For disclaimer, see the beginning of this story. Bastard.
With nothing else of note to say, let's move on to the chapter.
Beneath the Surface
by G.O.T. Nick
Chapter Four: Of Mice and Monsters
Yami was happy when his feet were safely on the ground. It certainly beat the alternative state, when he had been broken into microscopic particles and accelerated through the infinitely numerous and infinitely small spaces scattered throughout the Earth. It had been rather…disorienting. But his latest jump had not caused him to vomit, which was an improvement over his first few attempts. Now he could safely traverse the area he had arrived in, and begin his search for whomever it was he needed to find. The pharaoh was not entirely too pleased with his navigator, the simple golden trinket he held in his palm. The small golden bull was glowing gradually brighter as he walked, providing him with light in addition to the multiple street lamps set up along the road. Otherwise, the road was dark, and silent.
This fact was a confusing one for Yami. How could it be the middle of the day in Japan, and the dead of night here in America? He had a hard time grasping the concept of what Yugi called "time zones." It was difficult to understand mostly because he had grown up believing the Earth was flat, and although he was able to accept that this was not the case, the concepts of latitude and longitude were rather vague to him. Besides that, Yugi kept on mentioning this green witch during his explanation, and Yami had no idea how this was linked to the time of day it was. In any case, it was night, and so he would walk until he found the person he sought. At least he would encounter little interference due to the fact that most normal people were asleep…
He reached up to rap on the door in front of him, but stopped. He shrugged, "Nah, that'll take too long." Then he pressed his hand against the door and calmly shoved into it. The door was sent flying off its hinges, and crashed into the hallway within. Then the man smirked to himself, glad to see his newfound strength at work. "Seems that Todaku's holding up his end of the deal so far," he said aloud, ignoring the loud alarm ringing in his ears. By the time the authorities arrived, his job would be done. He adjusted his light brown trench coat and stepped into the suburban home.
Yami's ears perked at the sudden sounding of the alarm, and he came to the rapid realization that trouble was waiting for him a ways down the street. Nonetheless, he quickly stepped up his pace, following the sound of the blaring alarm.
Kevin Hunter's life had been going well the past few months. He had participated in a major Duel Monsters tournament the past summer in Tokyo, and had thoroughly enjoyed his trip. It hadn't been easy gathering up the money necessary to make such an expensive voyage, but it had all ended up being beneficial for the blonde teen in the end. The twenty-five thousand dollars that the tournament's holder, Alexander Cerberus, had given to the attendees of the finals had more than covered Kevin's expenses. It was an added bonus that he had gotten to meet some of the game's top competitors. More recently, his parents had left town for the past week, and were due in the following morning. Kevin had certainly enjoyed that time, having taken advantage of the vacancy to throw a "little" party several nights ago, although the full two days of cleaning up afterwards hadn't been as enjoyable. Still, he was on winter vacation, and thus was enjoying himself. What teenager wouldn't?
Unfortunately for young Kevin, this time was at its end. Thankfully still dressed in his street clothes, which consisted of blue jeans and a white t-shirt, he grabbed his jacket from a nearby pile of unceremoniously deposited clothes on the floor near his bed, and made his way out of his bed room to investigate the loud noise he had just heard. He threw on the black jacket as he descended the stairs just outside his room, jumping the last five in one quick leap. After the last step, he was surprised to find the front door to his home in pieces against the wall. "What in the…" then he turned around, and stared at the person who had entered rather unceremoniously.
The man was wearing a light brown trench coat, long and wide enough to cover his entire body save his head. His hair was a very dirty blonde, and very trim. There was a Duel Disk locked onto his left arm…and he stood only four feet tall. Kevin looked at the intruder, who appeared not to be carrying anything save his Duel Disk, then back at the shattered door behind him, then back at the intruder again. Finally, he asked the obvious question, "How…did you just do that?"
The man sighed, and raised his right arm. "Why does everyone underestimate me?" Then he punched his right fist clean through the wall next to him, pulled his hand out, and gripped the area where he had made a small hole. He calmly pulled, ripping a chunk of plaster from the wall about three feet in diameter. Kevin's eyes widened as the man casually twisted his body slightly, and threw the chunk of plaster right at him. Kevin threw himself to the floor, barely ducking under the rapidly flying projectile, which crashed on top of the shattered door behind him. "Now that I've gotten your attention," the man said, walking slowly towards Kevin. As he walked, he reached up towards the guardrail of the stairs, and ripped one of the cylindrical supports from it. Brandishing the support as a club, he continued speaking, "Get your Duel Disk and your deck. Now. Or I'll kill you."
Kevin nodded quickly, heaving himself up off of the ground and bounding up the stairs, back to his room, to grab his dueling equipment. Meanwhile, the man looked about at the small amount of destruction he had dealt to the building. "Hm…not bad, I don't feel strained in the least. It seems that Todaku's holding up his end of the deal so far…" He looked down at his arm, which was currently pulsing with pain, and sneered. "That moronic bastard just had to go and make him mad though, didn't he? I could've done without this fucking-" Suddenly a blast of golden energy struck his back, causing him to jerk forward slightly. He twisted around, and glared at the one who had launched the blast. There, in the doorway, stood a man slightly taller than himself with an incredibly outrageous hairdo, piercing violet eyes, and a golden pyramid chained around his neck, currently glowing with power and clutched in its wielder's right hand. "The pharaoh…I was warned about you…"
Yami matched the man's look, and prepared to defend himself. 'My attack barely even phased him, when it could have struck any human being unconscious…what kind of power does he possess?' "Who are you?" he demanded sharply, "Who sent you here?"
The man smirked, and replied while stepping sharply on the ground, "I am Peque, and you're hardly in a position to make any other demands!" Shockwaves rippled out from where his foot had impacted against the floor, sending the wooden boards flying in a torrent towards the millennia-old pharaoh. Yami grunted, and raised the Millennium Puzzle in front of him, willing a barrier of golden energy to come forward and block the wave of wooden planks. The boards clattered to the ground, but before Yami could collect his wits Peque was suddenly in front of him. The short man pounded against Yami's barrier, the mere brute strength behind them causing the pharaoh to stumble backwards from the assault. After a final kick to the shield, Peque leapt backwards, and grabbed the guardrail to the staircase. In one swift jerk, he tore the entire banister from the stairwell and swung it in a wide arc. Yami gasped in surprise as the long, makeshift weapon slammed into his barrier with such speed and force that it shattered both itself and his barrier. Yami was slammed up against the wall, dazing him as the banister fell about him in splinters.
Peque smirked to himself and dashed up the stairs before the pharaoh could collect himself. Although confident in his own abilities, Peque had been informed of the Millennium Puzzle's capabilities, and knew better than to extend the quarrel. Besides, he had a job to do. Kevin stood at the summit of the stairs, Duel Disk on and activated, his deck in place. Peque smirked and grabbed the teen by his jacket's collar and dragged him into the hallway on the second floor. Then he lifted Kevin straight up off the ground with one hand and threw him about ten feet across the hallway before activating his own Duel Disk. "Get up, kid, and let's duel!" (Peque LP: 4000)
Kevin slowly got to his feet, and wiped away a bit of blood that was trickling from his lip. "Alright, let's do it!" (Kevin LP: 4000)
As soon as his life point counter was lit up, darkness began to surge from Peque's body, surrounding both he and Kevin in an orb of black shadows. "This will be our arena," Peque stated, drawing six cards, "and the site of your death." He quickly glanced over the six cards in his hand, and selected one, "To begin the duel I play Ominous Foresight, which lets me look at the top five cards of my deck, then rearrange them in any order I choose." In one smooth jerk, he slipped all five of the affected cards from his deck. He smirked, and separated one from the other four, which he placed on top. Then he shoved all five back into his Duel Disk, and continued, "I end with a monster in defense and two cards facedown. Your move."
Kevin drew a card and bit his lip, ignoring the thoughts of panic in the back of his head. After the events that had transpired at Tokyo, he had reason to be afraid of this duelist, having experienced the power of the darkness first hand. 'But back then…there were powerful people to protect me and all the other competitors…right now, I'm on my own…' A quick at his hand, however, bolstered his confidence. He plucked one card from his hand free and slammed it onto his Duel Disk, causing a pterodactyl-like creature with blue, leathery skin and a sharp, elongated beak to appear before him. "I summon Spear Dragon (1900/0) in attack mode!" he declared, before pointing at Peque's monster. "Spear Dragon has the ability to deal damage through defense, so he'll attack your monster!" At Kevin's words, his dragon opened its maw, and let loose a burst of energy that slammed into Peque's facedown monster. The card flipped up, temporarily revealing a skeletal figure wearing the clothing of an ancient Egyptian guard before the blast destroyed it.
"My monster was Pharaoh's Servant (900/0)," Peque explained, picking the card off of his Duel Disk and showing it to Kevin, unperturbed even as his life points took a large hit (Peque LP: 2100). His eyes shifted to look at Kevin's Spear Dragon, which had just crouched to the ground and folded its wings in front of itself defensively. "Ah, and your monster of course switches to defense mode through its effect, meaning it will be vulnerable come my next turn."
Kevin smirked, and flipped around one of the five remaining cards in his hand, "That's what you think," his card glowed, and suddenly his Spear Dragon became encased in a large block of diamond. "From my hand I activate Revival of the Diamond Blade, sacrificing my Spear Dragon to summon Diamond Head Dragon (?)!" Invisible blades swept through the chunk of diamond, sculpting it into a large, winged dragon. Its scales were a pale green, disrupted at various points, including at the crown of its head, by chunks of diamond. Its eyes were a pupil-less yellow, and the fragments of diamond embedded in its body glowed with internal power. "Now, suffer because your monster was a weakling!" shouted Kevin, thrusting a finger at Peque, "Diamond Head Dragon's strength is equal to that of the monster sacrificed to summon it, plus 1000 (2900/1000)! And because Revival of the Diamond Blade is a quick-play spell, it's still my battle phase! Diamond Head Dragon, attack with Diamond Burst!" The large dragon lifted its massive, encrusted head, and belched out a hail of diamond shard, which soared towards Peque.
Peque smirked, and motioned to one of his facedown cards, which flipped up. Instantly, a golden barrier swept up in front of him, blocking the avalanche of diamonds and absorbing them into itself. "Idiot," he remarked, "just because a duelist doesn't defend himself from one attack doesn't mean he's unprotected. It just means they think the attack is so weak it's not worth the effort. Now, my Drain Shield gives me back everything you took on your last attack, plus a thousand more (Peque LP: 5000)." Soon afterwards the Diamond Head Dragon ceased its assault, and the golden barrier around Peque dissipated.
Kevin frowned, and muttered to himself, "Alright, no one-turn kill…but I've got a strong monster, and for him to be using such weak ones as that Servant is a good sign…" He selected one of the four cards remaining in his hand and said, more loudly, "I set one card facedown, and end my turn."
Peque smirked, and gripped the top card of his deck. However, he paused as his ears detected a noise coming from behind him. "Ah, the pharaoh," he said with a smirk, turning to face the proclaimed man, as he stepped through the shadows without hindrance, "welcome."
Yami narrowed his eyes at Peque, knowing full well how dangerous the short man was. "Peque, leave Kevin out of this," he warned, activating his Duel Disk, "if you wish to duel someone, then face me!"
Peque chuckled, and turned away from him to lock eyes with Kevin. "Duel against you?" he responded, "At my current state, I wouldn't stand a snowflake's chance. However, Todaku did promise that he would increase the magnitude of the powers he already has given me should I win this duel… Perhaps then, we'll clash once more. In any case, don't try to stop me. The shadows that I have summoned prevent the duel from being stopped until a decision is reached. So…" he snapped the top card off his deck and slid it into his Duel Disk without bothering to glance at it, "I begin my turn by playing the card I placed on top of my deck with Ominous Foresight. This card is called Enchanting Fitting Room, and to play it I must pay 800 life points (Peque LP: 4200)." As his life point counter trickled down, he slipped the next four cards off the top of his deck and held them up for Kevin to see. "Enchanting Fitting Room lets me pick up the top four cards of my deck and summon all level three or lower normal monsters amongst them. The rest are shuffled into my deck, but…" he tapped the side of his head, and grinned, "something tells me I won't have to bother with shuffling."
"Damn it…" Kevin muttered under his breath as he looked at the cards Peque held up to him, which were all level two Normal Monsters. One by one, Peque placed them on his Duel Disk, and they shimmered into view before him. Two were Pharaoh's Servants, and the others were similar zombies, with slightly different clothing. All four appeared to have the same strength (900/0 x4).
"Two Pharaoh's Servants, and two Pharaonic Guardians," Peque announced, before filling up his final Monster zone with a card from his hand, "and I summon a third Pharaonic Guardian (900/0) from my hand, completing the set."
Kevin grimaced, seeing five opposing monsters to his one, but still feeling secure about his chances. "You have more monsters on the field than I do, but they're all weak," he stated matter-of-factly, "and without any effects, there's hardly anything you can do with them."
Peque scowled at his opponent's comments. "Don't underestimate me, boy," he said, fingering a card in his hand, "just because something appears weak doesn't mean it can't crush you. My monsters and I will crush you, with our internal strength!" He slid the card he had been focusing on into his Duel Disk, and a large black sword with an eye just below the base of the blade appeared in the final Pharaonic Guardian's hands. "I play Sword of the Soul Eater!" Peque yelled, as the other four zombies on his field crumpled into dust, and the black sword in the final one's hands was eclipsed in a dark aura. "This sacrifices all Normal Monsters on my side of the field besides the equipped monster, which must be level three or lower and have no effect. The equipped monster's attack then increases by 1000 for each monster offered to the sword (4900/0)!"
Kevin gasped as the small Pharaonic Guardian swept the black blade in a large arc, sending out a wave of dark energy before Peque even needed to declare an attack. He motioned to his single set card, which flipped up. Immediately his Diamond Head Dragon was shielded by a large crystalline barrier, which deflected the arc of dark energy. "Diamond Shield lets me negate one attack!" he stated, as the Pharaonic Guardian lowered its sword. "Also, after this effect has resolved, I may summon one jeweled dragon from my hand. I summon Hyozanryu (2100/2800) in defense mode!" The diamond barrier suddenly broke apart, taking the shape of a winged dragon with diamond scales. It was just as large as the Diamond Head Dragon, though not as powerful, and its snout ended in a large, sharp horn.
Peque chuckled, and held up his hands, which were empty. "I have no other cards to play. Your move."
Yami smirked as he walked around the arena, making his way towards Kevin's side of the field. "It seems your aggressive strategy didn't work, Peque," he said to the short man, "you wasted a great deal of monsters and resources for nothing." Peque said nothing in response; instead he simply crossed his arms over his chest.
Kevin smirked at this, and snapped the top card off the top of his deck. His expression brightened at his drawn card, and he immediately played it. "I play A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, which returns one high-level dragon on my field to my hand in order to destroy all spells and traps in play. I return Hyozanryu!" The diamond-scaled dragon let out a roar and flapped its immense, reflective wings. A large gust of wind swept forth as a result, blowing away the Sword of the Soul Eater along with Peque's facedown card.
Peque frowned as his Pharaonic Guardian's attack dropped drastically (900/0), but also snapped a card off the top of his deck. "My facedown card was Repayment of Losses," he explained simply, "so I drew a card when it was sent to the graveyard."
Kevin grinned, and played another card. As he did so, a human-sized, purple-scaled dragon with twin heads emerged on his field with a bellow. "I couldn't care less about your drawn card, because with my Twin-Headed Behemoth (1500/1200) joining Diamond Head Dragon, you're about to feel some pain! Attack!" His reptilian beasts reacted quickly to his command. First, the Behemoth let out two bursts of fire from its mouths, torching Peque's lone defending zombie (Peque LP: 3600). Next, the Diamond Head Dragon opened its mouth again and a hail of razor-sharp diamonds fell upon Peque, who shielded his face with his arms as the crystals fell upon him (Peque LP: 700). "I end my turn there."
It was only after making this final declaration that Kevin noticed that Peque was injured. The man lowered his arms, which were imbedded with several diamond shards, from his head. Blood was now soaking into his brown coat in various places where his flesh had been pierced by the barrage of sharp crystal. "Surprised?" Peque asked with a grin, as he tore off the remains of his ruined coat. He was wearing jeans and a sleeveless white shirt underneath. He began plucking out pieces of diamond from his body as he spoke, "The darkness that surrounds us is nothing like a true Darkness game, but it does increase the realism of this duel a substantial amount. For an attack as powerful as the Diamond Head Dragon's…well, I might have died if my newly unlocked power did not strengthen me."
Blood trickling down his arms, he pried loose the final bit of diamond from his body, and dropped it to the floor. "This serves only as a demonstration of the strength I possess, and will possess," he stated with a sick grin, "I will make my weak monsters strong, far stronger than a level you can ever achieve, and we will crush you beneath our feet and grow even stronger! Nothing will stop us! Now, prepare for your end!" He drew, and played the other card in his hand quickly, "Jar of Avarice shuffles five of the six monsters in my graveyard back into my deck, then lets me draw two cards!" He quickly shuffled his cards together, then slapped his deck back into his Duel Disk and drew twice. "I continue with Painful Choice, so make your choice!" He held up an open hand to his deck, and five cards immediately slid into his fingers. He held up the five cards for Kevin to choose.
Kevin peered at the five cards Peque was holding. "Three of those monsters, and two Repayment of Losses…" He put a hand to his chin in thought, and began to think aloud. "Well, when Repayment goes to the graveyard, you draw a card, so…keep one of them."
Peque nodded, and slipped the other four cards into his graveyard, then drew a card from the discarded spell's effect. That left him with four cards in his hand. "Now to complete my combo, I play Graceful Charity, to draw three cards and discard two!" Kevin could only look on in frustration as Peque did so, then drew another card from his deck afterwards, "Of course, one of the cards I discard is Repayment of Losses, so that gives me five cards in hand total. So now…let's see what I can do now, shall we?" He glanced over the five cards he had acquired after emptying his hand in his previous turn. Eventually he selected two of them, and slid them into his Duel Disk, "I set two cards facedown, and end my turn."
Kevin blinked, having expected something far more groundbreaking with so many options available to his opponent. Not that he was complaining… "I draw," he declared, having three cards in hand to match Peque. He did not hesitate to decide what his next action was, "Diamond Head Dragon, attack directly for the win!" His large dragon complied, opening its mouth and preparing to launch another powerful blast of diamonds.
Peque snickered, and waved his finger back and forth. "I'm afraid I can't allow that to happen," he countered, as one of his cards flipped up, "my trap card, Divine Punishment, allows me to discard a card from my hand, and destroy all monsters on the field with effects."
Kevin gasped, "No!" But he could do nothing as two bolts of lightning suddenly crashed down from the sky, blowing apart both of his dragons. He grimaced, and looked over his hand. 'No monsters I can summon…' he thought. Instead, he set the two cards in his hand besides Hyozanryu into his Duel Disk. Still, he did have a full four thousand life points remaining. It was not likely that Peque would be able to deal an extraordinary amount of damage in one turn, especially with such weak monsters.
Peque smirked, and motioned to his other set card, "Before you end your turn, allow me to activate my other trap." The card flipped up, and an ornate sarcophagus sprung into existence in front of its player. "This is The First Coffin," he stated, as another coffin suddenly appeared next to the first. "During my opponent's End Phase, this card activates The Second Coffin from my deck, and it will activate The Third Coffin at the end of your next turn. When all three have been activated, you will die."
Kevin narrowed his eyes, and motioned to the area in front of his two set cards. As he did so, his Twin-Headed Behemoth, looking slightly weaker than before, emerged from the ground. "Don't get so confident just yet, Peque," he warned, "once per duel, at the end of the turn that it's destroyed, my Behemoth is summoned back to the field, with its stats set at one thousand (1000/1000)."
"Don't put so much faith in your monster, Kevin," Yami warned the blonde teen, "I believe that Peque was aware of your monster's effect when he made his declaration."
Peque nodded in agreement, "That's precisely right, so let's see what my new card gives me…" he drew. "But first, the effect of a card I discarded last turn activates. Late Delivery lets me draw two cards on the standby phase of the turn after I discard it." He grinned, now having a full five cards in his hand. "Ah…and of course, the card I drew during my draw phase gives me complete and absolute victory," he grinned again, and began to place another card from his hand into his Duel Disk, when a sudden thought struck him. "Wait…Kevin…America…dragon cards…" he quirked an eyebrow, and looked directly at Kevin's face. "You're Kevin Hunter, correct?"
Kevin blinked, and simply nodded in response. What did this guy care about who exactly he was?
Peque suddenly spat at the ground right in front of Kevin, and looked at him with an expression of disgust on his face. "You repulse me…"
Kevin looked at the spit on the ground in front of him, then looked back up at Peque, "You're one to talk…"
"You're style of dueling is revolting," Peque continued, unimpeded, "or I suppose, the way you've been winning is that way." He held up a hand, with three fingers extended, "Three times, I've heard about you winning some minor Duel Monsters tournament. And each time, the story was the same. You were losing, and then you got lucky…" he lowered his hand, "and got that Blue Eyes White Dragon out. Then you won…"
Kevin snarled, and said, "What's wrong with winning with the Blue Eyes? I won that card fair and square at the tournament in Tokyo, so why shouldn't I use it?"
Peque responded with a suddenly, very piercing glare, "Because you are a pathetic weakling without it!" he shouted, "There's no way you could have won any of those duels without that card!" He clenched his fists together, a sudden wild look in his eyes, "A true duelist doesn't need to rely on his own damned cards to win, and a truly strong duelist doesn't even need his cards to be strong at all!" He snapped a hand up, and pointed a shaking finger at Kevin as he declared, "That is the difference between the two of us, Hunter! You are weak, and rely on the strength of a single card to grant you victory, while I am strong, and can make my own cards strong if they have no power of their own!" He slammed the card he had selected earlier into his Duel Disk, "And that is why I will win! I play The Third Coffin! And with the set complete, all three are sent to the graveyard!" A final sarcophagus sprang into being just next to the other two, before they all opened, releasing three bursts of energy that swirled about each other, bringing into being a tall, humanoid figure with blue skin and wearing ornate, golden, ancient Egyptian clothing. "By sending the three Coffins to the graveyard, I summon Spirit of Pharaoh (2500/2000) from my deck!"
Kevin narrowed his eyes at the sight of the strong creature. "I don't understand what you were just lecturing me over if you were just going to summon a strong monster yourself. That's a bit hypocritical."
Peque smirked, and replied, "This monster is just the means to an end, fool. When Spirit of Pharaoh is summoned, I may then summon as many zombies of level two and less from my graveyard to the field as I can. These monsters cannot have effects!" The Spirit of Pharaoh raised a cane-like object in one arm and waved it. The object glowed, and four of the weak zombies that Peque had summoned earlier reappeared around it (900/0). "And now I will complete my army of weak monsters by playing Reverse Sacrifice," Peque continued, as suddenly the Spirit of Pharaoh vanished and was replaced by another weak zombie, "by sacrificing one monster on my field, I can summon a monster of lesser level from my graveyard. The summoned monster then gains four hundred attack and defense points times the number of levels difference between itself and the monster sacrificed to summon it (2500/1600)."
Kevin was slightly taken aback, "Why did you bother trading one monster for another when they have the same attack power?"
"Because now he has five low-level monsters without effects…" muttered Yami to himself, his eyes widening, "which means-"
"I play Law of the Normal!" declared Peque, placing one of his four remaining cards in his Duel Disk, "this requires there to be five level two or lower monsters on my field, all with no effects. Now all monsters besides those like mine, as well as our hands, are sent to the graveyard!" Kevin took a step back in shock as the five zombies began emitting silver auras, which expanded and overlapped in a larger twister of energy that crashed into the middle of the field, sending out an immense shockwave. Kevin's Twin-Headed Behemoth was ripped apart by the impact, and the Hyozanryu in his hand was torn from his grasp. As the twister dispersed, he could tell that Peque's hand was also gone. "Naturally, playing a card that destroys my hand as well as your own does carry a risk. However, considering my monsters' combined attack power (6100) exceeds your life points…well, that's not really a problem, now is it? Pharaoh's Servants and Pharaonic Guardians, attack directly!" The five zombies hefted their ornate polearms, and rushed towards the defenseless Kevin.
In response, Kevin pressed two buttons on his Duel Disk, one after another, causing both his facedown cards to flip up. "My first set card is Gift of the Fallen!" he declared, as he held his hand up to his graveyard slot, which spat out several cards at him, "at a cost of removing up to five monsters in my graveyard from play, I gain five hundred life points for each one removed!" He held up four cards: Spear Dragon, Diamond Head Dragon, Hyozanryu, and Twin-Headed Behemoth, and his life points shot up (Kevin LP: 6000), though his graveyard was left empty of monsters.
"It's useless!" shouted Peque, as his monsters continued running towards his opponent, "your life points will still hit zero!"
"My other facedown is Emergency Provisions," continued Kevin, ignoring Peque, "by sacrificing Gift of the Fallen before it goes to the graveyard, I gain one thousand life points (Kevin LP: 7000)!" Then he bowed his head and crossed his arms across his body to shield it as best as he could. He bit back the first three cries of pain as his arms were pierced by three weapons, but when the fourth and fifth stabbed his stomach and leg, he couldn't stop himself. He wailed in agony as his blood splashed along the floor (Kevin LP: 900).
Peque snorted in disappointment as his zombies removed their weapons from Kevin's beaten body. As they lurched back to his field, Peque grimaced in distaste as Kevin slumped, collapsing to his knees. "It's just as I said," the man spoke, now actually looking down at the teenager, "you are weak. You can't even take a hit from the weakest of my deck's three strategies."
Kevin's eyes widened upon hearing this statement, and he gasped. "Weakest?"
Yami grimaced, "This isn't good…Kevin is still in the duel, but because of his injuries, he may not even be able to continue…and Peque makes it sound like this is only the beginning…if only I knew some sort of healing magic, but…"
Peque sighed, "Will you two stop giving me those looks of surprise and despair already? I just want to kill Kevin and get this over with, is that so much to ask?" He flexed his fingers, eager to complete his business, "Come on, little worm, crawl towards me just a little so I can crush you beneath my boot…I like how things have been turning out recently, but I want to get even stronger than I am now…"
"Strength…" Yami murmured under his breath, and his eyes sparked with realization. "Kevin!" he shouted, catching the blonde's reaction, "That's it!"
Kevin looked at the pharaoh as if he had just gone crazy, "What are you talking about?"
"Peque says he's a strong duelist because he doesn't rely upon his cards," Yami stated, "that's a strength, but at the same time a weakness. He doesn't trust his cards to come through for him, instead he trusts himself to make his cards work." He smiled confidently, and for some reason, perhaps because his time as a ruler had made him an inspiring leader, Kevin felt the weight of despair lifting off his shoulders. "A true duelist is neither of those," Yami continued, removing his deck from its protector, and absent-mindedly shuffling it, "a real duelist believes both in himself, and the heart of his cards. They become truly strong through a bond, each making the other reach their true potential." He finished shuffling his deck, "And if a duelist can achieve that with their deck," he flicked the top card off his deck, and smirked, showing it to be his signature card, the Dark Magician, "they will always come through for each other."
Kevin stared at the confident form of the pharaoh for a few moments, then returned the smirk, and nodded. He slowly picked himself off the ground, and let his jacket drop off his shoulders. He removed his torn shirt, and ripped the fabric into strips, which he used as makeshift bandages to tie the wounds on his torso, arms, and leg. The process took about five minutes, after which he picked up his jacket and tugged it back on. 'I cannot be strong if I rely upon the Blue Eyes White Dragon…' he thought to himself as he drew his card for the start of his turn, 'but I also cannot be strong if I do not believe in my cards… One of us will not dominate the other. Instead, we will work together, and…' "I will win this duel!" he promised, slamming his drawn card into his Duel Disk, "Taxation of Soul lets me draw one card for each of my cards that is removed from play, to a maximum of four!" Four cards slid from the top of his deck, and he fanned them out before making his selection. He grinned as the card hit his Duel Disk, and the monster it represented shimmered into being, "Sapphire Dragon (1900/1600) is my newest monster!" he declared. "And with no facedown cards or cards in your hand, that means you're open to an attack!" He thrust a finger, pointing at one of the zombies, "Sapphire Dragon, attack one of the weaker zombies now!"
Peque sneered, and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, all five of his monsters exploded, before Kevin's dragon could even unleash its attack. "I remove a card from my graveyard to activate its effect," he declared, as a card slipped out of the graveyard slot of his Duel Disk, "Final Gambit allows me to sacrifice all cards on my field in order to negate all damage to my life points this turn, and also gain three hundred life points for each card sacrificed to its effect (Peque LP: 2200)."
Kevin frowned, and set a card facedown. "I end my turn. But why sacrifice your monsters after putting so much effort into accumulating them."
Peque rolled his eyes as he drew, "Don't be so sympathetic. Here, if you want me to have some heart, I'll throw my monsters a funeral. My next card is Remembering the Normal, which lets me draw one card for every two monsters in my graveyard without effects." He smirked, slipping three cards off of his deck, effectively tripling his hand size at no cost. "Now that you've bested the first part of my strategy, it's time I start preparing for the next. I set one card facedown and a monster in defense mode." The two cards materialized before him at these words, but Kevin quickly reacted.
"I activate my facedown card," Kevin declared, as a strange device suddenly rose up beneath Peque's set monster and shot it like a cannonball back into his hand, "Compulsory Ejection Device returns that monster to your hand!"
Peque frowned, obviously having not expected this counter. "Very well, boy. I end my turn."
As soon as he heard that, Kevin drew, determined to bring the duel to an end here and now, "I summon Avarice Dragon (500/200)!" Another dragon, this one smaller than the Sapphire Dragon and with darker scales, appeared next to the stronger dragon with a high-pitched roar. In its small claws, it clutched a pearl the size of its small head. "Now, both my dragons attack directly!" Kevin declared, as both of his creatures let loose bursts of energy from their mouths. The Avarice Dragon's breath weapon struck Peque in his chest, singing his shirt, but before the Sapphire Dragon's attack could make a hit, Peque's facedown card had flipped up.
"I activate Life Force Devourer!" Peque declared, as a strange machine appeared between he and the blast unleashed by Kevin's dragon. An attachment shaped like a satellite dish at the top of the machine was struck by the Sapphire Dragon's blast, but seemed unharmed. In fact, from the dish sprung a chain of black energy that coiled along the dragon's attack, snaking towards the jeweled beast. Soon, the black chain reached the dragon, and wrapped around it, causing it to suddenly decompose in a manner of seconds. The dragon's breath attack was interrupted, and the black energy retreated back into its source.
"What…what happened?" asked a bewildered Kevin.
Peque rolled his eyes, "What do you think happened? My trap destroys one attacking monster. As an added bonus, I then gain three hundred life points for each level of the destroyed monster, so thank you for that (Peque LP: 2900). Now, anything else before I take my turn and kill you?"
Kevin scowled, and played another card, "I play Dragon's Descent. By sacrificing one monster on my field, I may now summon a dragon from my hand." His Avarice Dragon appeared in a vortex of light, and a much larger dragon with a layer of crimson scales over another layer of dark blue ones appeared in its place. "I summon Death Volstargaf (2200/1700) using this effect."
Peque snorted, "Using up your entire hand just to trade one monster for a stronger one? Not very smart of you…"
"Look who's talking," Kevin shot back with a smirk, "you obviously don't know the effect of my Avarice Dragon. When it's sent to the graveyard from the field, I get to draw two cards." He slipped two cards from his deck, and set one of them into his Duel Disk. "One card facedown will do it. End turn."
Peque drew without hesitation. "Let's see…Ah, I know what I'll do. First I set a monster and one spell or trap card facedown," as he spoke, the two cards appeared in front of him, looking far less impressive than Kevin's dragon. However, Peque was far from done with his actions, "I then play Card of Sanctity, which lets both players draw until they hold six cards." Immediately he replenished his hand with six new cards, while Kevin drew a slightly less rewarding five cards. Before he continued, Peque noticed that Kevin's dragon was suddenly surrounded by a small, green aura.
"Death Volstargaf has two effects," stated Kevin, "one activates when he destroys a monster, and the other increases his attack by two hundred until the end of the turn each time a spell is played (2400/1700)."
Peque nodded in understanding, but otherwise ignored this information. It would hardly matter soon anyways… "I set three more cards facedown," he stated, as three more set cards appeared next to his first, giving him four total, "and I end my turn."
"My turn," Kevin responded in kind, drawing to give himself a full seven cards to work with, "I summon Magma the Hellfire Ryu (1600/1500)." Another dragon, this one on four legs with scales to match its namesake, bright blue eyes, and wings of pure flame, appeared standing next to Kevin's Sapphire Dragon. "I then continue by equipping Death Volstargaf with Big Bang Shot. This card grants him four hundred more attack, so in total that's a six hundred-point boost (2800/1700). Also, he gains the ability to deal damage through defense."
Peque rolled his eyes, "I'll save you the trouble of declaring an attack." With that said, one of his four facedown cards flipped up, and an immensely loud bellow resounded from it, causing Kevin's dragons to take a step back. "Threatening Roar prevents you from attacking this turn."
Kevin frowned at this lost opportunity, but simply continued his turn. "One card facedown, and that'll do it. Death Volstargaf also loses the two hundred attack it gained when I played Big Bang Shot (2600/1700)."
"Yes, yes, yes…" Peque said dismissively as he drew. Then he adjusted the monster card on his Duel Disk, as well as pressed a series of buttons. "I flip up all four of my cards currently on the field," he stated, as one by one the cards revealed themselves. First was his monster, a square-shaped creature with slitted eyes and a small, circular mouth. There was a strange pink antler extending from the top of its head, which curled in a circle like a halo a few inches above the rest of its body. From its back extended a pair of small, yellow-feathered wings. The three cards behind it were all permanent cards, one a spell (Death Volstargaf: 2800/1700) and the others traps. "My monster is Moke Moke (300/100)," stated Peque, "and my three continuous cards are Moke Moke Smackdown, Spirit Barrier, and Human Wave Tactics." He continued by placing another monster on his Duel Disk, "I summon a second Moke Moke (300/100)."
"Um…"Kevin uttered, confused, "this is your second strategy?"
"Of course," Peque replied with a smirk, "I think you need to study up on your knowledge of cards, boy. Moke Moke, attack his Hellfire Ryu!" The small angel flapped its tiny wings and took off, charging the dragon. Magma responded by belching out a fireball at the creature, burning it to ash far before it could reach the larger dragon. "Spirit Barrier prevents all damage to my life points while I control a monster," Peque stated, pointing to the face-up trap, "and now the effect of Moke Moke Smackdown activates! Whenever an angel on my field is destroyed, all Moke Mokes on my field have their attack points set to three thousand (3000/100)!" The remaining Moke Moke's antenna suddenly shot up, so that it looked like an exclamation point, and the small angel's face warped into an expression of fury as its pale skin turned bright red. "Moke Moke, attack the same dragon!" The puffed-up angel soared towards the fire dragon, intent on avenging its fallen kin.
"I activate my facedown card, Shrink!" Kevin countered, as the set card flipped up and the attacking Moke Moke shrunk to half its original size, just before the Hellfire Ryu countered its assault with another blast of flame, frying it in mid-air. "This halves the attack strength of one monster on the field until the end of the turn, so Moke Moke (1500/100) was weaker than Magma."
Peque frowned, and crossed his arms over his chest. "I end my turn. During the end of a turn in which level two or lower normal monsters are destroyed, Human Wave Tactics summons an equal number from my deck to the field. Therefore, I summon another Moke Moke (300/100) and Ojama Green (0/1000)." The third and final square-shaped angel appeared in front of him, accompanied by a strange, small green humanoid. The green thing had a muscular build, a single yellow eye, and an overly large tongue that hung out of its mouth, and wore red briefs with white polka dots.
Kevin grinned, seeing that Peque had no other facedown cards to impede his attacks now. After drawing, he pointed at Magma, "Magma's effect deals you two hundred damage at the start of each of my turns." The fire dragon spat out a burst of flame that struck Peque in the chest, very lightly scorching him (Peque LP: 2700). "Magma now attacks Moke Moke!" Once more, the Hellfire Ryu breathed flames upon Peque's monster, now having single-handedly destroyed all three of the small angels. "Death Volstargaf, continue by attacking Ojama Green!" The larger dragon complied, breathing out a stream of black flames that consumed the strange creature, which screamed in an almost comical manner as it was burnt to death. "Spirit Barrier may negate the battle damage," Kevin stated, "but Death Volstargaf's effect now deals you five hundred damage because he destroyed a monster in battle!" Peque didn't even flinch as black flames suddenly sprung up around his body, dealing him damage (Peque LP: 2200). "And that's all for now."
As soon as he said those words, two more small humanoids appeared in front of Peque, similar to Ojama Green. One was yellow, skinny, and had a pair of eyes mounted on stalks extending from the top of its head. The other more closely resembled a human, except for its extreme chubbiness and enormous nose, and had blubbery, black skin. "These are Ojama Yellow (0/1000) and Ojama Black (0/1000)," Peque stated as he drew, before playing his drawn card, "and with Silent Doom reviving Ojama Green (0/1000), the stage is set for your downfall." The green Ojama appeared between the other two, and the odd trio rejoiced at being together on the field.
Kevin looked at the three weak monsters and frowned, not sure what to make of the situation. All three had zero attack strength, but this was apparently Peque's most powerful set of monsters… But how?
"I play Ojama Delta Hurricane!" Peque exclaimed, slamming a card into his Duel Disk. The three Ojamas suddenly grouped together in an odd formation, pressing their butts together and spinning about rapidly. The spinning trio then flew over to Kevin's field, and an explosion ripped out, kicking up smoke everywhere. "When all three of these monsters are on the field, my Hurricane destroys every card you have in play!"
When the smoke cleared, however, Kevin's Avarice Dragon (500/200) could be seen crouching in front of him. "When your destruction effect went off, I activated my set card, Half Dead," he explained, "a trap card that activates when a monster on my field is summoned. Half Dead then summons a monster from my graveyard with up to half the level of the destroyed monster. Avarice Dragon is a level two, and both of my dragons were at least level four."
Peque shrugged, and placed a single facedown card into his Duel Disk, "Whatever, that hardly interrupts my plans. I figured you would summon a monster on your next turn anyways, but those two on your field were annoying me with their effects."
Kevin ignored the comment, instead he drew and looked over the options provided by the six cards in his hand. He smirked, and placed the card he had drawn on his Duel Disk next to the Avarice Dragon. Another dragon, this one with blood red and bone-white scales and a mask over its face that was also white, appeared in front of him. "I summon Masked Dragon (1400/1100)," he declared, "but he won't be staying around long, as I play Sacrifice and Revive. This lets me summon monsters on my field whose combined levels are equal to or higher than that of a monster in my graveyard, and then summon that monster." His monsters suddenly burst apart, replaced by orbs of light that merged together. The combined mass then took shape, and solidified into the form of Death Volstargaf (2200/1700). "Four plus two is six, so I was just able to meet the requirements," Kevin stated, "of course, Avarice Dragon went to my graveyard again, so I draw two cards." Once more, he was left with six cards in his hand.
Peque simply sighed as Kevin looked at the two new cards, and put his right elbow in his left palm, and rested his head in his right palm. "How very exciting. Can you finish up, please?"
"Just shut up and let me kick your ass," Kevin replied simply, sliding both of his drawn cards into his Duel Disk, "I set a card facedown and play Dragon Lord Call, which can only be activated if a high-level dragon or the Lord of Dragons is face-up on my field. I can now summon two dragons from my graveyard!" As he spoke, the familiar forms of his Sapphire Dragon (1900/1600) and Magma the Hellfire Ryu (1600/1500) emerged on either side of the Death Volstargaf, giving both duelists the same number of monsters. "Without a Moke Moke to worry about, the order of my attacks doesn't matter anymore, so I'll just declare an all-out assault!" The three dragons let their jaws slack open, and breathed out a triad of breath attacks that shot towards Peque's Ojamas. Unexpectedly, the three monsters suddenly jumped up from their positions and ran in random directions about the field, occasionally including between the legs of both duelists and Kevin's dragons. "What's going on?" Kevin demanded in surprise.
"My trap is going on," Peque replied simply, pointing to his previously facedown card. As he explained, his three monsters continued to run about, screaming, "Ojamaniacs negates one attack and ends the battle phase, but requires all three members of the Ojama trio to be on the field. After this effect has resolved, I draw one card for every monster on my opponent's field that is in attack mode." He slid three cards into his hand, giving him four total, and finally the three Ojamas ran into each other, causing them to fall over in their original positions.
"Fucking hell…" Kevin cursed under his breath, frustrated with being unable to break through Peque's defenses, "I end my turn."
"Of course you do," Peque slightly acknowledged, now with five cards in his hand to work with, "I switch my monsters to attack mode and play Ojama Omega Cyclone! This lets my monsters attack together with four thousand attack power (4000/1000)!" The three monsters on his field yelled gleefully, and took up formation again, spinning violently and causing a vortex of concentrated energy to pick up around them. The twister sped towards Magma, with enough strength to end the duel immediately.
Kevin, however, was not ready to concede the contest just yet. "I activate Hallowed Life Barrier!" he cried, the trap flipping up as the twister ripped his dragon apart. "By discarding one card from my hand, I can negate all damage to my life points this turn."
Peque scowled, upset that his attempts were being constantly foiled by such simple traps. "Very well then, I set a card facedown before ending my turn."
Kevin drew, and played his drawn card immediately. "Reparations lets both players discard up to three cards from their hands. For each card we discard, we can then draw a new card." He exchanged three cards from his hand, which had been useless to him for the past several turns. Meanwhile, Peque traded out only two of the three cards in his hand for new ones. Kevin smirked, much happier with his new cards than the ones he had discarded in order to accumulate them. "I set a card facedown, and then summon Plasma the Starlight Ryu (1800/1100)," he declared, the new dragon appeared alongside those already before him. This one stood on two feet, much like the Sapphire Dragon, but its scales were a dimly glowing buff shade.
Kevin took a deep breath, silently praying that he would finally be able to finish off Peque. "Sapphire Dragon and Plasma attack!" The weaker two of his dragons responded by letting out bursts of blue and gold energy, vaporizing the yellow and black members of the Ojama trio. Kevin made his next declaration without pausing, "Plasma's ability allows it to attack once again after destroying a monster, at half its base attack points (900/1100)!" One more bright burst of energy later, and Peque's field was left completely clear of monsters. "And now for the kill! Go, Death Volstargaf!" The large, dark-scaled dragon unleashed a wave of black flame, which washed over Peque, completely obscuring him from view.
A few moments of silence passed, as smoke kicked up as a result of the dragon's assault. "Is it over?" mused Yami.
"Of course not," Peque replied, waving his arms to clear away the smoke, "I activated my own facedown Hallowed Life Barrier. Spirit Barrier of course protected me from any other damage, so I didn't bother activating it until you attacked directly. Unfortunately, my monsters are lost." He flipped one of the cards in his hand around for Kevin to see it, "However, I discard Ojamagic to fulfill the cost of Hallowed Life Barrier. When this spell is discarded, I can add another set of the Ojamas from my deck to my hand." He held up an open hand to his deck, which spat out three cards at him.
Kevin narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. He simply relaxed his posture, indicating he had no other actions to make for the turn.
Peque took a moment to take a deep breath, and drew. Upon the sight of the card, he smirked. "It would seem that your efforts have been in vain, boy," he commented, sliding the card into his Duel Disk, "I activate Ojamovement, which now summons the full set of Ojama monsters from my hand."
"Shit," Kevin muttered, as all three of the monsters, Green (0/1000), Yellow (0/1000), and Black (0/1000) came into existence in front of Peque. "How many more of these things do I have to kill before he runs out?"
"Oh, be quiet," shot Peque, "there's no way you can defeat me now that I'm in full momentum, even with that precious Blue Eyes of yours." He slid the last card in his hand into his Duel Disk, "I activate Temporal Disruption! This destroys all monsters on the field and then lets each player draw one card for each monster they lose!" His three monsters suddenly spun around to look at him with panicked looks on their faces, but before they could protest they suddenly exploded, along with Kevin's three dragons. The young duelist could do nothing but watch and grimace, as the field was cleared and both duelists drew three cards. As Peque drew, Yami suddenly noticed a pulse of power come from the cards in the man's hand.
"No…" the pharaoh stated, denying what he had just felt, "it couldn't be…"
Peque smirked at the card that had pulsed with power, and pressed a button on his Duel Disk, opening the field card zone. "Your fate is completely sealed now, Hunter! Although I never expected to have to use it against you, your stubborn nature has forced me into it!" A green ring exploded outwards from his body as the slot slid closed, his card in place. The ring expanded outwards, encompassing the entire field and thrusting a stunned Yami out of the way. As the six-pointed star formed across the field and on his forehead, Peque grinned in a feral manner, his eyes now faintly glowing red. "Welcome to the Seal of Orichalcos! This field card cannot be destroyed or negated and prevents either player from leaving the arena until the duel has been decided. In addition to providing me with various benefits, the loser shall also be forced to forfeit their soul. Not that I wouldn't have just poured my power into my monsters when they struck the final blow so that you would have died anyways, but it just makes things a bit less messy." He played one of the two remaining cards in his hand, "Pot of Greed." Without bothering to explain, he drew twice more, before playing another card. His life points began to tick down again, "I play Ojamandala, paying a thousand life points to summon one entire set from my graveyard (Peque LP: 1200)." The three monsters appeared on the field with a flourish, and struck a group pose as the same symbol upon Peque's head appeared on theirs as well. "The Seal makes all my monsters become of the dark attribute, and gives them an additional five hundred attack points (500/1000 x 3)! So now, my little stage performing buffoons, strike the weakling down!" The three complied immediately, hopping towards Kevin with their frail hands held like claws as they attacked. Kevin stared the three monsters down as they flew towards him…and then suddenly crashed into a circular piece of metal floating in mid-air.
"I activate the quick-play spell version of Hallowed Life Barrier," Kevin stated, as the Ojamas slid off the shield and collapsed to the ground just in front of it, "Guard of Card protects my life points at the cost of one card in my hand." He discarded one of the four cards in his hand into his graveyard, and the shield before him broke apart.
Peque looked down at his Ojama monsters in slight disappointment as they trudged back to his field, but did not react much more. "Very well then," he submitted, setting a single card facedown before playing another card, "I play Polymerization." The faces of his three monsters lit up, and they jumped ten feet straight into the air, where they were pulled into a vortex that merged them together. "I fuse Ojamas Green, Yellow, and Black," Peque stated, as the vortex deposited a very large, fat white Ojama with a green cape, two eyes on stalks, and two pairs of briefs, one stretched over his head, "to create Ojama King (0/3000) (500/3000) in defense mode! And while he exists on the field, I can select up to two of my opponent's monster zones." The Ojama King suddenly pulled out a large stamp, the size of his body, and used it to stamp the two outer monster zones on Kevin's field. "As long as Ojama King remains on the field, those zones cannot be used to summon monsters. Also, when Ojama King is summoned, I may add this card to my hand from my deck," His deck spat another card into his hand, "However, I choose not to play it just yet. With that done, I end my turn."
Kevin blinked as he drew, uncertain as to why Peque would only prevent him from using two of his monster zones. He shrugged, and began to place a monster on his Duel Disk. "I summon-"
"Not quite," interrupted Peque, as his facedown card flipped up, "I activate the trap card Ojama Trio, which now summons token versions of the real Ojama cards to your field in defense mode (0/1000 x3)." Kevin gasped in surprise as the three monsters appeared in front of him, lounging about as they occupied his monster zones.
Kevin grimaced as he picked up the monster he had been about to summon, and looked over the other cards in his hand. He slid two other cards into his Duel Disk, and declared while ignoring the taunts of the tokens in front of him, "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."
Peque had a confident look on his face as he drew, giving him just that one card besides the one he had added to his hand upon summoning Ojama King on his last turn. "I activate the card I added to my hand last turn. It's called Change! Mecha Ojama King, and it allows me to exchange Ojama King for the Mecha Ojama King in my deck!" The Ojama King suddenly flashed momentarily, blinding both duelists as well as Yami. When the light faded, the Ojama King had been replaced by a mechanical copy, whose body was slightly angular due to its metallic shell (0/3000) (500/3000). "Now I activate the effect of a card in my deck, which can only be activated when I summon Mecha Ojama King has been summoned," as he spoke, a card slid out of his deck and floated in mid-air momentarily before he explained, "Change! Mecha Ojama Modification now causes Mecha Ojama King to be treated as being named Ojama King."
"That…that doesn't make any sense at all," Kevin stated, thoroughly confused now, "why would you sacrifice one monster to summon another with the exact same attack and defense strengths, and the exact same name? And besides that…" he motioned to his outer two monster zones, which were no longer stamped, "Ojama King isn't really on the field anymore, so now I can summon monsters."
Peque chuckled at his comments, as suddenly his mechanical monster opened its large mouth and spat out what looked like a mechanical version of Ojama Green. "Because, you idiotic bitch," he said, "once per turn Mecha Ojama King summons one Ojamachine from my deck, such as this Ojamachine Green (0/1000) (500/1000)." The Ojamachine landed crouching like a frog to the left of his Mecha Ojama King, and then opened its mouth, causing another Ojamachine Green to leap out of it. Then that machine opened its mouth, causing a third to come out, and then the third spat out a fourth. Kevin looked on in shock as Peque explained, "Upon being summoned, each Ojamachine can summon a token with the exact same name, strength, and effect. That includes the ability to reproduce tokens, so in theory I could summon another two due to the Seal's ability. However, I'm going to need to use my Spell and Trap zones after this, so I can't crowd them up. For now, four will do." He slid the final card in his hand into his Duel Disk, "In fact, four is overkill. I play Ojamuscle, which destroys all Ojama monsters on the field! And when those Ojama tokens on your field are destroyed, you take three hundred damage for each one!"
"You think I don't know that?" Kevin responded, smirking back at his opponent, "Ojama Trio's an old card, I'm familiar with its effect. That's why I prepared with my facedown card." The card he motioned to flipped up, and immediately a large black wok appeared under the green token, flipping it up into the air several times before disappearing along with the creature. "I sacrifice one token, meaning it's not destroyed and I take no damage, and also gain its defense as life points." He barely managed to finish his explanation before the two tokens in front of him as well as the four smaller Ojamachines on Peque's field exploded, knocking him backwards (Kevin LP: 1300).
"A disappointment," Peque muttered with a frown, "but nothing else. For each monster destroyed by Ojamuscle's effect, I increase the attack strength of Ojama King, or in this case Mecha Ojama King, by one thousand points (6500/3000)!" The metal arms on the king suddenly grew larger, expanding and growing more powerful. The red glow in its eyes also intensified, and it glared at Kevin. "Do you see now, the real difference between you and I?" Peque said with a smirk, "Mecha Ojama King had zero attack points when I initially summoned him, but with my influence he has grown more than twice as strong as your pathetic dragon!"
Kevin bit his lip, and glanced at one of the cards in his hand. A single, bright blue eye stared back at him, expressionlessly. He looked up from the card, and matched Peque's gaze, glaring daggers at the short but powerful man. "It doesn't matter," he asserted loudly, "I don't care how powerful you can make your monsters. I'll work together with my dragons, and we'll make your minions look weak again in comparison!"
"You still hold on to such fucking idiotic ideas," Peque responded, as he jerked four cards off the top of his deck, replenishing his hand, "when Ojamachine Green is destroyed I may draw one card, so with the destruction of four machines I draw four cards. And now you will die!" He punched his fist forward with great force, actually sending out a slight shock wave with the motion and knocking Kevin off-balance. "Mecha Ojama King, attack directly!" The immense machine stomped over, bearing down on Kevin and hauling back a large metal fist while its target was still slightly stunned.
"Cheap tricks won't work against me, you bastard!" Kevin yelled, managing to depress a button on his Duel Disk before the machine could launch its fist, "I activate Call of the Haunted, summoning Masked Dragon (1400/1100) in defense mode!" The red and white dragon clawed its way out of the ground, then wrapped its wide wings about itself defensively in preparation.
"It doesn't matter!" Peque screamed, "I'll crush it and you'll be left defenseless for my next turn!" Mecha Ojama King brought its limb down hard on the dragon, shattering its body and crushing it into the ground below it. The ground actually broke apart from the impact, leaving the Masked Dragon's corpse somewhat buried under it before it vanished.
"Now you're the one who needs to learn about cards and their effects," Kevin stated, as a new dragon took the previous one's place. "When Masked Dragon is killed in battle, I can summon another dragon from my deck with fifteen hundred or less attack points. I summon Surge the Torrential Ryu (1500/1500) in defense mode!" This dragon was much more like an Asian dragon than Kevin's previous monsters, and had ocean-blue scales that shimmered as if they were wet. Its golden eyes contrasted sharply against its scales. "And my monster cannot be destroyed in battle by a monster with nineteen hundred or more attack points, so I'll be plenty safe next turn."
"Fucking hell!" Peque yelled, the hands clutching his cards now trembling. It seemed that his demeanor was growing unstable as he exerted more effort into the duel. He paused to take several deep breaths, and then slid one final card into his Duel Disk, "Ojamuscle's bonus usually only lasts one turn, so I play Sustained Effect, which makes one effect continuous as long as it exists on the field. Your turn."
Kevin took a few shuddering breaths, knowing that now he would have to deal with an extremely powerful monster until he could defeat it or draw a card that destroyed spells or traps. The problem was, the first option would be difficult to carry out, and he had very few cards that could accomplish the latter option. He glanced at one of the two cards in his hand for a few moments, steeling himself. 'I won't place all the weight on you…' Determined, he drew the top card of his deck. "I play Cost of Greed!" he declared, his graveyard ejecting four cards into his waiting hand. "This card lets me remove up to four monsters in my graveyard from play. For each one removed, I draw a new card." Without delay, he pocketed the four monsters and swept the four new cards from his deck before looking them over. After a handful of seconds, he smirked confidently. 'It's over…it's finally over…' Three new cards appeared in front of him as he deposited cards into his Duel Disk, "One monster and two cards facedown. End turn."
Peque drew, determined to finally crush his opponent. "Ah, this might be helpful," he murmured quietly at his drawn card, which he set facedown. "Just to let you know," he said, more loudly, as he played one of the three cards remaining in his hand, "Renewal of Triplets can summon three copies of the same monster from my graveyard, provided they all exist there. I summon all three Moke Mokes (300/100 x3) (800/100 x3)." The three angels sprung into existence around his Mecha Ojama King, their now-red eyes glaring daggers at Kevin. "And then I activate Thousand Power, granting all level two and lower normal monsters on my field an additional one thousand attack points (1800/100 x3)." Electricity crackled through the bodies of the three Moke Mokes, and they began pumping up with new strength. "My three weaker monsters can now get around that fucking effect of your Torrential Ryu, so now one attacks it!" One of the three tiny angels let out a high-pitched, but fury-filled battle cry as it flew towards Kevin's dragon. The rectangular creature suddenly stopped in its tracks, however, as the Ryu roared back at it. Its roar was far louder, and was so powerful that it drove back the attacking angel, and caused Peque's other three monsters to step back slightly in fear.
"Earlier in the duel, you played Threatening Roar," Kevin stated, pointing at his now face-up trap, "My Dragon's Roar has the same effect, though it requires me to have a dragon on my field when I activate it. Therefore, your monsters cannot touch me this turn."
Peque sneered, and slammed his final card into his Duel Disk, "Fine! I play Gift of the Normal, which sacrifices all monsters on my field of level two and less without effects. I then gain life points equal to their combined attack power." The three powered-up Moke Mokes in front of him deteriorated into flecks of blue light, which were drawn into Peque, replenishing him (Peque LP: 6600). "Thousand Power would have destroyed them at the end of the turn anyways, but at least this way I got something out of it. I suppose you live for now, but I swear in my next turn I will find a way to get around that damn monster and crush you completely!"
Kevin simply smirked to himself as he drew, remembering something he had read a few summers ago for school. "As Hamlet said, 'words, words, words,' " he pointed to his remaining facedown card, which flipped up, "I'll show you that if you want to get, the best way to do it is to stop talking and just fucking do it! My facedown card is Return From the Different Dimension, which costs half of my life points and then summons as many monsters from removed from play pile as possible, though they'll be removed from play again at the end of the turn (Kevin LP: 650)!" He cast an arm out, and immediately a large vortex appeared over his field, depositing three monsters onto his remaining monster zones. "Return, Magma the Hellfire Ryu (1600/1500), Plasma the Starlight Ryu (1800/1100), and Hyozanryu (2100/2800)!"
"Weaklings," Peque stated, "every one of them! And you have not the strength to give them enough power to even be in my presence!"
Kevin ignored him. Instead, he said, "I have gathered the Ryus of fire, water, and light. And this combination spells out your demise!" The three addressed monsters shuddered, bursting into burning red, cool blue, and bright yellow columns of light, which shot into the air, swirling about one another and merging into a single, black path of energy that struck the ground just in front of Kevin. Where it impacted, it exploded upwards in a wave of dark energy. "I sacrifice Magma, Surge, and Plasma to summon this monster from my deck!" Kevin declared, the card falling out of his deck and onto the monster zone of his Duel Disk. The column of black energy began to warp, taking the form of an immense black beast whose wings overshadowed the entire field. "Wraith the Shadow Ryu (2900/2800)!" Upon hearing its name declared, the immense black creature let out a roar of challenge, this one infinitely more frightening that the one let out by one of its components only a turn ago.
Peque stepped back several feet, but then recovered himself as he looked past the intimidating holographic representation of the card. He chuckled, and commented, "Three specific monsters sacrificed to summon something weaker than the Blue Eyes White Dragon? You make me laugh with your pathetic efforts."
"My efforts are far from done, jackass," Kevin stated, his eyes seeming to burn with an internal flame, "I sacrifice my facedown monster in order to summon Emerald Dragon (2400/1500) from my hand." His facedown monster vanished, and was replaced by a crystalline dragon, about the same size as the Hyozanryu alongside it, but with smooth, reflective green scales rather than its counterpart's sharp scales. "To finish up my army of dragons, I play Pyre, which lets me discard cards from my hand and summon an equal number of dragons from my graveyard," he finished, dropping his hand size down to three cards. As he did so, a pillar of bright orange flame shot up from the ground, and when it cleared, his Death Volstargaf (2200/1700) was left in its place. "When a spell card is played, Wraith gains three hundred attack points until the end of the turn (3200/2800)," Kevin stated, motioning to the large dragon, which let out another ear-splitting roar in acknowledgement.
"That's it?" Peque asked in bewilderment, looking at the four intimidating but nevertheless too-weak dragons staring down his Mecha Ojama King. "You put all that effort into summoning so many monsters, and you can't make one even half as strong as mine?" He smirked, feeling extremely superior, "It seems that once again you are relying on your cards' strength, rather than your own, and because of that, you are about to lose."
"Don't count Kevin out just yet, Peque," Yami remarked. The man twitched to look at the pharaoh, who was smirking, "he said he was done summoning his army of dragons, but that doesn't mean he's done with his turn. Or had you overlooked the fact that there are still three cards left in his hand." Peque jerked his head back to Kevin, who sure enough was playing a spell from his hand (Wraith: 3500/2800, Death Volstargaf: 2400/1700).
Peque's eyes widened in fear as Kevin's dragons became surrounded by identical golden auras, which connected, each feeding power into a single target-Wraith the Shadow Ryu, who was growing more and more massive from being fed such a great amount of power. "You said I couldn't make my monsters strong, Peque," said Kevin with a grin, as his insanely large Shadow Ryu was forced to tuck in its wings so that it would fit within the boundaries of the Seal of Orichalcos. "What do you think now? My dragons and I have combined our efforts together, and with Wraith equipped with United We Stand (6700/6000)…" he pointed at Mecha Ojama King, and Wraith the Shadow Ryu reacted by letting out an immense breath of fire at the machine, "we have exceeded even your greatest efforts!"
Peque pressed a button on his Duel Disk, and his card flipped up as he screamed, "Don't make such moronic assumptions, you bitch! My Mirror Force now destroys all your monsters and makes your attempts to work with your dragons all for nothing!" A barrier sprung up in front of his Mecha Ojama King, holding back the blast of fire and causing it to splash backwards. The barrier pushed against the attack, driving it backwards and preparing to reflect back at all of Kevin's monsters…and then Wraith opened its jaws even wire, causing more flame to flow from its body into the reflective shield, shattering it. Peque's eyes widened in shock, "Wh-what? How?"
Kevin discarded one of the two cards left in his hand, "Wraith the Shadow Ryu lets me negate and destroy trap cards by discarding one card from my hand each." Wraith's flames swept over the Mecha Ojama King, causing the robot to melt in a fraction of a second (Peque LP: 6400). The force of the blast sent Peque flying backwards, causing him to collide with the wall of the Seal behind him and then fall to the ground.
"This…this cannot be happening…" Peque protested, eyes wide with fear, "I had the Seal…I was at my greatest…how can this be happening? I'm stronger! I CAN'T LOSE TO YOU!"
Kevin glared at Peque's frightened face, matching the expression with an unforgiving one, "You just did." Then his other three dragons opened their mouths and let loose their own attacks, completely consuming the small man (Peque LP: 0). The duel ended, Kevin let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, and looked down at the single card remaining in his hand as his monsters faded away and the Seal closed around Peque's body. 'Blue Eyes White Dragon…from now on, I won't make you win my battles for me. From now on…we fight as partners…'
The shadows faded, leaving them in the second-floor hallway of Kevin's house. Outside, he and Yami could hear the wail of approaching sirens, coming to answer the alarm that was still sounding below. Yami approached Kevin, and gave the shortest explanation he could. "The dark force we met at the tournament six months ago is trying to unleash an evil force to destroy the world, and you're one of the six people we need to stop it. Will you come with me?"
Kevin absorbed this information for a few seconds with a somewhat confused expression on his face. But soon he snapped back to reality, and nodded. "Yeah, looks like I'm involved already, so why not? Just…let me grab something…" He ran back into his room, and after a few seconds emerged clutching several shirts in his left hand. "Something tells me I won't be very comfortable as I am. Now, let's get going."
Yami nodded, and held up the glowing golden bull icon. "I believe this is for you." Wordlessly, Kevin accepted the bull, which flashed momentarily before its light completely faded. "Now, just hold on," he continued, offering his hand to Kevin, who accepted it, "and please…aim for a bucket, or something."
Kevin didn't hear the instruction, as he was busy reflecting on the damage Peque had done to his house upon entry. 'It's going to be reeeeeeeeeally hard explaining this to my parents…' was his final thought before he and Yami vanished in a flash of light, bound for Japan.
Author's Notes: It's weird. Over the past three chapters, there's been a correlation between the length of the duel and the length of the chapter. Which isn't too weird in and of itself. However, the correlation has been reversed. The longer the duel has been, the shorter the word count for the chapter. Chapter three had thirty-four turns and just under eleven thousand words, chapter two had twenty-eight turns and over twelve thousand words, and this chapter had just twenty-four turns, but a personal record of thirteen thousand, two hundred twenty-five words. Maybe it's because Yami talks a whole fucking lot…
Kevin Hunter was created by Blue-Eyes White Knight, for those few of you who haven't seen his character in some Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction somewhere.
Original cards this chapter:
Card by Me: Ominous Foresight, Divine Punishment, Late Delivery, Reverse Sacrifice, Gift of the Fallen, Final Gambit, Remembering the Normal, Life Force Devourer, Dragon's Descent, Ojamaniacs, Ojama Omega Cyclone, Ojamovement, Change! Mecha Ojama Modification, Dragon's Roar
Cards by Seeker of the Soul: Repayment of Losses, Temporal Disruption, Ojamachine Green, Renewal of Triplets
Cards by Time Mage: Taxation of Soul, Avarice Dragon, Magma the Hellfire Ryu, Half Dead, Sacrifice and Revive, Dragon Lord Call, Reparations, Plasma the Starlight Ryu, Surge the Torrential Ryu, Cost of Greed, Wraith the Shadow Ryu, Pyre
The gathering of the forces of good is half-complete, but at the same time far from done. On the other side of the world, Kaiba encounters the fourth protector just in time to witness the arrival of another member of Todaku's forces. Will the protector prevail, or be crushed by the might of their foe's various and powerful monsters?
Next Time: Matter of Business