Ruler of the Gentle Darkness (Chapter Nine)
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.
Now the two duelists up to duel would be Axel and Reiner; Jaden and his friends all knew of Axel's extreme talents and abilities as a duelist as Axel was the only one who was able to defeat the Supreme King when Jaden was stuck in the dark dimension. However Reiner was a complete mystery, but Jaden could not stop his eyes from narrowing when he looked at Reiner.
"We now begin the 4th match of the Quarterfinals" the MC announced. "Axel Brodie and Reiner; duelists select your Deck Masters."
Axel already knew what he wanted "My Deck Master will be Fire Trooper." Behind Axel his Fire Trooper appeared in a flash.
Reiner calmly took a card from his deck "My Deck Master will be White Devil." On the field a devil, like one would see in comic books, with pure white wings and a pure white body with glaring blue eyes appeared behind Reiner.
"Alright duelists; let the match begin" the MC called.
"Prepare yourself" Axel said "My move."
"Hold on" Reiner said making Axel pause. "Before you begin… let's make this duel more interesting." Axel looked confused, as did everyone else. "Instead of this being a normal duel; let's make it a duel… with our lives at stake."
"What" Axel said alarmed. Too late as Reiner's eyes glowed an ominous silver color and suddenly a white aura surrounded him and spread out through the area and enveloped the entire deck of the ship.
"Oh man, more freaky magic" Tristan cried out.
"I thought we were over this stuff" Mai agreed with Tristan as the ominous light fluttered everywhere. Yugi, Kaiba and Joey had their eyes narrowed as they stared at Reiner; this was him, the host of the Light of Destruction bent on destroying all life.
"It's him Jaden" Alexis whispered alarmed.
"I know" Jaden whispered back discreetly using his darkness powers to shield himself and Alexis. 'Axel…' he thought worried for his friend.
Reiner chuckled sinisterly as he stared at Axel "I always enjoy the look of fright on my opponent's face before the duel even begins. Unfortunately I don't have the patience to waste my time on you; I'll be merciful and end it quickly."
Axel swallowed slightly reminded of his time facing the Supreme King "Not if I end it first" he said with as much confidence as he could before drawing a card. "I activate Blaze Accelerator. As long as this card is on the field I can send one pyro-monster with less than 500 attack points to my graveyard to destroy a monster on your field."
"And because you've done that I get to activate the spell card White Abyss." Reiner plucked a card from his hand showing it to Axel; its picture depicted a soldier falling into an infinite white abyss. "I get to activate this card specifically from my hand the moment you play a spell card that could potentially destroy my monsters. Now I get to draw a single card from my deck and depending on the monster's attack points will determine how much damage your life points will take."
"No way" Axel said in disbelief.
"Oh yes" Reiner said drawing a card. His smirk looked very nasty "The card I've drawn… is White Emperor." This monster card depicted a man with long white hair dressed in thick white colored armor with a sword in his hand (4000/4000).
"4000 attack points; that means I…" was all Axel could say in shock.
"You lose" Reiner said simply.
Reiner: 4000
Axel: 0
Reiner chuckled as light from his body shot out and ensnared Axel "Axel" his friends shouted rushing towards him, but an invisible light barrier knocked them back.
"You'll have your turn eventually" Reiner smirked. "But first it's this one's turn." Reiner thrusted his hand towards Axel and a beam of light hit him right in the center of the chest. Axel gave a long cry of agony as his body glowed white. Then as quickly as it began it stopped and Axel's body went limp and he released a breath before his body exploded into white particles and vanished.
"AXEL" all of his friends shouted in horror. The older duelists could only stare wide eyed and the children had gotten scared and hugged their parents tightly. "You monster; what did you do with him" Jaden shouted.
Reiner smirked at Jaden "I sent him to the stars. You all know what that means." All of them grit their teeth and glared hatefully at Reiner. "That was just a sample of what I'm truly capable of Supreme King. Soon we will do battle and then you will fall and the Light will dominate this universe and eliminate all life."
Jaden's eyes turned golden as a black aura surrounded him "That's not going to happen" he said in a garbled voice. Reiner chuckled and walked away leaving everyone else to mourn over Axel and contemplate what just happened.
The MC announced nervously "With Axel Brodie's defeat we've come to the end of the first half of the first round of the finals. Tomorrow the duels will commence again."
SCENE CHANGE
The moment they could everyone of Jaden's friend met in his room and Jaden explained the situation to them. Needless to say none of them looked too happy "So another lunatic is intent on destroying the world eh" Chazz said. "Why am I not surprised?"
"So he's got a power just like you do Jaden" Jesse asked.
Jaden nodded "Yeah; you and Jim weren't around when it happened back during our second year. Guys, you remember Sartorius and his 'Society of Light?'" Syrus, Chazz and Aster nodded remembering that time "Back then Sartorius was infected with a power known as the Light of Destruction. It first came to earth and possessed the card your father created Aster."
"My Destiny HERO" Aster said pulling out his card. The Destiny HERO Plasma.
"Yeah" Jaden said. "The guy who killed your father then became infected with the light and in his fear he consulted Sartorius about the problem and it was there the Light possessed Sartorius. That's why he was able to do what he did; every duelist he defeated became possessed by the Light of Destruction. That's why he was able to gather so many followers. But now that the Light has awoken in its true vessel it's determined to destroy all life in this universe. The only thing standing in its way… is me."
Everyone was silent now as they contemplated what Jaden had just said. "There's nothing to think about" Jesse said getting all attention.
"What" Syrus said.
"There's nothing to think about" Jesse repeated himself. "Jaden told us what's going on and all we can do now is help him. Fated duel or not our world is being threatened and if Jaden's our only chance then I'm standing by him through thick and thin, until the end."
"Jesse" Jaden said shocked
"Me too" Syrus said standing up. "Jaden, you've been my best friend since our first day at the Duel Academy. I wouldn't be half the duelist I am right now if it wasn't for you. I'm with you Jay."
"Syrus" Jaden said feeling touched.
"Eh, the world just wouldn't be the same without you slacker" Chazz said with a friendly smirk. "So what the hell, I'll give you all the help I can."
"Chazz" Jaden said.
"You've already saved the world quite a few times and each time you haven't done it alone and that ain't about to change mate, right Shirley" Jim said. Shirley gave a roar of agreement.
"Jim" Jaden said.
"Hmm, I'd lose the competition left in the world if you were to go so I got your back Jaden" Aster finished.
'Even Aster' Jaden thought feeling the support from them all. Feeling a hand on his shoulder Jaden turned to see Alexis and she conveyed all her support through eye contact. That eye contact was all he needed. "Alright guys; when the time comes we'll stop Reiner and his plans. We'll let him know this is our world and we're not about to forfeit it."
"Right" all of them said in agreement.
SCENE CHANGE
Similarly the others were having their own meeting as well. Mako had already left the boat with his own inflatable raft to go back to Domino City since the competition was over for him; he took Weevil and Rex with him so the two couldn't do anything to exact revenge for losing, not that it would work, but it was one less headache to deal with.
Tea and Rebecca had been the one to take the children back to their private suite and keep them cozy for the time being while everyone else discussed everything that was going on. Yugi, Kaiba and Joey explained to everyone else everything that they had learned and in the end everyone was shocked and nervous.
"Two super powered entities that battled even before life existed" Tristan murmured. "And now they're in two vessels ready to battle again."
"Yes" Yugi said. "These powers are mighty; even more powerful than Marik and Dartz combined."
"Not to mention a brand new set of God Cards" Mai commented. "It feels like the original Battle City all over again."
"That's because it is" Kaiba said. "I orchestrated this tournament to lure both parties out the moment I was informed. Just because ten years have passed since anything life-threatening has happened doesn't mean someone thinks they can waltz in and take everything by force."
"So what are we going to do" Serenity asked nervously. Tristan did his best to comfort her.
"We must have faith" Yugi said standing up. "Our time saving the world has passed; we prevented the return of the Shadow Games and faced numerous evils. Now… we put our faith in the younger generation."
Pegasus clapped slightly "Well said Yugi-boy, well said. Like you, I have complete faith in these duelists; after all I know their decks inside and out."
"You do" Serenity asked.
"Of course; I've seen each of them duel" Pegasus said confidently. "Syrus Truesdale, the ultimate Cyber Duelist, Aster Phoenix, the Destiny HERO duelist, Jim Cook, the Fossil Duelist, Alexis Rhodes, the Cyber Angel Duelist, Chazz Princeton, the Level Duelist, Jesse Anderson, the Crystal Beast Duelist, and finally Jaden Yuki, the unrivaled HERO Duelist. It will take all the powers of the enemy to defeat them."
While some of them were feeling slightly convinced from Pegasus' tone there were still quite a few who didn't believe him. "Sorry Pegasus, but I believe in a select few and those kids aren't one of those few" Mai said.
"I hate to say it Pegasus, but I agree with Mai" Joey said. "They're just kids and they're facing something more powerful than what we faced at their age. They're in over their heads."
"I don't trust any dueling skills, but my own" Kaiba said bluntly.
"I hate to say it also, but I agree with Joey and the others" Tristan admitted softly.
Pegasus frowned slightly 'It seems only Yugi-boy has any faith in the newest generation.' "Oh well, if that's what you believe then we'll all just have to wait until tomorrow for the next duel to commence. Who knows, maybe some of you will be convinced because after all… one of you could be dueling them tomorrow."
"Whoever it is; I'll whoop them" Mai said confidently.
TOMORROW
The next day the sun was shining and the gulls cawed in the sky as Kaiba's yacht sailed through the waters "Attention duelists; the second half of the First Round will now commend" the MC announced. "The duelists who are clear to head to the next round are Jaden Yuki, Jesse Anderson, Syrus Truesdale and Reiner."
Jaden, Jesse and Syrus all sent their best glares to Reiner, who only smirked at them arrogantly in return.
"The finalists that are left are Alexis Rhodes, Serenity Taylor, Mai Wheeler, Chazz Princeton, Rebecca Kaiba, Jim Cook, Aster Phoenix and Marco" the MC announced as the eight finalists waited for their names to be called. "Now all remaining finalists; pay attention as the names for the next match will now be announced."
They all looked at the board and waited and watched as the screen flared to life and began to shuffle through names. Finally it stopped with a loud beep revealing the two names.
Mai Wheeler vs. Alexis Rhodes
Alexis got a wide grin on her face 'Finally, my turn' she thought.
"Go get her Alexis" Jaden whispered to her before giving her a kiss for luck. Alexis felt on top of the world right now and confidently stepped into the dueling arena to face Mai.
Mai smirked having seen the whole interaction "Aw how sweet you've got a man of your own. It's gonna be said when I crush you in front of him" she taunted.
Alexis merely smirked in return "Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you; let's see if you duel as good as you talk though considering what you went for I'm not setting my hopes high."
Joey, Tristan and Yugi all 'Oh'ed' silently at each other knowing that comment would piss Mai off a lot. Judging from her twitching eye and throbbing temple it did. Tea and Rebecca glared at the boys before calling out "Kick her butt Mai."
"Duelists; select your Deck Master" the MC called.
Mai smirked "I choose the one and only Harpie Lady." Harpie Lady appeared on the field behind Mai with a seductive deadly look.
Alexis knew her choice right away "I choose my Etoile Cyber as my Deck Master." On the field, behind Alexis, appeared her Etoile Cyber.
"Alright Duelists; begin" the MC called.
"I think I'll start this out" Mai said. "First I summon out Dunames Dark Witch in attack mode." Out on the field a rather young looking fairy monster appeared (1800/1050). "Try and get past her little girl."
"Believe me, I will" Alexis said drawing a card. Looking at her hand she plucked a card from her hand. "First I play the spell card Snow Rising." The spell card depicted snow falling hard in a blizzard "What the spell card does is allow me to special summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand and the card I choose to summon is Snow Fairy." On the field a monster that looked to be made entirely of ice appeared on the field (1100/700).
Mai wasn't impressed "A little ice fairy against my dark witch; little girl you should head back to school."
"Maybe you should've gone to school because I can still summon a monster this turn" Alexis said in return making Mai scowl at her. "First I activate Icicle Sacrifice spell card; it allows me to summon one icicle token to the field." A copy of Snow Fairy appeared on the field (0/0). "I now sacrifice my Icicle Token in order to summon out White Knight Queen." On the field appeared a female monster with a cold aura about her with ice flowing off her body (2100/800). "Now White Knight Queen it's time to desolate that Dark Witch; Icicle Crash attack." White Knight Queen launched a flurry of icicles at Mai's monster and the monster was enveloped and destroyed.
Alexis: 4000
Mai: 3700
"Mommy" Michael cried seeing his mom take a hit.
"It's okay Michael" Joey assured his son. "Your mother's got this."
"Your move Mai" Alexis said confidently.
"Not bad girl, but this duel is long from over" Mai said drawing a card. She smirked at Alexis "I summon to the field my Unfriendly Amazon" she said. On the field appeared a mighty amazon warrior (2000/1000). "It won't get me much, but it'll be slight lead. Unfriendly Amazon attack her Snow Fairy." Unfriendly Amazon charged forward and slashed right though Snow Fairy.
Mai: 3700
Alexis: 3400
"You're right it won't get you much and it'll leave you defenseless this turn" Alexis said drawing a card. "White Knight Queen destroy that Unfriendly Amazon." White Knight Queen launched her ice powers at Unfriendly Amazon and destroyed her.
Mai: 3600
Alexis: 3400
"I place one card facedown and end my turn" Alexis said.
"Then it's my move again" Mai said drawing a card. Smirking she said "And I activate Harpie's Feather Duster; your facedown card is destroyed." Alexis' Doble Passe was revealed and destroyed making her grunt in anger. "But I'm not done yet; I activate the effect of my Deck Master; my Harpie Lady lets me summon out another Harpie Lady to my field and not just the standard ones so say hello to Cyber Harpie Lady." A Harpie Lady appeared on the field wearing armor (1800/1300). "Next I activate Cyber Shield and equip it to Cyber Harpie to increase her attack and defense points by 500." Cyber Harpie Lady grew even stronger (1800+500=2300/1300+500=1800).
Seeing the look on Alexis' face made Mai smirk "You're not the only one with Cyber monsters little girl. And I'm not done yet; I activate Rose Whip and equip it to my Cyber Harpie to give her another 300 attack and defense." Cyber Harpie's attack rose once more (2300+300=2600/1800+300=2100).
"2600 attack points" Alexis gasped.
"Oh yes and you're about to feel it all" Mai smirked. "Cyber Harpie Lady attack her White Knight Queen." Cyber Harpie snapped her whip and launched it at Snow White Queen and destroyed it.
Mai: 3600
Alexis: 2900
"And to end my turn I place one card face down on the field" Mai said.
Alexis drew her next card 'Nothing will help me at this point so I better defend while I have a chance.' "I place one card in defense mode and end my turn."
"Right into my trap" Mai said making Alexis wide eyed. "I activate Shadow of Eyes. Now one monster on your field in facedown defense mode is switched into attack position." Alexis' monster was revealed; and it was Blade Skater (1400/1500). "My move now girl" Mai drew a card. "Cyber Harpie Lady, attack her Blade Skater."
Cyber Harpie Lady charged forward and destroyed Alexis' Blade Skater.
Mai: 3600
Alexis: 1700
"You know, as a fellow female duelist, I expected a lot more" Mai said honestly. "Oh well, I guess I place one card face down and end my turn."
"You've seen nothing yet" Alexis said determined. "My move." She drew a card "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Drawing her two cards Alexis' eyes widened slightly 'The Cyber Angel' she thought seeing the monster she won from Tonya. Looking at her hand 'And I have the ritual card to summon it… but I'm missing the right amount of monsters.' Looking at her hand 'I can do something though.'
"I summon Cyber Gymnast" Alexis said summoning her cyber monster to the field (800/1800). "I now activate her special ability; I just discard one card from my hand and in return one monster you control is destroyed so say goodbye to that Cyber Harpie." Cyber Harpie screeched and was destroyed.
"Oh no, my Cyber Harpie" Mai called.
"And before I attack I activate my Deck Master Special ability" Alexis said. "Etoile Cyber increases the attack of my monsters by 600 whenever they make a direct attack." Cyber Gymnast got a major attack point boost (800+600=1400/1800). "Now my Gymnast attack." Cyber Gymnast charged at Mai and was about to deliver a devastating kick.
Mai then smirked "Sorry, but by destroying my Cyber Harpie you've activated a trap card."
"I what" Alexis gasped.
"Yes, the trap card Song of the Harpie" Mai said. The trap card depicted an older more mature Harpie sitting on a throne. "This card activates when a Harpie monster is destroyed; now I get to summon a new Harpie monster and it's my most powerful one; Harpie Queen." On the field, in a flash of light, appeared an older Harpie Lady only much larger with more wings, sharper talons and shining golden armor with long green hair (2800/2900).
"Oh no" Alexis gasped.
"And it's too late to call off your attack" Mai smirked. "Harpie Queen put that gymnast in her place." Harpie Queen slashed through Cyber Gymnast with ease.
Mai: 3600
Alexis: 300
"Because of your power boost you didn't outright lose but it doesn't matter because no card in your deck can save you now little girl" Mai smirked. Internally she thought 'There's no way these kids can save the world; not if this girl can't even challenge me.'
Alexis didn't see that move coming; she needed the right card. She had the cards to summon her monster and the card to get rid of that Harpie Queen, but she didn't have the monster necessary to activate her cards. Then Jaden's words came through her mind "Go get her Alexis" he had said.
Turning her gaze to him she saw him staring calmly with a smile on his face towards her. Even now that things looked bleak he still believed in her. He believed with 100% confidence that she would win.
'I cannot let him down; not when he has believed in me this much' Alexis thought. 'Come on deck… I need you to come through for me.' Alexis drew a card and when she saw it she grinned widely.
"What are you grinning about" Mai asked with a frown.
"I'm grinning because I just drew the card that will end this duel" Alexis said smirking.
"You're bluffing" Mai said automatically.
"Well why don't you see for yourself" Alexis said. "First I activate the ritual card Machine Angel Ritual. With it I send the White Knight Dragon card I just drew to the graveyard in order to summon a new monster."
"What, but White Knight Dragon has 3000 attack points, what could be more powerful than that" Mai demanded.
"I'll show you; rise Cyber Angel – Mahakala" Alexis called. From the ritual the most powerful Cyber Angel that Alexis owned that she won from her greatest opponent stood on the field (3000/3000).
Mai was gaping in awe "Is that really the legendary Cyber Angel?"
"Oh yes and you're about to feel her sting, but first I activate my spell card Seven Cyber Sacrifice" Alexis said. The spell card depicted a picture of Cyber Angel – Mahakala with her attack ready to launch. "When I have Cyber Angel – Mahakala on the field as well as less than 1000 life points I can destroy one monster on your field that has 2000 or more attack points."
"No way" Mai gasped.
"Yes way" Alexis smirked. "Mahakala, destroy that Harpie Queen." Mahakala launched a blast and destroyed Mai's Harpie Queen leaving Mai staring in shock at what just happened. "I'm not done yet; Mahakala can still attack and don't forget my Deck Master special ability. Every monster that attacks you directly gains 600 attack points." Mahakala glowed red as her attack power increased (3000+600=3600/3000). "Which gives her just enough attack points to wipe you out completely.
"No way" Mai gasped in shock.
"Cyber Angel – Mahakala, attack her life points directly with Cyber Spear attack." Mahakala placed all her spears together before launching a massive blast of red energy from her conjoined spears where it struck Mai directly.
Alexis: 300
Mai: 0
"The duel is over" the MC announced. "Alexis Rhodes is the winner."
"Alright Alexis" Jaden cheered running up to her. Alexis, after deactivating her duel disk, met him half way and jumped into his arms. Both laughed happily as Jaden swung her around in his arms.
"Even Mai lost" Serenity said in disbelief.
Joey said nothing even as his son stared in shock; taking his son's hand Joey walked out into the arena past Jaden and Alexis and up to Mai, who stood still as if catatonic. "Mai" he said softly.
She looked up and Joey was shocked when he saw actual tears in her eyes; he understood why after a moment. She wanted to originally compete for fun, but when her son wanted to come watch she wanted to win to show her son how great she was and she lost, to a girl almost 13 years younger than she was.
"You did your best Mai and you dueled amazingly" Joey told her honestly. "Didn't she Michael."
"Heck yeah" Michael said with a grin. "You did amazing out there mom, so what if you lost, you were still totally awesome out there."
Mai widened her eyes slightly at her son's words before smiling and wiping her eyes before picking Michael up and hugging him while Joey put an arm around her. This was Mai's lifeline; her two boys were her whole reason for living.
"Wait here" she said setting her son down before walking up to Alexis. "Alexis" she said to the young girl. Alexis pulled back from Jaden and faced Mai "I underestimate you; you're a great duelist and you gave me one hell of a match if I do say so myself."
"Thank you" Alexis said with a smile.
"And so I want you to have these" Mai said handing Alexis three cards. It was her Cyber Harpie, Song of the Harpie trap card and her Harpie Queen. "I think you'll find they'll make excellent additions to your deck."
Alexis took the cards and stared with awe before smiling again "Thank you Mai; it was an honor to duel you."
Mai nodded to her before turning to Jaden "You got a hell of a girl there boy; treat her right."
"I plan on it" Jaden said with a wide grin. With that Mai walked back over to her family and they stood there holding one another.
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