Shadow Lords of Duelling
A major crossover of FF8 and Yu-gi-oh
CHAPTER 2
Six months later
Rinoa sped up the car; the Skull chain squad was closing in with their motor bikes with undead shadow monsters not far behind.
'Shit there gaining on us!' yelled Rinoa as they narrowly dodged Skull Knight's sword swing at their car.
'Don't worry Rinoa will get outta here' said Seifer quietly, trying to calm her down.
'They won't stop us' Rinoa smiled at him then slammed her foot down and the car accelerated, she hurtled around a corner throwing ice and stun attacks over her shoulder as she drove. Suddenly there was a bright flash and those in pursuit were engulfed, the light seared them like fire would.
The caster was Zell Dincht a hyperactive martial artist with a long tribal tattoo down the left side of his face and dressed in brown travelling clothes with a hood to obscure his face. With surprising speed he leapt into the car's open window and clambered in.
'Hi Rinoa what did you guys do to get the Skull chain squad after ya?' asked Zell as he pushed back his large hood
'That's none of your business chicken Wuss' snapped Seifer, who couldn't stand the younger resistance member.
'Up yours and any ways I was talking to Rinoa' he turned back to Rinoa his face taking on pleading note. Rinoa laughed and threw a small box to him. Zell quickly opened it to see what they had stolen from the duellists and he was awed by what he saw the shadow card Exodia the forbidden one; a 5000 year old necromonic being that brought chaos and destruction in Ancient Egypt and was believed to be the most powerful shadow creature in existence.
'No way' murmured Zell holding the card with a shaking hand
'Ok enough looking' said Seifer snatching Exodia back 'it ain't a toy' Zell muttered under his breath but kept quiet. They had lost the duellists and now they were on their way to resistance head quarters.
Squall hidden in the shadows stared out of the window in his office, since he had taken over duelling city there had been a lot of changes to the city and the people. The city was dark night and day to match his soul and the civilians were down trodden and defeated and the minor annoyance the Resistance seldom brought home any victory.
The Egyptian eye glowing on his forehead flickered for a moment, suddenly the electronic door swung open revealing a short girl with curled brown hair and piercing green eyes and behind her was her boyfriend Irvine and Isabelle; a short, bulky woman in her mid-twenties who often did reconnaissance work for Squall.
'Hi Squally!' yelled Selphie grabbing Squall and pulling him into a tight hug 'How ya bin? I bet you missed us, right?' she said beaming up at him. Squall smiled faintly and looked up to Irvine; the cowboy Gun slinger who was chuckling at his girlfriend's behaviour.
'Squall we've finally found out the location of the resistance head quarters' said Irvine plopping himself down on the spare spinney chair in Squall's office and busied himself by spinning himself round and round.
'Where' demanded Squall
'67 Cain downs; it's a large mansion about 20 miles from here. It's well fortified and it belongs to Count Kramer he used to control of Opal duelling squad but he was forced out of office and hasn't been since.' Squall started pacing his office, the red tint in his eyes growing stronger.
'Excellent work…At last I can get rid of the rest of the resistance in one swipe…Send in Slither red squad and Aqua squad to take care of them…I'll be leading the attack …Irvine and Selphie bring in the Sun rise duelling squad to prevent any escape…and Isabelle I want you to go to this Cid Kramer to warn him of what were planning…that will draw out the ones we want…
Cid Kramer a short portly man in his early forties sat paced his office while the resistance leaders Rinoa and Seifer discussed where to strike next. Suddenly the large wooden doors swung open and Zell looking breathless barged in.
'They…know were here' said Zell quickly
'Who knows' demanded Cid; looking frightened Seifer and Rinoa looked towards Zell looking equally as worried
'The…Duellists know were here and their coming this way' Seifer got to his feet and said 'How the hell did they find out?'
'I don't know yet' responded Zell 'but Isabelle, one of our agents just found out that the shadow lord launching an attack against us'
'What do we do?' murmured Rinoa sinking to her knees
'We fight!' hissed Seifer with surprising venom in his voice. He turned and strode out of Cid's office giving orders to prepare the defences and to get ready for battle. A chance to face Squall again.
Lighting etched across the sky and rain erupted down upon the Mansion and the surroundings. The rebel duellists and resistance members waited their weapons and duel disks ready. A thunderous roar sounded and a great shadow
Descended upon them, the enemy was here. Hundreds of duellists and monsters marched towards them ready for battle.
'ATTACK' roared Seifer and the archer's and gunmen let loose their arrows and bullets, killing many but they pushed forward, undeterred. Monsters began their attack from both sides and the shadows creatures destroying any they could get their hands on. Duellists summoned and blades crossed.
Seifer with his gun blade felled several Celtic Guardians; suddenly he heard a voice behind him, a voice he hated, and a voice he feared. Turning he saw Squall. He had changed, the symbol on his head was so bright it was almost blinding his eyes now were a deep blood red and his skin had become sallow and pale; almost transparent and dark
Energy radiated from him. I was frightening. Rinoa and Zell ran over to Seifer to help him.
'Squall…' Zell gasped shocked by Squall's appearance; they had known each other as children and now he was more frightening than any Shadow monster.
'So you're Squall' demanded Rinoa drawing her pinwheel and aiming it and him and she fired the sharp cutting disk, but Squall lightly brushed it away as if it were nothing.
'You'll have to do much better than that if you want to stop me' said Squall with a twisted smirk 'So Seifer you joined up with them did you? How embarrassing for you a former Shadow lord; now nothing more than a resistance member.'
To so that the others were shocked was an understatement
'Seifer' gasped Rinoa backing away from Seifer 'You're a shadow lord?
'I was…' whispered Seifer he turned back to Squall and he leapt to attack swinging vast arches with his gun blade, determined to cut Squall down. But Squall blocked each swing effortlessly with his hands and dodging the rest. With a strong punch his fist broke Seifer's gun blade into fragments
'Your time…as a resistance member…has weakened you Seifer…You cannot defeat me' taunted Squall
Seifer fell to the ground as Squall struck him sharply across the face.
As Squall advance; finally drawing his gun blade, the lion heart. Rinoa attack him with a Firaga but he didn't even bat an eyelid as he was engulfed in flame and he emerged unharmed. Seifer jumped to his feet and drew the card they had stolen earlier
'I summon Exodia the forbidden one' a huge Egyptian monster appeared with broken shackles around his wrists 'Destroy Squall now!' Exodia gave a huge roar and lunged at Squall but he deflected the attack with a mere flick of his wrist.
'What a weak creature' said Squall smirking again 'I'll show you a real shadow creature…Come forth now the all mighty Slither the sky dragon!'
A hurricane of energy surrounded Squall and they could hear his insane laughter from within it. Within a few moments an enormous red dragon that dwarfed even the mountain like Exodia.
'Where is he?' shouted Zell, Squall had vanished, their question was soon answered
'I'm up here!' Roared Slither 'I have fused together with the mighty Egyptian god…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'
Both forces had stopped and after Slither/Squall gave another deafening roar both sides fled.
'Now say good bye. THUNDER FORCE ATTACK!' Slither opened its mouth and released large amounts of electrical energy obliterating Exodia and Seifer was engulfed by the shadow realm; nothing remained.
Time seemed to stop as Seifer was destroyed, Rinoa felt her heart stop
'Not Seifer' Rinoa screamed running towards Slither, drawing a sword from a sheath on her hip. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind and dragged away. She thought for all she was worth but her captive wouldn't let go. She received a heavy blow on the back of her head and slipped into unconsciousness.
Rinoa awoke to find herself in a tent, slowly pushing herself upright she noticed a young man wearing a cowboy hat and coat snoozing lightly, sitting in a chair by the entrance. As Rinoa tried to sneak out of the tent a short girl burst in, tears were in her eyes and her arm was in a sling.
'Hey Irvine she's awake' shouted Selphie kicking the cowboy in the shins when she noticed Rinoa, he jumped to his feet
'What was that for?' demanded Irvine, he turned to see Rinoa
'Oh she's awake…Heh…sorry about that.' He apologized
Rinoa realized that her pinwheel was still strapped to her arm she pointed it towards them and said 'Who the hell are you? And Where am I?'
The man called Irvine casually drew a gun and shot at her pinwheel. It made a hissing noise as the bullet made contact and the Pinwheel fell to the floor broken.
'Easy lady' said Irvine pocketing his gun 'You should be careful were you point that thing' Selphie smiled faintly, wiping away her tears
'We might as well answer her questions, I am Selphie Timitt and the cowboy over here is Irvine Kinneas and your in the Slither red squad camp' about five miles from that mansion you were in'
Slither spread its vast wings and gave another thunderous roar its yellow eyes shining bright. He spotted a group of
Resistance members sneaking through the bushes trying to escape. Not a chance. THUNDER FORCE ATTACK! Released a blast of energy engulfing them and sending them to the shadow realm.
Squall was enjoying this immensely, but he decided to break away from Slither and lead the Duelling squad to round up the last of the resistance and he had to interrogate their prisoners. But when he tried to separate he couldn't, something was holding him back, and suddenly he heard a voice inside his mind
'I don't think so your power is mine now and you aren't leaving unless I say so'
'Slither let me go!' shouted Squall as he struggled to break the bond that kept them merged together. Slither was taking control, Squall was losing
'Slither serves me now Squall and I don't need you any more' said a husky voice in the depths of Squall's mind.
'Edea!' gasped Squall. He felt his millennium magic being drained from him he felt himself falling into darkness.
Back in the tent Rinoa was laying quietly on the bed thinking of a way to escape while Selphie and Irvine were having a heated whispered discussion. She picked up some of the conversation by eaves dropping and from she could gather that one of the Shadow monsters was out of control killing everyone and that Squall guy was somehow involved.
Just thinking about him made her angry; he had killed Seifer and a lot of others too.
'Hey Rinoa' called Selphie 'we need to get you out of here before she comes back'
'Who's she?' asked Rinoa getting to her feet
'Edea, the leader and founder of the shadow lords' Irvine responded quietly 'I heard that she intends to send you to the shadow realm for aiding the resistance' Rinoa was startled at that why would they want to help her? They were enemies.
'Why do you want to save me?' Rinoa asked them
'Edea plans to sink the entire world into the shadow realm and we need help to stop her and the duellists are far too loyal to help us. Now let's go get Squall from the hospital ward he has to come to. His the only one who knows how to stop Edea' said Irvine quietly.
Squall lay quietly on the bed trembling slightly his body felt drained his skin stretched and the mighty shadow magic he wielded had been stripped away from him. In a way he was glad he was finally free from the link but he missed the power that once coursed through his veins. The flap to the hospital ward (tent) opened and three people entered Selphie, Irvine and the resistance member Rinoa.
As soon as she saw Squall she charged towards him and started strangling him still determined to kill him
'Die murderer!' Rinoa screamed, Squall in his weakened state was unable to fend her off it may have been the end of him if Irvine hadn't interfered. He grabbed Rinoa from behind and dragged her off him, while she screamed numerous insults. Squall struggled to his feet leaning on his gun blade like an old man on a walking stick.
'Rinoa stop' whispered Squall quietly sagging slightly as he spoke those words for some reason Rinoa complied, though she continued to give him a dark glare which looked strange on her angelic face. Squall collapsed back on to the bed; his breathing was laboured and his eyes were no longer a deep blood red, now they were a stormy grey.
Rinoa wondered why and he certainly looked better without that shining symbol on his fore-head, Irvine speaking interrupted he thoughts.
'So Squall you still tired?' asked Irvine, worried that Squall looked as though he would pass out at any second.
'Weak don't you mean? And yes my mind and body are still exhausted' replied Squall smiling slightly 'and what are you doing here? I suggest you leave before Edea and Slither come back here to finish me off.'
Rinoa was startled at this, Squall was supposed to be a murderous monster but he was actually worried about Selphie and Irvine.
'Were here to get you out of here before Edea gets here, she has some very unpleasant things planned for you and also we need you to stop her.' Murmured Selphie 'and besides your our friend'
'I'm useless, even with my shadow magic she overpowered me with ease and took my power away' said Squall quietly his eyes downcast
'But why not? I don't expect I'll be any help but I will come with you' Selphie jumped into the air and yelled 'who hood!' Irvine knelt down by Squall lifted him off the bed and slung his limp form around his shoulders
'Now let's get out of here we can take care of Squall's injuries at Tifa's hideout it's about 10 miles from here and it won't take long if we take my car' The group of a Shadow lord, two duellists and a resistance member left the tent and set out for Tifa's hideout.
Tifa's hideout is a small vampire inn near the border surrounded by dark streets and alleys, with even darker buildings and inhabitance. This village was built by Squall and his men for the vampires who were greatly mistreated by the human's of Duelling city and Squall separated them after peace talks failed. In this place Squall still had absolute control and they would never bow to Edea's will.
Tifa Leonheart a gorgeous half vampire with wine coloured eyes and waist length black hair, she owned the Tifa's hideout, she sat quietly drinking from a wine glass, her expression bored. Recently there had been very little customers, business had definitely slowed in recent years.
Suddenly her doors burst open and three people entered carrying a forth entered. She eyed them with apprehension two of them were duellist's, a very dangerous folk prone to violence they were.
'Welcome to Tifa's hideout how may I…' she stopped in mid sentence when she caught sight of the person they were carrying it was Squall. Tifa jumped over the desk and took him from the duelist dressed as a cowboy and carried him into a different room, without a word.
Irvine and Selphie smiled faintly and sat on the chairs near the desk.
'Hey guys aren't you worried about Squall that lady is a vampire she'll probably suck him dry and you guys said we'll need him against this Edea' demanded Rinoa. To her great surprise the two duellists burst out laughing
'Tifa hurt Squall, That's a good one Rin' giggled Selphie
'There family and any way Squall's part vampire so you don't have to worry about her drinking his blood.' Rinoa flushed slightly as they continued to laugh at her.
Tifa laid her cousin on the bed and she peeled back the bandages and they had almost completely healed but that's not what worried her, his spirit had been broken and his body was close to shutting down the strain of having so much dark magic in his body and the mental stress of having it stripped from him was finally catching up with him.
She rummaged through her cupboards and pulled out several different coloured bottles and laid them beside him. She pulled out the cork of a small bottle a tipped its contents into Squalls mouth making sure that none of the red-black liquid spilt.
Suddenly Squall screamed, his fangs bursting out of his gums and his eyes flickered red for a moment and he passed out, his ragged breathing became calm. Tifa pulled out a pale blue paste and applied it to his minor wounds, the paste made a hiss as it made contact with the skin. Within moments the wounds had fully healed and Squall's body shook for a moment, next she mixed the remaining bottles contents with a silvery powder that she kept in a velvet pouch and poured it into his open mouth he immediately screamed again snapping back into consciousness and his body began to shake violently and smoke started gushing from his mouth.
After a few seconds it stopped and Squall skin started to regenerate it was no longer dead looking and stretched but smooth and firm and the millennium symbol burned into his forehead faded away. Smiling faintly she got to her feet and put away the medicine and went to tell the others waiting outside that Squall was doing fine.
Rinoa sat cross legged, looking slightly bored, while Irvine and Selphie flirted playfully, suddenly the door by the reception desk opened and Tifa entered and said to them 'Squall should make a full recovery and should be fine given a few nights rest. Now we need to set some accommodation for you…'
///////////////////////////////
It's awesome to have one of my old fics back lol
Nexus away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!