me." He answered. "So, you know who I am?"
Damian nodded. "Your voice was a dead give away."
"Yeah, I thought the guy's voice was a bit familiar." Ghassan said. "Just can't put my finger on it."
"Adrian Gecko." Damian stated.
Ghassan's eyes widened. "That's right! NOW I remember that voice!"
The cloaked figure chuckled. "So that's why he's fine with keeping you." He took off his hood, revealing his light face, rad hair, and yellow eyes. "Risk or not, you know too much about this world for The Light to dispose so soon. My voice let you see through my disguise instantly."
"Adrian Gecko? Whose he?" Scott asked. His memory of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime, especially GX and onwards, was easily the rustiest of the three.
"Adoptive son of the Gecko Group. He tried to take over an alternate dimension where losing a duel results in death, and rule as king, but was defeated by Yubel. Unlike everybody else who lost duels in that dimension, he was never revived." Damian explained.
"Heh. Somebody's done their homework." Adrian replied.
Ghassan turned to Adrian. "The Light revived you? How did he do that? And why did he decide to revive you? And what are you aiming to gain by working for The Light 'cause I KNOW you have an agenda."
"I don't know, to work for him, and I'm not telling you respectively."
"Can you at least tell us how you got in contact with The Light?" Damian asked.
"I didn't contact it. It contacted me. After I lost to Yubel, I suddenly woke up lying in my bed, and shot over two years in the past. I was about to go to East Academy to start it all over again. Then he started appearing in my dreams."
"And that's when you started to work for him." Damian surmised. Adrian nodded.
"Wait, so The Light transferred your mind to a few years back? Like a Days of Future Past thing?" Ghassan asked.
"I have no idea what that is, but yes."
"Then maybe you could help us out in expelling Jaden. You'd know about what's going to happen just like Damian."
"So we're still going to work for The Light? Even though we know it's trying to posses us?" Scott asked.
"We don't have a choice if we want to get back home. We'll just have to make sure he can't control us. He still needs us like we need him." Ghassan replied. Scott shrugged. They didn't really have other options at the moment.
"Anyway, Adrian won't know nearly as much as I do." Damian stated. "He only joined Central Duel Academy during Jaden's third year."
"Besides, I've been assigned a completely different mission by The Light anyway." Adrian added.
"Alright, but how about we keep in touch in case we ever need each other's help? We're all working for the same guy after all." Scott suggested.
"Sorry. You three know too much about me as it is. I'd rather not let you find out even more. Besides, I have nothing to gain by getting Jaden expelled." Adrian put the hood of his cloak back on and walked away from the trio.
"Great. We find out about two other people who work for The Light of Destruction, and neither of them actually want to help us." Damian said.
"Forget it. Let's just go back to the hotel. Damian, me and Scott will fill you in on our plan for next semester." Ghassan said. The three headed back to their hotel.
It was a cold winter night at Duel Academy. Snow lightly fell on the mostly abandoned island. It was Winter Break, and nearly all of the students left the academy to spend time with their families.
Within a fenced off area, surrounded by generators, were two people. Thrown to the ground was an obelisk blue with glasses and long brown hair. Standing was the see-through image of a tall humanoid in green mechanical armor and wearing a green mask. The monster, Jinzo.
"N-no! St-stay back!" The obelisk blue yelled. He tried to back away, but Jinzo grabbed his arm.
"We had a deal Torrey. And it's time for you to fulfill it." Jinzo started to glow with energy, with Torrey starting to fade away.
"GYAAAAAHHHHH!"
"Enough." A voice said.
Jinzo turned his head to see Professor a man and a brown cat enter the power supply. "This doesn't concern you." Jinzo stated.
"Let go of Torrey, Jinzo, and release the souls of the other students you've taken. I have alternatives."
Jinzo let go of the Obelisk, causing him to fall to the ground. "Pro...Professor Banner..." Torrey quickly went unconscious.
"Alternatives you say?"
Banner nodded. "Three boys by the names of Damian, Ghassan, and Scott. If you truly desire to enter the physical world, you can take their souls instead when they come back to Duel Academy."
"Why wait for those three when I can consume Torrey's soul and be complete right now?"
"Those three boys have much more vitality than the three who summoned you. You've consumed two souls already, but you have to rely on the power generators to barely maintain your form here. Consuming the souls of the three I mentioned would allow you to have a much more stable presence in the physical realm."
"And why should I trust you about this matter? I haven't seen the boys myself to judge how much energy the three boys have."
"Well you have two options." Professor Banner got out a Duel Disk. "Either trust me, or return to the spirit world."
"A duel? Well, it hardly matters if you're telling the truth or not now. I'll defeat you, and consume your soul as well as Torrey's. That'll make my physical form much more stable." More electricity crackled before 5 holographic cards appeared in front of Jinzo.
Banner put the Duel Disk on. "Very well. I'll get you to listen to me one way or another. Now as the kids say, get your game on!"
"...Your Duel Disk is on backwards." Jinzo pointed out.
"...Oh. That's embarrassing." Banner put his Duel Disk on correctly and drew 5 cards. Pharaoh took a few steps away from Banner, and decided to lie down.
"Duel!" The two simultaneously said. (Banner 4000/ Jinzo 4000)
"I'll make the first move." Jinzo said. A sixth holographic card materialized in front of him. "I summon Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast (2800/2000) in attack mode." A red tank designed like a dragon appeared on Jinzo's side of the field.
"Fusilier. A level 7 monster that you can normal summon without tributing. But if done, it's attack and defense points are halved." Banner stated.
"Rather informed I see." Jinzo replied. (Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast 2800-1400/2000-1000) "I set a card face down and activate Ectoplasmer. Once during each of our End Phases, we must sacrifice a monster we control, and deal half of it's original attack points as damage to the opponent."
"I see. That means halved attack or not, I'll still be losing 1400 life points."
"Indeed." Fusilier transformed into mist and flew towards Banner. Banner winced in pain as it flew through his body. (Banner 4000-2600) "I end my turn."
Banner drew a card. 'As I figured. This is a Shadow Game.' "I activate the continuous spell, Alchemic Kettle - Chaos Distill." A large, red contraption looking like a steam-powered tea-kettle rose up behind Banner. "When this card is played, all cards sent to my graveyard are removed from play instead."
"Hardly seems useful."
Banner smiled. "All cards have their uses. Next, I activate Mercury Hourglass. I can only activate this card if I control Chaos Distill. This allows me to special summon a certain monster from my deck. I special summon Alchemy Beast - Ekenas the Mercury (500/500) in attack mode." A blue fish-like creature with four rings and a trail of metal on it's' back appeared.
"A weak monster like that requires two cards to summon?"
Banner ignored Jinzo. "I also activate Steel Lamp so that I can special summon Alchemy Beast - Salamandra the Steel (500/500) from my deck." A torrent of fire appeared before a metallic winged-lizard emerged. "Go my Alchemy Beasts! Screaming Stream, Flameshot of Ore!" Ekenas and Salamandra opened their mouths and shot a stream of water and breath of fire respectively. (Jinzo 4000-3000) "I set two cards face down and end my turn. Since it's the end phase, I sacrifice my Ekenas the Mercury to inflict half it's attack points as damage to you."
Ekenas dissolved and turned into a misty white substance, and flew through Jinzo. (Jinzo 3000-2750) "It's my turn." Jinzo stated. Another holographic card appeared in front of him. "I summon Malice Doll of Demise (1600/1700) in attack mode." A creepy wooden doll with yellow hair and an axe appeared. "Next, I activate the spell card Monster Reborn to revive my Fusilier Dragon, this time with all of it's attack points." The dragon-like tank returned to Jinzo's side of the field. "I attack your-
"And that's when I activate this trap card of mine, DNA Transplant." Banner interrupted. I declare one attribute, and all monsters on the field have their attributes changed to it. I declare the LIGHT attribute." A shining yellow aura surrounded all the monsters on the field.
"As if that'll matter. I attack your Salamandra with Malice Doll of Demise!" The doll hurled it's axe at the Alchemy Beast.
"It matters more than you think. I activate my other trap card, Elemental Absorber. By removing from play a monster in my hand, your monsters with the same attribute can't attack. I remove from play Alchemy Beast-Ouroboros the Bronze to prevent all LIGHT monsters you control from attacking. And since I changed all your monsters to the LIGHT attribute-"
"None of my monsters can attack." Jinzo finished. A barrier of light appeared on Banner's side of the field, the axe harmlessly bouncing off it. "Very well. I end my turn. And with Ectoplasmer, I sacrifice my Doll of Demise to deal half it's attack points as damage to you!" Malice transformed into mist, and flew through Banner. Again, Banner felt a stinging pain as it entered and exited his body, though he didn't flinch from the pain. (Banner 2600-1800)
"It won't matter whether or not you can prevent me from attacking. I'll slowly drain your life points with my Ectoplasmer. And it looks like it's starting to affect your body as well."
Banner looked at his right arm. He noticed it was becoming holographic. "So the more damage I take, the more by body fades away. It's my turn." Banner drew a card, put it in his hand, and got out another one. "I activate Chaos Greed. I can only activate this card if I have four or more cards removed from play, and none in my graveyard. It allows me to draw two cards." Banner drew two more cards from his deck.
"Now, I activate Silver Key so that I can special summon Alchemy Beast - Moonface the Silver (500/500) from my deck." A ball of meshed together pieces of silver with two legs appeared. "My Alchemy Beasts are capable of attacking directly. Salamandra, Moonface! Attack! Flameshot of Ore, Shockwave Sliver!" Salamandra let out a torrent of flames while Moonface sprouted two arms, and hurled sharp silver edges at Jinzo.
"I activate my continuous trap card, Spirit Barrier. As long as I control a monster, I take no battle damage." A transparent barrier formed around Jinzo, protecting himself from the attacks.
"Preventing me from doing damage either I see. I activate Black Process - Negledo. With this spell, I remove from play all Alchemy Beasts I control and draw two cards for each one. I remove from play Salamandra and Moonface to draw a total of four cards." Banner drew four cards from his deck. "I set two cards face down and end my turn."
Another holographic card appeared in front of Jinzo. "During my standby phase, if Malice Doll of Demise was sent to the graveyard from a continuous spell card, I can revive it." The doll returned to Jinzo's side of the field. "I end my turn. And I'll use Ectoplasmer to-"
"I think not. I activate the continuous trap card Macro Cosmos. I can only activate this card if I remove Chaos Distill from play." The Kettle vanished into light. "Like Chaos Distill, any card that would be sent to my graveyard is removed from play instead. In addition, it allows me to special summon Helios-The Primordial Sun (?/?) from my deck."
A female body made out of white bandages and with a miniature sun for a head appeared. "Helios's attack and defense points are equal to every monster that's removed from play times 100. With Salamandra, Moonface, Ekenas, and Ourobors, Helios will have 400 attack and defense points." (Helios-The Primordial Sun ?-400/?-400)
"And what will that accomplish?" Jinzo asked.
"Helios's arrival will allow me to activate this quickplay spell, Planet Allignment. When I have Helios on the field, I can destroy all monsters you control and inflict 300 damage to you."
Before Jinzo could sacrifice either of them, Malice and Fusilier Dragon disappeared. (Jinzo 2750-2450) Jinzo clenched his fist. "Fine then. The monsters in your deck too weak to do significant damage to me anyway."
"Don't make judgments when you haven't seen my whole deck yet." Banner drew a card. "If I may, what are your intentions?"
"I explained this. To be able to enter your realm."
"Yes, I know. But why? Do you wish to live life like a human? Do you wish to take over the world? What's your reasoning?"
"...To survive. Now make your turn."
Banner raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "I activate Graceful Charity. I draw three cards and discard two." Banner did exactly that. "Two of the cards I discarded were monsters. Leon the Lead, and Aretos the Tin. Due to Macro Cosmos, they're removed from play instead of going to the graveyard."
"Meaning Helios gains more attack points." Jinzo stated. (Helios-The Primordial Sun ?-600/?-600)
"Next, I activate Foolish Burial. I send a monster to my graveyard, removed from play instead due to Macro Cosmos. I choose my Golden Homunculus, giving Helios 100 more attack points." (Helios-The Primordial Sun 600-700/600-700)
"It won't do too much damage."
"True, but I'm not attacking with Primordial Sun. I activate Yellow Process-Kitolenics. By sacrificing Helios-The Primordial Sun, I can special summon Helios-Duo Megistus (?/?) from my deck!" The bandaged figure disappeared before a larger bandaged figure with a miniature sun for a head, and a smaller sun next to it took it's place.
"Duo Megistus's original attack and defense points are equal to the number of my removed from play monsters times 200. With Primordial Sun removed from play, that makes the eight monster, so Megistus has 1600 attack points" Banner explained. (Helios-Duo Megistus ?-1600/ ?-1600) "Since you no longer control any monsters, Spirit Barrier won't have any effect. Duo Megistus, attack Jinzo directly! Solar Singer!" Fire formed around Megistus's body before it sent out a torrent of flames at Jinzo. (Jinzo 2450-850) "I set a card facedown and end my turn. And due to the effect of Ectoplasmer, I sacrifice Megistus to deal 800 points of damage to you."
Duo Megistus transformed into a misty white substance before flying through Jinzo. (Jinzo 850-50) "Damn you..." Another holographic card appeared in front of Jinzo.
"So, I have a question. You say you want to escape the spirit realm to survive. What do you mean by this?"
"You'll have no need for answers where you're going. I activate Cost Down. I discard a card, and lower the levels of all monsters in my hand by two." One of the holographic cards in front of Jinzo disappeared. "Now, I'll show you true terror." Jinzo started to fade away into nothing. Seconds later, a large amount of purple energy formed on his side of the field before he emerged from it, completely whole. "I summon myself, Jinzo!"(2400/1500)
"Jinzo please answer my question. I'd rather not send you back to the spirit world without getting answers." Banner stated.
"You don't understand the situation you're in do you? My special ability activates. As long as I'm on the field, no trap cards can be activated, and the effects of all traps currently on the field are negated. That means your DNA Transplant and Elemental Absorber combo is useless!" The barrier of light that protected Banner's side of the field dissolved.
"But it doesn't destroy the traps, correct?"
"That won't mean anything."
"Jinzo. Please. Just surrender and answer my questions." Banner insisted.
"I attack directly!" Jinzo formed a ball of energy in his hands, ready to hurl it at Banner.
Banner sighed. "I activate my quick-play spell, Grand Convergence. I can only activate this if I control Macro Cosmos."
"But I negated Macro Cosmos's effect!"
"But you didn't remove it from the field. With Grand Convergence, I destroy all monsters on the field and inflict 300 points of damage to you!"
Jinzo gasped, as he noticed his form was starting to shimmer. "No! I was so close!"
"Jinzo. If you co-operate, with me, I'll summon you myself. Just answer my questions, and do a favor for me."
"Why should I trust you? You're merely a school teacher!"
"It was no coincidence that the students who summoned you were from my class. I told my students about the forbidden act of summoning duel spirits specifically with the hopes of having some of them commit the act."
"What?"
"I was intending to have you be a test for another student of mine, Jaden Yuki. Unfortunately, he's not around. But you can still serve a use to me. I'll summon you on two conditions. As I said, there are three boys I want you to eliminate. Damian, Ghassan, and Scott. They'll be the sacrifices for you. I get what i want, and you'll be free to live your life in this realm."
Even more of Jinzo was starting to fade. "Fine. What's your other condition."
"As I said, what do you mean by you're trying to survive?"
Two other Obelisk Blues materialized from where Jinzo was standing. They must have been brought back as Jinzo was about to lose connection to the physical plane. "There's a malicious Duel Spirit in our realm. Invader of Darkness. And unfortunately, I happened to make an enemy out of him. Him and his forces are too powerful for me to handle. I'll be killed if I stay in the Spirit World for much longer. I need to escape."
Banner nodded. "I see. Very well Jinzo. I promise to summon you for your survival as long as you don't terrorize anybody on Duel Academy excluding the three I'll offer as your sacrifices."
Jinzo was taken aback before he nodded his head. "...Thank you." Jinzo's body completely vanished. (Jinzo 50-0)
This chapter took longer than I thought, especially since it was relatively short. Though I suppose the second semester of college starting means I need some more time to readjust. Here we have our first chapter that features a full-length duel where none of the duelists are our main protagonists. It was an interesting experience to write a duel for Banner seeing as how most of his deck are anime-exclusive cards.
One last chapter about the trio's Winter Break before we're back to Duel Academy. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the next one!
