"I thought you said you knew how to make a fire!" Erick glowered at Michael.
"You try it when the twigs are completely soaked!" Michael stormed over and snatched the flint and tinder from Erick's hands.
"I am not going to freeze my ass off just because you can't do a simple task!"
"Michael, will you relax? You're acting like a child!"
"Just do not say anything." Erick gave up and wandered to the opposite side of the small cave the pair were in. The rain from earlier had increased in intensity, forcing the two to find some form of shelter. Once inside they had started arguing and seemed unable to stop, though Erick noticed that the arguments were getting more intense.
"What the hell are you doing over there?" Michael snapped.
"I'm thinking." Erick replied. "Why?"
"Fire's ready." Erick sat down next to Michael in silence as they looked on at the rain outside.
"Who was the man from before?" Erick looked over at Michael.
"Man?"
"You know damn well who I mean. The guy with the green eyes, who was he?"
"I have no idea."
"I don't think that's true." Erick looked incredulous.
"You think I'm lying?"
"I think you're hiding something, probably another darker part of Begia that you were involved in."
"You don't trust me."
"Of course not! You're working with the enemy!"
"USED TO!" Erick snapped. "I USED TO WORK WITH THEM!" There was an uncomfortable pause.
"Well wasn't that a lovely conversation." Erick and Michael jumped to their feet and looked outside where the voice had come from. "Now now, you'll have to come out of your cave if you want to say hello." Michael started walking to the cave entrance without hesitation.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Erick warned.
"Why? Because it's the guy from before?" Erick said nothing. "I knew you were lying." Michael walked calmly out of the cave.
"Michael!" Erick called after him. When there was no response Erick growled and ran after him.
"Alright then, it's my move!" Bryon drew his card and surveyed the field. On his side he had nothing on the field, and five cards in his hand. Hayden's side meanwhile had Warrior of the Dark Aura - Hyan with one dark aura on it (2800/1200 - 3300/1200), the magic card Darkness Rising and two set cards as well as two cards in his hand.
Hayden: 4000
Bryon: 1900
"I'll play the magic card Smashing Ground! This card allows me to destroy the monster on your side of the field with the highest defense points, and seeing as you only have one..." Bryon gave a big grin as a giant fist raced towards Hayden's monster. Without blinking Hayden activated one of his face down cards.
"I reveal my face down card, Defend the Darkness. Now by discarding a card from my hand I can stop Smashing Ground's from destroying Hyan." A giant wall of darkness appeared in front of Hyan, blocking the fist and causing it to disintegrate. "Just so you don't waste your cards like you did with your Raging Flame Sprite I can keep using this effect until the end of this turn as long as I'm willing to discard more cards from my hand. Care to try again?" Bryon growled and looked through his hand.
No point using it this turn...
"I'll set a monster face down and end my turn." Hayden picked up his card.
"Hyan, destroy his face down monster." Hyan sliced at Bryon's monster, revealing it to be Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000) which was promptly destroyed. "I end my turn."
"I'll activate Soul Taker!" Bryon declared. "This lets me destroy one of your face up monsters in exchange for you gaining 1000 life points! Say bye bye to Hyan!"
"Sorry, Bryon. I reveal my other set card which happens to be another Defend the Darkness." Hayden discarded another card from his hand which caused the wall of darkness to once again protect Hyan. "Do you have another card you'd like to use?" Bryon set a monster as well as a face down card and ended his turn, looking worried as he tried to think of another way to get rid of Hyan.
"What the hell do you want?" The rain was coming ferociously but Erick wasn't even aware of it as he stared at the face that he knew all too well.
"I see you ignored my last warning," Ethan responded to Erick's glare. "I'm just trying to look out for your interests. Mind telling me why you two are so eager to die?" Michael stepped forward at this point.
"Alright, just who the hell are you?" Ethan gave a malevolent grin.
"Oh my, did Erick not tell you about me? My name's Ethan, but today you can just call me your guardian angel. Now, about my former warning?" Erick gave a smirk.
"You don't seem to be much of a guardian angel, making threats like that." Ethan glowered and his eyes flashed green.
"You have no idea what you're doing," Ethan's voice sounded much darker. "I am unfortunate enough to be able to see flashes of the future, and if you do not heed my earlier warnings then I am going to have to take matters into my own hands! Now are you or are you not going to turn back?" Erick was about to say something when Michael stepped in.
"They have my sister. There is absolutely no way that I'm turning back." Ethan gave a sigh.
"You see, I knew that you'd say that, but I thought I'd ask anyway." There was a burst of green light that temporarily blinded Erick and Michael. When their eyes refocused Ethan was wearing a duel disk. "Two versus one, but I know who wins, so I'd say that makes us about even." Michael smirked.
"I don't have to duel you." Michael attempted to walk past Ethan but found himself stopped by an invisible barrier.
"Sorry Michael, but this is a duel that Fate wants you to play." Michael looked at Erick, who simply shrugged.
"There's not much we can do about this, Michael." He scowled, but reluctantly prepared his duel disk.
"Are you even trying?" Hayden asked calmly as he drew his card. I'll summon Balance Warrior - Emri (1400/1600) and attack your face down monster." Emri slashed at Bryon's monster which revealed itself to be another UFO Turtle (1400/1200).
"I'll summon my final UFO Turtle from my deck with its effect!" Bryon looked through his deck before summoning the monster. Hayden shook his head.
"I'm afraid that this is over, Bryon. The effect of UFO Turtle means that any monster summoned with its effect MUST be in attack mode. And Hyan has more than enough attack points to end this. Destroy his UFO Turtle!" Hyan raised his blood stained sword and charged towards Bryon's field. Bryon gave a big grin as Hyan came closer.
"I activate my trap card Magic Cylinder! This card negates your attack, and then inflicts damage to your life points equal to the attack of your monster!" Hayden winced as his life points were drastically reduced.
Hayden: 0700
Bryon: 1900
"In that case, I'll set one card face down and end my turn." Bryon picked up his card, looking very excited as he did so.
"You thought it was over last turn, but it is now! I use the magic card Misfortune! This allows me to choose one monster on your side of the field, and inflicts damage to your life points equal to half of that monster's original attack, so I choose Hyan! It's over!"
"I'm afraid not, Byron, I have a card of my own to activate, and it's called Blood Training! In order to activate this card I must have a Warrior of the Dark Aura monster as well as a Balance Warrior. First I sacrifice my Warrior of the Dark Aura - Hyan." Hyan vanished from the field, causing Emri to become enveloped in a cloud of darkness. "This allows me to sacrifice my Balance Warrior - Emri, and transform it into Warrior of the Dark Aura - Emri (2400/1600)!" Emri's body became encased in dark armour. Bryon cursed under his breath.
Dammit! Everytime I think I might be winning he just throws it back in my face!
"I'll set a monster face down and end my turn."
"Alright then, I activate Shield Crush, which lets me destroy your face down defense position monster." Bryon shielded his eyes as his monster was disintegrated. "And now thanks to Darkness Rising, Shield Crush releases a Dark Aura. Better still, Emri gains two auras instead of one, which increases his attack by 1000 (2400/1600 - 3400/1600). Now by removing both dark auras I can remove from play all face up monsters on your field, although Emri cannot attack if he does so." A dark portal appeared under UFO Turtle, causing it to vanish. "My turn's over." Bryon picked up his card slowly, before hanging his head.
"I end my turn." Hayden nodded and gestured for Emri to attack Bryon directly. Emri nodded and slashed at Bryon, knocking him backwards.
Hayden: 0700
Bryon: 0000
There was a long silence after the duel, eventually broken by Hamon.
"What...was THAT supposed to be, Bryon?" Bryon got to his feet and looked at Hamon, who was glaring at him with the utmost contempt. "You were supposed to activate your Fate Soul! You were supposed to show us a REAL duel! Not that FARCE!" Hamon took a deep breath, then gave a malicious smile. "I suppose it was my fault for expecting too much from you. After all, you haven't done a very good job of trying to stop Begia so far, have you? So! Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to show you the true power of Fate!" Hamon walked quickly to Bryon and jabbed him with the same stunner that he had used on Bryon and Adela before. Bryon yelled in pain, but this clearly wasn't the reaction Hamon was hoping for, and he tried again. "Come on, Bryon!" Hamon yelled. "Show us! Show us the Fate Soul!"
"STOP IT YOU MONSTER!" Arlene screamed, attempting to pull Hamon away. Hamon struggled while attacking Bryon with the stunner. The struggle continued for several seconds before Hamon and Arlene were pushed back by an invisible force out of the tent. Bryon remained motionless for a few moments, before showering the tent with intense green light.
"HAMON AYVER!" A voice rang out. "HOW DARE YOU ATTEMPT TO MANIPULATE FATE! FOR THIS CRIME, YOUR PRECIOUS ISLAND WILL BE DESTROYED!" The ground started to tear, and those still inside the tent, including Fay, attempted to run, only to find that they were unable to leave. "ALL OF THOSE WHO HAVE FOLLOWED YOUR MISGUIDED DREAM SHALL BE KILLED TO FUEL THE TRUE POWER OF FATE!" Arlene could only look on in horror outside of the tent as the people inside started to disintegrate, screaming while they did so. She tried running back to the tent, only to be flung back by the barrier.
"FAY! BRYON!" Arlene screamed but there was no response. She tried entering the tent again but was thrown back again. A dark green substance emerged from the ground and coated itself over the tent, silencing the screams. Arlene stared at the tent, completely lost in sadness, before she was brought back to reality by the sound of running footsteps. Turning round, she saw Hamon racing in the opposite direction.
"Hamon...you're not getting away with this..." Arlene sprinted after Hamon, determined to get revenge.
Inside the tent, Fay had been desperately struggling to escape with everyone else, trying desperately to break whatever it was that was keeping them from escaping. She looked around at people becoming particles in horror and looked at herself only to find that she was not.
"Fay Britt." Fay turned round to see Bryon facing her. "You are responsible for the pale imitations of fate. As a result, you shall submit to a Fate Duel to atone for your crimes."
"Bryon! What are you talking about?" Bryon's face darkened.
"The one you call Bryon is no more than a vessel for this Fate Soul. Now activate your duel disk or your life shall be forfeit." Fay nervously activated her duel disk and looked on at the souless body that had once belonged to her friend.
New cards...
Defend the Darkness
Normal Trap
Image: Warrior of the Dark Aura - Hyan standing in front of an orb of darkness.
Effect: Until the end phase of this turn, whenever a "Warrior of the Dark Aura" monster on your side of the field would be destroyed by a card effect, by discarding one card from your hand it is not destroyed.
Blood Training
Normal Trap
Image: Warrior of the Dark Aura - Kirud being stabbed in the back by Balance Warrior - Gyunn while blood swirls around them.
Effect: You can only activate this card by selecting one "Warrior of the Dark Aura" monster and one "Balance Warrior" monster on your side of the field. Send both cards to the graveyard, and then special summon from your extra deck a monster with the destroyed "Balance Warrior" monster's name in the card text, ignoring the summoning conditions of the monster.
Warrior of the Dark Aura - Emri
ATK: 2400 DEF: 1600
Attribute: Dark
Level: 6
Type: Warrior
Image: A twisted version of Balance Warrior Emri. His body is encased in black armour.
Effect: This card cannot be summoned from the fusion deck except by sending one face up "Balance Warrior Emri" with 3 dark auras to the graveyard with "Disrupting the Balance". This card cannot accumulate Light Auras. Whenever this card would gain a Dark Aura, it gains double the amount of Dark Auras. You may remove 2 Dark Auras from this card to remove from play all face up monsters on your opponent's side of the field. This card cannot attack the turn you use this effect. This card gains 500 attack for each Dark Aura it has.