Hyper Runners: Duel Legacy
All Characters © Respective creators
Elemental Knights & White Dragons © TheBlackCrow2
Chapter Twenty-One: The Six Elements, Part 2
Marcus Kiva grinned excitedly at his current opponent, Trace Rodik. This was the first duel in a long time where the redheaded troublemaker could relax and enjoy himself, which is what Trace had hoped for. The two Elementals were battling in the courtyard of New Domino Hospital, unaware of the two members of the Eternals watching from above. On Marcus' field, the Water Elemental had two monsters, one weakened fusion beast, and one facedown card. Trace's field only contained one monster, but that didn't disturb his confidence.
Elemental Hero Clayman – (800/2000)
Amy Rose (1000/1000)
Elemental Knight – Landslide (1250/1800)
Beautifly – (1900/2200)
Trace (2700) – Marcus (3000)
"So let me get one thing straight here." Marcus said earnestly. "I'm part of a group called the Elementals that was chosen by Perfect Chaos Dragon." Trace nodded. "And I have the power to control the element of water." The silver-haired man nodded again. "And our enemies are a group of thirteen people called Eternals."
"That's the gist of it, but there are still gaps in the story." Trace stated, drawing his next card. "I shall explain more as we continue our duel. For now, I summon Togepi in attack mode."
A yellow, spike-headed creatures encased in a white shell with blue and red rings appeared on the field (700/1000).
"And the best part is that Togepi is a Tuner Monster." Trace continued with a smirk. "So I'm tuning my Level 2 Togepi with my Level 6 Beautifly."
The egg creatures chirped happily, waving its stumpy hands. Marcus believed the created was dancing until he noticed the glow of energy forming around its hands. When the light had reached its greatest shine, it released two stars into the sky and faded from the battle. Beautifly flapped towards the sky as the level stars transformed to electrical rings, turning the winged insect transparent as it passed through.
"Storms rage and calm upon you command, the guardian of the seas awakens!" Trace chanted ominously. "Rise from the depths, Lugia!"
A beam of light devoured the synchronized monsters, releasing the existence of a more powerful beast. A gigantic shadow emerged from the light, singing a heartwarming song as it made its presence know. The beast was a colossal dinosaur-like bird with silvery-white skin and a blue underside, a lengthy tail, and eight movable appendages on its back. The guardian of the seas raised its head to the skies, emitting a calming note (2500/2000).
"And I command Lugia to destroy your Elemental Knight – Landslide!" Trace shouted.
"Well, you're in for a world of trouble." Marcus said, pressing a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate my trap card: Mirror Force! And as you already know, anyone that attacks a monster using Mirror Force is destroyed."
"That would work if it wasn't for one condition." Trace smirked, much to the confusion of the younger Elemental. "When a trap card is activated against Lugia, his special ability activates. All trap cards are instantly destroyed and you lose five hundred life points for each one."
The silver beast culminated a large quantity of yellow energy to its mouth, reshaping it into a ball. Trace chuckled playfully as his faithful monster released the energy in a narrow beam of pure destruction. The blast eradicated both Marcus' trap card and the Elemental Knight – Landslide in one fatal swoop. The force of the impact threw the Marked Duelist off his feet as the life point counter on his Duel Disk activated.
Trace (2700) – Marcus (1250)
"Man, that was a nice hit." Marcus chuckled eagerly as he sat up. "Lugia is one powerful monster."
"And one of the most faithful." Trace nodded in agreement. "I place one card facedown and end my turn. I do hope Lugia's powers haven't frightened you. I know you still suffer the trauma from your experience with the Gedo Mazo.
"You're kidding, right?" Marcus said excitedly, kicking back to his feet. "There's no way I'm going to give up so easily. And now, I draw." He swiped his next card. "And now I activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Elemental Knight – Landslide."
The earthbound warrior shattered through the earth, lifting his hammer proudly on his shoulders (2500/1800).
"But he won't be sticking around for long." Marcus continued. "Because I'm sacrificing Elemental Hero Clayman and Elemental Knight – Landslide to summon Yubel!"
Both warriors of the Earth were dissolved into fragments of golden light, reshaping them into a glimmering cocoon. The dome of light shattered, revealing the mismatched shape of Yubel (3000/3000).
"Yubel, attack with Nightmare Pain!" Marcus commanded.
The misshapen monster of the stars formed a whip of thorns from the very air and lashed at Lugia. The siren bird raised its wings as a shield and somehow managed to endure the pain for a short while. Amy, who was pouting on the side, caught Lugia looking back to his master, who nodded silently. Then without hesitation, the silver bird lowered his guard and allowed himself to be eradicated.
Trace (2200) – Marcus (1250)
"I activate my facedown: Power of One!" Trace reacted swiftly. He revealed a trap card of Lugia surrounded by a trio of colored spheres: red, blue, and yellow. "This card only activates when Lugia is destroyed. Now I can special summon Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres from my deck."
Following the destruction of the silver bird, three columns of elements erupted from the ground. A golden phoenix emerged from the pillar of fire – it's tail, wings, head feathers coated in thick burning flames (2000/1000). A yellow and black bird with feathers pointed like lightning emerged from the void of electricity – its narrow eyes sharp and decisive (1500/1500). The last of the three birds had frozen-blue plumage with a pointed crest on its forehead and allowing tail that glistened as it emerged from the snow storm (1000/2000).
"Hey, nice colors." Marcus complimented. "Well, I place another card facedown and end my turn."
"You managed to destroy Lugia in one turn." Trace said impressed. "He was my best card, second only to my Elemental Beast. You should congratulate yourself for making it this far."
"Yeah, I was wondering something." Marcus said hopefully. "You keep talking about these Elemental Beasts, but you haven't really explained what they are or where they come from."
"I guess I have put it off long enough." Trace said, once again postponing the match. "To explain my story, we have to go back to the beginning of existence – before such a thing even such a thing was real. Back then, only one omnipotent being existed: the Original One."
"The Original One?" Marcus repeated.
"I've never heard of him." Yubel glared suspiciously.
"I have!" Amy shouted proudly, drawing the attention of her teammates. "I heard all kinds of stories about the Original One when I was little. Back in the Duel Spirit World, everyone recognizes the Original One as the creator of all life."
"That is correct, Amy." Trace acknowledged. "The Original One was the only being that existed at the time, making him the true god of the universe that would soon be created. The Original One formed endless sheet of space and created the stars that would hold life for the universe. And among those stars, Earth was particularly special."
"How come?" Marcus asked.
"With all his power, the Original One loved to experiment." Trace explained. "And his favorite test subject was Earth. When he first created the world, humans and Duel Monsters lived together in perfect harmony. The humans maintain a higher sense of intelligence and the Duel Monsters were superior in terms of strength. All was going well until that fateful day."
"The Great Rift." Amy said sadly.
"What's the Great Rift?" Yubel questioned curiously.
"After a thousand years of peace, a war broke out between the humans and the Dual Monsters." Trace continued dramatically. "Both oppositions believed that they should be the dominants species and refused to yield as the weakest. The Original One was distraught by the sudden outbreak and attempted to find a solution to this problem. Unfortunately, it took one thousand years before he could perfect it."
"What did he do?" Marcus asked.
"He created the Elementals – a team of guardians used to defend the Earth." Trace answered
"You mean like the Egyptian Gods or the Five Dragons?" Marcus questioned thoughtfully.
"The Egyptian Gods were created by the ancient pharaohs as weapons of war." Trace shook his head. "And the Five Dragons were crafted by the people of the stars to combat the Earthbound Immortals, who were formed from the darkness of people's hearts. The Elementals were the only true guardians personally created by the Original One."
"Who were the Elementals?" Yubel asked.
"The Elementals were a group of six hybrid beings." Trace explained. They had the unique ability to shift their appearance from extraordinary humans to monumental monsters, thus acting as mediums between the two species. Once the humans and Duel Monsters accepted their existence; they separated into six united tribes. Each tribe was led by one of the six guardians and represented a different element: earth, fire, wind, water, light, and darkness. And once again, the Original One believed he had created peace."
"But it didn't last, did it?" Marcus said all-knowingly.
"It wasn't a happy time." Trace sighed hopelessly. "When any creature, human or Duel Monster, gains powers, it is almost expected that they would desire more. The leader of the Earth Tribe, Gedo Mazo, wished to conquer the Endless Ocean and transform it into a barren wasteland. Naturally, the Elemental of Water was outrage by the actions of his former comrade's unwarranted assault. I am sure that you have guessed who the Elemental was."
"Perfect Chaos Dragon!" Marcus exclaimed in realization. "But what happened to them?!"
"They set an example for their old allies." Trace stated seriously. "The Elementals of Light and Darkness already had a strained relationship and war between Earth and Water was all it took to sever that bond. Darkness joined the Gedo Mazo and Light joined Perfect Chaos Dragon for the final battle. Only the Elementals of Fire and Wind remained neutral."
"That's when the Great Rift happened." Amy continued interestingly. "During the final battle, the guardians vanished and the worlds were split into parallel dimensions. The humans remained on Earth and all Duel Monsters were sent to the Spirit world." She scratched her head with a confused expression. "Hmm...I wonder what happened."
"It was the Original One's final plan." Trace answered. "He separated both species by dimensional walls, allowing each side to maintain their own society and culture. Hoping that both sides would forget one another, the Original One eliminated all memory of the Elemental's existence. With the matter settled, the Original One departed from Earth, leaving its inhabitants to deal with their own matters."
"But he didn't erase their existence permanently." Yubel stated.
"The energies of the Elementals still lingered in the world." Trace responded. "They searched the planet for centuries, hoping to find resurrected when they were needed. And now that time has finally come."
"I am the reincarnation of the Elemental of Water." Marcus sighed, trying to take everything in. "And Rev is the reborn Elemental of Earth. That would explain why we don't like each other."
"It was all determined by fate." Trace said wisely. "It was our destiny to meet."
"You said the Elementals would come back when they were needed." Amy said pointedly. "Does this have anything to do with the Eternals that have been attacking us?"
"It has everything to do with them." Trace replied. "Our organization does know much about them, only that they are interested in the Elemental's power. Perhaps they seek to unite the abilities of the Elementals for some unknown weapon. I am not really sure."
"Who are the Eternals?" Yubel questioned seriously. "What makes them so special?"
"We've been trying to figure that out for ages." Trace sighed heavily. "As you may already know, they control thirteen different elements: fire, space, time, and even the moon. But despite their advanced techniques, they are only mirror images of their true attributes."
"You haven't answered my question." Yubel growled impatiently. "Who are they?"
"Who knows?" Trace shrugged. "How do you learn about an enemy that's not alive?"
Marcus, Yubel, and Amy were all thrown back by this new information. How could the Eternals possibly be a threat if they weren't alive? Did Trace know some secret about these unknown enemies that he wasn't willing to share with him? And before the Marked Duelist was able to ask, his silver-haired mentor placed his cards back into his deck. All duelists knew that this meant the opponent had surrendered.
Duel Victor: Marcus
"Hey, what's going on?" Marcus asked as the holograms faded. "We were in the middle of a match."
"It's getting well past midnight." Trace grinned nonchalantly. "We'll have plenty of time to continue this duel another day. But for now, we have to rest up for tomorrows matches." He walked away, waving his hand in farewell. "I'll be rooting for you, kid!"
Marcus Kiva watched his silver-haired friend disappear into the night with a proud grin on his expression. The Marked Duelists felt a mixture of joy and confusion from their meeting, but was content with his answers. If he was to accept his destiny, he needed to understand his past and look ahead towards his future. Now all that was left was to retrieve his Elemental Beast...and make peace with his old enemy. In the meantime, Ignite was leaning against the rails of the hospital roof, yawn loudly, irritating his partner.
"Well, that was a major waste of time." Ignite commented.
"Not necessarily." The female stated. "We discovered that the Seekers know more about us than we realized. And what's worse, they have the Elemental of Wind working for them. This will only make things more complicated."
"Hey, our target is the Water Elemental." Ignite said carelessly. "Let Dahlia and Raikou worry about him."
"Honestly, I wonder how you can be so lax." The female shook.
"Hey, I'm still human." Ignite chuckled.
---
Meanwhile, Trace Rodik wandered aimlessly through Muto Park, watching the stars glistening in the night sky. Much like Marcus, he felt a sense of serenity when gazing at the sparkling gems of the darkness. The silver-haired duelist stood motionlessly under the shadow of the dragon statue until a sound caught his attention. Trace looked over and discovered Nami emerging from the bushes.
"You took your sweet time." Trace said jokingly.
"The leader interrogated me on everything I discovered." Nami groaned tiredly. "Using the Flash Memory so many times in one day can be very exhausting."
"Then perhaps you should get some rest." Trace suggested kindly, placing his arm on he shoulder. "You are a very important part of this organization. You shouldn't overexert yourself."
"I-I'm fine." Nami stammered; her face was burning red. "So...how did it go with Marcus?"
"I explained a large amount of his role, but I didn't tell him everything." Trace answered. "He impressed me today – he wasn't scared to accept that fact that he would play a crucial role in the world's future." He stared intensely at the ground. "I don't want him joining the Seekers – he's too young an innocent."
"The leader wants all the Elementals to join our side." Nami said worried.
"Well, he'll have to learn that he can't always have what he wants." Trace said defiantly. "The Elemental's are free spirits that should decide their own destinies. None of them should be pawns in some twisted game."
"Marcus Kiva..." Nami murmured softly. "You've really taken a liking to him."
"He's an interesting character." Trace smiled happily. "In a way, he's a lot like his sister."
---
The war of fate has been opened to their eyes. Will Marcus be able to complete the destiny handed to him? Will he become a slave to the Eternals or Seekers? And who is the sister that Trace speaks of? Find out on the next Hyper Runners!
Please, read and review.
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Duel report:
Name: Lugia
Attribute: Water
Types: Sea-Serpent/Synchro/Effect
Level: 8
ATK/DEF: (2500/2000)
Description: 1 Tuner + 1 None Tuner monsters
When a trap is activated against this card, you can destroy that card and inflict 500 points of damage.
