Hello everybody! Well, I'm posting this chapter from the road this time around. I'm at the motel waiting to go to work this morning, so I figured since I had time I'd post my chapter. Hmm, Wednesday night was fun. We had our Christmas part at work, with the two owners, their wives, the vice president of the east coast division, and the secretary from the home office all coming down. We had a dinner, at which me and my mate sat with one of the owners and his wife. It was a good time really, and I learned that me and him had similar things in common. In the end, we got our Christmas bonuses, which were sweet, plus a gift. I got an iPod Nano, which I didn't get much time to play with unfortunately before I went to bed Wednesday. Oh well, I got time this weekend, perhaps. Thursday, me and a coworker traveled up to the home office, Dayton, OH, where we arrived at like noon. It's 4 hours from home, but not bad I suppose. We had a good time yesterday, and got some serious work and meetings done. Last night, two of the programmers invited us out to play Call of Duty 4 at work. My coworker never returned my call when it was time to go, so I went alone. This was at like 10 when they called, and then 11 time I got the message due to me being sleepy, lol. Anyways, I went over (work is across the street here, ironically, lol) and we all three played from like 11:30 to 2 in the morning. Good grief, I'm tired, and realized it about 2 I was going to be dead tired today. Not to mention, I have to drive us home since my coworker can't drive stick shift, lol, but that's cool. Nothing an Amp energy drink, coupled with a Vault can't fix, hehe. I just need an IV running into me full of the stuff, lol.
Story wise, not much to report. I got a good bit done Wednesday afternoon on MtM, and some done on Another, but didn't touch either the last day or so.
Last time, Zane made an appearance finally, apparently under the control or brainwashed by Legato. He has challenged Illidan for his soul and Egyptian God Card, blaming him for the loss of Syrus. Can Illidan beat his friend and help him come to his senses, or will Illidan lose to his friend and lose his best chance at saving Marie?
Ok, time for reviews!
x-knight20: Thanks. Yep, Zane's Dark Cyber deck is out and about now. Heh, I wish I had some of the Cyberdark cards, lol. But yes, Zane's gone bad now.
Knives91: LOL! Run Zane, run! Thanks for the review.
Metal Overlord 2.0: Figures that Marik would take a liking to evil Zane, lol. Very nice piece to your duel, and Mutant Kozaky is very interesting. Yeah, I kind of liked Zane as Hell Kaiser than his usual unentertaining self. Thanks for the review.
Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks, and yeah, we gotta have Illidan duel someone that is deranged like the other three did, lol. Heh, I figured having Zane would surprise some people. You're correct about the Cyberdark's effect, it is level 3 or lower, but like the anime, I kept it at level 4 or lower. It's hard to find decent level 3 or lower dragons that I could use. Thanks for the review.
Isis the Sphinx: Yes, Chazz seems to have Kaiba's attitude, but Zane got the dueling skills and the little brother, lol. Thanks for the review.
Nathan: Thank you about Chaos Control. True, it don't seem like Illidan to limit himself to his Chaos monsters, but in a pinch, I'm sure they would be a welcomed group. Yep, DMoC is back under Illidan's team, meaning bad guys should beware, lol. Heh, yes, Metal Overlord's duel continues to be interesting.
Alright guys, I gotta run. Time for work and all. Enjoy the chapter and your weekend! Later!
Chapter 66
Standing up slowly, Illidan glared at Zane and with all seriousness said "I will protect them with my life, no matter what, I won't let you harm them!"
"Then show me what you will do to stop me." Zane mockingly replied.
Drawing a card, Illidan glanced at it and slapped it to his Duel Disk vertically, saying "I'll do that and then some! I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)!"
A maroon robed mage with a sword, shield, a strange mage's hat, a maroon cape, and maroon armor appeared onto the field. His body was completely covered, except for from his nose down to his chin, which showed blue skin.
"First of all, Breaker's effect kicks in, granting him a spell counter. For each Spell Counter he has, he gains 300 attack points (1600 + 300 1900/1000)."
The sword of the maroon robed mage began to lightly glow with golden energy, showing the strength of it had been boosted.
"Next, my field spell increases his strength even more (1900 + 500 2400/1000)! Time to activate Breaker's effect, so by removing his Spell Counter, I can destroy a spell or trap on the field. Breaker's target is none other than your Call of the Haunted!"
Raising his sword, the mage made a sweeping slash at the trap card. A golden energy wave fired from the sword and slashed through the trap card image, shattering it, causing the metallic bug like creature to roar loudly and shatter, along with the metal dragon attached to it.
"Even though Breaker lost a bit of his strength (2400 – 300 2100/1000), it was well worth it to get that tin can off the field. Breaker, direct attack Zane with Magical Sword Slash!"
Rushing forward with his cape flowing behind him, the mage pulled his sword up, preparing to strike. In an instant, he vanished, only to reappear behind Zane a moment later with his sword held out to his right. After a moment, three red slash marks appeared on Zane's body, making him slump forward a bit. The slash marks soon dissipated, revealing that Zane now had three slashes in his clothes, with a small bit of blood coming from the cuts.
"Don't forget the pain from your twisted game comes next." Illidan admonished.
Bolts of electricity immediately began sparking around Zane, making him cry out in pain. Once the bolts stopped, smoke began pouring off of Zane's body, with him staring at the ground. After a moment, he finally looked up with coldness in his eyes.
"That's all I have for you for now Zane. Let's see what you can do." (Illidan 2400, Zane 2100)
"Man, this duel is so close." Chazz calmly said.
"I know, it's such an excellent duel!" Jaden added with a smile.
Alexis remained silent, her face downcast. Seeing this, Jaden patted her back, soothingly saying "I wish there was another way also."
She sadly smiled at him, saying "I know. I just don't understand Zane."
"Sadness changes people." Jaden said with a tint of sadness within his voice.
Laughter immediately began filling the field, making all eyes turn to Zane. Staring at him with curious expressions, Chazz muttered "What is his problem?"
"Fool, do you think you can stop me with a single monster!?" Zane asked with an accusing finger pointed at Illidan. "You're wrong, because I've yet to serve you a fine defeat!"
Drawing a new card, he smirked evilly and said "I summon Cyberdark Horn (800/800)!"
Another metallic bug like creature with many sharp spiky wings, a series of spikes, four pronged spiked arms, a sharp tail, and a strange set of jaws with a three purple spots on it's head appeared with a primitive roar.
"Like Cyberdark Edge, my new creature is allowed to equip a Dragon Type monster to itself from either of our Graveyards, so long as it's level four or lower. I pick my Rare Metal Dragon (2400/1200)."
Like many times before, the metallic dragon with many metal spikes covering it's body appeared onto the field with a mighty roar. Reaching out with wires, the strange bug like creature grabbed hold of the dragon, making it roar in pain. The wires soon pulled the dragon into the creature's clutches, where it placed it's four pronged spiked arms around the dragon.
"Thanks to equipping my dragon, my creature is far stronger (800 + 2400 3200/800). Next, I play Quick Summon, so I can summon this, my Cyberdark Keel (800/800)."
Materializing onto the field was a black metallic snake like dragon with wires hanging off of it's body. It let out a small screech, showing it's readiness for battle.
"With my Cyberdark Keel's effect, I equip my Infernal Dragon (2000/0) to it, raising it's points (800 + 2000 2800/800)."
A tower of flames shot up from the ground without warning, and slowly from it, a dragon with black skin and a white under belly materialized onto the field. It had sharp clawed feet and hands, with a strong tail that had a sharp pitchfork like end, large blade like spikes sticking out from it's knees and backside, mighty wings with black on the outside and red on the inside, and an iguana like hood on it's face. Once letting out a roar, the dragon was suddenly struck by wires from the mechanical dragon behind it. The wires tightly wrapped around the black dragon, dragging it screeching to the mechanical dragon's body. Finally secured, the wires lit up around the dragon, making it roar out in pain and begin glowing black. The black aura soon traveled up to the mechanical dragon, which seemed to growl with appreciation.
"It's time I end this duel, once and for all. Cyberdark Keel, finish that mage off with Crushing Darkness!"
Roaring in response to it's master, the machine dragon opened it's jaws, releasing a beam of black energy straight at the maroon robed mage.
Seeing the oncoming blast, Illidan called out "Not this time Zane! I reveal my spell card, Magical Hats! With this, I can hide my mage under one of four Hat Tokens (0/0), so good luck trying to find him."
Four black top hats with a yellow question mark down the center of it and a small checkerboard pattern of white and red above the brim materialized onto the field, hiding the maroon mage. The four hats merged into one hat before spreading out once more into four.
Sneering at this, Zane remarked "That won't stop me for long Illidan. Cyberdark Keel, take out the hat on the far left!"
The beam that had been traveling across the field immediately hooked a hard left and straight into the far left hat, blowing it up into millions of pieces.
"Nothing there, eh? Well, too bad for you Illidan, because when Cyberdark Keel attacks a monster, or in this case, a token, you take 300 points of damage automatically to your life points."
Bolts of electricity instantly flared up around Illidan, striking his body, making him wince in pain.
"So, a choice of three hats now. It's a shame Illidan that you done this, due to my Cyberdark Horn's effect consists of Trample. If I guess the wrong hat, you lose, but if I guess the right, you survive a little longer."
Illidan lightly gasped, saying "No way, you can't be for real!?"
"I am, so let's see what happens." Zane said with a sneer. "Cyberdark Horn, pierce his pathetic far right hat with Horn Needle!"
The four pronged arms on the metallic bug like creature began to glow brightly as it pointed the four at the hat on the far right. In a flash, four needle like bolts of energy went sailing straight for the hat, piercing it easily. With the hat torn open, the maroon robed mage erupted from it, screaming in agony before exploding into millions of pieces along with the two remaining hats.
"And now, for your arrogance Illidan, you shall be punished."
Without warning, bolts of electricity immediately began striking Illidan, making him fall to one knee and begin panting heavily. Weakly, he stood back up, but was noticeably out of breath and becoming more and more exhausted.
"Pathetic Illidan." Zane coldly remarked. "You won't last much longer, much like your wife."
Instantly, Illidan perked up, demanding "What do you mean!? What has Zell done with Marie!?"
Sneering, Zane coldly said "You know she's far too weak to survive very much longer. Besides, Legato will make her his own when he finishes you off."
Growling loudly, Illidan angrily yelled "He won't do any such thing to her so long as I live! Tell me, what he has done to her!"
"Heh, it doesn't matter what he does with her to me." Zane nonchalantly said.
"She was your friend! You care, so quit lying!" Illidan growled out.
Closing his eyes, Zane lightly smirked, asking "If she cared so much, why didn't she help protect Syrus?"
Calming himself, Illidan sighed and replied quietly "Zane, we tried as hard as we could to protect him. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough."
Opening his eyes immediately, Zane turned a deadly glare upon Illidan, yelling "You should have stopped Legato!"
"We couldn't. You saw what happened to me alone fighting him. If I could have stopped him, I would have." Illidan said with a twinge of sadness in his voice.
"You will never stop him Illidan." Zane bitterly said. "Even I couldn't stop him."
Seeing the darkness swirling in his eyes, Illidan asked "When did you try?"
"Last night, I tried to stop him." Zane bit out.
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Slowly trekking through the woods, Zane glanced around, looking for the person whom he was after. The past night or two, he had been out searching, hoping to find the person and bring them down.
"If I take him down, Syrus and the others will return. I just know it." Zane mumbled to himself.
A figure in the dark smirked at this and stepped out into the open, asking "Looking for me?"
Seeing the figure had blonde and blue streaked hair, golden eyes, and an evil smirk, Zane bristled up and hotly replied "Yes, I've been looking for you Zell!"
"The name is Legato. Zell holds my spirit within his body, but for now, I have decided to take matters into my own hand."
"Don't matter to me. Release my brother's soul, along with all the others, and Professor Marie!" Zane quickly demanded.
Sneering, Legato coyly asked "If I don't?"
"You'll regret it." Zane coldly growled out.
Smirking at this, Legato replied "Why don't we settle this in a duel? If you win, I shall set free your brother's soul, along with everyone else's, and free Mrs. Stormrage. But when I win, you shall listen to what I have to say. Sound fair?"
"Very." Zane said while preparing his Duel Disk.
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On the field, the three ancient creatures under Legato's control stared down an empty field and Zane. Drawing his card, Zane smirked at it. "Time I wrap this up and save my brother! I play the spell Power Bond. Thanks to this, I can create a Machine Type Fusion monster."
"Interesting Mr. Truesdale, but you require monsters for that." Legato calmly stated.
Smirking, Zane calmly replied "True, but I have another card. I play the spell Cybernetic Fusion Support, which allows me to pay half my life points in order to remove from play the monsters that create a Fusion monster instead. So, I remove all three of my Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) from my Graveyard in order to summon my Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"
Three mechanical silver snake like dragon appeared onto the field, each letting out a small mechanical roar. The three soon began to glow with a blinding blue light, making it impossible to see the field. Once the light died down, a large three headed machine snake like dragon with massive wings on it's back let out a mighty roar.
"Thanks to Power Bond, my dragon gets twice as strong (4000 2 8000/2800), making it doubly hard for you to handle. But I'm not finished, for I activate my face down spell card too, my Limiter Removal! This card doubles my dragon's attack points yet again (8000 2 16000/2800)."
The mechanical dragon let out a massive roar while it's body began to glow with a white aura. With a mighty roar, the dragon stopped glowing and began to glare at the three creatures across the field.
"Cyber End Dragon, take his Raviel down with Super Strident Blaze!" Zane called out and pointed at the powerful blue creature.
Roaring in response, the three headed dragon opened each of it's jaws. Taking aim, each of the three heads released a burst of white energy, which twisted into one large white stream of energy.
Smirking at this, Legato coolly said "Very nice attack Zane, but you forgot one thing. I have a face down card. I activate the trap Karma Cut! By discarding this single card in my hand, I can remove from play one monster on the field, so I choose your dragon."
Zane's eyes widen in shock as his mechanical dragon suddenly vanished from the field, leaving him by himself. "No…" he mumbled as he hit his knees.
"Game over boy. You lose the last of your life points thanks to Power Bond's final effect, which deals you damage equal to your dragon's original attack points." Legato calmly said.
The last of Zane's life points drained away, causing a massive electrical shock to hit him. The two had been playing a Shadow Game with electrical shock as the punishment. Zane had taken a great deal of damage throughout the duel, but had managed to hang on. The last jolt sent him crashing to his knees and onto his hands, panting heavily.
"Now you shall listen to what I have to say." Legato smugly said.
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"What did he tell you?" Illidan asked curiously.
Smirking, Zane smugly replied "The truth about everything with you. I saw for the first time with clear eyes that the world is not as it seems, like you are not what you seem."
"Zane, Legato has tricked you into seeing his view on life. He wants to destroy the world!" Illidan argued.
"You're wrong." Zane calmly stated. "Legato wants to bring the world back under control, and the best way to do that is to use the Sacred Beasts to start over. Under Legato's watchful eye, the world could start anew."
"At a cost of everyone's lives!" Illidan angrily yelled.
Coolly smiling, Zane said "There will need to be some sacrifices along the way."
"He's talking about mass murder to those who don't find his way best! Zane, think about it! What if someone, say like Syrus, didn't follow his beliefs!?" Illidan questioned.
"Then they would be dealt with." Zane calmly stated.
Shaking his head, Illidan growled out "See, you'd destroy a person rather than let them be themselves! That's not saving the world or starting anew. That's called oppression!"
"Call it what you will, but it will happen. And as I said, Marie will be along side of Legato, helping return balance."
Growling loudly, Illidan snarled "Marie would rather die than force that upon people!"
"True, but this makes her weak, just like you. She was so pitiful looking last night as it was." Zane coldly said.
Shocked, Illidan said in a mere whisper "You saw Marie?"
"I saw that pathetic weakling last night, indeed."
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"Is that so?" Zane calmly remarked.
Legato had been talking to the cat that Zane had come to know as Pharaoh, but had found out during the past year or so that the cat could talk. He learned that apparently, the person talking within the cat was none other than the good Professor Banner.
Turning to face Zane, Pharaoh gasped at the sight of Zane in a black trench coat, which he had picked up from Legato once their talk had ended. Gasping, Banner muttered "It can't be…"
"But it is flea-bag." Zane gruffly said while grabbing the cat by the neck and picking it up.
"What are you doing!? Get out of here before Legato hurts you!"
"Legato would never harm me fur ball. I'm loyal to him." Zane coolly remarked.
"Fool, he'll lead you to an early grave! Escape while it's still possible!" Banner argued.
"I have no intentions on running."
Lightly chuckling, Legato interrupted and said "As you can see my former friend, Zane has pledged his undying allegiance to me."
"What did you do to him!?" Banner demanded.
"Nothing at all. We just had a little chat." Legato passively replied. "Well, that and I gave him something. A small portion of Zell's spirit, just enough to help in convincing him that I am right in my views on the world."
Letting out a small roar, Pharaoh tried swiping at Zane's hand that held his neck, but missed.
"Behave kitty, or I'll have to put you down, permanently." Zane coldly said.
Sighing in defeat, Pharaoh stopped struggling. Smirking triumphantly, Zane asked "What shall we do with him?"
"Bring him in the cave. He can stay with our other friend for now. Besides, I have something for you." Legato calmly explained.
Walking into the cave, the pair made their way to the back of the cave where Zane saw Marie bound to the wall. In a sarcastic tone, he said "Look what the cat dragged in."
Seeing Zane, Marie gasped and weakly asked "Zane, what are you doing here!?"
Lightly chuckling, Legato responded to her with "Zane has no reason to run my dearest Marie. Unlike you, he has seen that I am correct in my thinking. He has pledged to help me bring about a new peace."
"Zane, what he plans is genocide, not peace! Get away while you can still!" Marie yelled, hoping to get him to change his mind.
"Foolish Marie, you do no understand. Legato speaks the truth about the world, and what he has planned for it is the best. Once the world is healed, Syrus shall return, and peace shall come about." Zane evenly said.
Looking at him wide-eyed, Marie disbelievingly said "You can't mean that. Syrus wouldn't want to be saved like that!"
"It doesn't matter how he wants to be saved. I shall save him my own way since you and Illidan are failures at preventing this catastrophe."
Throwing Pharaoh to the floor, Zane glared at the cat, coldly said saying "Speaking of cats, stay here."
Pharaoh returned the cold glare, hissing a bit. Legato only smirked at this and walked to the frame of the cave opening. Waving his hand, a barrier formed. "That should keep you here for now." he coolly said before walking out.
Returning to the main part of the cave, Legato picked up a small box, saying "Zane, for your loyalty to me, I gift you with this. This deck was destined to be yours, but that foolish Chancellor of this school never gave it to you. Take this, the yin to the yang of your current deck."
Taking the deck, Zane glanced through it and smirked darkly. "This is the perfect deck to crush Illidan." Legato calmly said.
"I see. When shall I do it?" Zane calmly asked.
Slightly smirking once more, Legato replied "Tomorrow night. I want to see if that fool can do the impossible. If he does, take his Egyptian God Card and soul. Take the others Egyptian God Cards also. I don't care about their souls. Do what you will with them."
"Very well, I shall take back what Illidan stole from me." Zane coolly said before leaving the cave with an evil grin on his face.
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"How could you just leave her there Zane!?" Illidan demanded.
Sneering, Zane calmly replied "It was simple. I just left. She is nothing to me, just like you are nothing to me either."
"Zane, you can't mean that! Think about what you're saying!" Alexis pleaded.
Turning a cold glare to Alexis, Zane coldly said "I don't care about that wench. She, like you, mean nothing to me. None of you mean a thing to me anymore."
"Man, that's cold, even for Zane to say." Chazz calmly stated.
Smirking at Chazz's comment, Zane turned back to Illidan, saying "I shall end my turn now, so give me what you have left Illidan. Prove me wrong about you." (Illidan 1000, Zane 2100)
Confidently looking into Zane's eyes, Illidan drew his card, saying "I will fight with all I have to save my friends, my family, and all others that Zell has harmed! I swear to you now, I will pay any price to save them, even if I must lay down my own life!"
Glancing at his card, he lightly smirked, saying "It's time for a little game, although you may not find it amusing. I activate the spell Reversal Quiz. Here is how this works. I discard all cards in my hand, as well, send all cards on my field to my Graveyard."
The large library suddenly began to vanish, taking along the large stacks of books.
Looking around in slight confusion, Zane asked "Why do that? You just took any kind of advantage you had away."
"True, but I have a good reason." Illidan remarked. "You see, this card is an all or nothing card. The second effect of this card is I draw one card, but I have to guess the type of card it is. This is the kicker. If I guess wrong, nothing happens, but if I guess right, our life points switch."
"Big deal if they're life points switch. Zane still has more monsters than Illidan." Chazz gruffly stated.
Nodding, Jaden added "True, but I don't think that's what matters. If Illidan can draw the right card here, he'll make up for the loss of monsters."
Wryly calling out to Zane, Illidan smirked and asked "Worried Zane?"
"Not really. You'll never pull this off, and will lose." Zane calmly remarked.
"That so, eh?" Illidan cockily replied. Moving his hand to cover his next card, Illidan smirked once more, saying "Well, let's find out. I call this next card to be a monster!"
Drawing the card, Illidan examined it and smirked once more. Showing the card to Zane, Illidan triumphantly said "Looks like I was right, and what a monster it is. I drew my old friend, Chaos Emperor Dragon. That means your life points become my own, and my life points become yours."
"Sweet, now Professor Illidan has more life points!" Jaden exclaimed.
Shrugging, Chazz darkly muttered "Big deal. He's still outgunned."
"I don't know Chazz. Don't forget, he just drew one of his favorite monsters." Alexis chimed in.
"Wait, you're right!" Chazz replied with shock in his voice. "It's over for Zane now!"
"It's time I end this Zane!" Illidan calmly said. "I first remove from play my Breaker the Magical Warrior and Magician's Valkyrie in order to special summon this, my old friend, Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"
Slapping the card to his Duel Disk, Illidan watched proudly as a large black dragon with an orange mane, massive wings, and powerful clawed hands and feet roared onto the field. Glaring at Zane, the dragon let out another roar, trying hard to instill some fear into him, but seemingly failing at it.
"Chaos Emperor Dragon, why don't you show Zane what you've got! Attack his Cyberdark Keel with Chaos Blaster!"
Roaring loudly, the black dragon opened it's jaws and spat a black fire ball at the machine dragon. The blast scored a direct hit, making the machine dragon howl in pain, but instead of exploding, the dragon attached to it's body exploded, leaving the machine dragon weaker than before (2800 – 2000 800/800).
"And thanks to your insidious game, you take a jolt!" Illidan added.
Electricity began to flare up around Zane before finally zapping him hard, making him wince in pain before the burst of energy stopped.
Glaring at Illidan, Zane calmly asked "Is that all you got?"
"Not at all." Illidan smugly replied. "I activate Chaos Emperor Dragon's special effect, which forces me to pay 1000 life points."
Upon giving up his life points, Illidan grimaced in pain as electricity began striking his body. With it dying down, he summoned up more of his strength, standing up tall.
"Now my dragon can send all cards on our fields and in our hands to the Graveyard. Once this is done, the cards sent are counted up, with the total being multiplied by 300. That is the total number of life points you'll lose! The game is over Zane, so farewell. Chaos Emperor Dragon, finish it with Infinite Blaster!"
Roaring loudly, the orange mane dragon flew to the center of the field and began building up energy. Bit by bit, the dragon began to glow a light white glow.
Sneering at this, Zane held his hand out towards his face down card, saying "The only thing finished right now is you Illidan. I reveal my trap, Fusion Guard. By randomly discarding a Fusion Type monster, I can negate any damage I'd receive from a card's effect."
Several card images appeared in front of Zane, who touched one of them. The card was immediately revealed to be Cyber End Dragon.
"Oh well, that card was useless. Now I'll take no damage, meaning you just wasted your dragon for nothing!" Zane smugly stated.
"No!" Illidan growled out.
Without warning, the black dragon exploded at long last after gathering enough energy, clearing the field of the metallic bug like creature and machine dragon.
Sighing, Illidan simply said "I end my turn." (Illidan 1100, Zane 800)