For disclaimer, see the beginning of this story. Bastard.
I forgot to say last chapter that original cards used in Nick's duel were Puppet Swarm and Marionette Kuriboh. Puppet Swarm is my own creation, and Marionette Kuriboh is the property of Seeker of the Soul. If at any time you want to use an original card in your own work, please ask its respective owner for permission before doing so. Same goes for original characters.
Beneath the Surface
by G.O.T. Nick
Chapter Two: Power of the Dark Empire
A tall man wearing a thick black winter coat that covered his entire body from the shoulder down walked calmly along the sidewalk. From beneath the thick cloth of his hat, which matched his coat, sharp green eyes glared out at the world. He mumbled incoherently to himself as he walked, complaining about the cold of the surrounding air. It would be difficult to blame the man for such comments, as it was evident that he was being severely annoyed by the thick layer of snow on either side of the sidewalk, as well as the snow that was falling on top of him. His hands were stuck deep into his coat's pockets, and his head was tucked down into it as far as it would go. Several minutes passed as the man trudged onward in this manner, until at the end of one of his paces, his black boot was unable to gain friction on the slick sidewalk. His right leg swept beneath him swiftly, and the man, unable to regain balance because his arms were trapped at his sides, fell gracelessly face-first into the snow to the right of the sidewalk.
After struggling for several seconds to free his hands from his pockets, the man pressed his arms against the snow and pulled his head out of the snow. Black locks fell over his eyes, as a result of the fact that his hat was still buried partially beneath the snow. The man snarled, grabbed the hat out of the snow, and pushed himself to his feet. Unfortunately, as he placed both feet on the sidewalk, one happened to fall upon the exact same area he had slipped upon before, and the man fell backwards into the snow on the opposite side of the sidewalk. Letting out a yell of frustration, the man pushed himself back up once again, making sure to watch where he placed his feet. He grabbed at the back of his neck, snatching a strand of his shoulder-length hair and pulled it out in front of his face to examine it. The man frowned. His previously perfect hair was now flecked with white snowflakes, as were his hat and coat.
"Agh, I HATE SNOW!" the man yelled before frantically brushing his clothing and hair off, tugging the hat back over his head, shoving his hands back in his pockets, and trudging off once again. Within seconds, the snow had stopped falling. "Now that's more like it…" A plane flew overhead, gradually descending over the frigid city of Sapporo.
Shaun stepped out of his plane, his feet sinking into the snow as he did so. Then he snapped his fingers, and the flying vehicle glowed purple briefly before vanishing. He was wearing a purple cloak about his body, as well as a plain pair of glasses, which he presently adjusted with a single finger, brushing a bit of his black hair as he did so. A lone passer-by, carrying a bottle of beer, gaped at the teen. Shaun turned to him and said, "What?" The drunk blinked a few times as Shaun walked away, then turned his head to look at the bottle in his hand before pouring its contents out onto the cold street.
As Shaun walked he removed an object from the inside of his cloak and held it before him. It was a golden trinket, crafted into the image of a leaping gazelle. It dangled from a brown string, which Shaun looped over his fingers. The trinket was glowing brightly, and as Shaun continued to walk, the glow intensified. "Well, this is easier than Nick made it out to be," he muttered to himself, "I just have to keep walking in this direction, and I'll find whoever it is I need to find. Sure, I haven't got all day to do it, but how hard can it be to find one guy and bring him back?
The black-coated man removed his right hand from his pocket just long enough to shake the arm a bit, trying to relieve himself of the burning pain he felt on the limb. 'I wish Todaku didn't have such a sick sense of humor,' he thought to himself, 'there's got to be some other way to find this guy…' He pressed on, gritting his teeth to take his mind off the pain a bit. 'No matter, it'll all pay off when I get my reward.' The pain in his arm increased, and the man imagined he heard his skin sizzling, 'I don't know what's worse-my arm burning up or the rest of my body freezing…Well, at least I'm getting close, and I won't have to feel it anymore…This thing's really hurting now, I must be really close…' He turned a corner, and ran headlong into a tall man. This caused him to stumble backwards, slipping on the ice once again and falling to the snowy ground. The man he had collided with managed to keep his footing, being much more used to the slippery sidewalks than the other.
The coated man screamed in frustration as he leapt up out of the snow and jabbed a finger angrily at the one he had bumped into, yelling obscenities. A few passersby turned their heads at the noise he was causing, but the target of his insults appeared not to be affected. He was wearing a black hoody, with his hands in its pockets and the hood. The visor of a black baseball cap stuck out of the top of the hood's opening. He stared evenly back at the one who had bumped into him. After a few seconds, the coated man realized that his arm hurt like hell, and realized what that meant. "You! You're the one I've been searching for! Prepare to die, you pathetic worm, for you shall be crushed beneath the might of the great Ieyasu!"
The man in the hoody removed a hand from its pocket and pulled back his hood, revealing himself to possess jet black hair that was gelled back beneath his cap, grayish-green eyes…and a pair of headphones currently fitted over his cap, covering his ears and blasting loud music. He pulled the other hand out of its pocket, revealing a CD-player, and pressed the Pause button. He removed the now-silent headphones from his ears and said, "Sorry, were you saying something to me?"
Ieyasu yelled in rage, "Insolent punk! I'll kill you!" He pulled back the right sleeve of his coat, revealing a black symbol somewhat resembling a crown in the middle of his forearm. The symbol glowed, and then black tendrils of shadow spewed forth from it, then circled around Ieyasu and the other man.
The other man's eyes widened in shock at this turn of events. "What's going on?" he demanded sharply. Ieyasu just grinned sadistically, and the shadows continued to come forth from his arm.
Shaun turned the corner of a building, outstretched arm holding up the now flare-like gazelle icon. He caught a glimpse of Ieyasu and his target, shadows now almost completely engulfing them, and broke into a run towards the two. "Damn, should've anticipated this…I didn't reach him fast enough…" Before the hemisphere of darkness could close over the pair within, Shaun thrust out his free arm, using his own power to force the orb to remain open long enough for him to dive headfirst into it before it closed completely and everything around him went black.
Ieyasu blinked as he saw the black-haired teen suddenly leap into the darkness he had created, but seemed unperturbed. He glanced at the glowing golden gazelle in Shaun's hand. "So you came to recruit him," he observed, "no matter, because I have already started this duel by invoking the dark power of my master. It's mostly for show, but it also prevents this little whelp from escaping from our little game. There's nothing that can be done to stop it now."
Shaun grimaced and clenched his fists, but did nothing more. There was nothing else he could do. Now that Ieyasu was no longer distracted by his own fury, he had the opportunity to get a closer look at his opponent. He looked like he was no older than eighteen at the most, yet he was more than six feet tall, and his build suggested that beneath his winter clothing he had relatively well-toned muscles. "What's your name, boy?"
His opponent glared at him, and replied simply with, "Dion Rinfar."
"Dion Rinfar…I like the last name…" Ieyasu smiled, "too bad you're soon to be the late Dion Rinfar." He crossed his arms in front of him so that they intersected perpendicularly at the forearms. The black symbol on his right arm glowed momentarily, and a black aura covered the opposite forearm. The glow bulged out a bit from his arm, and took form. Eventually it lost all of its nebulousness and became a black Duel Disk, the monster zones shaped into a semicircle. From this arc extended a sharp metal blade that gleamed in the source-less light of their surroundings. "I assume you know how to duel, so let's get started." He snapped six cards off of his already-shuffled deck, which was held down by a claw-like clamp in the center of his Duel Disk. "I set two cards facedown and summon Zolga (1700/1200)!" Two brown-backed, giant cards materialized before him, followed immediately by a vaguely humanoid figure with a head consisting of a half-disc on the top and a cylindrical base. A single red eye gazed at Dion, and below the eye was a purple sheet draped over the rest of the strange monster's body, or perhaps lack of one. "I'll leave it to you now. End turn."
Ieyasu had initiated the duel and taken his turn so quickly that Dion had not even registered the fact that he himself did not have a Duel Disk. He glanced around in a seemingly pathetic excuse to locate one, but was lucky to glimpse Shaun retrieve one from his cloak. Shaun, now completely resigned to the fact that he would just have to watch the duel instead of help in any matter, chucked the Duel Disk at Dion. Dion slid the Disk onto his arm, and it clamped into place. He retrieved his deck from its place at his belt, shuffled it quickly, and slammed it home into its respective slot on Shaun's Duel Disk. "Alright, I don't know what exactly it is you want from me, but you picked the wrong person to battle in this manner. I'll have you know I've defeated two of Japan's former top duelists." Ieyasu let out a fake yawn, so Dion decided to spare with further comments. Instead he snapped six cards off of his deck, as Ieyasu had done just earlier, and looked over them. "Now to show you how skilled I am. I'm going to beat you right here, in my first turn."
Ieyasu sneered back at him, "Those are some pretty bold words, punk. I doubt you can back them up. After all, you'd need to destroy my Zolga and then still have the capability to deal me 4000 damage."
"Actually…" Dion slid two cards into Shaun's Duel Disk, and two green-bordered cards shimmered into view in front of him, "I don't plan on even having to touch your monster. I play the permanent Spell cards, Dark Snake Syndrome and Wave-Motion Cannon." Ieyasu felt something brushing against his leg as both Spells took effect, and hefted up his pant leg to reveal a large, brown, snake-like tattoo curled around his lower leg. Ieyasu looked up, and noticed by Dion's downwards glance that a similar tattoo was around the teen's own leg. "I've never felt this happen before…but anyways, during my next Standby Phase, Dark Snake Syndrome will deal us 200 points of damage. Then, during my following Standby Phases, that damage will repeat, but doubled each time we receive it successively. As for my Wave-Motion Cannon…" here the other Spell tilted backwards, so that it became parallel with the ground. Then a bulbous, green cannon appeared mounted upon the card, aimed at Ieyasu. "During each of my Standby Phases, it gains a counter, and at any time I can send it to the graveyard to deal you 1000 damage for each counter on it."
Ieyasu seemed unworried, and made it obvious, "I'll have killed you long before that many turns can pass."
"Will you?" Dion replied with a smirk, "Time goes by faster than you think. In fact, I think the right number of turns will pass right about…" he placed another card into the Duel Disk, "now. I activate Time Jump, accelerating time by three turns! That means that three of my Standby Phases have passed, so each of my Spells activates three times!" Both cards shimmered, three beads of energy appearing on the Wave-Motion Cannon, and Dark Snake Syndrome dealing its damage. Ieyasu grimaced in pain as he felt the magical tattoo crawl up his body, tearing out nearly half of his Life Points. Dion reacted with much more volume, letting out a scream of agony as he felt the tattoo rip through his soul. (Ieyasu LP: 2600, Dion LP: 2600).
Dion fell to his knees, arms wrapped around his body in reaction to the stinging sensation in his back and legs. "What…" he struggled to speak, "what…was that?"
Ieyasu smirked, "Idiot. As I said, the dark powers my master has granted me prevent you from leaving. However, they also upgrade the realism of our Duel. This is no longer a light show generated by our Duel Disks; this is real. Sure, I still don't have the power to summon an outright Darkness Game, so I can't give you a Punishment Game when I win. However, I'll be sure to take care of that by the time this duel is over."
Dion regained his feet, having mostly recovered from the shock he had unknowingly inflicted upon himself, "What are you talking about?"
"I don't really feel like explaining everything to you, whelp," Ieyasu spat, "but to keep things simple, my master wants you dead, and he's given me the power to make that happen through this duel. You're fighting for your life, every blow you take will be real, and in the end you'll lose your soul as payment for your defeat."
"Every blow's real, huh?" Dion muttered to himself, "That's a shame, because this thing'll probably kill you." He cast an arm towards his now-glowing Cannon, "I send Wave-Motion Cannon to the graveyard, dealing you 3000 damage and finishing you off!" The Wave-Motion Cannon surged with power, and hummed loudly as it prepared to release the energy it had collected in a single, powerful burst.
Ieyasu casually motioned to one of his facedown cards, which flipped up to reveal an image of a bearded man in royal garb casting his arm out to something not portrayed in the image. "I activate Imperial Order, a permanent Trap that will negate the effects of all Spells, as long as I pay 700 Life Points during each of my Standby Phases." Dion's Wave-Motion Cannon suddenly became a cold gray, and stopped humming, frozen in place. Both duelists could feel the snake tattoo that had been previously writhing on their backs also freeze in place. "The fun doesn't end there, however," stated Ieyasu, "now that I've successfully negated the effect of a card, I can sacrifice one monster on my field to summon this monster…" his Zolga vanished in a pillar of light, and in its place stood a large monster with a cape draped about its broad shoulders, with tremendous arms that ended in sharp claws. Its color shifted between a prism of yellow, red, and green as it stood glaring at Dion intently. "Behold, my King of Negation (2400/1500)! When summoned, his effect immediately destroys all cards on your field of the type I negated in order to summon him!" The King's color stopped shifting as Ieyasu spoke, settling on red, and the large figure planted both its large arms in the ground, sending out red lances of energy which struck Dion's frozen Spells, destroying them both. "In addition, King of Negation's summon is treated as a Sacrifice Summon, so because I sacrificed Zolga, I gain 2000 Life Points (Ieyasu LP: 4600)." A yellow glow surrounded Ieyasu's body momentarily, restoring him to full strength. "And, lastly, King of Negation will constantly negate all cards of the type I negated to summon him, meaning until he leaves the field, all Spells you play will be negated!"
Dion grimaced, seeing that he had just wasted three cards in his hand for nothing. His bold claims had fallen apart, and his seemingly winning move had only resulted in giving Ieyasu and advantage. 'Nothing I can do about it now, though…' He inserted two more cards into his Duel Disk, "I set one card facedown, and summon Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)." A facedown card materialized before him, then further up an orange- and black-scaled, serpentine dragon with a mane of yellow flame extending from the back of its head curled on the ground, hissing at Ieyasu past the black-haired man's King of Negation. "Solar Flare Dragon deals my opponent 500 damage at the end of each of my turns, so I'll just end my turn here." The Solar Flare Dragon immediately spat out a burst of flame the size of a soccer ball, hitting Ieyasu square in his coated chest and setting them aflame (Ieyasu LP: 4100).
Ieyasu quickly patted out the fire, cursing slightly from the singe. "Good grief, first it's freezing cold, now I'm burning up. I'll be happy once I finish my business here and go home." He snapped the top card off of his deck, then motioned to his face-up Imperial Order. "Since there's no point of keeping it active while King of Negation is in play, I send my Imperial Order to the graveyard instead of paying the 700 Life Point upkeep." The card faded away, and Ieyasu placed it into his graveyard, then selected a card from his hand and placed it next to his King of Negation. Immediately a slim figure in blue plate mail armor appeared, holding a shield of blue and gold metal depicting a lighting bolt in its left hand and a golden-bladed longsword that crackled with electricity in its right. "Meet Blitz the Lightning Prince (1700/1200)," introduced Ieyasu as the monster appeared, "and now I think our two monsters should get to know each other. Blitz, attack his Solar Flare Dragon!" The armored warrior took a step forward and raised his blade, but was immediately stopped in his tracks by some unseen force that pressed him to the ground, leaving him struggling just to get into a kneeling position. Surprised, Ieyasu glanced at his King of Negation, finding the ruler to be in a similar position. He shot a look at Dion, and sure enough found that the tall teenager had activated his sole facedown card.
"My Gravity Bind prevents all monsters on the field of level four and higher from attacking," Dion explained briskly. His Solar Flare Dragon seemed to be under the effects of Gravity Bind as well, meaning it too was a level four monster.
Ieyasu nodded, though he grimaced with frustration. "Very well then, I can't finish you off quite yet, so I'll just set a single card facedown before ending my turn."
Dion snapped a card off the top of his deck, then emptied his hand of the only two cards he held. "I set down one card, and then summon a second Solar Flare Dragon." A second serpentine dragon appeared next to the first, and the pair roared at Ieyasu together. "Solar Flare Dragons cannot be attacked if there is another Fire monster on my field, meaning that neither can be attacked while on the field together. So with no other moves to make, I end my turn." Both Dragons immediately let fly twin bursts of flame, which Ieyasu ducked to avoid so as not to get burnt (Ieyasu LP: 3100).
Ieyasu drew, and then plucked the Lightning Prince off his Duel Disk and slid it into his graveyard. "I sacrifice Blitz the Lightning Prince to summon Mobius the Ice Monarch (2400/1500)!" A white, semi-humanoid creature with a bulbous body appeared in Blitz's place, its large arms holding up its bulk from the ground. Ieyasu smirked, "Because I sacrificed Blitz to Normal Summon a monster, his effect activates, destroying one monster on the field. Furthermore, when I successfully Sacrifice Summon Mobius the Ice Monarch, I can destroy two Spell and Trap cards on the field. In other words, I'm going to clear your field of everything except one of your pathetic little Dragons!"
Dion's eyes widened as a bolt of lightning shot from the graveyard slot of Ieyasu's Duel Disk and struck one of his two Dragons, causing it to simply explode upon contact. Then Mobius held out its two arms and shot out rays of frost towards his Gravity Bind and facedown card. Dion moved quickly to activate the facedown card, and was relieved when it managed to flip up before Mobius's blasts struck it and Gravity Bind, freezing the cards over with ice and causing them to shatter. "I managed to activate my Bottomless Trap Hole before Mobius could destroy it," declared Dion as he pointed at the large monster boldly, "so now it's immediately removed from the game!" A pit opened in the ground beneath Mobius's feet, and the monarch fell into it with a guttural scream.
Ieyasu growled, frustrated that he would be unable to get the finishing blow off in this turn. Nonetheless, he jabbed a finger at Dion's one remaining Solar Flare Dragon and commanded, "King of Negation, attack!" The large King, freed from the constriction of Gravity Bind, complied immediately, leaping forward and rending the small Dragon to shreds with a single swipe of its long, sharp claws (Dion LP: 1700). "End turn."
Dion drew his card with a shaking hand, and grimaced when all he saw was a weak monster. "I set a monster in defense mode. End turn."
Ieyasu smirked, happy to see his opponent backed into a corner. He drew, and frowned slightly when he saw nothing useful at the moment, then swept his arm forward with the declaration, "King of Negation will destroy your defender!" The clawed monster swiped down through Dion's card. The card vanished and was replaced by a large, purple sphere, from which extended small black spikes. The King did not hesitate to slash at the newly revealed monster, causing it to burst. Unexpectedly, several of the spikes on the sphere's surface embedded themselves in Ieyasu's flesh, causing him to grimace in pain (Ieyasu: 2600).
"My Giant Germ (1000/100) deals you 500 damage whenever it's destroyed in Battle," Dion explained, as some of the Germ's remnants moved about on the floor before settling in two separate piles, then took shape in the form of two new Giant Germs. "It then lets me summon copies of itself from my deck in attack mode."
Ieyasu scowled, but with nothing else to do simply ended his turn. Dion gladly drew, knowing he was safe for at least one more turn. "Alright, I set one card facedown, then just switch my Germs to defense mode and end my turn there." His Germs seemed not to change as he shifted their position, but it was difficult to tell considering they were single-celled creatures.
Ieyasu angrily drew, and wordlessly set a card facedown, then pointed a finger at one of Dion's Giant Germs. The King of Negation slashed through it, sending spikes hurtling towards Ieyasu. This time the coated man simply stepped to the side, easily avoiding any physical injury (Ieyasu LP: 2100). Then he returned to his ordinary stance and crossed his arms over his chest, indicating the end of his turn.
Dion responded by drawing a card, but with nothing else to do simply nodded to Ieyasu, who drew in turn. Ieyasu grinned at the card he had drawn, but first selected another card in his hand, which he slid into his Duel Disk. "I play Quest of the King. This permanent Spell will add one Level 5 or higher monster from my deck to my hand each time I successfully Normal Summon a monster." He continued by depressing a button on his Duel Disk, causing one of his three facedown cards to flip up. "I also activate Ascend to the Crown, which will allow me to perform one additional Normal Summon each turn, provided that I sacrifice a monster when I use this extra summon."
Dion took in the two cards for a moment, then his eyes widened as he came to a realization. Ieyasu smirked as he caught the reaction, "That's right. Because I run a Monarch Deck, I'm now guaranteed the ability to activate any two of the summon effects the quartet possesses every one of my turns. And because you're so low on resources, I can eliminate your field easily and take you down as soon as this turn. So now, I summon Blaze the Infernal Prince (1700/1200) to the field!" His newest monster was a man in red samurai armor, with a helmet that was capped by red flame and a sword that was surrounded by a flame of identical color. "And now Quest of the King adds a Level 5 or higher monster from my deck to my hand. Next, I'll use Ascend to the Crown's effect to immediately summon the monster I searched for, Granmargu the Rock Monarch (2400/1500)!" The Infernal Prince vanished in a pillar of flames, which then dissipated to allow a behemoth encased in stone armor to emerge from the Earth. Ieyasu thrust a finger at Dion and grinned, "Blaze discards one card at random from your hand when sacrificed to summon a monster, and Granmargu destroys one facedown card when he's Sacrifice Summoned. Since you've only got one of each, the targets are obvious." His final words were emphasized by a lance of fire erupting from his graveyard slot and burning away the last card in Dion's hand and by Granmargu slamming one of his pillar-like arms into the ground, causing the ground beneath Dion's facedown card to crack upwards, piercing through it. However, as this occurred, four spherical goats of multiple colors appeared on Dion's field, flanking his Giant Germ. "What the hell?"
Dion smiled in relief, glad to see that his card had worked, "My Scapegoats summons four Goat Tokens. I guess your King of Negation couldn't negate it because its Spell Speed doesn't match that of a Quick-Play."
Ieyasu grimaced, realizing that Dion was right. 'Lucky punk. He must have just tried to activate it as an act of desperation. There's no way he could have known that King of Negation's Spell Speed is only as fast as the Spell Speed of the card that I use to negate a card when I summon him. No matter, I'll just have to rampage over those stupid furballs…' "Quest of the King adds another monster to my hand. Now, King of Negation, Granmargu, attack! Crush those weaklings!" Both of his monarchs lumbered forwards, Granmargu's steps generating a minor earthquake that obliterated one of Dion's Scapegoats and King of Negation ripping apart the final remaining Giant Germ, causing Ieyasu to take a minor amount of damage (Ieyasu LP: 1600). His turn ended, Ieyasu nodded at Dion with a huff.
"I draw," declared Dion as he did so. He grinned slightly at the sight of the card he had drawn, and immediately played it. To Ieyasu's surprise, both of his monsters suddenly dissolved, replaced by a large pool of molten magma. Simultaneously, a dome-shaped, iron cage appeared around Ieyasu, hindering his movements. Ieyasu reacted by using the sharp edge of his Duel Disk as a blade, attempting to hack his way out of the cage, though to little avail.
"What's going on?" Ieyasu demanded sharply, causing Dion to smirk and point at the pile of magma, which was beginning to move. It stretched upwards, taking the form of a vaguely humanoid and very much large lump of lava. It settled at about thirty feet in height and twenty feet in diameter. After taking form, it shambled behind Ieyasu, leaving a trail of super-hot lava in its wake.
"This is my Lava Golem (3000/2500)," Dion stated, "he's one of the cornerstones of my Burn strategy. When I play him, I have to sacrifice two of your monsters, and then summon him to your field. However, I do get something in exchange for giving you such a powerful monster."
"And that would be…?" Ieyasu prompted impatiently.
Dion smirked, and folded his arms over his chest, "Why don't you see for yourself right now? End turn."
Ieyasu snarled, and snapped a card off the top of his deck. Immediately, he felt an immense heat descend upon him. "What the…" he looked up in time to see a drop of lava fall from an appendage the Lava Golem had extended over the cage. Ieyasu let out a yell of panic and dived forward, forgetting that he was constricted by the iron cage. His face smashed into the bars of the cage, dazing him momentarily just before the magma descended onto his back. The onslaught of pain caused him to yell out in pain, which made Dion wince as he imagined what his opponent must have been going through. As soon as the lava stopped falling, Ieyasu pushed off the wall of his cage and rushed to remove the burning remains of his coat from his body. His back was no doubt burnt, but the thick furs had probably shielded him from greater damage.
"Lava Golem deals its controller 1000 damage during each of their Standby Phases," Dion granted an explanation to the assault Ieyasu had received (Ieyasu LP: 600).
Ieyasu responded by throwing Dion a glare capable of blowing apart a planet. He adjusted the green, collared shirt he had worn underneath his jacket. Then he threw off his hat, freeing his long black hair, a few strands of which were plastered to his head with sweat. "Clever move," he said, with forced composure, "you gave me a strong monster with a heavy drawback in exchange for two of my own. Not only that, but you removed King of Negation from the field, enabling you to freely play Spells. I must admit, you've certainly turned the tide of this duel."
Behind Dion, Shaun watched silently. His features betrayed no emotion, but inwardly he felt very worried for the slightly older teen before him. 'He's gained the upper hand for now, and if he can keep Lava Golem and Ieyasu's field for one more turn, he'll win the duel. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen, and if my guess is right, he'll be pressed back against the wall again…'
"You're foolish if you think this Lava Golem will finish me off!" exclaimed Ieyasu as he looked at the card he had drawn, then selected another card from his hand and placed it on his Duel Disk, "Or have you forgotten that Quest of the King added a monster to my hand on my last turn?" The Lava Golem immediately sank into the ground, and vanished. The cage imprisoning Ieyasu shattered, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of him. As the flash of light dissipated, a large figure in dark, spined armor appeared, electricity crackling along its arms. Dion grimaced as he witnessed the monster appear, knowing only his three weak Scapegoats stood between him and defeat. "This is Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400/1500), who destroys a monster when he is Sacrifice Summoned," Ieyasu proclaimed, as Zaborg gathered an orb of electricity in its large hands, then through it at Dion's field. The ball struck one of the Scapegoats, tearing it apart instantaneously. "Next, I play Emperor's Rage, which will re-activate the effect of a Monarch on my field!" Zaborg launched another blast as Ieyasu played the card, leaving Dion with just one remaining token. Ieyasu immediately declared an attack, and Zaborg obliterated the final remaining object on Dion's field.
Ieyasu smirked, knowing that Dion had both a bare field and hand, and would be forced to top deck next turn. "The monster I have searched for with Quest of the King will now replenish my Life Points," he declared, not missing a beat as Zaborg disappeared, replaced by a metallic figure immersed in a large purple cape. "This is Zolgora (2400/1500), who when Sacrifice Summoned increases my Life Points by 2000 (Ieyasu LP: 2600), meaning I'm safe in case you draw a lucky burn card." He added another monster from his deck to his hand with the effect of Quest of the King. He made no further move, indicating his turn was complete.
Dion took a deep breath and glanced down at his deck, knowing that he had to draw a good card to remain in the Duel. 'He probably added a Monarch to his hand that would be capable of destroying any defensive cards I might play, most likely Granmargu with its ability to destroy both facedown monsters and Spells and Traps. But that doesn't mean I can keep myself safe with a face-up card, because his combo of Quest of the King and Ascend to the Crown would allow him to search for either Zaborg or Mobius, depending on the card I play. That means I've got to draw a card that will let me take the battle to him…unfortunately most of my deck involves direct damage and stall. I do keep some battle-focused cards in my deck, but not enough for me to open up on him with no preparation…' He placed his fingers on the top of his deck, and hoped for a miracle. He knew it was possible, but…
He flipped the card off his deck, and dared to glimpse at its face. As he turned it over and saw its image, a breath he had been unwittingly holding escaped from his lips. "Phew…I play the Spell card Burning Greed! This card allows me to remove up to five Fire monsters in my graveyard from play, and then draw one card from my deck for each one I remove! So I remove all three of my monsters from the game, and draw three cards!" Ieyasu scowled as he helplessly watched his opponent plucked both his Solar Flare Dragons and his sole Lava Golem from his graveyard and place them in his back pocket, then snap a fresh three cards off the top of his deck before looking them over. After completing this short action, Dion grinned, knowing he'd easily be able to remain in the duel for one more turn, as well as deal some damage to Ieyasu. "I play the Spell card Wildfire! This baby will destroy all monsters on the field, and then deal each of us 200 damage times the combined level of all monsters it destroys!" A twister of flame appeared in the center of the field, and it bathed Zolgora in its torrent of fire, burning the caped figure to ashes. Then the twister exploded in all directions, causing both duelists to duck or risk being severely burnt (Ieyasu LP: 1400, Dion LP: 500).
Dion stood up and brushed his clothes off, smirking confidently in spite of the harsh damage he had received to this point in the duel. He was smirking because in this moment, he had no doubts in his capability to win. "I summon the Balrog (1000/1000) to my field!" he shouted with determination. At his words, a human-sized demon with horns that swept from the back of its head forward to in front of its mouth appeared in front of him. Its skin was a crimson shade, and wings of flame were mounted on its back. "For every Fire monster on the field, my Balrog gains 500 Attack and Defense," Dion informed, "since he's a Fire type, that means he has 1500 Attack and Defense, just enough to finish you off! Balrog, attack directly and finish the duel!" The demon formed a sword of flame in its claws and charged towards Ieyasu immediately, intent on burning its target to ashes. But before the Balrog could reach its target, one of its strides unexpectedly launched it ten feet into the air, where it hung, unable to move.
Ieyasu grinned, motioning to the Trap he had just activated, "This Trap is called Gravity Release, the counterpart to your Gravity Bind. Rather than preventing monsters of level 4 and higher from attacking, this one targets monsters of level 4 and below. Luckily for me, this Trap only affects my opponent's monsters, so I won't be hindered by it in any way.
"Damn it…" Dion muttered, no so much because he had nearly won the duel in one fell swoop, but because the only monster in his deck above level 4 was the Lava Golem, a monster he didn't normally use to attack except under extreme circumstances. Gravity Release would no doubt prove to be a great problem. "I play Swords of Revealing Light," he stated after a few moments, emptying his hand and causing two-dozen blades of pure light to appear around Ieyasu's field. "As you should know, this will prevent you from attacking for the next three turns."
"Feh, whatever," Ieyasu said dismissively as he drew a card to start his turn, "I end my turn without playing anything."
Dion drew quickly, and hid a small grin as he glanced at his new card, "I set one card facedown, and end my turn."
Ieyasu drew, and with a look of disgust said sharply, "Pass."
Dion drew, and for once was able to end his turn without an empty hand. He nodded to Ieyasu, passing control of the duel to him.
Ieyasu drew, and with a smirk placed a monster on his Duel Disk, "I summon Hiel the Frost Prince (1700/1200)!" A man in slender, pale blue armor appeared in front of him. He carried a silver-bladed rapier, and his chest plate was decorated with a silver crest resembling a snowflake. "Quest of the King adds a monster to my hand! And then I summon that monster using Ascend to the Crown by sacrificing Hiel!" Hiel became immersed in a blue light momentarily, but the light suddenly snapped off as Dion's facedown card flipped up. "What?"
Dion had a triumphant glow in his gray-green eyes as a large purple mask materialized on his field. "This is my Mask of Restrict, a card I usually use in conjunction with Lava Golem to prevent it from leaving the field," he explained, "its effect prevents monsters from being sacrificed from the field, for any purpose at all. Considering your deck runs on Sacrifice Summons…I'd say that kind of hurts you."
Ieyasu snarled angrily, but unable to do anything about this development simply ended his turn. Dion gladly drew a card, confident that soon he would completely shut his opponent down. Unfortunately, his Swords of Revealing Light faded, having completed their three turns. However, the card he had drawn would serve as a replacement in keeping Ieyasu from attacking. "I summon my third and final Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)!" he called as the final serpentine dragon of flame appeared on his field, curling itself up next to the Balrog. "With another Fire monster on my field, Balrog gains more strength (Balrog: 2000/2000), setting it above Hiel. While he can't attack, this now keeps you from attacking, because Hiel can't beat Balrog, and Solar Flare Dragon can't be attacked because Balrog has to be attacked first. So, confident that you can't touch me, I end my turn." His dragon spat out a ball of fire, catching Ieyasu in his right arm (Ieyasu LP: 900). The dark-haired man angrily slammed his other hand down upon the arm, patting out the flames. The fire had burned away part of the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the black symbol on his forearm once again.
Ieyasu glared past Dion's monsters at the duelist himself, anger blazing in his eyes. The flames of the two monsters reflected in his eyes, seeming to emphasize his already very apparent fury. He wordlessly placed his hand on his deck…and suddenly his posture changed entirely. Instead of anger, his old arrogance seemed to be back. 'Uh oh,' thought Shaun, his eyes widening as he suddenly felt the surge of power that surged through Ieyasu's body, 'he's just drawn something very powerful. I've never felt anything like it before…but it's weird. The amount of power he's using isn't very powerful. Heck, I could probably roast him right now if this spell wasn't in place. But it's as if his power is something from the surface of a much deeper source. I can feel it backed up behind him, something giving him this power. And whatever the source is, it hasn't even given him a single ice cube from the iceberg... What the hell is it that you're going up against, Nick?
Ieyasu flipped the card off his deck, not even bothering to look at it. He knew what it was, he knew that sensation of barely stemmed power. He pressed a button on his Duel Disk, and slot for a card slid from the blade-like platform. "Prepare yourself, mortal!" he warned, and placed the drawn card into the slot, which slid back into his Duel Disk, "For I play the card that seals both my victory, and your fate! The Field card, Seal of Orichalcos!" Green light suddenly erupted from his Duel Disk, expanding into a ring that surrounded both duelists. Strange symbols circled around the ring, forming either words or phrases that none of the three present could make heads or tails of. From the ring, a wall of green light extended upwards, and Dion got the sense that it was shutting himself in and everything outside out. From six evenly spaced points on the circle, green lines extended, forming a hexagram between them. Finally, the same symbol appeared on Ieyasu's and Hiel's foreheads, and their eyes glowed red with dark power.
Ieyasu let out a sinister laugh as he felt the powers of the Orichalcos swimming through his body. "Yes…this power…the same power that I will learn to master so that I may conquer this world…the power that I will now use to destroy you!"
Dion could finally take it no longer. In the past ten to twenty minutes he had experienced some things that had been previously foreign to him, and at last he was going to voice his frustration. "What the fuck are you rambling about?"
Ieyasu chuckled darkly, and looked directly into Dion's eyes with his own dark red ones. "The Seal of Orichalcos represents a power of enormous proportions. You need not be concerned with most of its strength, as you'll be dead long before you'll need to worry about it. As for its effects in this game, it will prevent anything from getting in or out of area marked by the Seal, or rather it would if the darkness wasn't doing that anyways. Also, it allows me to play Monsters in my Spell and Trap zones and also affects my monsters by making them all Dark types and boosting their attacks by 500 (Hiel: 2200/1200)." Dion's eyes widened, because now Hiel had the attack strength to defeat his Balrog. And he didn't have very many Life Points to spare as it was. "And finally, the most important effect! The loser of this duel will lose their soul! So get ready, boy, because here I come! Hiel, destroy Balrog!" The monster rushed forwards and slashed through the demon's midsection, cutting it open and leaving it dead within moments (Dion LP: 300). "Go ahead and take your turn, so I can cut down your monsters and reap your blood."
Dion complied with Ieyasu's command, though not because the two desired the same result. Recognizing the grinning green pot that was familiar to all duelists, he played his drawn card immediately. "Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards," he explained, an unnecessary statement because Ieyasu obviously knew the card's effect. The cards that Dion drew from his card's effect were more important, however. "I play Rise From the Ashes, which lets me summon a Fire monster from my graveyard. Of course, I'll summon my Balrog (2000/2000) back to the field, in defense mode." In a sudden burst of flame, the demon reappeared next to his dragon, and draped its flaming wings about its body protectively. "I'll also switch Solar Flare Dragon, as well as play Healing Warmth." A soothing heat traveled through his body, and he immediately felt greatly restored (Dion LP: 2400). "This card increases my Life Points by 300 times the combined level of all Fire monsters on my field." With nothing else to do, he ended his turn, and his Solar Flare Dragon let loose a ball of flame that Ieyasu surprisingly caught in his palm (Ieyasu: 400).
"Your pathetic monster is not enough to harm me anymore," he remarked, "not now that I possess the power of the Orichalcos."
"It doesn't look that way to me," Dion replied, "you're nearly out of Life Points, so it doesn't matter if you take any physical damage or not."
"Yes, I suppose that would be the case…" began Ieyasu as he flipped up his drawn card, "I set one card facedown and play Reload, so I shuffle these four remaining cards in my hand back into my deck, and draw four new cards." A brief shuffle and re-draw later, Ieyasu found himself looking at a completely new hand. He selected two cards from his hand and played them, one after the other. "I activate Emergency Provisions, followed by Substitute. Emergency Provisions lets me sacrifice Spell and Traps to gain 1000 Life Points each, so I sacrifice all four on my field. Of course, Substitute then activates, and as its name implies, it will fulfill the cost instead of my four cards." Dion clenched his hand tightly, seeing his opponent's Life Points skyrocket from the simple combo (Ieyasu LP: 4400). It seemed that whenever he managed to get Ieyasu down to a low level of Life Points, the man just climbed back up past his starting point. There had to be a way to finish him off in one fell swoop…
Dion was forced to snap his attention back to the present, as Hiel had just cut through his Balrog once again and it was now his turn. He drew a new card, giving him two total. He smirked at the sight of the drawn card, and took no hesitation in playing it, "Card of Sanctity lets us both draw until we hold six cards, so I draw five cards and you get four. Of course, I get to use mine right now, whereas you have to wait until your turn rolls around." With gusto, he snapped five cards from his deck in a single motion, and gave them a once over before making his declaration, "I play Heavy Storm, so say good bye to all your preparations!" A tornado swept up in the middle of the field, ripping Dion's Mask of Restrict and Ieyasu's Quest of the King, Ascend to the Crown, Gravity Release, and facedown cards. Dion expected the Seal of Orichalcos to be destroyed as well, but the tornado dissipated without so much as scratching the Field card.
Noticing Dion's confused expression, Ieyasu explained, "Idiot, a power as great as the Seal of Orichalcos cannot be destroyed by something as pathetic as a little breeze. By the way, one of the cards you destroyed is called Foolish Aggravation, which when destroyed deals you 700 damage (Dion LP: 1700)!"
Dion narrowed his eyes and frowned slightly, but then his expression curved upwards, as he selected another card from his hand. "How about this then? I play Molten Destruction! And since it's a Field card, it'll destroy your Seal!" A crevasse began to open in the Earth, and lava oozed from it. However, the Seal of Orichalcos glowed slightly, and a burst of green energy from it suddenly closed the fissure, destroying Dion's card.
"The Seal of Orichalcos is indestructible, ignorant fool!" yelled Ieyasu with a smirk, "so go ahead and waste your cards in a pathetic attempt to destroy it, you won't do a thing!"
Dion glared at Ieyasu. He felt like punching the man in the face for his arrogant behavior, but knew it would do little good. Instead he continued to play out his turn, selecting another card from his hand and activating it, "Flame Aetonics destroys all non-Fire monsters on the field, so Hiel is destroyed and you're left with nothing!" A burst of flame suddenly erupted from his Solar Flare Dragon, burning Hiel away in an instant. "I set two cards facedown and switch Solar Flare Dragon to attack mode. Attack him directly!" The Dragon let loose two bursts of flame, one for its attack and one for its effect to end Dion's turn. Ieyasu batted aside both blasts, but it was evident from his Life Point counter that they had done their job (Ieyasu LP: 2400).
Ieyasu drew a seventh card, and immediately selected one of the four he had drawn from Dion's Card of Sanctity. "Don't look so triumphant just because you destroyed my field. Empire's Stability allows me to return my field to the state it was at the beginning of the last turn if during that turn it was completely cleared." Just like that, Dion's work was erased, as all five of Ieyasu's Spells and Traps sprang back into play, with Hiel standing in front of them all, rapier raised. And suddenly Dion realized that Mask of Restrict was no longer active… "I sacrifice Hiel to summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400/1500)!" Ieyasu shouted, as Hiel vanished, replaced by the electricity-manipulating Monarch. "Hiel's effect is counterpart to Mobius's- he destroys two Spell or Trap cards when he's sacrificed to summon a monster. With Zaborg's effect destroying a monster, that means your field is gone and you're open for an attack!" Two blasts of cold shot from his Duel Disk, and Zaborg let loose a blast of lightning simultaneously at the Solar Flare Dragon.
Dion reacted quickly, activating both of his set cards, "Your monster's effects don't matter, because I was going to use this combo anyways! Continuous Flame prevents any Fire monsters from being destroyed this turn, and Repelling Flame switches the position of one of my Fire monsters in order to deal you 200 damage for each of the combined levels of all monsters on my field!" An aura of yellow flame sprang up around the Solar Flare Dragon, shielding it from Zaborg's electric blast. Then the Dragon curled itself up on the ground, sending up a swarm of embers that brushed Ieyasu's leg, dealing him a little bit of damage (Ieyasu LP: 2000).
Ieyasu seemed only very slightly disheartened at this turn of events. "So I can't finish you this turn. My next turn's just as good, or ever the one after that if I have to. I add another Monarch to my hand using Quest of the King's effect. And now…" he grinned, and the Field card slot of his Duel Disk extended once again. He placed a card there, on top of the Seal of Orichalcos. "The Seal prevents you from playing Field cards, but that doesn't mean I have to suffer the same penalty. I combine the Seal of Orichalcos with the Mighty Empire, creating the Mighty Dark Empire-Orichalcos!" A large, majestic castle appeared behind Ieyasu, light shimmering off its white walls momentarily before the darkness of the Seal turned it pure black. Dion found himself taking a few steps back as even he found himself able to sense the immense power that Ieyasu was tapping into.
"Mighty Dark Empire-Orichalcos leaves you with absolutely no chance of escaping this duel alive," Ieyasu assured, his eyes now filled with a crazed look. "Its effects conjunction with my Monarchs will have you on your knees in no time flat. For one thing, it increases the attack and defense of all Monarchs on the field by 800 (Zaborg: 3200/1500). Not only that, but whenever I summon a Monarch, it is considered to be a Sacrifice Summon, so I'll get to activate its effect. And lastly…" Here he paused to insert a single card from his hand into his Duel Disk, "I can discard one card from my hand to decrease the level of a Monarch in my hand to four! The card I discarded was Repayment of Losses, so now I get to draw a card. More importantly, I now summon Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch (2400 + 800/1500)!" Beside Zaborg, a pillar of flame burst upwards from the ground, and when it faded it revealed a figure similar in size to Zaborg, wearing armor similar to that of a samurai's. "Thestalos's effect now activates, discarding a random card from your hand. If that card is a monster, you take 100 damage for each of its levels!" Thestalos cast his arm forwards, firing a burst of flame that burned away the final remaining card in Dion's hand. Indeed it had been a monster, one that Dion hadn't wanted to summon because it would have been open to an attack (Dion LP: 1400). "Now that that's out of the way," Ieyasu continued, pressing a button on his Duel Disk, "I activate my facedown permanent Spell, Feudal System. Once per turn, I can use its effect to draw one card for every Monarch on my field. So I'll do so now, drawing two." This activation immediately increased his hand size to a full six cards. "Ah, perfect. To complete my dominating kingdom, I play Expanding Shadows."
"What?" Dion said in surprise and protest, "That's impossible. You said the Seal of Orichalcos allows you to use your Spell and Trap zones for monsters, not the other way around. How can you play a Spell when all those zones are full?"
"Idiot, think about it!" Ieyasu shot back, "Expanding Shadows is named such for a reason, and that's because I can use it to double the number of usable Spell and Trap zones on my field. Not only that, but it can be played on top of another of my cards, so that takes care of itself." Sure enough, a representation of Expanding Shadows appeared over his Quest of the King card. "And now, as I said, to complete my Empire. I play Divine Right, another permanent Spell that will increase my Life Points by 700 during each of my Standby Phases for each Monarch on my field. So very soon, I'll leave you in the dust in terms of Life Points!" Ieyasu gave little indication of the end of his turn, instead choosing to drop back his head and laugh evilly.
Dion narrowed his eyes in determination, and snapped a card off his deck. "No…no you won't!" he shot back forcefully, "I'll beat you yet, just watch me! I play Spark Flash, a card similar to Scapegoats." The card that he played flashed on the field momentarily. It was a Normal Spell, with no special symbol in its upper right corner. Four balls of flame leapt from it, landing in each of his empty monster zones surrounding his Solar Flare Dragon. "Spark Flash generates four Spark Tokens (0/0), and since they're all Fire types my Solar Flare Dragon cannot be attacked until you destroy each of them, meaning I'll get to keep its burn effect going. I'm not out of this duel yet, not as long as there's breath in my lungs and blood in my veins!" His Solar Flare Dragon emphasized the final word by letting out a volley of fire, though Ieyasu ignored it as it struck him right in the face (Ieyasu LP: 1500).
"You say those last two details as if they'll be a problem," Ieyasu remarked, casually drawing a card from his deck, "Divine Right now increases my Life Points by 1400 (Ieyasu LP: 2900), so there goes your pathetic attempt to drag me down. And now to completely assure my victory. I discard a card to lower the level of a Monarch in my hand to 4, then summon it, search for another, and repeat the process." The movement came with practiced ease: discard, summon, search, discard, summon, search, and all with the confidence that Ieyasu couldn't stop it, as he obviously could not with no set or hand cards. "Granmargu the Rock Monarch (2400 + 800/1500), Mobius the Ice Monarch (2400 + 800/1500), join your fellow kings!" Ten-foot-tall monoliths of rock and ice emerged from the ground at either side of Zaborg and Thestalos, and then burst apart to reveal their respective contained monsters. Now Ieyasu had all four Monarchs at his disposal, and all at a boosted 3200 attack strength. "And now I activate Feudal System, drawing four cards!" Dion stared in horror as he helplessly watched his opponent boost his hand to seven cards strong, unable to hinder the man in any way at all. "Ha! I'll destroy your Solar Flare Dragon this turn anyways! I play Emperor's Rage, activating Zaborg's effect!" Zaborg hurled a basketball-sized ball of electricity at the dragon, killing the serpentine Fire monster immediately. All that remained were four small balls of flame on Dion's field, compared to Ieyasu's four mighty kings, Mighty Dark Empire, and seven more Spells and Traps.
Ieyasu's face now consisted entirely of a twisted grin as he cast out his burnt arm and shouted loudly, an emperor over emperors, commanding them forth to do his bidding, "Monarchs, destroy his Spark Tokens! Raging Storm of Kings!" The four Monarchs moved in unison, sending forth bursts of lightning, fire, rock, and ice, electrocuting, burning, crushing and freezing the four weak tokens that held up in a pathetic defense of Dion's Life Points. Pathetic, but effective, as all four fell, but Dion remained temporarily safe.
Dion looked extremely intimidated by now, but he had enough confidence to state the effects of his Spark Tokens, "Whenever one of my Spark Tokens is destroyed, you lose 200 Life Points, and then I gain 200. That's 800 total in both fields (Ieyasu LP: 2100, Dion LP: 2200)." Eight small bursts of flame shot out, four red ones licking at Ieyasu's limbs, and four blue ones swirling around Dion's body, restoring some of his strength.
"A nice light show, but little else," said Ieyasu with a smirk, "now draw your card, I haven't got all day. And don't even think you'll be able to destroy my army of rulers with some mass-destruction card, because Mighty Dark Kingdom-Orichalcos prevents shit like that."
Dion collapsed to his knees at the words, his last hopes slipping away from him. He had been hoping to draw exactly such a card, before Ieyasu had made his comment. With his opponent gaining Life Points so quickly, there was no burn card that could possibly bring deal him enough damage before he struck Dion down. He was out of cards with draw power, so using multiple cards was out of the question. Ieyasu had the ability to summon another monster capable of destroying any card he set, and even if he drew a card that was chainable, that would only delay his opponent for one more turn. 'There's…nothing I can do…nothing…' His torso dipped forwards, and his hands fell to the ground to hold up his body.
"See?" remarked Ieyasu, "I told you I'd have you on your knees. But please, don't give in now, you'd waste me going to all the effort to beat you so utterly. Come now, get up and draw. It won't do you any good, but it will hardly take any effort on your part and it will make me feel so much better."
"Listen to him," Shaun spoke up unexpectedly. Dion looked over his shoulder at the younger teen, his gray-green eyes dark with a look of defeat. "Get up, Dion. Don't allow him to do this to you. If you're a true duelist you won't give in by bowing down to him. He's got the upper hand right now, and he's got a powerful set of cards at his disposal, but that doesn't mean he's a better duelist than you. Look at yourself, you've been top-decking your way through nearly the whole duel, and doing extremely well. It's a surprise you didn't lose thirty minutes ago. You've gotten this far, so don't give up now. Things may look dark now, but I can tell by the way you've acted so far that you can win."
Dion stared at Shaun a little while, then began to mutter himself, "Yeah, I guess it is impressive that I made it this far…But that just means that I'm out of good top decks. I just don't think there's anything else left in my deck…"
Shaun let out a grunt of frustration and yelled, "Damn it, will you quit acting so fucking depressed?" He threw the gazelle icon in Dion's direction, forgetting that the Seal of Orichalcos prevented anything from traveling into or out of the Dueling field. Surprisingly…it didn't. The icon soared through the Seal, unimpeded, and struck Dion's back. He, Shaun, and Ieyasu all looked on in surprise, as the icon glowed almost pure white, and flashed, blinding everyone present…
Dion opened his eyes to the sight of a pure, empty void. Shaun, Ieyasu, and the dueling field were all gone. He stood up, and looked around. Nothing. "I must be losing it from the stress I'm under…" he muttered to himself. A logical argument. Eventually he would come to learn that logic could not be relied upon when it came to the events surrounding him.
He turned around, and jumped in surprise as he eyes came upon a muscular chest two inches from his nose. He scrambled backwards several feet, enough to see that the being in front of him was human…except for the gazelle head perched between its shoulders. The gazelle-headed humanoid took a few steps towards him, and he responded by scrambling backwards until he tripped on his own legs in an attempt to get away. The gazelle-headed humanoid caught up with him in a few calm strides, and reached out towards his head. Unable to act out of panic, Dion didn't move as the creature simply extended a finger and touched his forehead. And then there was another flash…
The dueling field was back. Ieyasu, Shaun, the green light of the Seal of Orichalcos, everything. Dion stood up, and looked at Ieyasu with a now confident stature. "My turn," he said, his voice perfectly calm, and he drew. He glanced at the card and smiled slightly, before placing it in his Duel Disk, "end turn."
Ieyasu smirked, "Glad you're giving me the chance to kill you. I draw." A card came off his deck, and his Life Points increased by 2800 from Divine Right (Ieyasu LP: 4900). "I repeat the process of discarding to lower my Monarch's level, summoning, searching, discarding, and summoning once again!" Another Zaborg appeared, its attack points boosted to 3200. "And now for the kill! The final Ice Monarch comes forth and destroys your facedown card!" A sixth Monarch appeared, and the newly arrived Mobius launched a single stream of cold energy at Dion's facedown card. Shaun's eyes widened as he looked on. Time moved slowly as the white lance approached…and its target flipped up just before it was frozen solid, shattering into a million pieces.
"My card was Hand of Fate," Dion stated, picking the card out of his Duel Disk and showing it to Ieyasu, "it can only be activated during my opponent's turn, and upon activation destroys all cards on my field and in my hand."
"How useless and pathetic," Ieyasu said dismissively, "such a card is useless to anyone, even the most amateur of duelists."
"I wasn't done," Dion cut off with a frown, "Hand of Fate now selects three cards from my graveyard-one Monster, one Spell, one Trap. Of those three, I have to call a type and choose a card. If I call that card's type correctly, I can immediately activate it, or summon it in the case of a monster. Then your turn immediately ends. However, if I choose wrong I take 1000 damage."
Ieyasu barked with laughter, "That will do you no good. There's a two-thirds chance that you'll fail and my Monarchs will kill you. And even if you do get a free summon or activation, nothing in your graveyard can do you any good."
"You're wrong, Ieyasu," Dion disagreed, as three cards floated from his graveyard slot and hovered facedown in front of him. "There's one card in my graveyard that can help me. Just one. So the card I select will be that card, and that card will let me win this duel."
"Ha! Your promises are most amusing, but in the end they're just wasting my time," Ieyasu interjected, "now pick your card so you can be wrong and I can finish you off!"
"Very well," said Dion, "I'll pick my card. As for your prediction…" He pointed to the card on his right, Ieyasu's left. "I won't be wrong! The card I pick will be the card I need to win! And this is that very card, and that card is a Spell…" The card he pointed to tilted backwards, revealing itself to Ieyasu, whose eyes widened with realization, "the Spell named Card of Sanctity!" The card glowed as he called its name, for he had indeed been correct in his call. He snapped six cards from the top of his deck, giving himself a fresh hand. Ieyasu drew one card, but was forced to end his turn immediately, so Dion drew a seventh card. "It's time to finish this!"
"Bold words, little whelp," sneered Ieyasu, "but just because you've got a few new cards doesn't mean you can come close to touching me. I have control over fourteen cards on the field, there's nothing you can do!"
"I wouldn't care if you had an unlimited number of cards and Life Points, I'd still defeat you!" Dion yelled, slapping a card in his hand onto his field, "I summon Super Hot-Blooded Batter (500/1000)!" A young boy, no more than three feet tall and wearing a white and red baseball uniform, appeared in front of him, a red batting helmet drooping over his brow and a large wooden bat clenched firmly in his gloved hands.
"A pathetic excuse for a monster!" Ieyasu exclaimed, eager to criticize each and every one of Dion's moves.
"We'll see what you think after this!" Ieyasu challenged, playing another card, "Fire Tempest destroys all Spells and Traps on the field, then deals each player 200 damage for every one of their cards that was destroyed!" Ieyasu's eyes widened as all seven of his Spells and Traps, not including the Mighty Dark Empire-Orichalcos, was lit aflame and a wash of heat descended upon his body (Ieyasu LP: 3500).
"Don't forget my facedown card, bastard!" Ieyasu reminded, "Empire's Stability returned it after you destroyed my field several turns ago, so now take 700 more damage from Foolish Aggravation (Dion LP: 1500)!"
"That little amount's not going to matter," Dion declared, "I play another Rise From the Ashes, summoning back my Balrog from the graveyard (2500/2500). Not only does he receive a power bonus from both Thestalos and my Batter, but for every Fire monster on my field other than himself, my Batter gains 1000 Attack and Defense (1500/2000)!" The Balrog reappeared next to the short hitter, and both monsters increased each other's power.
"Not enough!" yelled Ieyasu "Barely enough even to overcome any one of my Monarchs if they pooled their attacks together!"
Dion snapped, finally hurling back an insult at his sharp-tongued opponent, "Just shut the fuck up while I beat you, you fucking pissant! I play Bonds of Brothers, which will summon the other two Balrogs from my deck to the field at a cost of 1000 Life Points (Dion LP: 500)!" Flanking the Balrog suddenly appeared two more of its kind, and all three greeted each other by flaring their burning wings and letting out roars of challenge in Ieyasu's direction. "Now that the number of Fire monsters on my field has increased, the power of all of my monsters increases (Balrogs: 3500/3500 x3, Super Hot-Blooded Batter: 3500/4000)!"
Ieyasu's eyes widened, as all four of Dion's monsters suddenly had the strength to defeat any of his six Monarchs. "No! You still don't have enough strength to beat me! Not yet!"
"Balrog, destroy Zaborg!" Dion shouted, and the center demon complied, flapping towards the Thunder Monarch and forming a sword of flames in its claws, which it used to slash down on the ruler, burning him away (Ieyasu LP: 3200). "And now the second effect of Balrog activates! When it destroys a monster in Battle, I can summon that monster to my field as a Fire monster with no effect! So arise, Zaborg!" The Balrog formed a whip from pure fire, and cracked it against the ground. Immediately Zaborg rose up from the ground, glowing with a red aura. "And because there's now another Fire monster on my field…" Dion didn't need to finish his sentence, the ticking of his monsters' attack strengths was enough to explain (Balrogs: 4000/4000 x3, Super Hot-Blooded Batter: 4500/5000). "Balrogs, Batter, attack his Monarchs now!" The two remaining Balrogs flew forth, drawing their swords of flame. One cut through Granmargu (Ieyasu LP: 2400), the second cut through Mobius (Ieyasu LP: 1600). And finally, the small batter rushed towards Thestalos, and raised his bat. There was a blood-curdling yell as he crushed the bat over the Fire Monarch's head, breaking the club in half from the force of the blow (Ieyasu LP: 300).
Ieyasu suddenly blinked, and smiled. "Fool. You just fell short of your little declaration. Even if you attack with Zaborg, the best you can do is eliminate one of my monsters, you can't deal damage. And what's more, because you destroyed Thestalos with that last attack, your monsters have lost Attack Points (Balrogs: 3500/3500 x3)."
Dion smiled, "You seem to think my letting monsters attack freely was a mistake. Well, here's a little notice-it didn't matter what monsters they destroyed, because I'm going to finish you off right here and now. If Thestalos had been the first monster destroyed, I would've dealt you 500 less damage, and I could've still beaten you. It just works out that none of my monsters have to be sacrificed for this moved."
Ieyasu blinked again, and stared at him, confused, "Sacrificed? But you already summoned this turn."
Dion smiled, and closed his eyes, "I'm not sacrificing to summon anything. But I guess you're so used to doing so that that possibility never occurred to you." He pointed towards Zaborg. "I sacrifice Zaborg to Super Hot-Blooded Batter's effect! By sacrificing a Fire monster other than him, I can have my Batter deal you 500 points of direct damage!" His eyes snapped open, as Zaborg became a large ball of flame that hovered over to where the Batter stood, his bat held at the ready. "So take this!"
"No!" Ieyasu backed away in fear, but was stopped by the wall of the Seal of Orichalcos and was forced to look on as the Super Hot-Blooded Batter brought back his bat…
"Go!" shouted Dion, "Super Home Run Fireball!" The Batter swung, the fireball was sent careening towards Ieyasu, and his entire body was consumed by flames (Ieyasu LP: 0).
Ieyasu fell, lit aflame, to the ground, and the field faded. And the Seal closed about him, glowing brightly as it forcefully removed his soul from his body. Dion took this opportunity to smile with triumph, then fall face-first to the ground. The shadows about them dissipated, leaving a burning corpse, an unconscious figure, and a calm-looking young teenager in strange purple hair lying/standing in the snow. Shaun looked around at the crowd that had gathered around the strange sight of the orb of darkness, and wisely chose to grab Dion's unconscious form and haul ass. Two minutes and three point eight seconds later, Shaun's plane was taking off, headed back to Domino City.
Author's Notes: Over twelve thousand words this chapter. Personal best.
Nick sends Bakura to North America to recover the next destined protector. The ancient thief has little difficulty in finding the recruit, but before he can return with them, the two encounter Todaku's next follower. The resulting duel leaves the recruit struggling against a strange and uncommon strategy. Will they be able to overcome this strategy in conjunction with the power of Orichalcos?
Next Time: The Deadly Desert Sands