Chloe ran a hand through her hair as the time ticked closer to midnight, it had been six hours since her duel with Francesca and not much had been happening since then aside from training for the inevitable match between Chloe and whoever had kidnapped her dad whilst the others had been training in case they ended up duelling as well.
Chloe was sat on her bed in her room at the hotel waiting for the time to come for when they would leave the hotel for the location where her dad was being held. "Penny for your thoughts?" Chloe jumped a bit when she heard Theresa's voice, she looked up and saw her standing at the doorway with Professor Hamden who was carrying his laptop under his right arm. "Sorry, I just wanted to check up on you."
"I'm fine, thanks." Chloe said with a smile before shaking her head. "Who am I kidding? Those psychos have my dad and all I can do in the meantime is wait." Chloe sighed running a hand through her hair.
"We'll get him back." Theresa reassured her sitting on the bed next to her. "There's no way in hell we're going to let those bastards get away with this."
"That reminds me actually." Hamden said sitting down on a chair and opening the laptop up. "You still have the note with the address on right?"
"Yeah." Chloe nodded before reaching into her pocket and retrieving the note. "Why do you ask?"
"I just wanted to double check the address, you mind handing it over?" Hamden asked and Chloe handed him the note. "Yeah, this is the building all right but it doesn't make any sense."
"Why not?" Chloe asked and Hamden turned the laptop around so that the two teens could see it, on the computer screen was an image of an old looking shopping mall.
"This was what came up when I typed the address into a search bar but this mall's been closed for renovations...ARGH! Why didn't I think of that?" Hamden yelled once realization hit him.
"That it's a perfect place to hide a kidnapping victim?" Theresa asked and Hamden nodded. "At least we know where we're headed."
"So Theresa, what deck will you be using anyway?" Chloe asked her.
"I've been a bit torn on that decision truth be told." Theresa admitted. "I want to use a deck I haven't used in this tournament so far so that eliminates my dragon, warrior and Kaiba decks but that still leaves me with 18 to chose from."
"What about your fairy deck? Isn't that your strongest?" Chloe asked and Theresa shook her head.
"No, the Kaiba Deck is the strongest one." Theresa said shaking her head. "My fairy deck's strong but my other decks have stronger cards."
"Why not use the deck you use whilst teaming with Brandon?" Hamden suggested and Chloe could've sworn that she saw a lightbulb go off above Theresa's head.
"My dark attribute deck, why didn't I think of that!" Theresa said before digging through her backpack and retrieving the deck, once she added it to her duel disk she turned to Chloe. "That reminds me, did you add the Dark Magician support cards I gave you to your deck?"
"Yeah, swapped out some of my more situational Spells and Traps for them." Chloe nodded. "I just hope it'll be enough."
"It will." Lance said as he entered the room. "It's time we got going." Lance said motioning to the clock which read 11:30pm.
"Right, let's go." Chloe nodded as she followed Lance outside, they met up with the others and left the hotel with the teachers being careful not to wake anyone up, when they left the hotel they blinked when they saw three familiar faces waiting for them outside two cars, namely Ray Edwards, Zach Michaels and Alex Fenix.
"A little birdy told us that the Orichalcos duellists have gone too far, we're here to help in anyway we can." Ray said plainly. "Philip and Francesca are waiting for us near the building alongside Axel Loather."
"Don't worry, those bastards will pay for what they've done." Alex added folding his arms. "That's my car, three of you will get in Ray's and the rest of you will get in mine." Alex added and Chloe smiled at this.
"Thanks, now lets go kick some ass!" Chloe said before she, Lance and Theresa got in Ray's car whilst the others got in Alex's much larger car and the teachers got in the limo, the three cars drove off with Ray and Zach in the front and Chloe, Lance and Theresa in the back, whilst they where driving Ray adjusted the rear-view mirror until he could see Chloe through it.
"Chloe, do you have any idea why these ass-holes kidnapped your old man?" Ray asked and Chloe shook her head.
"I wish I did but I don't, he was never present for any of my duels so they wouldn't know that we were related." Chloe answered before realization hit her. "Well, we're not related strictly speaking."
"Ah I see, he's your step-dad." Ray said with a nod. "What happened to your biological dad?" Ray asked and Chloe stiffened up.
"I'd...I'd rather not talk about it." Chloe said after a few minutes.
"I see." Ray nodded in understanding, he could sense that this conversation was heading down an uncomfortable path for Chloe so he readjusted his rear-view mirror. "Anyone up for changing the subject?" Ray asked and the others nodded. "Good."
"Ray, no offence but do you even know where your going?" Lance asked and Ray nodded.
"Sure I do, Philip narrowed the address down to an old shopping mall that's closed for repairs thanks to his laptop." Ray said with a nod. "So how are you kids doing for locater cards?"
"Me and Chloe have five each, the others have four." Lance answered. "What about you two?"
"Six locater cards each." Ray said with a smile.
"Your kidding?" Chloe said doing a double take before turning to Zach. "I thought I took your only locater card?"
"Sorry but no, I had three at the time." Zach said and Chloe nearly face-faulted right out of her seat.
"Why didn't you say so at the time?" Chloe asked, the look on her face could be best described as a mixture between confusion and anger.
"You didn't ask." Zach shrugged and Chloe moaned in frustration."Sorry about that." Zach said sheepishly before shaking his head. "Hey relax, let's just focus on what's important."
"Right, getting my step-dad back safe and sound." Chloe nodded before smirking. "Though if your expecting an easy fight should we meet in the Semi-finals than don't because my deck's a lot stronger now."
"And I'll say the same to you." Zach returned the smile, "Jesus, I didn't think it was possible but we're making Ray look like someone who plays the game for fun." Zach added...only to be punched in the head by Ray.
"Try to keep smart ass remarks like that to yourself." Ray said as he resumed driving. "So, what's the plan once we reach the building?"
"Well the messenger said to bring our duel disks so I think it's safe to assume that they'll be duelling going on." Theresa said as she and the other teens held up their duel disks. "I chose my deck before we left."
"Couldn't settle on one deck huh?" Zach asked and Theresa shrugged her shoulders.
"What can I say? It helps keep my skills sharp." Theresa said and Zach nodded in understanding.
"We're here!" Ray said suddenly before stopping the car, the three teens got out first followed by Ray and Zach, they saw Alex's car parked nearby and Theresa waved the rest of the Duel Academy students over.
"Good to see you guys made it one piece." Andreas said as he and Marcus walked over, Alex and Nicola where behind them. "So, do we have any idea what awaits us in there?"
"Honestly? No, my advice is to be prepared for anything." Philip said walking over with Axel Loather and Francesca alongside him. "I know your down one duellist so Axel here has volunteered to join you in a duellist role,"
"Indeed, besides I only need one locater card before I can qualify for the finals." Axel said with a nod before frowning. "Off course that's the least of our worries."
"Yeah." Chloe nodded before glancing towards the mall. "So, what's the plan?"
"The guys that'll be duelling, namely the Duel Academy Students and Axel, will enter through the front entrance alongside the teachers." Philip said looking towards the mall. "We on the other hand will enter via the back and try to locate Chloe's father."
"Not exactly a perfect plan but what choice do we have?" Chloe said plainly. "Okay we could've tried calling the cops but they could of planned for that."
"Yeah, maybe some booby traps or maybe even a plan to kill your dad if that happens." Marcus said...only to be punched in the back of the head by the other students. "What did I...oh, err...sorry Chloe." Marcus said laughing nervously as he got up.
"Let's just go in." Chloe said as she led the others towards the mall, Philip did likewise leading the other duellists around the back, she hesitated for a second before opening the door and looking around, the mall was completely dark not helped by the fact that it was night-time outside. "I can't see anything."
"You sure we have the right place?" Marcus said as he felt around with his hands.
"WHO'S HAND IS ON MY BREAST?" Theresa yelled out.
"Err sorry, I think that's my hand." Marcus said quickly pulling back his hand, before the teens could say anything else the lights turned on all at once, the teens shielded their eyes as their eyes adjusted to the new light.
"You made it." The figure from the hospital said with a chuckle. "Welcome Chloe Richardson to the site of your demise."
"Where's my dad?" Chloe demanded and the figure chuckled.
"Up there." The figure said pointing upwards, they looked up and Chloe's eyes widened when she saw her step-dad with his hands tied behind his back in the company of several armed men.
"Let him go you bastard!" Brandon demanded.
"Your hardly in a position to be making demands." The figure said plainly, Chloe wasted no time in activating her duel disk.
"Then I'll duel you." Chloe said glaring at the figure.
"He's merely the messenger, he doesn't even have a deck." A thick Brooklyn accent rang out and Robert stepped forward dismissing the messenger. "My name is Robert, and we meet again...Chloe."
"Again? Wait, where have I heard that...no...it's no possible." Chloe thought as she glared daggers at the man. "Who are you?" Robert chuckled and at that moment the other duellists had entered the mall unbeknownst to Robert.
"What? You don't recognise me?" Robert said before tossing his cloak aside, he had neck-length long hair, blue eyes and a stubble, he was wearing a black jacket with a matching t-shirt underneath, blue jeans and black boots. "Then again I almost didn't recognise you, how long has it been again? Ten years?" Chloe blinked...but once realization hit her she dropped to her knees.
"No..." Chloe said her eyes as wide as dinner plates. "It's...not..."
"Chloe, who is this..." Marcus started but was ignored by Chloe.
"You...YOU SHOULD BE IN JAIL YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She snapped at Robert who chuckled.
"Chloe, what...oh my god." Lance said once it hit him, he slowly turned to Robert with a look of hatred in his eyes. "Your Chloe's biological father aren't you?"
"Guilty as charged." Robert chuckled and the others did double takes.
"Wait, I thought we where saving her dad." Alex said confused.
"Chloe told me in the car that the man we're saving is her step-dad." Ray said as his eyes narrowed. "And based on her reaction..."
"You son of a bitch." Brandon said angrily as he glared at him. "Tormenting her for years wasn't enough for you? Now you have to go and kidnap her father?"
"I am her father you idiot!" Robert snapped at him before smirking, "All right, here's the deal, I will take on all seven of you...at once."
"Seven on one?" Philip said doing a double take. "Is he insane?"
"Off course if we proceeded with life-points as they normally are then this would be the shortest match in Duel Monsters history." Robert added before strapping on and activating his Orichalcos Duel Disk. "Here is how this will work, you guys will start with the normal amount of life-points but me? I will start with 66,000 life-points."
"Sixty Six Thousand?" Marcus echoed. "That's insane!"
"No, it makes sense if you think about it." Theresa chimed in whilst she glared daggers at the man. "That's the normal total of life-points times 7 so it only makes sense for his life-points to be that high."
"It doesn't matter anyway, Chloe's in no shape to duel!" Lance pointed out motioning to Chloe with his head, sure enough she was still on her knees from the shock.
"I don't care, I will duel all of you or he dies!" Robert said pointing to Chloe's stepfather as he said the last part.
"Give us time to find a replacement..." Axel started but he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked seeing Chloe on her feet with a look of determination on her face,
"No." Chloe said shaking her head. "I want this, this bastard ruined my childhood and I'm not going to let him get away with it."
"Ruined your childhood? What do you...oh." Axel said once it hit him, "As you wish." Axel said with a nod of understanding.
"Now for layout, as you can see there isn't enough room on this floor for each of us to duel simultaneously." Robert said before pointing to the other floors. "As a result of this six of you will occupy one floor each whilst one of you will stay down here, and before you get any ideas the floor where my bargaining chip is being held is off limits."
"I volunteer to stay on the ground floor." Chloe said almost immediately, the others nodded and started climbing the stairs to their floors, Lance took the second floor, Andreas took the third floor, Marcus took the fourth, Andreas took the fifth floor, Axel took the sixth floor, Brandon took the seventh floor and Theresa took the eighth floor. "What will the order be?"
"That's simple, Theresa will go first then Brandon then Axel then Marcus then Andreas then Lance then...the little bitch in front of me...then myself." Robert said before grinning maniacally. "Oh yes, before I forget if one of you even does a little damage to my life-points then the hostage dies."
"WHAT?" The other duellists yelled simultaneously once the weight of that statement dawned on them.
"Great, you've just crippled most of my deck and the duel hasn't even started yet." Lance grunted as his eyes narrowed.
"Me on the other hand? I'm free to attack as many times as I wish." Robert said a smug smirk on his face.
"Okay, this is already diving into incredibly unfair territory." Marcus said with a grunt. "If we can't attack and he can our life-points will be wiped out in no time."
"Not if we play it smart." Axel called out. "Now then, for Chloe and her step-father, LETS BEGIN!" Axel declared and the eight duellists drew their opening hands and Theresa drew another.
"It's began." Zach whispered to Ray who nodded. "What did Chloe mean by "ruin her childhood"?"
"I don't even want to think about it." Francesca said with a shudder. "Something about him sends shivers up my spine."
"Come on, he's too distracted by the duel to notice us make our move." Philip said before leading them up the stairs.
"I set two cards facedown and summon Exarian Universe in attack mode!" Theresa played the cards and a centaur with a reptile like upper body appeared on the field, it was heavily armoured and was carrying a lance (4/1800/1900). "Your move Brandon."
"Right." Brandon nodded before drawing his card. "She's using her Dark Attribute deck, good thing too since our two decks complement each other." Brandon thought.
"Theresa, why did you open with that monster? It's effect inflicts piercing damage!" Andreas called out too her.
"Let me worry about that." Theresa called back.
"Regardless, I set my own two cards facedown and summon Maiden of Macabre to the field in attack mode!" Brandon played the cards and the Scythe wielding Geisha appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1700/0). "All right Axel, it's your move."
"Indeed it is." Axel nodded as he drew his cards. "They've started off strong so it's only fitting that I follow suit." Axel thought. "I summon the mighty Gladiator Beast Andal to the field in attack mode!" Axel played the card and a one eyed black bear appeared on the field, it was wearing blue armour and it roared ready for battle (4/1900/1500). "I shall set a card facedown and end it at that."
"A centaur, a Geisha and a one eyed bear, this seems like a bad joke waiting to happen." Marcus chuckled before shaking his head. "Anyway I start things off by summoning Red-Eyes Wyvern to the field in attack mode!" Marcus played the card and a smaller version of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon appeared on the field (4/1800/1600). "I set a card facedown and end my turn, over to you Andreas!"
"Got it!" Andreas nodded before drawing his card. "The fact that Theresa opened things up with that monster still concerns me but I'll trust her judgement for now." Andreas thought glancing towards Theresa's monster. "I summon Ape Fighter to the field in attack mode!" Andreas played the card and the Ape Fighter appeared on the field (4/1900/1200). "Just to be on the safe side I'll set this facedown and end my turn."
"Finally, I was wondering when my turn would come." Lance said before drawing his card. "I summon Great Angus to the field in attack mode!" Lance played the card and the blood red beast appeared on the field (4/1800/400). "I can't set Backfire, not with that stupid stipulation." Lance thought before turning to Chloe. "Your move Chloe." Chloe said nothing and drew her card.
"I...I set a monster in defence mode and two cards facedown." Chloe set the three cards all the while glaring at her dad. "Your move."
"Off course it is." Robert said drawing his card. "Now to seal all of your fates, I activate the field spell card The Seal Of The Orichalcos!" Robert played the card and the seal encased Chloe and Robert first before stretching upwards and encasing the other duellists, the seal appeared on Robert's head and he grinned "Now I'll activate the spell card I just drew, Nobleman of Crossout."
"Oh crap, that'll remove Chloe's facedown monster from play." Marcus realized as he watched the noble charge towards the facedown monster.
"Not with my trap card it won't, GO MAGIC JAMMER!" Andreas activated his card and discarded a card from his hand. "Now that I've discarded this card from my hand your spell card is negated and destroyed!" As Andreas said that a purple fog blocked the nobleman's path before he disappeared.
"Thanks for the save." Chloe called out to him and he grinned.
"I was hoping you'd do that!" Robert announced as he sent his spell card to the graveyard. "Because now that you have wasted your trap card on a decoy I can focus on my real strategy."
"Real strategy?" Andreas blinked.
"Is there an echo in here?" Robert said annoyed before picking up a card. "No matter, I activate another spell card called Dark Hole to destroy every single monster on the field."
"OH SHIT!" Robert's opponents shouted out simultaneously before shielding themselves as their monsters where sucked into a black hole which closed up after the last monster, Chloe's facedown monster was sucked in.
"Sorry guys." Andreas apologized running a hand through his hair.
"Don't worry, we have more monsters where that came from!" Lance reassured him.
"You hear that? We're not done, not by a long shot!" Marcus taunted Robert who smirked.
"But can you say the same for my dear daughter?" Robert said as he picked up a card. "I summon Doomcallibur Knight to the field in attack mode!" Robert played the card and a knight on horseback appeared on the field, however it was no ordinary knight as the knight was skeletally in appearance and was wearing white and black armour, was armed with twin lances and had a ridiculously long blonde ponytail sticking out of it's helmet, the horse was jet black in colour and was quite scary looking (4/1900/1500) and it's attack increased to 2400 thanks to the seal. "Doomcallibur Knight, attack her life-points directly." Robert said pointing at Chloe, the horse started galloping towards Chloe who was struck in the chest by it's lances.
C: 5600
L: 8000
M: 8000
A: 8000
AL: 8000
B: 8000
T: 8000
R: 66,000
Chloe fell to her knees clutching her chest in pain as Doomcallibur Knight returned to Robert's side of the field, without a second thought she activated her trap. "By damaging my life-points you've activated my trap card Numinous Healer, now that I've taken damage my trap card will restore a thousand of my life-points." Chloe announced as her life-points went up too 6600. "But that's not all, I chain it with my other facedown card Emergency Provisions, by sending my trap card to the graveyard with this card I can increase my life-points even further by another thousand points!" Chloe activated her facedown card and true to her word her life-points increased to 7600, as he saw this Robert growled.
"Why won't you stay down!" Robert snapped at her.
"Maybe because I'm not the same scared 7 year old girl that you used to beat on a daily bases!" Chloe responded and Robert growled.
"Fine, I'll end my turn at that." Robert announced and Theresa drew her card.
"I have nothing that can beat that knight of his, I'd better play it safe." Theresa thought before picking up a card. "I set this monster in defence mode and end my turn, Brandon I hope you have some kind of plan for getting rid of that knight."
"Don't I always?" Brandon asked rhetorically before drawing his card. "It's obvious that Robert has forgotten about his own monster's effect otherwise he would've opened with a different monster, no matter I'll exploit it." Brandon thought. "First I activate one of my trap cards, Call of the Haunted, to revive Maiden of Macabre to the field in attack mode!" Brandon activated one of his cards and the geisha returned to the field. "But she's not sticking around, I tribute her to summon Dark General Freed in attack mode!" Brandon swapped out the monsters and the geisha disappeared, in her place stood a zombified general with long silver hair wearing gold and black armour and a green cape (5/2300/1700) Robert scoffed when he saw the monster.
"And here I was worried that you had something stronger than my knight!" Robert taunted him. "Not that it would've mattered unless you want him to die." Robert said pointing towards Chloe's step-father.
"If your done I'll end my turn." Brandon said folding his arms and Axel drew his card.
"I don't know what Brandon's thinking summoning a weaker monster than Robert's but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, he is an Obelisk Blue student after all." Axel thought before looking at his card and setting it in defence mode. "I set this in defence mode and end my turn."
"All right." Marcus nodded before drawing his card. "Awesome, I've drawn Exploder Dragon, if I can force Robert's Knight to destroy it it'll take the knight with him!" Marcus thought. "I set a monster in defence mode and end my turn."
"And that's my cue!" Andreas said drawing his card. "Blast, the monster I drew can't help me now." Andreas thought as he looked at Berserk Gorilla (4/2000/1000) before adding it to his hand and picking up another. "I set this monster in defence mode and end my turn." Andreas set the card and Lance drew his.
"Good, I drew a trap that can help me this time!" Lance thought. "I set this facedown and a monster in defence, that ends my turn." Lance announced and Chloe drew her card.
"Magician's Circle, this trap could help later." Chloe thought. "I set a card facedown and a monster in defence."
"That's all? The only one with the guts to stand up to me is blondie up there!" Robert grinned as he drew his card.
"Before you do anything I activate my trap card Solemn Wishes!" Lance flipped up his trap card and grinned. "Now each time I draw a card I gain an extra five hundred life-points."
"Your smarter then you look, I'll give you that much!" Robert grunted before looking at his card. "I activate Pot Of Greed which allows me to draw two..."
"Hold it, that's on the forbidden list!" Andreas protested.
"Yes but this tournament's using the traditional format remember?" Robert grinned as he played the card. "As I was saying I use the magic of Pot of Greed to draw two cards from your deck."
"Or you would if not for my trap card!" Theresa interrupted as she flipped up her trap. "Null And Void forces you to reveal the cards you would've drawn to us and discard them both to the graveyard."
"Son of a..." Robert grunted before showing the two monsters he had drawn, Aswan Apparition (3/500/500) and Brain Golem (6/2500/1800) before discarding them both. "You will pay for that you little bitch, but I guess I'll settle for summoning Giant Orc to the field in attack mode!" Robert played the card and a giant grey ogre appeared on the field, he was wearing green pants and was wielding a bone like club (4/2200/0) and his attack went up to 2700 almost immediately thanks to the seal. "Giant Orc attack Dark General Freed now!" The Orc leaped up towards Brandon's monster...
"Not so fast, I activate my trap card Shift to switch Giant Orc's target to my facedown monster!" Marcus flipped up the card and Giant Orc changed direction midair instead heading towards Marcus's facedown monster.
"Fine, I guess you'll be the target for my next direct attack!" Robert grinned as Giant Orc slammed it's club into Exploder Dragon destroying it and causing a massive explosion.
"Yeah, at a price! The monster you destroyed was Exploder Dragon and when he's destroyed he takes the monster that destroyed him with him!" Marcus said triumphantly.
"Or so you think!" Robert grinned and Marcus blinked...before doing a double take as the smoke cleared revealing that Giant Orc was still standing and Doomcalliber Knight was long gone.
"What...Giant Orc should have been destroyed, not Doomcalliber Knight!" Marcus said the surprise evident on his face.
"That's the effect of Doomcalliber Knight, when the effect of an effect monster is activated I can tribute my knight to negate the effect and destroy the effect monster." Robert explained,
"Well, at least I saved myself from a direct attack." Marcus said wiping the sweat off of his brow.
"That's not all you did Marcus!" Brandon called out pointing to Giant Orc who was suddenly kneeling down. "When Giant Orc destroys a monster he immediately shifts into defence mode and he can't shift it back into attack mode until his next turn."
"Yeah, and that thing's defence is so low that even my Decoy Dragon can destroy it!" Marcus said grinning triumphantly.
"But even if you destroy my Orc you cannot follow up with a direct attack, unless you want him to die!" Robert said before looking at the rest of his hand. "I end my turn." Robert announced and Theresa drew her card.
"I activate my trap card, Dark Spirit Art – Greed, now by tributing my facedown monster I can draw two cards from my deck." Theresa's facedown monster disappeared and she drew two cards. "Not only that but the monster I tributed was Sangan (3/1000/600) and when he's sent to the graveyard..."
"Err, Theresa, I think most of us are familiar with Sangan's effect." Brandon cut her off and Theresa blushed before sweat-dropping.
"Oh, right." Theresa said before searching through her deck and adding a monster to her hand. "He could've negated my trap's effect by revealing a spell card in his hand, he obviously uses Dark attribute monsters so what's he up too?" Theresa thought before playing the card she had retrieved via Sangan's effect. "I summon Prometheus, King of Shadows to the field in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and a cloaked muscular figure appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1200/800). "When he's summoned I can remove from play any number of monsters from my graveyard as long as they are Dark Attribute monsters so I remove Sangan and Exarian Universe and Prometheus gains 400 attack points for each monster." Theresa pocketed the two monsters after retrieving them and her monster's attack shot up to 2000. "Prometheus attack Giant Orc now!" The monster spread it's arms out and a beam of darkness shot out at the orc consuming it. "That ends my turn!" Theresa announced as Prometheus' attack dropped back down to 1200 and rather than draw his card Brandon picked up his deck.
"Now that it's my draw phase Dark General Freed's effect activates, rather than draw a card I can search through my deck for a Level 4 or lower Dark Type monster and add it to my hand." Brandon explained as he searched through his deck, he found the card he was looking for and added it to his hand before shuffling his deck and returning it to the deck slot. "Now I summon the monster I retrieved via Dark General Freed's effect, the leader of the Dark Scorpions himself Don Zaloog!" Brandon played the card and Don Zaloog appeared on the field (4/1400/1500). "Now I enter my battle phase..."
"BRANDON DON'T!" Theresa shouted and Brandon's eyes went wide as he realized what he almost did.
"Shit, I almost forgot." Brandon said facepalming, naturally Robert laughed at this.
"What's the matter? Is the temptation proving too great for you?" Robert taunted Brandon who growled.
"I end my turn." Brandon said and Axel drew his card.
"All right, I flip summon the monster I set last turn, Gladiator Beast Laquari in attack mode!" Axel flipped the monster and a muscular humanoid tiger appeared on the field wearing red armour (4/1800/400). "I'll end my turn at that."
"Oh right, my turn." Marcus said drawing his card, when he saw what he had drawn he couldn't help but grin. "Oh yeah, this is what I'm talking about, first I summon Lord of Dragons to the field in attack mode!" Marcus played the card and the dragon protecting spellcaster appeared on the field (4/1200/1100). "That's not all, I flip my facedown card Flute of Summoning Dragon, now that I have Lord of Dragons on the field this Spell card will allow me to special summon up to two Dragon Type monsters from my hand to the field ignoring any summoning conditions, and I have two in mind."
"You mean the dragons you got from me and Chloe?" Lance asked and Marcus nodded.
"You got it, so come forth Red-Eyes Black Dragon...AND BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!" Marcus played the cards and the two famous dragons appeared on the field roaring menacingly at Robert (7/2400/2000) and (8/3000/2500).
"What the fuck?" Was all Ray was able to say upon seeing the dragons.
"Okay, where the fuck did they get their hands on those monsters?" Zach asked as his eyes went as wide as dinner plates.
"They won them from me and Philip after they beat us, Marcus ended up getting them because they didn't fit in with our decks." Francesca explained.
"Regardless he'll be a force to be reckoned with in the finals if he and the others win the match." Alex said with a nod. "Come on there's only two floors to go until we reach the the floor where Chloe's step-father is being held." Alex said and he led the others up the stairs.
"Be thankful that I can't attack due too your stipulation." Marcus said as his eyes narrowed. "So I end my turn." Marcus said and Andreas drew his card.
"I flip summon my facedown monster, no I'm not making this monster's name up, Super Nimble Mega Hamster!" Andreas announced ignoring the insane amounts of laughter coming from Lance as he heard the monsters name. "I would like to take the time to assure everyone that yes, this monster is real and no I don't know what they where smoking at Industrial Illusions when they came up with this monster." Andreas added as his monster, a grey large hamster, appeared on the field (4/1100/1800). "Laugh all you want but he has a very useful ability, when he is flip summoned I can special summon one monster from my deck as long as it's a level 3 or lower Beast monster." Andreas searched through his deck before setting the card facedown. "Now I sacrifice both monsters to summon the monster I just drew, the mighty King of Beasts!" The two monsters vanished and in the place of the first monster stood a huge black bear with razor sharp claws and tentacles coming out of it's body (7/2500/800). "As much as I'd like to unleash the full fury of my beast upon you I must end my turn."
"Believe me Andreas, the feeling's mutual." Lance said drawing his card, Solemn Wishes took effect increasing his life-points to 8500. "As much as I hate giving you ANY kind of advantage." Lance started glaring at Robert. "This will help us all the same so I activate Card of Sanctity to refresh our hands." Lance activated his spell and all eight duellists drew until they had six cards in their hands, Lance cursed when he saw one of them even as his life-points went up to 9000. "I can't risk summoning Thestalos, there's a chance that his effect will cause damage to Robert and that means that Chloe's dad will die." Lance thought as he looked over the rest of his new cards. "Okay first I remove Great Angus from my graveyard to summon Inferno in defence mode!" Lance pocketed the monster and the small flame with a face appeared on the field (4/1100/1900). "Now I sacrifice my facedown monster to summon Firewing Pegasus to the the field in attack mode!" Lance played the card and the facedown monster disappeared, in it's place stood a mighty pegasus with flame like wings (6/2250/1800). "Over to you Chloe."
"Right." Chloe said with a nod before drawing her card. "Dark Designator? Why would I use this? Wait, technically I'm part of a team so maybe I can use this on one of my partners decks." Chloe thought before glancing over her shoulder at her step-father. "Didn't he say that the Red-Eyes had a stronger form? Ugh, what was it called again?" Chloe thought.
"Looking up at my hostage won't do you any favours, so make your move already!" Robert shouted impatiently breaking Chloe's concentration.
"Your funeral, I activate my Spell Card Dark Designator!" Chloe played the card and Robert laughed.
"How could you possibly know what's in my deck?" Robert said with a scoff and Chloe grinned.
"It's not your deck I'm targeting, it's one of my partners." Chloe said before pointing at Marcus. "Namely Marcus."
"Err, okay." Marcus blinked in confusion. "What's she up too? My deck has changed a lot since our duel back at Duel Academy." Marcus thought.
"The way my Spell Card works is simple." Chloe continued as she turned her attention back to her dad. "I name a monster card and if Marcus has it in his deck it gets added to his hand, so Marcus..." Chloe said turning to him. "Do you have Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon in your deck?" Chloe asked, Marcus blinked a couple of times before grinning broadly.
"You bet your ass I do!" Marcus said picking up his deck and searching through it, he found the monster at the bottom of his deck and added it to his hand. "Thanks Chloe, I never would've gotten this card without your help."
"Any time." Chloe grinned before turning her attention to her dad as she sent her spell card to her graveyard. "Now for the rest of my move." Chloe said picking up a card. "I summon Silent Magician Level 4 to the field in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and one of her signature cards appeared on the field (4/1000/1000) and, much to Chloe's surprise, when her magician saw Robert her eyes widened in fear.
"That weakling has every right to be scared!" Robert said glaring evilly at the monster. "My monsters will rip her to shreds."
"Just take your turn already!" Chloe snapped at him and Robert drew his card as Marcus discarded a card from his hand due to size limit...only to blink in surprise when he saw Silent Magician's attack raise to 1500. "My monster gains a spell counter each time you draw and for each spell counter she gains five hundred attack points."
"Is that supposed to impress me?" Robert scoffed before looking at his card. "Yes, this may work, first I set a monster in defence mode." Robert set the monster and the facedown monster appeared. "But he won't be facedown for long, I activate a spell card called Book of Taiyou, this allows me to flip my monster into attack so meet Jowles of Dark Demise!" Robert played the card and a floating mouth with a tongue sticking out appeared on the field (2/200/100) it's attack increased to 700 Brandon's eyes widened when he saw the monster.
"Oh no, when that thing's flipped it can take control of one of the opponents monsters." Brandon said and the other duellists immediately cast worrying looks towards Marcus's dragons.
"Not to worry guys, Lord Of Dragons protects Dragons from the effects of spells, traps and effect monsters via his effect." Marcus reassured them.
"Great, I was planning on targeting his stronger dragon as well." Robert thought before glancing up at Dark General Freed. "Well if I can't target your dragons I'll go for the next best thing, Jowles of Dark Demise I command you to take control of Dark General Freed!" The mouth opened up revealing a pair of cat like eyes, they glowed and Dark General Freed's marched over to Robert's side of the field, once it was there it's attack almost immediately went up to 2800. "And my target is you!" Robert said pointing to Chloe.
"No, my Magician!" Chloe shouted as Silent Magician got ready for combat.
"Weren't you listening? MY TARGET IS YOU! You see when the monster under the control of Jolwes attacks it can attack the opponents life-points directly!" Robert explained and Chloe's eyes widened.
"Damn it, where's Negate Attack when you need it?" Andreas thought as he and the others searched frantically through their facedown cards.
"Dark General Freed, attack the little bitches life-points directly!" The general charged forward past Chloe's monsters drawing a sword as he did, Chloe raised her scarred arm instinctively as the sword slashed her sending her to the ground.
C: 4800
L: 9000
A: 8000
M: 8000
AL: 8000
B: 8000
T: 8000
R: 66,000
"Is...is that blood?" Francesca's eyes widened when she saw Chloe get up clutching her bleeding arm in pain, the sleeve was almost completely torn off and was basically holding on to the rest of her shirt by a thread but somehow her arm only suffered minor damage, seeing this Chloe ripped off what remained of the sleeve and used it as a makeshift bandage in order to stop the bleeding remembering the damage she had suffered during the duel with Damien.
"Unfortunately yes." Ray nodded as his eyes narrowed. "The monsters are real in the Orichalcos and so is the damage." Ray added as they continued up the stairs, when he looked again his eyes widened when he saw Chloe's scar. "Oh my god, there's no way in hell that scar was recent."
"Then how do you...oh no." Francesca said as her eyes widened. "You don't think."
"That bastard caused it." Zach cut her off anger clear in his voice. "It's starting to make sense now."
"I'd give every duel monster I own for five minutes alone with him." Alex said as his eyes narrowed, Robert saw the scar and grinned.
"Ah, I remember the day I inflicted that upon you." Robert said with a sadistic smile on his face, Chloe's eyes narrowed once she realized what he was about to say.
"Dad...shut up!" Chloe said angrily.
"Oh, don't you want to remember the time I broke a bottle over your head and used one of the glass shards to cut into your arm, your screams of pain, yes I remember all of it." Robert said with a massive sadistic grin. "I would've gone further than the elbow you know, ALL the way down to your hand but I passed out from the alcohol I was drinking before that could happen." A deathly silence fell over the mall as he recounted the story, even the guards keeping watch over Chloe's step-father where visibly uncomfortable by this point.
"That bastard." Ray said anger clear in his voice, Francesca had covered her mouth in shock by the end of the story, Zach looked like he was about to throw up and Alex and Philip where just as angry.
"KEEP TALKING YOU BASTARD!" Marcus yelled the rage clear in his eyes. "When my next turn comes my dragons will roast that...THING you call a monster and your life-points."
"Marcus, I know it's hard but keep calm." Brandon said clearly just as enraged as Marcus was. "If you do that then..." Marcus's eyes widened as it dawned on him.
"You mean...that whole story about Chloe's scar was..." Marcus trailed off.
"Psychological warfare, he wants us to attack him and he's using every underhanded trick that he can think off." Theresa answered him as she glared at him.
"The only reason you survived was because Mommy got you too a hospital in time, but I have bad news you little bitch, mommy can't save you!" Robert finished in a mocking tone, Chloe was looking at the ground the whole time with her hair overshadowing her eyes the whole time but once Robert finished she looked at him with rage in her eyes.
"Just end your turn already." Chloe said angrily, Robert looked at the rest of his hand and shook his head.
"Fine, I'll end my turn." Robert announced but before Theresa could draw her card footsteps echoed behind Robert from the shadows, slowly a familiar figure emerged from them."Felix?" Robert shouted in surprise as the younger man approached the wall with a look of disgust on his face.
"You bastard." Felix said as he approached the Orichalcos wall with the mother of all death glares on his face. "You complete and utter bastard."
"Who are you to judge? Your no saint!" Robert snapped at him, Felix said nothing as two other figures came out of the shadows, Michael and Karen. "M...Michael?"
"In the flesh." Michael said disgusted. "And we heard every, single detail of that story." Michael said walking up to the wall. "Let me make one thing clear, me, Karen and Felix have made mistakes in the past but they NEVER laid a hand on a child let alone put a child through agonising pain like you just confessed to doing."
"But..." Robert trailed off.
"What? Are you going to try to justify this?" Karen cut him off.
"Know this, should you lose you will suffer." Michael said and just like that the trio disappeared back into the shadows.
"As I was saying." Robert said tugging nervously at his collar. "I set a card facedown and end my turn." As Robert said that Dark General Freed lost it's power bonus from the Orichalcos returning it's attack to 2300 and the monster returned to Brandon's side of the field.
"That's the side effect of Jowles I'm assuming?" Axel asked and Brandon nodded.
"Yeah, it is." Brandon nodded as Theresa drew her card. "Chloe, I'm sorry for what just happened." Brandon called out to her and the Osiris Red student turned her attention to him.
"Brandon, don't apologize for something my dad did to me." Chloe said bluntly though what caught Brandon off guard was her wording, he nodded however and Chloe turned her attention back her dad.
Whilst that was going on Theresa was considering what to do for her move. "Okay, this spell card could help." Theresa thought before activating it. "I activate Allure of Darkness, by removing one Dark Type monster from my hand I can draw two cards." Theresa pocketed the card and drew two cards, "Now I sacrifice Prometheus to summon a new monster, Archfiend of Gilfer!" Prometheus disappeared from the field and in it's place stood a bulky winged demon who growled menacingly at Robert (6/2200/2500). "Much as I'd like to rip that thing to shreds I can't do so without damaging his life-points." Theresa thought as she looked at Jowles. "But at the same time we can't run the risk of him possibly having a copy of Book of Moon and another copy of Book of Taiyou." Theresa thought. "I end my turn." Theresa announced and Brandon drew his card without a second thought.
"Okay, first I summon Dark Crusader to the field in attack mode!" Brandon played the card and zombie crusader appeared on the field (4/1600/200). "Next I activate a Spell Card called Dark Genocide Cutter!" Brandon played the card and too everyone's surprise Dark General Freed, Don Zaloog and Dark Crusader raised their blades in union. "This spell card can only be activated if I have three or more Dark Type monsters on my side of the field which I do, now that those conditions are met I can target one monster on the field and remove it from play!" Robert's eyes widened and as the three blades struck the ground, or the air since the monsters where floating, sending a shock-wave towards Jowles of Dark Demise destroying it it. "That ends my turn!" Brandon announced and Axel drew his card.
"Excellent move Brandon but I'm afraid that I must upstage you." Axel complemented him as he looked at his newly drawn card. "I summon Gladiator Beast Darius in attack mode and activate my trap card Double Tag Team!" Axel played the card and a black humanoid horse wearing red armour appeared on the field (4/1700/300). "Now onto my trap card, when I successfully summon a Gladiator Beast monster as I just have I can special summon another from my hand or deck as long as it's Level 4 or lower and I chose to summon Gladiator Beast Equeste from my deck in attack mode!" Axel played the card and a winged centaur appeared on the field, it was heavily armoured and was carrying a shield (4/1600/1200). "Now the stage is set."
"For what?" Brandon asked curiously and Axel grinned.
"To Contact Fusion the strongest monster in my deck!" Axel said picking up the three monsters. "A beast so powerful that it requires the presence of not one but three Gladiator Beasts on my side of the field so I return Laquari, Darius and Equeste to my deck to fusion summon the all mighty Gladiator Beast Herklinos!" The three monsters fused together and in their place stood a huge humanoid lion that was heavily armoured and was carrying an axe and a shield (8/3000/2800).
"Whoa, that thing that go toe to toe with my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Marcus said clearly in awe of the monster.
"That's not all it can do." Andreas said with a smile. "I still remember the look on my brother's face when he heard it's effect."
"Indeed, it was quite priceless." Axel chuckled before folding his arms. "Fortunately for you I cannot attack so I end my turn." Axel announced and Marcus drew his card, he added his new card to his hand before picking up another.
"I would like to once again thank Chloe for helping me get the card!" Marcus grinned. "I tribute Red-Eyes Black Dragon to Special Summon his stronger form, RED-EYES DARKNESS DRAGON!" Marcus played the card and the dragon transformed into it's strongest form (9/2400/2000). "Aint she a beaut? It's gets better because my dragon gains 300 attacks points for each dragon in my graveyard and I count three, Red-Eyes Wyvern, Exploder Dragon and Red-Eyes Black Dragon himself!" Marcus announced proudly as his dragon's attack shot up to 3300. "But why stop there? I activate the Spell Card I just drew, Polmerization to fuse the Lord of Dragons on my side of the field with Divine Dragon Ragnorok in my hand to form King Dragon!" The two monsters fused together and the dragon king came out of the vortex (7/2400/1100) and as Marcus sent Polmerization, Divine Dragon Ragnorok and Lord of Dragons to the graveyard Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon's attack rose to 3600.
"Marcus now has a combined attack power of 7000 on his side of the field!" Zach exclaimed and Ray nodded.
"Yeah, pity he can't attack." Ray grunted. "Come on, we're almost there." Ray said and Zach followed him further up the stairs.
"As much as I'd love to attack I have to end my turn." Marcus said folding his arms, Andreas drew his card and grinned.
"Perfect, I activate my own Polmerization to fuse Des Kangaroo and Big Koala in my hand to fusion summon my strongest monster, THE MASTER OF OZ!" Andreas played the card and the two monsters fused together into the massive green koala wearing the purple jacket and boxing gloves (9/4200/3800). "I end my turn." Andreas announced and Lance drew his card, he looked at it even as Solemn Wishes increased his life-points to 9500.
"I summon Blast Magician to the field in attack mode!" Lance played the card and the red clad spellcaster appeared on the field (4/1400/1700). "That ends my turn." Lance announced and Chloe drew her card.
"Dad..." Chloe said looking directly at Robert. "What you said earlier about my mom not being here maybe true...but she's here in spirit."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Robert demanded and Chloe played the card that she had drawn.
"I activate Level Up, levelling up my Silent Magician to her strongest form and my strongest monster, SILENT MAGICIAN LEVEL 8!" Chloe played the card and her Silent Magician started glowing and growing until it reached it's final form (8/3500/1000). "This was what I was talking about!" Chloe said as Silent Magician glared at Robert. "Unfortunately I have to end my turn." Robert wordlessly drew his card but the worry was very evident on his face.
"First Michael, Felix and Karen show up and now these brats have enough firepower to do some major damage to my life-points, no matter though, as long as my hostage doesn't break free I'll be safe!"Robert thought before glancing at his facedown card. "Now is as good a time as ever to activate my trap card Destiny Board!" Robert flipped up the card and the ghostly image of the letter F appeared on the field. "See that letter? It's a part of a word and at the end of each of your turns more letters will appear until the word is spelt out and once it is the duel will immediately end."
"But that gives us until the end of Andreas's turn to destroy it!" Brandon realized.
"He won't go that far!" Axel declared as he discarded a card from his hand. "I activate Herklinos's effect, by discarding one card from my hand I can negate the activation of and destroy one Spell or Trap card and I chose Destiny Board!"
"NO!" Robert yelled as Herklinos charged towards the letter and slashed it with it's axe. "You will pay for that!" Robert yelled as he sent his trap to the graveyard. "But I guess I'll have to beat you the old fashioned way, I summon Diskblade Rider in attack mode!" Robert played the card and the roar of a motorcycle filled the air.
"What the hell?" Marcus exclaimed, suddenly from out of nowhere a muscular green demon on a blue motorbike leaped off a ledge and landed on Robert's side of the field, the demon was weilding a lethal looking discblade and was ready for battle (4/1700/1500) and it's attack went up to 2200 thanks to the seal.
"Now who to attack..." Robert wondered as he surveyed the field. "Chloe, Theresa, Axel, Andreas and Marcus's monsters are too powerful, Lance's magician is an obvious weakness but it most likely has an effect, that just leaves Brandon's monsters and I know what Don Zaloog does so I'll target him!" Robert thought before pointing at Zaloog. "Discblade Rider attack Don Zaloog now!" The fiend revved up it's motorcycle and took off towards Don, it stretched out the arm that was holding the blade and decapitated Brandon's warrior.
C: 4800
L: 9500
A: 8000
M: 8000
AL: 8000
B: 7200
T: 8000
R: 66,000
Brandon sent his warrior to the graveyard and frowned. "Just need one more monster in my graveyard and I can bring out my Dragon!" Brandon thought as the fiend returned to Robert's side of the field.
"I end my turn." Robert said and Theresa drew her card, before she could do anything however there was a commotion near where Chloe's step-father was being held."What the hell?" Robert wondered out-loud before putting a hand to his earpiece. "What's going on up there?" The was no response and Robert growled, unbeknownst to him the armed group had been ambushed by the group that Philip was leading, Philip knocked out one with a pair of powerful punches whilst Alex had knocked out another by banging his head against the rail, the third tried pointing his gun at them but was whacked in the back of the head by Ray's duel disk knocking him out.
"Are you okay Mr. Richardson?" Ray asked as Zach started untying him.
"I am now, thanks to you." Scott said once Zach untied him, he marched up to the edge of the railing with the others. "HEY ROBERT!" Robert looked up and his eyes went as wide as dinner plates when he saw that he was free. "You just lost your bargaining chip."
"Oh no!" Robert said as his eyes widened. "But that means..."
"That we are free to attack." Theresa said with a grin. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do this, first I activate Lightning Vortex to clear your field!" Theresa played the card and, after discarding a card, lightning struck Robert's fiend destroying it. "Next I activate Monster Reborn to bring back the monster I discarded for Lightning Vortex's effect, Perditious Puppeteer in attack mode!" Theresa retrieved the monster from her graveyard and played it, a monstrous demon appeared on the field controlling a metallic puppet (7/2700/500. "And finally I normal summon Opticlops to the field in attack mode!" Theresa played the last card in her hand and a red muscular cyclops appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1800/1500. "Attack his life-point directly!" The three monsters, or in the case of the puppeteer it's puppet, charged forward and attacked Robert. "Your turn Brandon!"
"Gladly!" Brandon said drawing his card. "I sacrifice Dark Crusader to summon Lich Lord, King of the Underworld in attack mode!" Dark Crusader vanished and in it's place stood the king of the underworld himself (6/2400/1600). "Now that I have three dark type monsters in my graveyard I can now summon my deck's strongest monster, Dark Armed Dragon!" Brandon played the card and his signature dragon appeared on the field (7/2800/1000). "This is for everything you put Chloe through you bastard, go my monsters attack his life-points directly." Dark General Freed charged forward and seemed to take pleasure in slashing into Robert, his other two monsters followed up by firing remote attacks. "Axel, show him no mercy."
"As if it needed to be said." Axel grinned as he drew his card. "I won't be able to do as much damage as my comrades but this will be just as satisfying, Herrklinos attack this monster's life-points directly!" Axel commanded and Herrklinos charged towards Robert and slashed him with his sword. "Marcus, I know you've been waiting for this."
"Gee, you think?" Marcus grinned as he drew his card. "I summon Luster Dragon Number 2 in attack mode!" Marcus played the card and the beautiful sapphire dragon appeared on the field (4/1900/1600). "Go my monsters, roast this bastard alive!" The four dragons charged up their attacks and fired them at Robert who screamed as the attacks hit. "Andreas, your turn buddy."
"All right." Andreas nodded before drawing his card. "So Robert tell me, how does it feel?" Andreas asked and Robert blinked as he got up.
"How does WHAT feel?" Robert demanded.
"To feel the full force of your victim's, your daughter's, friends come upon you? King of Beasts, Master of Oz, attack his life-points directly!" The two monsters charged forward and attacked him.
"Jesus Christ, this has got to be some kind of record for most damage dealt to the opponent!" Zach exclaimed and Ray nodded.
"Couldn't of happened to a more deserving person!" Ray agreed.
"Lance, it's your turn!" Andreas announced and as Lance drew his card as his life-points went up to 10,000 thanks to his trap.
"I've been waiting for this for a long time!" Lance said before looking at his card. "I sacrifice Inferno to summon Thestalos The Firstorm Monarch!" Inferno vanished and in it's place stood Thestalos himself (6/2400/1000). "When he's normal summoned successfully you have to discard a random card from your hand and if it's a monster it's level times a hundred comes out of your life-points!" Thestalous threw a fireball at Robert's only card in his hand and he winced as it was his copy of Ryu-Kishin Powered (4/1600/1200) causing him to lose 400 points before discarding it. "Now I activate my own Monster Reborn to revive the monster I sacrificed earlier to summon Firewing Pegasus, ULTIMATE BASEBALL KID!" Lance played the card and the small boy in the baseball uniform appeared on the field (3/500/1000) and his attack went up to 2500 due to his effect. "Attack his life-points directly!" Thestalous and Pegasus fired fireballs at Robert striking him in the chest whilst Ultimate Baseball Kid hit a ball at Robert with his bat. "I would end my turn at that, you know out of mercy...except you don't deserve any mercy so I activate the second effect of Ultimate Baseball Kid, by sending a fire type monster from my field to the graveyard I can deal 500 points of damage to you so goodbye Firewing Pegasus and Thestalous the Firestorm Monarch..." The two monsters where turned into firery balls which where launched one at a time at Robert by the kid. "...Hello 1000 points of damage." Lance said triumphantly even as Ultimate Baseball Kid's attack dropped to it's original 500. "But there's one person here who has been waiting for this far longer than we have, Chloe it's your turn."
"Thanks Lance." Chloe said drawing her card, when she looked at it she got an idea. "Hey, can I take control of one of my partners monsters for a turn?"
"As much as I hate to say it, yes." Robert grunted knowing what was coming next, Chloe turned to Marcus and grinned.
"Can I borrow your Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon for a few minutes?" Chloe asked and Marcus nodded as the Dragon flew over to her side, the dragon lost the 1200 attack points due to Chloe not having any dragons in her deck, let alone her graveyard, but she knew that it was powerful enough to do some serious damage. "Now I activate the Spell Card I just drew, Dark Magic Curtain!" Chloe played the card and winced as her life-points dropped to 2400. "It may cost me half of my life-points but it's worth it because now I can summon a new monster from my deck, the Dark Magician!" Chloe played the card and the famous magician appeared on the field (7/2500/2100).
"Holy..." Zach whistled when he saw the monster. "She wasn't kidding when she said that her deck's a lot stronger!"
"And it doesn't look like she's done." Ray added and Chloe sent Dark Magic Curtain to the graveyard and picked up another card.
"I equip my Magician with the spell card Megamorph, as long as my life-points are lower than yours my Dark Magician's attack points are doubled, Chloe announced and true to her word Dark Magician's attack shot up to 5000. "Silent Magician, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, Dark Magician, attack his life-points directly!" The three monsters fired their attacks at Robert who screamed as the attacks hit.
C: 2400
L: 10,000
A: 8000
M: 8000
AL: 8000
B: 8000
T: 8000
R: 11, 150
"Even after all that he still has a massive lead." Nicola spoke up for the first time.
"Not for long though, even if he draws a monster they don't have too worry about her step-father being killed if they do attack." Ray said shaking his head. "The only reason he's lasted this long is because of Mr. Richardson being held captive but now? It's only a matter of time."
"I end my turn." Chloe announced and Robert shakily drew his card...only to drop it in shock.
"No...no...this...is..." Robert stammered, Chloe looked at the card and realized that it was the spell card Allure of Darkness but since he had no cards in his hand Robert couldn't use it.
"Impossible? No, it's justice for everything you've done to me." Chloe said folding her arms and Robert growled.
"I will never surrender to you!" Robert growled. "I end my turn."
"In other words, it's over!" Theresa said drawing her card.
"Guys, wait!" Chloe called out to them and the other teens blinked. "I...I want to be the one who finishes him off, please." Chloe pleaded with them, the teens shared a look before Theresa nodded.
"You got it Chloe, I pass for now." Theresa said and Brandon didn't even bother looking at the card he drew.
"I pass as well, Axel?" Brandon announced before turning to the German duellist, he drew a card and like Brandon he didn't bother looking at it.
"I shall pass as well." Axel nodded, the process continued for Andreas, Marcus and Lance until it was finally Chloe's turn, when she drew her card she turned to Marcus.
"Can I borrow Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" Chloe asked and Marcus nodded,
"She's all yours!" Marcus nodded as the dragon flew over to Chloe's side of the field.
"I enter my battle phase and..." Before Chloe could continue she remembered about her trap card. "Magician's Circle, I couldn't activate it last turn because of Dark Magic Curtain but now? It's a perfect time to use it..." Whilst Chloe was thinking these things Robert's impatience was growing by the second.
"What are you waiting for? Finnish me off! Isn't this what you wanted?" Robert shouted at Chloe who remained silent. "What do you want? A confession? Is that what you want you little bitch? Fine...I NEVER WANTED YOU! Whilst your mother was pregnant with you I pleaded with her to get an abortion, did she listen? NO! So I tried to make her have a miscarriage and make it look like an accident but obviously that failed and you know what? I enjoyed every moment of the abuse I inflicted on you! You want to know why? Because you are a fucking accident!" A deathly silence fell over the mall which was quickly broken by Chloe quietly sobbing. "Yeah, cry you little bitch!"
"If it weren't for the Orichalcos I'd be beating the shit out of him by now!" Alex said angrily.
"We all would." Philip agreed, down on the floor Chloe collapsed to her hands and knees as the information started to sink in.
"I was afraid of this." Theresa sighed. "Chloe's done well to make it this far but what that bastard just said..."
"Has left her in no condition to continue." Brandon finished for her folding his arms as he did. "Even I wouldn't be in any condition to duel if I had learned that from my father." Brandon added. "What do you think Axel."
"I think that bastard deserves to rot in hell for what he just confessed to doing." Axel said with a scowl on his face. "As for Chloe, I don't know maybe Lance can talk her into passing her turn."
"There's a problem with that." Brandon pointed out. "It's Robert's turn after Chloe's, what if he draws something like Swords of Revealing Light or worse."
"If he draws a spell card that effects monsters than Chloe's Silent Magician would be...wait she's getting up!" Theresa realized as Chloe forced herself to her feet glaring at her father through crying eyes.
"Dad..." Chloe said in a tone of voice that sent shivers up everyone's spines. "Your finished, Dark Magician attack that bastard's life-points directly Dark Magic Attack!" As the magician charged up it's famous attack Chloe activated her trap card. "I activate Magician's Circle, now I'm allowed to Special Summon another Spellcaster to the field, Magical Marionette!" Chloe searched through her deck and played the card, the magical puppet master in red appeared on the field ready for battle (5/2000/1000). "Off course now you and my partners can do the same, if you have any Spellcasters." Robert frowned and shook his head.
"I don't have any spellcasters." Robert said frowning, the others searched through their decks due to Magician's Circle's effect and Theresa summoned her copy of Maiden of Macabre, Brandon summoned Shadowpriestess of Ohm (4/1700/1600), Axel summoned Witchdoctor of Sparta (4/400/2000), Marcus summoned another Lord of Dragons (4/1200/1100) and Lance summoned Blazing Hilta (3/800/1500). as they had no spellcasters in their decks Andreas and Robert shuffled their decks as did the others, Dark Magician resumed it's attack bringing his life-points down to 6150.
"Magical Marionette, it's your turn." Chloe commanded and the enigmatic puppet master lashed Robert with it's strings bringing his life-points down to 4150. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, WHITE LIGHTNING!" The dragon charged up it's famous attack and launched it at Robert sending his life-points plummeting down to 1150, Chloe didn't even notice Dark Magician's attack dropping to 1250 due to Megamorph's side effect as she pointed to Silent Magician.
"Chloe wait...have mercy!" Robert pleaded with her.
"Mercy?" Chloe echoed as she glared at him, tears and all. "You kidnapped my step-father, you beat me and my mom for days on end, you scarred me for life in more ways than one..." Chloe tears where coming out quickly at this point.
"He's just a coward Chloe, ignore him and finish him off!" Marcus shouted out, Chloe said nothing for a few moments save for the occasional sob, that was until she said the next sentence.
"YOU KILLED MY MOTHER!" She shouted at him before collapsing to her knees again, Marcus Andreas and Axel did double takes at this. "And you expect me to give you mercy? Where was my mercy? WHERE WAS MOM'S MERCY!" Chloe continued in between sobs.
"Jesus Christ..." Ray trailed off as his eyes widened.
"Believe or not, this will be good for her in the long run." Philip sighed. "That's a lot of pent up emotion she's unleashing, it's not good for your mental health to pent up stuff like this." Philip added as Chloe forced herself back to her feet and pointed at Silent Magician.
"Silent Magician Level 8, finish this bastard off!" Chloe commanded and the magician charged up it's attack and fired it at Robert striking him in the chest.
C: 2400
L: 10,500
A: 8000
M: 8000
AL: 8000
B: 7200
T: 8000
R: 0000
The holograms disappeared and Chloe stood there motionless for the longest time, Robert was somehow still conscious but aware of what was going to happen next. "Chloe." Robert said with a sadistic grin on his face. "Before the Orichalcos consumes me I have another confession."
"Save it." Chloe said in between sobs. "I don't care what you have to say."
"What? Aren't you interested in a little secret your step-father's been keeping from you for the past ten years?" Robert taunted and Chloe's eyes narrowed.
"W...what are you talking about?" Chloe stammered, Scott's eyes widened instantly realizing what he meant.
"Robert that's enough!" Scott shouted from the sidelines. "Haven't you done enough damage already?"
"I'm not the one doing the damage this time you son of a bitch, it's your little secret." Robert shouted back before turning to Chloe. "Funny thing about your mother's murder...I never spent a day in jail for it." Robert said earning a collective gasp from everyone.
"No...no...your lying, you...must be." Chloe stammered.
"I'm not the one lying here, your step-father is!" Robert continued even as the Orichalcos closed in. "My conviction was overturned by the court of appeals, for the charges of Child Abuse and Murder!" Robert said with a grin. "And that bastard stole you from me!" That was the last thing Robert said before the seal consumed his soul and he collapsed to the ground Chloe stood there for the longest time before collapsing to her hands and knees.
"Mr. Richardson, is that..." Philip started but when he turned around he saw that Scott was running down the stairs.
"Sorry, my daughter needs me!" Scott called out, he ran down the stairs and eventually reached the ground floor, the other students where already there gathering up Robert's twelve locater cards distributing them between themselves, Theresa had just handed Chloe her locater card when Scott ran up. "Theresa was it? May I have..."
"Some private time with Chloe?" Theresa asked, Scott nodded and Theresa sighed. "Go ahead." Scott said nothing and approached his daughter.
"Chloe..." Scott started and Chloe turned to him, her eyes where red from all the crying.
"Dad...please tell me he's lying." Chloe pleaded with a look of desperation on her face, Scott sighed and knelt down next to her.
"Chloe, I'm sorry but I was there when it happened, your father's conviction was overturned." Scott sighed and Chloe's eyes went as wide as dinner plates, she backed away from him and he tried to move closer to her.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She snapped at him before curling up in a ball, Brandon approached him and sighed.
"I...I think it's best if you leave, we'll get her back to the hotel." Brandon said and Scott nodded in agreement.
"I'll come round in the morning and try to explain myself to her." Scott told them, the students said nothing and Scott left without another word.