Arliss closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Nessa, stroking her hair. His fiancé nuzzled his chest, chin resting on his shoulder.
"Thanks for the hug…but mind telling me why we are in the bowels of the mansion?"
The King sighed. He really…really hated this idea. His own memories of doing this still haunted him, and he didn't want to cause his love anymore pain. But…if she was ever going to get better…
"Arliss?"
"You haven't been yourself. Aster's attack on you…don't interrupt..." He said, stopping her objection, "…has left you unable to commune with the darkness…you can't even wield the Shadow Choker.
"There is a ritual that can be done that can not only heal your soul and return your powers, but also increase them 10 fold. You have known that you are strong…but I have always been stronger. With this ritual, you would match me in power…you would be my true queen. The final step needed so that we could finally bind ourselves to each other."
Nessa licked her lips, a little nervous. She didn't assume for a second this ritual would be easy…after all, if it was, then Arliss wouldn't have waited…wouldn't seem so unsure.
"What must I do?"
"You will face a being of shadows, and defeat him in a shadow duel." Arlen said, stepping out of the shadows. "Win, and power is yours."
"Lose…" Mayday said, joining her husband. "And you will be trapped in the darkness…I doubt even we could save you."
Nessa closed her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was duel…she could still feel Aster's KA attacking her, beating her. But for Arliss… "Lets do it." She said.
"There is one more thing." Arliss said as Arlen opened the portal.
"Yea?" She whispered, before screaming. Arliss held out his hand, dark energy being drawn into it. Nessa crumpled as he body seemed to shrink, change and deage…until she was a mere 15 year old again. "Ar…Arliss?"
"You have to fight as Vanessa." He said, tears in his eyes as Mayday and Arlen yanked her up and threw her into the darkness. He scream of frustration echoed throughout the mansion.
&&&
Zane Trusdale closed his eyes, and time slowed. He could feel the attack still buzzing through his veins, still feel the taunts of his opponent in this underground duel. How the might had fallen.
He had entered the dueling world filled with confidence…but Aster Phoniex had made quick work of his hopes and dreams, stomping on them. And as he dueled, as the crowds faded and cheers turned to boos, his thoughts went to Alexander Milo.
"Anyone can be undefeated if they dueled with the damn Cyber Dragons. Having cheap cards with even cheaper effects does not make you a great duelist. A great duelist could use the worst cards and win. Zane isn't a great duelist, he is a duelist that bought his victories and title."
"He's right, you know."
Zane blinked, noticing the arena had gone silent and still. Turning around, he found that he stood in front of to tall beings with snow white hair and glowing eyes. They were incredibly beautiful, and power seemed to radiate from them.
Zane took a step back. "Who are you?"
The female frowned. "I think he is on a separate page then us." From thin air, a script entitled GX: Hunters appeared. "See, right here it says he should ask, "What do you mean?""
Anarchy frowned. "Sola, you skipped a line. He asks us who we are, you break the foruth wall…" He glared at her. "Father Chaos will not be happy about that…then we begin talking about corrupting his soul." The script faded, and Anarchy turned to Zane. "I am Anarchy, the god of dark chaos. This is Sola, the goddess of white chaos."
"Charmed." She said, holding out her hand. When Zane did nothing, she pulled it back, glowering. "Rude little boy, isn't he."
"All mortals are." Anarchy said. "Seems in our absence, the gods have allowed them to become foolish. Father Chaos must be tearing his hair out."
"What did you mean, about Alex being right?"
Sola clapped her hands. "Back on track. Anarchy?"
Her brother nodded. "Ah, yes. Alexander Milo was correct in his comment to you. You were given a great power, Zane, but you misused it, became lax and weak. With the power of the Cyber Dragons, you should have become a king of dueling, a master of the game. But when these dragons should have helped you move farther, you instead moved back, becoming weaker. The gods that granted you this power have now left you on your own, their graces falling to others that strive to grow better."
Sola nodded. "You are a man without patrons, Zane."
Zane shook his head. "All this time…my losing streak, my failure…is because of some imaginiary gods?"
Anarchy's aura exploded. "Foul little vermin!"
"ANARCHY, DOWN!" Sola commanded, pulling her brother back. She glared at Zane. "Foolish boy…nothing happens without the gods."
Zane crossed his arms over his chest. "The gods are fairytales, told to fools to scare them into being good."
Anarchy chuckled at that, his anger gone. "I like this one…it is so fun to convert atheists."
"Convert?" Zane questioned.
Sola smiled. "We are here to offer you new power…to become your patrons. This duel is far from over, and soon you will not be long for this world. This duel will be your death, Zane…unless you accept our hands."
"And what do you get in return?" The duelist questioned.
Anarhcy shrugged. "A simple pledge of loyalty is all that is required…and…your service, till we release you."
"My service?" Zane asked, but Anarchy and Sola were already fading.
"You will need us soon…call out and we will come. Or die."
"We will be watching, my new horsemen."
&&&
Vanessa Fox shivered in the darkness, her hands clawing away, as if to try and grab ahold of something slippery and elusive.
'Nessa…where is Nessa?' She thought, searching for her dark half. Nessa had thought of herself as two people for the longest time, Nessa the one who was brave and strong and in control, and Vanessa, the weakling that happily lived through her dark half. It never occurred to her that she was both Vanessa and Nessa.
"She is gone…" A voice called out. "Only you remain."
"Wh-who's there?" Vanessa whsiepred.
The shadows receded, and from them stepped the shadow duelist, Titan. Lost to the darkness less then a year ago, he had been chosen by this realm to face the former queen of the Rare Hunters.
"Your opponent." Titan said, flicking his fingers, duel disks appearing on their arms. "You wish to gain back your power? To become what you once was? To do so you must face me…and win." Titan grinned. "A task you will not succeed in."
Vanessa watched as her demon deck appeared, sliding into the duel disk. "We'll see about that." She whispered. 'Its time to get Nessa back." She drew, and looked over her hand, studying each card in hopes she could figure outwhat to do next. 'Its like all my knowledge of my cards is gone…I can't even remember every demon I put in here…' She fingered the Jowls of Dark Demise. 'This card helped mein a few of my duels…maybe it will help now.'
Setting the card, she watched as Titan began his turn, the spirit of the dark duelist chuckling as he looked over his hand. "I will summon my InfernalQueen Archfiend." The purple robed demon appeared on the field, letting out a scream of rage, bony wings stretching out. "Now, I will activate her special effect, which will increase my monster's attack by 1000!" The Queen glowed, doubling in size. Vanessa stared up in terror as the queen reached out her clawed hand, swiping at her Jowl Monster.
"Ha!" She said, more frightful then she wished to sound. "My Jowls will now take over your monster…" She managed a smile as the InfernalQueen moved to her side of the field.
"I end my turn." Titan said, chuckling as his Queen returned to him. At Vanessa's shocked look, he laughed harder. "Did you not read your monster's effect? It can only take control of a monster for the turn the effect was activated. Now that my turn is over, so is its effect!"
Vanessa closed her eyes. "Of course…stupid." She groaned, drawing her next card. "Ok…what about this. First, I will activate Mystic Plasma Zone. Then…" Vanessa's next comment was cut of as the blue lightning struck down between the two duelists, a dark purple vortex appearing above them. She shivered, trying to calm her nerves. "Ok…ok…didn't expect that. Alright, I will now summon Slate Warrior to the field, who will have its attack increased. Now, attack Slate Warrior!" The Slate Warrior rushed the dark queen, the two colliding…and both shattering. "WHAT?!?"
Titan burst into wicked laughter. "Slate Warrior is a wind monster…" Vanessa dropped her head. "And not affected by your field spell." Titan drew his next card. "You truly are pathetic. It is no wonder you were abandoned by your fiancé, if you are this pathetic in a duel, I can only imagine how bad you are in the rest of your life."
Vanessa shook her head. "You don't understand…they did this for my own good…"
"Is that what they told you?" Titan asked. "Interesting."
"What does that…"
"My draw." Titan interrupted, beginning his turn. "First, I will discard this monster, the Archfield General. When the monster leaves my hand, he searches to world for the perfect place for my monsters to do battle…and this is the place he has select: Pandemonium!"
Vanessa screamed in total terror as the Mystic Plasma Zone shattered, revealing the twisted, demented world of the Archfields. Their plain, their personal ring of Hell, revealed to her. She shrank back as Titan seemed to grow stronger, more imposing. The twisted skeletal structures seemed to leer down at her, as if to swallow her whole. No matter where she turned, a new fright was there, waiting.
"I see you do not care for a simple field spell. I wonder if this duel is truly the one the shadow mage wished for me…or if you are merely my warm-up." Titan shook his head. "Pathetic girl, pretending to understand the darkness, pretending to be in touch with it! You are a fake, a fraud! A little girl in mother's clothing. But now, my dear, playtime is over. You've wandered into the woods, and I am the Big Bad Wolf, looking to gobble you up whole!"
Vanessa tried to stand tall, to fight back against his words. But Titan was speaking her own darkest fears. 'How can you be the Queen of Hunters if you can't stand up to this fool? Arliss has carried you this entire time, and now, when he is depending on you, you can't rise! You ARE a failure! A disgrace! You drag down the Rare Hunters…you make them weak by your mere presence.'
"Yes…yes now you understand." Titan goaded. "You see the truth: You are nothing but a child in a world of men!" He summoned a ShadowKnight Archfiend to the field, and Vanessa whimpered like a baby at the sight of it. "Do not cower yet! I still have much more to show. I will now activate The Puppet Magic of the Dark Ruler." Holding out his hand, the ShadowKnight began to fall apart. "I will not remove my Knight, in order to bring forth the General that got me this field: The Archfiend General!"
The dust that had been the ShadowKnight swirled about, reforming into the Archfiend General. The squat little demon wiggled his fingers, talons gleaming in the fires that surrounded the Pandemonium field.
"Dear God…" Vanessa whispered.
"Oh, my dear, God is not here. Any self-respecting shadow mage would know that…but you aren't a mage, are you little girl? Archfiend General, attack!" The demon nodded, rushing forward and slashing Vanessa in the gut. The young woman cried out in agony, sinking to her knees and wrapping her arms around her tight. It hurt so bad…so very bad…(Vanessa-1900)
Titan continued to watch on in amusement as Vanessa murmured in pain, part of her leg fading into nothingness. She couldn't stand, couldn't move, couldn't do anything. She felt so heavy, so tired…her power was gone, her magic was gone…everything was gone.
"And do you realize what the most humorous thing is?" Titan asked.
"What?" Vanessa asked weakly. Her body was fading fast, giving into the darkness around her. Both her legs were gone, and even with 1900 lifepoints, her soul was near destroyed, shattered under the pain of failure.
"That you believed that Arliss Lockehart could ever love you." Vanessa looked up, eyes wide and shimmering with tears. "That you could believe that he would ever care for you…a shadow mage knows no love, no happiness…only darkness."
The young woman shook her head. "I felt it…he loves me…"
"If he does love you, which I doubt, then he is a bigger fool then I realized."
"What?" Vanessa asked, staring up, surprised. "What did you say?"
Titan sighed. "If Arliss Lockehart feels anything close to love, then he is a bigger fool then I first thought." The dark duelist laughed. "I knew he was desperate to save you when he sent you here, but I assumed it merely because he needed you as a pawn. But, if he did it out of love…hehehe…then the boy is not worthy of the respect that has been shown to him."
Vanessa trembled, but not in fear. "Don't talk about him like that."
"I will talk about Arliss Lockehart however I wish, little girl."
"I am getting tired of your mouth." She snapped, the darkness fleeing from her, freeing her from its grip. Vanessa glared at Titan, drawing a card. "Ever sense I began this duel, all you have done is yak. Yak yak yak, like you are so amazing! News flash: You were beaten by Jaden Yuki and Alexis Rhodes. Both of whom could not polish Arliss' boots, let along match him. And you think you can talk bad about my King? My lover? My fiancé?"
Titan merely nodded. "Of course, little Vanessa. I will say whatever I want of that stupid, arrogant, washed-out, pathetic, white trash, over hyped Southern Con artist!"
Vanessa had heard enough.
"Its time I teach you a few things." She hissed, her body rigid, a black crack forming on her brow. "First, that you never talk about my King like that." The black crack began to branch off. "Second, that you show respect to me, a Queen, when you are nothing more then a broken down spirit, trapped in the ether for daring to impersonate a true shadow mage." Vanessa's skin began to crack and peel away, revealing dark energy. "And finally…my name…is NESSA!"
The energy exploded from her, the shell that was Vanessa Fox shattered completely. In the young girls place stood a tall, dark beauty. Her incredibly long black hair billowing behind her, duster fitting snuggly around her expanded bust. Raising a gloved hand, the young women grinned, eyes going black.
Nessa Lockehart had returned.
&&&
He was done…there was nothing he could do. Another attack, and he would fall, fail, die in this hellish place. Everything he had worked for, his education, his trials, his perseverance…for nothing. His was the end of his brilliant career as a duelist, and the end of his life.
For many, the end would come and all they could do was rage against the gods that had set them there. But there were no gods to hear him now…except…
Time froze
"ANARCHY!" Zane bellowed into the sky. "GRANT ME THE POWER TO DESTROY MY ENEMIES…AND MY LIFE…IS YOURS!"
Anarchy and Sola appeared, bearing twin grins.
"I thought you'd never ask…" Their hands began to glow. "Arise Hell Kaiser…Horsemen of War."
&&&
"I think its time I got serious. First, I draw!" She picked up a card and frowned. "I don't like this hand." The cards fizzled, reforming into 5 new cards. "I love the shadow realm and its rules." She said, holding up a card. "But I must say, this Pandemonium card? Not my taste. I prefer this: activate field spell NightmareWorld!"
The hall of the archfiends shattered, in its place a new field, a stranger field. It seemed to be some sort of dark carnival, filled with all sorts of terrifying images. Twisted mirrors that revealed Titan's rotting skeleton, a game booth filled with demonic toys, a jack-in-the-box that would spring open revealing a demented clown wielding a knife, lunging at Titan every few minutes.
"Welcome to NightmareWorld, the happiest place on Earth…" Nessa paused. "For me. For you, not so much. You'll find out itself effects soon enough. However, I would be concerned about your Archfiend General. And by me, I mean you." She pointed to the demon, who was letting out a cry of pain before shatter. "Aw, he didn't like my carnival! No bad, now my ShadowSlayer will have to play by himself." Setting the card on the field, Nessa smirked as the horse-skull-headed demon appeared, cackling and swinging its ax. "Now then, I think its time to play one of my favorite games: Whack the Titan. ShadowSlayer, your up!"
The demon nodded, scurrying towards the shadow duelist and letting the ax fall. Titan screamed in pain as he was hit, the gash on his chest firing out dark energy as he arched back. Nessa merely watched on, amused, as she set a card facedown and ended her turn. (Titan-2600)
The shadow duelist known as Titan gasped, trying to bring himself back to his feet. This wasn't suppose to happen. He was suppose to break her down, make her tremble and fall into the darkness, giving her body to him to use. She wasn't suppose to grow stronger!
Titan knew he had to fight back, and fight back quick. Every minute that went by only strengthened Nessa, taking her beyond the magic she had once held and making her grander, deadlier. If he didn't win soon, it would be his end.
"I…I summon the Archfiend Soldier, in attack mode." Titan gasped out. Nessa raised an eyebrow as the Soldier appeared, as if asking, "Wait, didn't I just defeat that ugly thing's boss?". Titan pointed towards Nessa, other hand still clutching his chest wound. "Destroy the ShadowSlayer." The Soldier nodded, drawing his sword and rushing its fellow demon. The Slayer merely watched on as it was cut in two…then pulled back together.
"My NightmareWorld protects demons from being destroyed in battle. We will take damage still, but no demon leaves as long as the carnival is in town." (Nessa-1400)
Titan frowned. He was in trouble now, and needed to hold off that ShadowSlayer. If Nessa could find a way to power it up, he was in deep shit. Quickly setting a Sakuretsu Armor trap, he hoped it would be enough to help him survive this battle.
Nessa would have none of that, though, as she held up a card. "This is your final turn, Titan. It is time for you to return to the shadows, and for me to return to the world of the living. This is the final curtain…I will now call upon my KA, the ShadowSlayer, and sacrifice its soul unto me, joining with it to summon our combined form, the ShadowQueen!"
Nessa's head snapped back as the Slayer's soul was ripped out of its body, the monster turning to dust, and driven into her. She began to laugh hysterically as she stretched out her arms, dark fire engulfing her form. Titan watched in horror as once more her skin began to crack away, only this time there was no more skin underneath. No, instead there was merely her own skull, exposed to the flicker light of the Shadow Realm. The same was happening to her hands, bony fingers flexing as her clothing morphed. The duster was gone, in its place a long gothic dress. Upon her chest, a horse's skull appeared, nose pointing down and forming a piece of strange armor. Her long black hair seemed to turn into dark flames, flying about her as her jaw bone wiggled and snapped.
"Behold the ShadowQueen!" She cried out, her voice deep and booming. "Terrible and Beautiful, Loving and Treacherous! Fall to your knees and despair!" (Atk: 1400/ Def: 200)
Titan shook off his fear and began to laugh. "Impressive, but hardly fearful. You are not even strong enough to defeat my Archfiend Soldier."
"Is that so?" The Queen asked, holding out her hand. From the darkness, a ghostly Slate Warrior appeared. "Allow me to explain my effect: When I am summoned, I am able to select one monster from my graveyard and add its attack points to my own. I will select the Slate Warrior, increasing my attack points to 3300!" She let out a roar of trimpuh as the energy slammed into her, her body enlarging to three times its normal size. "Next…" She said, her voice even deeper and more distorted. "I will activate my trap, Shadow Switch. It allows me to send one monster from my hand to the graveyard to summon one "Shadow" demon to the field. I will send this, the ShadowCleaner, to the graveyard, to bring back my slayer!" The ShadowCleaner appeared, dressed similar to the Slayer save for its arms being bony wings and its head a bird's skull. "There is more!" She said as the ShadowSlayer's shell of a body appeared. "When Cleaner goes to the graveyard, I can destroy all the cards on your side of the field!"
"NO!" Titan shouted, watching as his Archfiend Soldier and trap card shattered into pieces, the ghostly form of the ShadowCleaner gathering them up.
"Yes." She hissed, holding out her hands, fire crackling around her bones. "Tell Lucifer himself, stay away from the Rare Hunters…because we are coming for him, and his whole damn kingdom! There is a new master of darkness, and his name is Arliss…and me…" The skull grinned. "I'm his queen."
Titan's screams echoed through the shadow realm as Nessa released the fire blast.
"Well done, love."
Nessa looked over her shoulder, surprised by the newcomer. Dressed all in black, gold goggles with red lenses on his face, a long red piece of silk billowing behind him, the figure played with his the giant throwing star on his back.
"Like the new look. Very Ghost Rider."
"Arliss." Nessa whispered, walking towards him, the fires that surrounded her skull fading to a mute blue.
"I see you passed the test." Arliss whispered. "Knew you could do it."
Nessa smiled…
…before punching him in the nose.
"OW!" He exclaimed, the broken nose already healing even as he cupped it. "What the hell…"
"You like playing Spike so much, I figured I'd treat you like that." She grabbed him by the hair. "You ever throw me into another dimension again and I will rip your balls off and bronze them."
Arliss returned her glare. "And if you ever get so mopey that I am FORCED to throw you into another dimension, I will personally skin you and make me another leather jacket!"
Nessa smirked as the flames receded, taking on the form of flesh. The dress remained as she ran a hand down his chest. "Now that we understand each other, and now that Vanessa finally figured out its better just to join with me…lets stop the fighting and show Arnold and Vanessa how we do things."
Arliss grinned as he began to remove dress from her body. "Thought you would never ask."
&&&
Doctor Kevin Allen snarled as he climbed to the large flat rock that stuck out of the volcano, the hot wind striking his skin and trying to boil his blood. He sniffed, sensing the dark magic that called to his demonic side, and grinned.
"Come on out…" He whispered, tossing his coat aside. "I have no need for my guns or anything else."
A deep chuckling sound came from behind him, and he slowly turned to come face to face with Dracula himself. "Is that so?"
"Is that the best you can do, wraith? Show me your true form or return to the abyss and command your master to send a braver spirit!"
The figure of Dracula snarled, before twisting and turning, the wraith taking on its true form: Dressed in black robes as to give it a physical form, it wore a mask of steel, a crown of spikes upon its head. Stepping forward, metal boots and gauntlets clanking, it took in the vampire and let out a deep, breathy chuckle. "Adrian Kratos…childe of Camula, grandchilde of Vlad Tempus Dracula."
Doc K nodded. "The Witch-King of Angmar…if J.R.R. Tolkien only knew." He gave the wraith his own chuckle. "I thought you would be taller."
"Foolish creature…you dare call me forth?" The wraith asked. "I shall carve you to bits…"
"Others have tried." Doc K said, his skin fading from a healthy pink to a cold dead blue. His hair brightened into an icy white, and his fangs extended while his fingernails turned into the deadly talons that had brought the end to many of his kin. "But you will fail just like them if you try."
The wraith circled him. "You speak as if I will not harm you."
"You won't." Doc K, energy crackling on his fingers. "Because you and I can be allies, partners…" Ripping off his shirt, he let out a scream as his body exploded with muscle, his jeans tearing into ribbons as his feet became talons. His skin darkened rapidly as he billowed out, looking like a body builder on hyper steroids. He let out a primal roar as his wings burst out of his back, the controller gem that was suppose to control him firing white hot. But he had long learned how to dance around the priests' weapon, to be able to be in this form without being reduced to a quivering mass. "Brothers-in-arms!" He bellowed, his true form revealed at last: The Master Bat Demon.
The wraith let out a rolling chuckle as he examined the demon. This was a creature that knew no fear…a fellow soldier to the darkness. He had been restrained for the moment…but he was worthy to be heard out.
"Tell me…Adrian Kratos…last male of the Order of the Dragon, the King of Vampires, what could bring the two of us together?"
"Ha ha ha. Not what…WHO. Tell me, Witch-King, royalty to royalty…have you heard of Alexander Milo?"
Next time on GX: Hunters- It is the duel you have been waiting for: Alexander Milo, aka Arlen Lockehart, Guardian of the Rare Hunters, vs. Doctor Kevin Allen, aka Lord Adrian Kratos, The King of the Vampires. Two dark forces will collide, and the Duelist Academy will be their stage. As Arlen opens fire with the never-failing D.D. Assault Tank, Doc K will activate a new type of spell card, a Time Spell card. And with it, he will summon a creature that, combined with the vampire's strength, could be the ticket to defeating Arlen.
Meanwhile, the White Society along with the assassins plot and watch, planning their next convert.
And on the lighter side, when Anarchy reclaims his general Puck from the fairy king Oberon, he learns of what happened to the other generals, and discovers the world of DVDs.
Blood and Mayhem are not far behind.
Episode 61: Hour of the Witch-King Part 1