Yu-Gi-Oh GX: The American Duelists
Chapter 6 - Bastard of the One Turn Kill: Part 2
Another morning arrives over Duel Academia. At the Osiris Red hostel, Manjyome sits at the edge of his couch; examining his face in a hand mirror. "Damn him." Manjyome curses as he runs his fingers across the black rings around his eyes. He winces as his finger brushes across the bridge of his nose. Gritting his teeth to the pain, Manjyome hurls the mirror across the room, where it skids over the carpet into an end table. Manjyome's eyes drift up the end table, to a picture frame sitting atop it. Asuka firmly scowls at the cameraman from within her eternal frame. "Tenjoin-kun..." Manjyome sighs, and he recalls the argument he had with her yesterday. "I can't believe I said that to you. What an idiot I am!" He shouts and smacks his face. "Ahhhhaha!" He cries out with his hand over his nose.
Little blood droplets drip from the tip of his nose, and Manjyome swiftly cups his hand to catch them before they can stain his upholstered room. "Not again." He complains. "Dammit! Ramirez..." He scowls with his bloody hand covering his nose and mouth. The image of Ramirez punching Manjyome in the back of the head replays over and over in Manjyome's head. He can taste the blood run down his throat each time he watches himself face plant in the dirt. Manjyome's bloody hand shakes over his face. "I'll pay you back ten fold!"
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Judai, Sho, Kenzan, and Michael eat breakfast together at the modest Osiris Red dining hall. Michael is mesmerized by the three DA regulars as they shovel their food down their throats at lightning speed. None of them notice Manjyome's cautious entrance. After grabbing a bowl and plate of his own, he sits at the table behind the group. Sho is the first to take notice of him. "Manjyome-kun, what's with the glasses?" Sho inquires to Manjyome's black tinted sunglasses.
Neither Kenzan, nor Judai hesitate to ask for themselves. They continue to poor food down their mouths at an alarming rate. "Don't worry about it." Manjyome replies to Sho. Sho is baffled by his no questions attitude, but shrugs it off and returns to his plate. Unfortunately for him, his momentary lapse in vigilance has left his plate unguarded against his two voracious friends.
"AHHH! What have you done?" He cries out, as the two recline on the bench; leaving their and Sho's plates spotless. Kenzan picks his teeth, while Judai rubs his belly.
"I'm still hungry." Judai complains.
"You're hungry? What about me, big brother?" Sho shouts out in disbelief.
Kenzan stops picking his teeth to copycat Judai in rubbing his stomach. "Yeah, me too." Kenzan agrees. "But who's to blame for that?"
Judai rubs his head with an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, yeah. I know. We should have stopped searching to have lunch yesterday." Judai admits.
"NOOO... Their giving me the Misawa treatment!" Sho cries into his empty plate. Judai and Kenzan finally take notice, but neither understands why Sho is crying. They look to each other for the answer, but come up empty, which results in Sho crying louder and harder.
Manjyome pays their antic no attention. Rather, he takes small bites of his breakfast, while scanning the room. He hasn't seen Ramirez, but there's no telling if or when he'll show. "This is ridiculous." Manjyome tells himself. "Why should I have to be on my guard because of him?"
"Hey!" Manjyome calls out to Judai, who is in the midst of trying to help Kenzan console Sho. Judai and Kenzan look up at Manjyome, and Michael spares him a glance from over his shoulder. "Where's the other one?"
"Manjyome-kun, why're you wearing glasses indoors?" Judai asks.
"Maybe it's a new fashion statement." Kenzan speculates.
"I guess it could be." Judai supposes.
Manjyome slams his hands down on the table and shouts at the two. "Never mind my glasses! Now answer the question!" The two jump back and stutter incoherently.
"We haven't seen him today." Michael answers over his shoulder. Manjyome's eyes shift to Michael's large back and broad shoulders. "He went out before either of us woke up, and he didn't leave a note or tell us where he was going."
Manjyome nods and sits back down in his seat. "That's fine. I'll just have to pay him back later." Manjyome thinks, but for some reason, knowing he isn't around is a relief. Manjyome begins shoveling his food down his throat like the others. He only comes up for air or to flinch.
Judai, a boy who is notorious for his density, somehow manages to pick up on Manjyome's pain. "Manjyome-kun, are you alright?" He asks. In the next instant, there is a chopstick planted in his face.
"Don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone while they're eating?" He retorts calmly. He claps his hands together over his empty plate and bowl and gives a slight bow, before setting off on his own.
When Manjyome is gone, Sho asks, "Did it seem like there was something up with Manjyome-kun?"
"It did?" Judai replies uncertainly. He massages his chin as he thinks about it.
"Think about it later big brother, or we'll be late again." Kenzan remarks as he points out the time.
"Not again!" Judai and Sho shout.
The three boys run out of the dining hall and charge up the hill for the main building. Michael lingers behind; in no particular hurry.
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Judai and the others attend classes all day long, but Ramirez never shows to any of them. As the day goes on, more and more people ask about him; including the teachers, but no one has seen him since yesterday. Judai and the others speculate, but no one can figure out why he wouldn't come to classes. "If he was sick, he shouldn't have been out of bed this morning." Sho remarks to the group while they make the return trip to the red hostel.
"I don't think he was sick." Michael contradicts.
"No?" Sho tries to think up another reason, but is at a loss for excuses.
Manjyome trails the group; listening to their conversation, but not actively joining in. He doesn't know why Ramirez hasn't shown his face all day, but he has a better idea as to why than the rest of the group.
Back at the red hostel, Sho and Kenzan follow Judai and Michael to their room. Manjyome, however, separates from the group to retire to his massive customized dorm room. As he unlocks the door, he overhears Judai inviting everyone over to Manjyome's room later to watch TV and eat snacks. Sho and Kenzan cheer. The vein in Manjyome's temple bulges out. "Hey, don't invite people over to my room without my permission!" Manjyome retaliates.
"Awww, but Manjyome-kun, why not? Your room is bigger than the dining hall." Judai argues.
"Yeah Manjyome-kun. Don't be stingy." Sho adds.
"That's irrelevant!" He retaliates. "It's my room, and if you want to come over, you have to ask me!" When the door swings open, Manjyome finds a large yellow envelope laying just inside the doorway. It isn't addressed or labeled. Judai and the others plead for Manjyome to let them come over, but he tunes them out, to give the envelope his full attention.
"What's that Manjyome-kun?" Judai asks curiously. He and Sho inch closer to try and sneak a peek. Without a word, Manjyome crushes the envelop and its contents in his shaking fist. "Manjyome-kun?" Manjyome storms off without explaining himself.
"Where's he going?" Sho asks. Judai shakes his head, and he calls out after Manjyome. Try as they might, none of them can get an answer from him.
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Sitting on the grassy embankment beside the lake, Ramirez reclines against his backpack and gazes up into the huge blue sky. White clouds stretch and morph as they race across their endless blue backdrop. His eyes linger on the sight, but at the same time, his mind wanders. He thinks back to yesterday. It was here, at this same spot, where he faced Manjyome. "I'll let you in, on a little secret? I only got close to her, to hurt you." Or so he said at the time, but he knows it was a bald faced lie. "I only said that, to rile him up." Ramirez explains to himself. He runs a hand over his face while shaking his head. "So why do I feel, guilty, for saying it?" He asks in a low wheeze.
Ramirez brings his hand down, and it brushes his deck box beside him. His two uneven eyes glance at the box attached to his belt. His large watchful eye jitters uselessly in a futile attempt to focus on the box, while his small seemingly dead eye, holds its gaze over it. He turns away from the box, and once more, his contradictory eyes drift across the sky. "My words, are like you; nothing, but contradictions." He whispers coarsely into the sky. "I never meant, to use you... But, when I told him, that I did... I ended up using you, after all..."
Ramirez struggles to breath, even though he's in the open breeze, on an island surrounded with nothing but fresh air. Almost mechanically, he opens his bag one-handed, gathers one of his short needle like straws from the bushel, and pops the cap off the end. His gaze remains to the sky, while he lifts his choker up and inserts the needle tip into his throat. With the tube in his throat, his breathing stabilizes. He uses the tube to help him breath for a minute, before removing the needle and covering it with its safety cap once more. He pockets the used tube in a side pouch on his backpack, then places a piece of gauss under his choker.
Breathing more regularly, Ramirez's thoughts drift off once more. He finds himself at a place he has been several times throughout the day. He can't shake the memory from his head. Or, he doesn't want to shake the memory from his head. The planetarium is dark, but it's inviting. He laughs weakly at the idea of an inviting darkness. "The darkness is never inviting." He reminds himself. "It only felt that way, because she was there, with me."
Even when he can't see things directly in front of him, Ramirez can see her clearly; her long slender legs, despite her being very short, her soft voluptuous breasts on her petite slender body, her smooth pale skin on this tropic island under the sun, her silky blond hair, and her dark brown eyes; strong and firm. Her unusual beauty is so mesmerizing that even when she is no longer around, Ramirez finds himself trapped in her spell. "She is a special girl." He admits. "I wish... If only, I could have held her, just once..." He thinks. "But, it'd never happen. Not her type." Ramirez knows full well, she is not the type to let him, or any guy, hold her like a doll. "Still..."
He remembers her soft voice. It's soothing, yet strong. It's a special voice, even though the words she says are nothing he hasn't heard before from a girl. Ramirez reminds himself, "That's right... She's just, an ordinary girl... A typical girl, with typical concerns... with extraordinary beauty. And I was fooled, into thinking she was special, inside and out." His eyes narrow at his own words. "No, I fooled myself, into believing, what I wanted... to believe."
Ramirez runs his hand over his face and head. His finger tips linger over his large eye. Staring through the gaps between his fingers, his large eye widens and his small eye narrows. "I don't have time, to waste chasing, ordinary girls..." He utters aloud in a cold dry rasp. "Even if..." His small lazy eye wavers.
"RAMIREZ!" Manjyome yells as he comes sliding down the hill beside the lake.
Ramirez tilts his head ever so slightly, and in a soft murmur, he asks, "What do you, want?"
Even before his words have left his lips, Manjyome arms his duel disk. "You're despicable." Manjyome snarls through heavy breaths.
Ramirez's eyes drift to the sky once more. "Yeah, I know."
"Get on your feet bastard! This ends now!"
"It's a little soon, for a rematch, Manjyome Jun." Ramirez replies softly. "I haven't even perfected, this deck yet."
"I don't give a damn!" Manjyome shouts and holds his clenched fist and duel disk out; pointing directly at Ramirez. "No more games. No more rematches. This time, winner takes all!"
"Is that, how you want, to play it, Manjyome?" Ramirez finally rises. He takes his duel disk from his back pack and his deck from the grass. With his duel disk secured to his arm, and his deck shuffled and set in the disk, Ramirez arms his disk as well. "So be it." The two stare each other down on the embankment. "The loser of this duel, must stand before the entire school, and admit, that they, are unworthy."
"No." Manjyome flatly refuses. "The loser of this duel must leave Duel Academia!" Removing his glasses, Manjyome reveals his eyes; like a serpent's ready to strike. "And they can never return."
Ramirez watches Manjyome's expression. It's obvious that Manjyome is dead serious and dead set on sending Ramirez packing. "As you wish." Ramirez holds his fist and duel disk out; pointing directly at Manjyome. "But when you lose, Manjyome, you can never have contact, with anyone from DA, ever again."
Manjyome tears his opening hand from his duel disk. "I'm not going anywhere!" He declares boldly and slides his glasses back on..
"We'll see." Ramirez utters, as he also gathers his opening hand.
At that moment, Judai and the others arrive. The group slides down the hill, and they come to a stop at the sidelines between the two boys. "What is this all about?" Judai demands to know.
"This doesn't concern you." Ramirez replies.
"Stay out of the way!" Manjyome adds.
The duel disk orbs cycle, and it's decided that Ramirez will go first. Drawing an additional card, Ramirez states harshly, in a deep raspy croak, "Manjyome Jun, this will be more, than your send off..." He shouts out, "Your humiliation duel, begins, now!"
Ramirez sets a monster, as well as 2 s/t cards, and he ends his turn. His life points show behind him at 4000.
Manjyome draws. "Hell Soldier, attack position!" Manjyome declares, and the fierce soldier takes his side of the field. Ramirez's eyes both narrow at the sight of the monster. Manjyome follows his play with the spell card, Hell's Sacrificial Embrace. Ramirez's grimace hardens as he watches the gray naked corpses of several demon-horned women snake up from the ground beneath Manjyome's Hell Soldier. They climb the soldier's body and hold him tightly; each wearing a seductive demonic smile. The soldier suddenly begins to scream as his body smokes in their arms. They all laugh a shrill demonic cackle before vanishing, and the soldier explodes in a burst of boiling blood that washes over Manjyome and Ramirez. Both boys flinch, and their life points drop by 600 points each. Manjyome activates another spell, Hell Pact, resurrecting Hell Soldier from the graveyard, but at the cost of its effect. Once his monster has taken the field, Manjyome activates Hell's Ruthless Summoning. A massive fissure opens in the ground, allowing two more Hell Soldiers to emerge and take the field beside the third. The secondary effect of Hell's Sacrificial Embrace kicks in. A demonic dead woman appears behind each of the soldiers and holds them from behind. Their attacks and defenses rise by 200 points each, making each Hell Soldier 1400/1600.
"Hell Soldier, attack!" Manjyome demands. The first Hell Soldier charges forward, and his demonic supporter vanishes with a shrill cackle. The monsters blade comes crashing down on a human skull; held over the head of Ramirez's Giant Rat. Giant Rat pushes the sword away; forcing Hell Soldier to regroup with the others. Again, the gray skinned demonic supporter wraps Hell Soldier in her embrace. Manjyome's life points drop 50 points.
"You can't even, kill a rat right." Ramirez remarks while he scowls at Manjyome's monsters.
Manjyome sets a s/t card and ends his turn. His life points stand at 3350. Ramirez draws. He shifts his Giant Rat to attack position and orders its attack. The rat charges head first into one of the soldiers. As Hell Soldier's sword falls on Giant Rat, Giant Rat's teeth sink into Hell Soldier's throat. Both are destroyed. Ramirez searches his deck and special summons a monster in Giant Rat's place. A fat ugly troll appears. It's eyes stare listlessly in opposite directions while it slobbers on the itself.
"Prepare yourself, Manjyome." Ramirez states. "Chiron The Mage, attack position." The centurion mage appears beside the slobbering Man Thro' Tro'. Ramirez discards Ojamagic for Chiron to destroy Manjyome's set card. Hell Blast is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. Ramirez grabs 3 Ojamas from his deck. He reveals their ripped, scribbled out card art to Manjyome, before adding them to his hand.
"Such shameful desecration of national treasures!" A shocked Ojama Black states.
"It's unforgivably heinous!" Ojama Green adds.
"Unforgivable!" Ojama Yellow agrees. "Big bother, you have to punish him for his treatment of such priceless artifacts!"
"Will you three shut up?" Manjyome hisses at the trio. The three wince and hide off to a side, where they form a huddle.
"Can we really still trust big brother, after what he did to us?" Ojama Green asks in a whisper.
"We put ourselves on the line for him, and even after what we did, big brother yells at us." Ojama Black points out. Ojama Yellow nods but withholds his verdict.
"I can still here you!" Manjyome growls under his breath. The three back off even further with false smiles, but he isn't interested in scolding them right now. He gives the duel his full attention.
Ramirez activates his set trap, Ultimate Offering. By paying 500 life points, he is able to summon Ojama Black. The card takes longer than usual to materialize, thanks to the horrendous condition of the card. When it finally does materialize, Ojama Black's spirit is sucked from the trio, to Ramirez's side of the field. Manjyome is as shocked as the other two Ojamas.
"No, this shouldn't be!" Ojama Green protests.
"Big brother!" Ojama Yellow calls urgently. "He shouldn't be able to call our spirits to his cards!" Manjyome looks harshly to Ramirez, as he sacrifices 500 more life points to put Ojama Green into play. Ojama Green's spirit is pulled to its mangled card on Ramirez's side of the field. With a third payment, Ojama Yellow is torn from Manjyome's side as well.
The three Ojamas look fearfully at the massive troll. One of his beady eyes drifts over the three, and his mouth gapes open in a retarded smile. "Me tro, funny men!" He declares. Ramirez points at Manjyome, and the troll grabs Ojama Green by the skull. With a sadistic depraved laugh, the troll hurls Ojama Green at Manjyome.
"Ahhhh! Big brother, forgive me!" He shouts out as he slams head first into Manjyome's stomach. Manjyome falls over, and his life points drop by 800 points. The massive stupid troll bobs up and down while clapping. Before Manjyome can recover from its first special attack, it grabs a second Ojama, Ojama Black, and sends him hurtling across the field.
"Big brother, I'm sorry!" Ojama Black cries out as he close lines his kneeling master. Manjyome falls on his back, and his life points dive another 800 points.
"MANJYOME!" Judai and the others cry out. Ojama Yellow follows his two brothers.
"Please big brother, don't hate us!" Ojama Yellow cries in mid flight. He strikes Manjyome, who is still lying sprawled out on the ground. Manjyome is rolled over by the attack.
"RAMIREZ!" Judai shouts. "How could you do that?"
Ramirez holds his hand out towards Judai. "You, were already warned. Don't get involved..." Ramirez looks at Judai, and his large useless eye bulges out; revealing the red veins around the edges. "Interfere, and I'll tear your arm, out of its socket." He breaths. Sho and Kenzan are openly horrified by his declaration. Ramirez turns his attention back to Manjyome. Their life points stand at 950 to 1900. "Your time at Duel Academia, is over, Manjyome Jun." Ramirez activates a continuous spell from his hand, causing a massive temple to appear behind him. "Turn end."
Manjyome rolls painfully to his knees, only to find himself under the shadow of the massive temple of Level Limit Area-B. All 4 monsters on the field are forced to their knees. But, despite the last turn, Manjyome's resolve hasn't wavered even a bit. He stands and pulls another card from his deck. He immediately activates the card, Pot of Greed. He draws 2 more cards. To his disdain, they aren't anything helpful. With his field filled with useless monsters, and his hand being equally useless, Manjyome activates Card Destruction to draw 2 new cards. He reveals one of his discarded cards as a trap called, Hell Idle. It allows him to draw 1 card for sending it to the graveyard, bringing Manjyome's hand size to 3. Ramirez discards 2 cards as well, to draw 2 new cards. He gives his new hand a curiously pleased smirk.
"Dammit!" Manjyome curses. His card may have backfired. All he has in hand is Ojamama, Force Back, and Hell Ring, and even with Hell Ring, he can't win. Ramirez will use Chiron's effect to destroy it, forcing him to activate it and kill himself. He needs to deal more damage. He curses himself for not activating Hell Blast. All he has now are options that depend on the order Ramirez plays his cards to force a draw, at best.
"It looks like you're, out of options, Manjyome." Ramirez states as he grins widely. "That's what you get, for trying to use, a Hell deck, against me!" Ramirez's breathing is erratic once more. "You don't know anything, about Hell, Manjyome Jun!" Ramirez states with an unusually sharp edge.
Manjyome does the only thing he can do with the three cards. He tributes his effectless Hell Soldier to put Ojamama into play. After taking the field, she is forced to bow to the massive temple and its idles. "Mama!" The three Ojamas cry out from Ramirez's Graveyard. "We're sorry mama!" Ojamama grits her teeth.
"It's okay, this time, boys." She replies without facing them. She struggles to stand, but can't defy the power of the temple. Manjyome watches her struggle, and it only enrages him more.
"It can't end like this." Manjyome breaths through his teeth. He sets his 2 traps, and ends his turn. "Please..." He pleads under his breath. "Please give me an opening. Let him make a mistake. Do something; anything..." Manjyome faces Ramirez once more. "To ensure this bastard doesn't win. I'll leave Duel Academia too, if it means getting him off the island!"
Ramirez isn't deterred by Manjyome's trembling fists or inaudible prayers to himself. He draws a card. Fanning out his hand, he has a Giant Trunade, Ojamandala, and a Threatening Roar. "All that's left, is to clear the backfield..." Ramirez thinks. "Then, activate Ojamandala, and launch the Ojamas for the win." His smirk widens. "It's finally over. Your luck, has run out." Ramirez tells himself.
"Manjyome Jun. You've been, an expectant disappointment, to the very end..." Ramirez tells Manjyome in his usual dry rasp. "This was meant, to be... Your humiliation duel. I was going, to defeat you, with the same cards, that denied me, of my victory." Ramirez gasps hard, but his grin remains wide. "But in the end, you humiliated yourself." He laughs at his own words. "Like a house of cards, you build your decks, on shaky foundations... It was inevitable, that it'd all, come crashing down, around you..." Ramirez laughs out loud.
Ramirez grasps one of his cards from his hand, and he activates it in his spell/trap zone.
"Duel disk force system shut down, initiate." With those words, the duel disks shut down, and the field clears.
"WHAT?" Ramirez shouts in furious disbelief. Turning to the sound of the voice, his large eye bulges out; threatening to leave its socket.
Asuka, Chronos, and James stand at the tree line. All three wear serious grimaces. Asuka leaves their side; walking in a purposeful straight line to Manjyome. "Tenjoin-kun?" Manjyome asks cautiously.
She holds her hand out to Manjyome. "The pictures." She demands in a shallow shaky voice.
"What's going on?" Judai and the others ask, but no one answers them. They look to Chronos for answers, but his face is grave. None of them has ever seen Chronos look so firm or terrifying. His tall lanky form and ice cold gaze are a frightening combination.
Manjyome hesitates, but eventually takes the crumpled envelope from his pocket and drops it in her hands. Asuka places one of her hands on top of his. He looks to her uncertainly. "And your glasses." She adds softly. Again Manjyome hesitates, but one look into her eyes, and he removes them.
The group gasps at the site of Manjyome's swollen eyes. "Manjyome-kun?" Judai asks in disbelief. Ramirez watches Asuka in an emotionless and unreadable stare.
"Let me see your face, boy." James demands. Manjyome faces him directly. "That'll do, boy." With James's approval, Manjyome slides his sun glasses on once more. Asuka returns to Chronos and James with the crumpled ball of paper. She hesitantly hands them over. With the papers in James's hands, he uncrumples them and examines the several large pieces of paper that came in the envelope. Chronos is shocked.
"Disgraceful!" He snaps. "How could a student do such a disgraceful thing to another student?" He asks rhetorically, and he shakes his head.
Ramirez doesn't move or ask any questions. He's smart enough to know, he's in enough trouble as it is, and anything he says or does could work against him. But, seeing her cooperating with them is too much for him to keep silent.
"I didn't figure you, to be, one of those, kinds of girls... You fooled me, twice." Ramirez states to Asuka.
"Shut up!" James demands. "You're in enough trouble."
Asuka avoids Ramirez's gaze, but meets him eye to eye momentarily to explain herself. "I'm sorry, but this has gone far enough."
James snaps his fingers at Ramirez. "You. Come with us." James demands. Ramirez manually retracts his duel disk, grabs his bag, and joins the two adults.
The group watches Ramirez walk around the lake, to the trail with the taller James and Chronos on his flanks. "What... What just happened?" Kenzan asks.
Sho turns to Asuka, who stands alone near the tree line. "What were those papers?" He asks. Asuka doesn't answer. She turns her head away, before walking off on her own.
"Asuka, wait!" Judai calls out, but she doesn't stop. Judai tries to catch up with her, but she takes off running into the woods. Judai immediately gives up his pursuit. "Asuka?"
"Big brother!" Kenzan shouts. Judai turns to find that Manjyome is also walking away. Judai calls to him as well, but he doesn't stop either.
"AHHH... What's going on around here!" Judai shouts into the blue sky.
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In the headmaster's office, Ramirez is forced to stand before the headmaster's desk, while he is questioned by James and Chronos. James slams the wrinkled papers down on the desk. "I shouldn't even have to tell you that taking photos like this is strictly prohibited." James starts as he leans over the desk. "Spreading vicious slander, starting fights with other students, ditching classes, and poisoning students... These are all grounds for disciplinary action, and all combined, more than enough to expel you."
James backs off as he takes a deep calming breath. "What do you have to say in your defense?" He asks. But, Ramirez remains silent. James slams his hands down on the desk once more, causing Chronos to jump. Again, Ramirez remains unmoved and doesn't make a sound. James leans over the headmaster's desk, meeting James face to face. "Say something dammit!" He demands. "Say something to at least try and justify your actions." Ramirez still doesn't respond. In a lower tone, James asks, "Do you have any idea how serious these charges are?" Ramirez's face remains devoid of emotion.
James leans back once more. "Do you really hate this boy so much, that you think you're justified in dragging an innocent girl into your petty school yard grudge? Because, you're not!"
"These charges are very serious. I'm disappointed and sickened by this display." Chronos states solemnly. "The actions of a gentleman, these most certainly are not."
James sighs and takes a seat in the headmaster's chair. Waving a hand at Ramirez, he asks, "Perhaps you could, at least, humor me with the details? A small incite into the method behind your madness, is all I ask. Or, shall I try my powers of deduction, and guess what events may, or may not have, transpired over the past two days?" James awaits an answer, but Ramirez defiantly protests with silence.
"You are a real piece of work, you know that?" James laughs incredulously. "Fine. Allow me, to tell you, what I believe, took place." He holds a hand up and begins counting on his fingers. "Let's see. First, we have the evidence: Exhibit A, two black eyes. An eye witness first-hand account; seeing only one punch thrown, being yours, hitting a boy from behind. A very manly showing, no doubt. And then, the same witness's account of seeing you kick the boy while he was down, no less than three times." James taps his fingers as he designates a finger to each piece of evidence. He finally throws his hands up in the air like he doesn't care anymore. "You know, that's enough to hang you right there. I don't even need to know the rest of the story, do I?" James asks to an unresponsive Ramirez.
James shakes his head and turns to Chronos. "Professor De Mediz. Would you like to know what I think happened?" James asks.
"What?" Chronos asks curiously.
"I think, my boy got in a fight with your boy, over one of your girls. I think, my boy, being the world's biggest ASSHOLE..." James shouts directly at Ramirez, before returning to his previous tone to finish his story. "Was shot down by your lovely little tart..."
"Miss Tenjoin?" Chronos asks.
"Right. The lovely Miss Tenjoin." James corrects himself. "And, to spite your girl, who spurned my boy, and to take revenge on your boy, who is an item with your girl, my boy got together with some of your girls, to cook up a revenge plan, involving..." James holds out his hand to Ramirez once more and counts off each offense on a finger. "Tricking a trusting girl into a compromising situation, where the two would be seen going somewhere out of sight, alone: Making for an ideal photo op..." He taps his next finger. "Poisoning her to make her seem conveniently ill in a days time..." He taps his next finger. "Defaming her with misguiding pictures doctored with libel... He holds up his fourth finger. "And, distributing them to your boy, with a blackmail note..." James arises from his seat with the pictures in hand, and he throws them in Ramirez's face. "And all, to get back, at some boy for being an item with a girl who wants nothing to do, with him!" Ramirez's fist tightens, but he remains tight lipped.
"Pick them up." James demands. When Ramirez refuses to move, James gets up, collects the pictures off the floor, and shoves them in Ramirez's face. "Look at them!" James demands.
"Sir, please..." Chronos begs; trying to reason with James.
Holding the pictures in front of Ramirez's face, James points out notes scribbled in marker over the pictures. The first picture depicts Asuka kneeling over a toilet; obviously not in the best of health. James points out the note and red circle around her. "I wonder what this one says." James comments. "Why don't you tell him, professor? Tell him what it says."
Chronos hesitates, but eventually comes behind Ramirez to read the message. "Has been gaining weight lately... I wonder why?" The message points at her stomach and has a smiley face rolling its eyes at the end of it. James points at the next message. "After what she did yesterday, no wonder she's sick." James pulls the picture away to reveal the next photo. The picture depicts Asuka leading Ramirez into the Planetarium with a smile. James points at the note for Chronos to read. "Tenjoin's not so secret life: She spends all her time with boys, after all!" Chronos shakes his head with disgust. "Lies!" Chronos protests. "Outrageous lies!"
James pulls the pictures away from Ramirez's face and tosses them on the desk. "So you think that's funny, huh? Is that your idea of justice? A girl doesn't want anything to do with you, so you hook up with some of her enemies to set up some quality shots?" James examines the pictures. He animatedly looks them over from various angles and laughs an exaggerated fake laugh at each of them. "I like this one. Jailbait in her jammies and panties... What's this one say again, professor? Something like, 4 days late, and still wearing white?" James snickers at it once more.
Ramirez is no longer the rock he once was. His body trembles, and his eyes are narrow. "Oh, that pissing you off boy? Or is it the situation? If you have something to add, now's your chance." James comments. Again, Ramirez says nothing. James exhales with a contemptuous hiss. "Get out of my sight. You're under house arrest indefinitely, until we decide what we want to do with you." Ramirez turns on his heel and marches out of the headmaster's office silently.
"As disgusted as I am, I think you were a little hard on him. Don't you think?" Chronos asks.
James replies as he cocks his head back. "Frankly professor, no one really cares what you think!" He and Chronos meet eye to eye, and James's eyes flash black, causing Chronos's eyes go blank. "Now go sit in the corner you scary bastard. The sight of you disgusts me." Chronos does as he is ordered, like a scolded child. He curls up in the corner of the room in the fetal position and sulks. Lilica appears from behind the drapes.
James waves the photos at Lilica with a smile. "See. Do I know how to pick them, or do I know how to pick them?" He chuckles; tossing the pictures on the desk once more. Lilica sits on the desk beside him and examines each photo. "This kid is a total scumbag; the epitome of human trash. He'd do anything to get what he wants. Add on his little problems, and we barely need to break a sweat to get some good results."
"He is ruthless." Lilica agrees. "There was no mistake that he'd be one of our best choices. His hubris is dangerous. But still..." She looks over the photos of Asuka being sick in the bathroom, as well as photo of Asuka dressed to go to sleep. "I can read a few of these comments, and... It's so bad."
"It was enough to make even a strong willed girl like her cry." James agrees. "Are you really astonished he'd go so far as to ruin a young girls life to hurt that boy?" He asks. Lilica nods, and it sends James into a fit of hysterics.
"What's so funny?" She asks.
"That's because he wouldn't." James replies amidst his laughter.
"I don't understand."
James sits beside her on the desk and holds a finger up in front of his face. "Follow me around the room on this one. The boy, had nothing to do with the photos. He didn't even know about them."
"That can't be!" Lilica states.
"It can be, and it does be." James laughs. "The girl's a total idol here, so naturally, she has a mess of enemies. A few of those girls snapped these pics of her and made those notes of their own will." James smiles deviously and shakes his finger in front of Lilica's face. "Remember what I said yesterday: There are already more than enough instigators present on the island to give him that final push. Once they meet..." He watches her eyes widen. "I made sure they met."
"You had them slip the photos under his door?" Lilica asks.
"With a forged blackmail note. Of course, that wouldn't have been enough. I also made it conveniently simple for the girl, Miss Tenjoin, to bump into the girls who took the pics while they handed out their photos to anyone interested in their gossip." He snickers. "She wasn't happy with that at all."
"What did she do?" Lilica asks, as she is drawn in by his scheme.
"She did what any girl her age would do. She got pissed, she took the pictures, she yelled at the girls, the girls yelled back, Ramirez's name is mentioned, with my influence, of course..." James adds with a smile. "And she storms off none the wiser to the truth... And then, she cried." He laughs at the last part. "Insert, phase two: With the girl's mind racing, and her emotions clouding her judgement and pride, two authority figures happen upon her; a straight A student, crying her little eyes out as she marches down a path alone, and of course, one of the two authority figures asks..." James waves his hand to Lilica.
"What's wrong?" Lilica finishes with a look of realization.
James nods with a pleased expression. "And the trap is complete. Emotional girl not thinking clearly, lets her guard down, and is invited to unload some of her burdens on two faces of authority... And the boy, is none the wiser to the truth. In his eyes, she actively sought out an authority figure to snitch on the two boys for duking it out, old school." James snickers. "A damn good plan, flawlessly executed, if you ask me. These kids are easier to manipulate than Sims."
"Oh, but..." Lilica interrupts James's gloating. "He poisoned her? We watched him do it."
"It never happened." James replies. "If that crap he gave her was poison, he'd have been sick too."
"Then..." Lilica wonders aloud.
"The girl was just sick." He replies matter of factly. "That's all there is to it. Happy convenient coincidence. After seeing the photos, she must have thought the sickness was part of his plan. Her bad." James chuckles.
"He's going to get kicked off the island now, and all because he was set up."
"Like I said." James declares firmly. "I'll handle this one, personally." James stands up. "Never mind that now. It's going to start soon. We have two sacrificial offerings lined up." He looks seriously to Lilica. "Go keep an eye on the first one. I'll watch from here." Lilica agrees, and with a silent nod, she steps through the drapes and is gone.
With Lilica on her way to supervise, James sits back down at the headmaster's desk. He examines the photos once more. "Stupid little tart. Romping around with young men all over the island; what did you think was going to happen?" A noise from the corner draws James's attention. He looks to the corner, where Chronos is sucking his thumb and whimpering. "Oh, stop your blubbering. You're embarrassing yourself." James states, as his eyes flash black once more.
Chronos suddenly snaps to. He looks around; baffled. "What?"
James shrugs his shoulder and lies, "You just sat down and started crying. I don't want to pry into your personal life, professor, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm sure that hot nurse of your's would be more than willing to listen."
Chronos is shocked. "B, b, b... But why? Why would I do that?" He asks embarrassedly. James shrugs as he burns the pictures with a scented candle on the desk. "What's that?" He asks to draw the conversation from himself.
"Nothing important, professor." James retorts. His slight smile is shown eerily by the flickering orange flame. "Nothing important."
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Ramirez storms through the woods. He can't digest all that's happened. Asuka's betrayal, the lies, James's smug attitude, Manjyome's escape from his defeat, and now, he is certainly going to be sent home. Ramirez can't contain his frustrations anymore. He shouts out into the evening sky, but even yelling isn't enough. It only makes him feel sick to his stomach. His strength rapidly leaves his body, and he falters, landing on his butt.
Sitting alone in the woods, Ramirez fights back the sick feeling in his stomach, and the tears welling up in his eyes. "I can't believe... I can't believe..." He relives James's furious accusations. "Asuka told them, that I, poisoned her?" He asks himself. "I'm so stupid! I got caught... In my own lie..." He cries out. "I've never even seen, those photos." He hisses under his breath and clasps his head tightly. "But, I knew... I knew the type... I knew, she'd have enemies! Stupid!"
Ramirez runs his hands over his head repeatedly. "I can't believe, she fooled me. I'm good... at judging people... And I didn't, see this coming. Not from her!" He stares up at the moon hanging low in the dark blue sky.
"God dammit!" He curses. "I'm so stupid!" The massive yellow moon reflects brightly in his eyes. "I'm getting sent home..." He utters in a shaky fearful rasp. Again, he clutches his head. "It hurts! It hurts! It burns!" He cries between his arms. His breathing goes out of control, and he finds himself gasping erratically but not drawing in any oxygen. He frantically tears through his bag, but he can't control his hands. He finally tips the bag over and shakes the contents out. Everything comes pouring out. Ramirez grasps one of the needle like straws from the pile, and he pushes it into his throat. He sucks air through the tube.
It takes him several minutes to stabilize his breathing. When he has calmed down, he has stopped trembling. He still clutches his head with both of his arms, but he is silent. His uneven eyes stare vacantly through the spaces between his arms. "Tenjoin Asuka..." He states in an empty hiss. "I don't care anymore. You and that bastard... You two deserve, each other." Ramirez sees Manjyome's worried face again, and his large eye bulges. "Manjyome Jun... I'm done, on this island... But I'm not done, with you." His black duel disk radiates an intense black aura. Unaware, Ramirez clasps his hand over the disk and adjusts it on his arm. An ominous mist engulfs Ramirez's entire arm. He can't help but smile a twisted depraved grin. His hand brushes across something that draws his gaze through the mist. When he raises his hand, it comes up holding the plastic charge card he got when he arrived. Ramirez laughs weakly at the card. "Manjyome Jun." Ramirez's silver duel disk orb, the white plastic charge cards, his large watchful yet unseeing eye; all three reflect one another, and all three reflect the brilliant yellow moon.
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That evening, Judai and the others sit to a meal in the Osiris Red dining hall. They speculate and wonder what will happen to Ramirez or why. "Manjyome and Asuka won't say anything about what happened." Sho reminds them.
CRASH! The group jumps at the sound of a window breaking. They quickly gather outside, where they find Manjyome's window broken. Manjyome comes storming out; looking furiously for the perpetrator. "Who did this?" He shouts at Judai and his group.
"Manjyome-kun..." Judai utters, pointing at a trail of blood leading into the forest. Manjyome has to take off his sun glasses to see it. Without hesitation, Manjyome and the others follow it.
The group emerges from the woods, to find Ramirez standing alone on a cliff. The waves crash below against the rock wall. The huge yellow full moon shines brightly over them. It seems so close that they could reach out and clasp it in their hands. Ramirez looks like a cornered animal at the edge of the cliff. His right arm gleams with shards of broken glass embedded in it. The blood trail leads to his arm that is still dripping.
Ramirez calls out in a throaty ghastly cry, "Man-jyome Juuun..." None of them can believe this is him. Ramirez's face is grotesquely contorted; The massive scar across the bridge of his nose, which is actually several smaller scars overlapping, turns upwards with his grin, like an additional smiling mouth. He is bent over with a slight hunch in his back, in the position of a primitive man. He laughs darkly in a heavy breath and stands erect. His large eye is open wide and has gone completely red, while his smaller eye is barely a narrow slit; focused solely on Manjyome. "Tonight, is the night..." He breaths. "That you die!" The moonlight shows a madman, and the crashing waves beneath them foretell a grim conclusion.
He holds out his duel disk and it glows with a soft dark light. Dark mist climbs over the cliff and spreads across the ground around all of them, until their feet and knees are obscured in a blanket of chilling black mist. "Manjyome..." Ramirez hisses. "In this game, one of us, will be killed, or both of us, will be killed. No draw - only loss..." Ramirez breaths harder. "If you try to run, you will fall, to your death. If you, refuse to duel, you'll fall... to your death."
Manjyome has no choice in the matter, but he sees a slim chance. "I don't have a duel disk." He states.
"Manjyome!" Judai shouts. When Manjyome turns his head, he sees Judai's duel disk soaring at him. He catches the disk and casts Judai a heated look.
"Thank your friend, Man-jyome." Ramirez hisses. "If he hadn't, have had it, I'd have made, that girl, bring one, and she'd play, in your stead..." His grin becomes an unreadable line. "You could have watched, that lying bitch, die first!" Ramirez's grin appears again, and widens to reveal his teeth. "Be happy, Manjyome. You get to die - tonight, for her sake... It's what, you've always dreamt of." He laughs even more grimly.
Manjyome arms his duel disk. Ramirez is pleased to see him ready. Unlike before, the duel disk orbs do not cycle. Rather, Ramirez pulls one card from the top of his deck without looking at it. "Pay the ferryman, Man-jyome... There won't be time, later." Ramirez clenches his teeth and hisses. "Spell speed, will determine initiative." Manjyome grabs his first card without looking. Both boys hold their cards out. Ramirez reveals his Beast Soul Swap, while Manjyome reveals Ojamama." Ramirez cackles in a dry croak. "How... unfortunate..." Both boys release their cards into the wind, and the cards are sucked over the cliff.
"MAMA!" The three Ojamas cry out.
"Don't disappoint me, boys." Ojamama's spirit replies, as her and her card vanish into the darkness.
Ramirez draws his opening hand out; oblivious to the three crying Ojamas who pledge their all to this fight. He is pleased with his opening hand, but despite it, he ends his turn after only playing a single card, Savage Mandrill in attack position.
Manjyome is shocked by his action, but he must seize this opportunity. He swiftly draws his opening hand and examines his cards. Everything he needs is there. Manjyome activates Graceful Charity, drawing 3 cards and discarding Ojamagic and Hell Idle. After retrieving the Ojamas, he draws an additional card. He follows with Fusion Sage to get a Polymerization from his deck. He fuses his 3 Ojamas into Ojama King, and activate the continuous spell, Spell Economics. Using Ojamandala without cost to revive his trio, he gives Ojama King a sorely needed stat boost with Ojama Muscle. All 3 Ojamas are destroyed, and Ojama King's attack rises to 3000. Manjyome shouts furiously that this will be the Ojama one turn kill, as he activates a second Ojamandala to revive the trio once more at no cost.
The three Ojamas growl at Ramirez. Manjyome equips Ojama Yellow with Hell Alliance to bring their attacks to 1600 each. Pointing at Ramirez, Manjyome orders Ojama King's attack.
Ramirez laughs at the attack as he watches Savage Mandrill decimated by the muscular Ojama King. Ramirez loses 1200 life points, but his life points drop by 2200 points. A massive green skinned ogre takes the field in place of the destroyed monster. Ramirez declares the appearance of the Forest Guard - Green Baboon. The massive ogre roars and raises his huge tree branch club over his head. The three Ojamas are shocked by the sudden appearance of the 2600 attack monster. Manjyome glances at the last card in his hand, before ending his turn.
Ramirez draws with an intense gaze. "Hell Alliance..." He scoffs. "Manjyome, I'll send you, and your trash, to hell..." His twisted grin becomes even more warped as his lips curl over, and Ramirez snarls at Ojama King. "Green Baboon, attack Ojama Yellow!"
Ojama Yellow defends himself fearfully, but he cannot match the massive ogre's brutal might. Ojama Yellow and Hell Alliance are destroyed. Ojama Green and Black call out to their fallen brother, as their attacks drop to 0. Manjyome loses 1000 life points.
As Manjyome's life points drop, he feels his leg fall into the mist as the ground gives way beneath him.
"The cliff is warped, by the darkness and hatred, in my heart. You'll fall, no matter what the outcome is!" Ramirez declares. His massive red eye pushes out of its socket and Ramirez's open mouthed grin pulls his jaw open as wide as it will go. He laughs at Manjyome miserably. The look on his face is one of miserable agony as much as unquenchable rage.
Manjyome erupts, "Why are you doing this? What is your problem with me?" Ramirez glares at Manjyome. His stretched skin pulls back tighter; maintaining his twisted smile, despite Ramirez's miserable hate filled eyes. "I never did anything to you!" Manjyome continues in protest fiercely. "I don't even know you! So why! Why have you come here with a grudge against me?"
"HOW DARE YOU, MANJYOME!" Ramirez yells. "How dare you try, to play the victim. You're no martyr! You're the embodiment, of everything... Everything I hate, IN THIS WORLD!" Ramirez's twisted face resembles a wolf's on its dying legs before its enemy. Ramirez draws several shallow breaths, as he fights to calm down enough to speak. "You're the tragic rich kid, so unfortunate, and so damned, to your miserable life, of luxury..." Ramirez gasps. "You don't know ANYTHING, about REAL pain!"
"And what gives you the right..." Manjyome retaliates. "Where do you get off playing the victim?"
To his words, Ramirez clutches his head. He digs his fingers into his scalp and he tears away a fleshy skull cap with his hair on it. Everyone's eyes widen at the sight. Ramirez stands silhouetted by the moon. In his left hand, he holds a short-haired wig. His nearly bald scalp is covered from the top to back with horrendous burn scars. He tips his head even more, while holding his firm gaze over Manjyome; revealing that the huge scared mass of flesh across his entire head also runs down the back of his head. Ramirez shouts, "This is where, my father, threw scolding water, on me! This, is real pain!"
Sho turns away and falls to his knees. He trembles in the mist. "Sho!" Judai and Kenzan shout. They kneel beside him.
"Big Brother?" Sho asks, but he can't manage another word. Michael remains dumbstruck by everything. The mist, Ramirez; it's all unreal to him. He turns away from Judai and the group, looking at Ramirez and Manjyome once more.
Ramirez continues, "This pain... It only compares, to the shame, of wearing a wig, made from the hair of others... for the rest, OF MY LIFE!" Manjyome swallows hard. Whatever righteousness and fight he had in him has been knocked out of him. Ramirez doesn't stop there. Dropping the fleshy wig into the mist, he seizes his collar and yanks down the neck of his shirt; ripping his shirt open to show a massive scar around his entire neck. He trembles violently, as he explains, "This, this... This is where, my brother's friends... This is where, they hung me, with an extension cord... and dragged me... behind their bikes..." He tears his shirt away revealing scars everywhere. "THIS IS THE PAIN, OF A LIFETIME, OF BRUTALITY!" He screams into the night sky.
Manjyome and the others falter at the sight. Sho remains on his knees, unable to look, while Michael watches through empty eyes. He is untouched by the sight and unresponsive to anything going on around him.
Ramirez runs his free hand over the impressions left by gun shots. "For being in the wrong place..." Ramirez utters into the sky. He no longer faces Manjyome. His fingers follow the scars, like a sadistic game of connect the dots; finally stopping on a long fat scar over his heart. His miserable grin turns upside down. "From being attacked, at school... by people, who didn't like, the way I looked..." He cries out a hollow laugh. His eyes fall back on Manjyome, and he shouts furiously with tears streaming down his face, "THIS IS REAL PAIN, MANJYOME! I'VE BEEN TO HELL! You want... to play the victim, I'll make you, the victim!" The ground caves away at Manjyome's feet, and he falls through the mist. Only barely catching himself, Manjyome dangles over the rocks and ocean below.
"MANJYOME!" Judai shouts as he rushes to him. But, he too nearly falls through as well. He pushes himself to his knees, and through an opening in the mist, he sees the ground shifting. He pulls his hand away as it opens beside him and mends seamlessly. "MANJYOME!" Judai cries out in warning.
Manjyome leers fearfully at the crashing black waves beneath him. He grips the ground with his both hands and pulls himself up. He gasps hard in the mist, before trying to stand. As he rises, his body jerks to a stop. He catches a glimpse of his coat is being swallowed in the ground. With a fierce effort, Manjyome tears himself free at the cost of ripping his black jacket.
Ramirez breaths hard, as the tears stream from his unblinking eyes. The light of the moon shining over him casts bold shadows beneath his scars and raised features. In the moon light, he looks like a monster more than a boy.
"We didn't know!" Judai calls out to Ramirez. "We couldn't have!"
Ramirez tips his head with a strained jerk. Through his open mouthed frown, he orders Judai to shut up and swings his arm and hand at them. The ground tears up in pillars of broken earth, knocking the group back.
"We didn't know." Manjyome agrees in a low empty tone. Ramirez meets with his gaze again. Manjyome's black ringed eyes are firm and emotionless. He continues with unwavering resolve. "We couldn't have known. And it wouldn't have mattered if we did. Those injuries have nothing to do with me, or anyone here."
"No..." Ramirez hisses, and his frown inverts to a fierce scowling grin. "They have everything to do, with you, Manjyome."
Two uneven eyes, and not one sees what the others see. His large red blood shot eye can no longer focus on anything, while his small narrow eye, gazes unblinkingly into the dark sky. Both eyes should only see darkness, but he sees the day light clearly. He sees images flashing before him. "Yeah..." He sighs. "It has everything, to do, with you..." Ramirez explains, as he watches the memory play behind his uneven eyes.
A young Ramirez sprints down the streets and through alleys of the city, as he tries to escape a neighborhood gang. "That day..." He starts, in a soft raspy murmur. "It wasn't enough, to beat me. They wanted me dead... just for being, alive." The older Ramirez, standing beneath the moon light, smiles with depravity, as the young Ramirez hides in a mountain of trash halfway down a narrow alley.
"I remember the way, it felt. The grit, and the grime... The bites, of the rats, and the roaches, as they tried, to eat me, alive... It was there... hiding, in people's discarded filth... It was there, that I found... my first card."
The scarred teenage boy smiles wider into the sky. "I lost them." He laughs. "I managed to live, another day... I don't know why, but I kept it... the card." Ramirez's face cycles between a grin and a frown, as he remembers the painful time. The others cannot see the sights he has seen, but through his expression, they feel his feelings, as if they were there.
"A few days, later..." He continues to murmur. "I was looking down, the barrel, of a sawed off shotgun... And they shot me." His expression becomes blank. "It didn't fire?" He breaths in a shallow breath, and then he begins laughing softly. "They beat me, half to death; rupturing, my eye... but they didn't, kill me. I should, have died... I thought... The card, it saved me." Ramirez's narrow eye drifts in all directions, as he smiles and frowns; never closing his mouth. His raspy voice becomes fainter and dryer with each breath.
Smiling once more, Ramirez continues. "After surviving that, I began searching... Searching for more cards, people had thrown... away. I had to have more. It's all... It's all, I could think about. And, I found more." His depraved smile grows, and the confidence in his voice rises. "I found, lots more. People discarded them, so readily." His gaze falls back on Manjyome. The life comes back to his voice. "I remember... seeing others, playing with, their expensive disks, while I... I reeked of trash, and was starving." He giggles uncontrollably as he runs his arm over his scarred scalp. "They would lose, with their fancy disks, and throw their cards away. And I... I would pick, them up..." He gestures with his hand; snatching at the air. "and keep them, for myself." His narrow eye widens, as he smiles at Manjyome. Manjyome watches cautiously. All he can do is stand still in the swirling mist, and pray the ground doesn't open and drop him on the rocks below.
"One day, I was challenged, by some snobby, little, rich kid, who was pissed, because he lost... And, he threw his cards, away..." Ramirez's voice returns to normal, but his twisted smile holds firm. "He caught me, picking up the cards, after he had walked away. He wanted them back." Ramirez states forcefully. "I wasn't going, to give them back, FOR ANYTHING!" Ramirez shouts. "They, WERE MINE! I, had salvaged them!" Ramirez breaths hard through his now clenched teeth. "So, I challenged him, for the cards."
Ramirez laughs through his teeth, and his eyes water into streams running into his mouth, which is twisted in a crooked smile. "I didn't even know, how to play... but I played him. That kid, he talked, so much trash, and all the big game, he could muster... But he, couldn't beat me." Ramirez laughs confidently. "A rich kid, with expensive cards, all the money, in the world, and he couldn't, beat me, and my trash!"
"After that, I began challenging, more rich kids, for money, and for rare cards, that I could sell. I won all, of my fights, and I, was making money!" Ramirez gestures to himself repeatedly. "I was... Me! I was getting paid! I was eating..." Ramirez cries out in a miserably anguished howl. He utters to himself repeatedly as he runs his arm over his scalp. "I was eating... I was eating... I was eating meals, with my money, that I had earned..." He regains himself and glares coldly at Manjyome. "I was paying people, to use their showers... I was buying, new clothes... I didn't have to go home, anymore... I could just pay, some kid from school, to let me spend the night, at their place..."
He becomes more forceful, and the dark mist swirls around him like clawed hands grasping at his body but unable to keep hold of it. "I used these crap cards, to defeat duelists, and their expensive decks, of elitist cards, and I was alive!"
"I met up, with those guys, again... The ones, who tried to kill me, and they wanted, to kill me, again... But I lived." Ramirez states it boldly, pointing his thumb at himself. "I made a deal, with the devil... to make them money, and they let me, live... I had value, to them... So, they let me, keep on living, and make money, for them. I was able, to keep living, by paying them, most of my winnings... but I was able, to keep a little, to myself... to survive on."
Ramirez laughs and shakes his head. "But those, stupid bastards... They got, the idea, that they, didn't need me, anymore. They thought, it was sooo easy, to keep on winning..." Ramirez laughs even harder, until he is choking for air. His wild smile remains unbroken by the lack of oxygen. "So.." He resumes in a raspy tone as though he couldn't care less. "They beat me, and stole, my cards. Even my first card... My good luck charm, that saved me." Ramirez laughs wickedly. "Stupid bastards! Fools! They couldn't win. They couldn't play... Not, like me. They muscled, themselves, out of a free lunch. And they were so pissed, they burned, all, of my cards." He shakes his head as he laughs. "But, it didn't matter. It wasn't the card, that saved my life. It, was me! I was the one, who was good, and was beating, the elites... even without, good cards." Ramirez's face returns to the most normal it has been. "My decks got stolen, and destroyed, over, and over, and it didn't mean, a god, damn, thing!" Ramirez pats his chest. "Because I, survived."
Judai and Kenzan remain on their knees beside Sho, who still refuses to look. Michael watches Ramirez silently, and Manjyome holds his position. With Ramirez's unstable state, the mist rises and falls unpredictably. At times, it reveals the shifting ground around Manjyome; as it bluffs to swallow him before retreating.
"I ran away, after that." Ramirez states in his usual dry rasp. "I got new cards, more money, a new home, and I ate well... ever since. I survived, by my own strength, and ability, to grift, and defeat, people who thought, they, were better, than me. Their arrogance, was my gain. I decided, back then, that I would go pro, on my own skills, and ruthless, survival instinct... and I'd live the life, of luxury, that others, from where I was from, could only dream of." Ramirez clenches his fist. "I'm going to make enough money... to have that place, torn down: every crack house, and gang hangout. I'll burn it... I'll burn it, to the ground... with them in it, if possible." He adds with a laugh. "I'm going, to have those bastards, who hurt me, and chased me, through the streets, like a wanted dog... And I'll, have them stamped out, in cold blood." Ramirez's grin returns; hard edged and malicious. "I've known rats, who'd kill, for a hit of crack. I'll pay them, truck loads of it, to kill those bastards, who took, MY LIFE!" Ramirez's shouts out, and the mist rises to their waists. His bulging red eye drips streams of blood, that fall into the darkness.
Ramirez raises his arm and duel disk to Manjyome. His huge green ogre breaths hot breaths over the two remaining Ojamas. "I knew you looong, before ever coming, here, Manjyome Jun." He states with a fierce grimace, like a snarling beast. "I watched you duel, on a big screen TV, in the middle, of the downtown, shopping district. I had just eaten, real well... for the first time, in long while... after beating, some rich punk, and I... I was on top of the world..." He opens and closes his fist at his side, while clenching his fist extended at Manjyome, even tighter. "I was going to shower, for the first time, in weeks, and there you were, on that big screen... The youngest Manjyome, crying, and feeling sorry for himself." Ramirez shakes his head. "I was so disgusted. I couldn't believe, some rich, snobby, brat, could cry, about being able, to live, a comfy, cushy life, at one, of the greatest places, in the world, in the eyes, of someone, like me... Oh, but the world, was captivated by you... They couldn't, get enough, of you." Ramirez staggers, as he gasps for breath. He squeezes his fists tighter. "They cried..." He states in spiting disgust. "With you... They felt, sooo bad, for you, that some of those assholes, would have sold, their own children..." Ramirez laughs incredulously. "Right there, and then... And all, to support, you, and make, you, feel better..." Ramirez's small eye narrows as he shakes his head. He can't grasp the situation. "Little Jun Manjyome, the poor little rich boy, who cries, when his feelings get hurt, by his older brothers..." Ramirez's antagonistic laughs turn to genuine crying, and tears fall down his face. "Where was, their compassion, when my brother, tried to carve, my organs out, to sell, to feed his habits? Where was, their compassion, when I buried, my few true friends? Where was the justice, Manjyome?"
He points furiously at Manjyome. Tears fall down his cheek from his narrow eye, while tears of blood fall from his large stressed red eye. "You, are the embodiment, of EVERYTHING, I hate! You tragic martyr, who's never felt, real pain, a day, in his life. You've never felt, the hunger... Given the world, on a silver platter... never having, to struggle, for anything, and the world is crazy... Everyone, latches on to you, like the tragic hero, of the people... Your family hordes wealth, and their corporations, pay slave wages, carrying nothing, about the people, who have nothing! The people, in my old neighborhood, wallow in self pity, just like you, because they, are wronged, by people, just like your brothers. They blame, their poverty, and destitute, on people, like your brothers, while they destroy, themselves!" Ramirez trembles. "It's unforgivable. These weak people, all deserve to die, and all those people, like you, deserve to die! I've fought to live, and overcome them, all, on my own. This, is real power, Manjyome!"
Ramirez stands gasping under the moon, and Manjyome stands silently before him. Despite Ramirez's struggles, his suffering, and his declaration, only one of the boys cries. Manjyome's face is firm and unmoved. "Finished?" He asks callously. He holds his duel disk out at Ramirez. "We all have hardships: Regardless of how tragic or fortunate yours are..." Manjyome's eyes narrow coldly. "The ability to suffer and feel pain are not your's exclusively." Manjyome declares. "You claim to overcome so much, but you are nothing, but an envious hypocrite. You claim to hate people like my brothers, yet that's the life style you wish you could live and actively strive for now. You hate me..." Manjyome declares pointing to himself. "Because you can't be in my, or my brothers' shoes." Manjyome scoffs at Ramirez's story. "Poor Ramirez, the unfortunate tragic victim." Manjyome remarks antagonistically, and pointing at himself once more with determined eyes. "I'm here because of my own struggles! If I hadn't of struggled, you wouldn't have me here as your scapegoat to envy. If my brothers didn't struggle, they wouldn't have their business and fortune!" Manjyome throws his hand out as he dismisses Ramirez's sufferings. "Everyone here has suffered before coming here, and everyone here will suffer after leaving. Painful things happen: deal with it! For the one Ramirez crying and feeling bad for himself here; seeking vengeance on anyone he can push the blame on for his misfortune, there are hundreds of people who have suffered more, who aren't here crying about it!"
"BURN IN HELL, MANJYOME!" Ramirez hisses. He sets a single card and ends his turn.
Manjyome draws. He shifts his two smaller Ojamas to defense position. Then declares his attack. "Ojama King, destroy Forest Guard - Green Baboon!"
Ramirez activates the set trap card. At first, there is only a large standing continuous trap card, depicting black mist. The mist around Ramirez takes a card from the center of Ramirez's deck, and Ramirez slides it in his Graveyard. An instant later 5 enormous arrowhead like anchors come rocketing out of the standing trap card. The first tears through Ojama Kings throat and crashes into the ground behind Manjyome. The second tears through Ojama Kings right forearm. It too embeds itself in the earth beside Manjyome. A third tears through Ojama Kings left leg; dropping him to one knee. It also lands in the ground at Manjyome's side. The remaining 2 chains tear through Ojama Black and Ojama Green, nearly tearing them in half before embedding in the ground. Manjyome is shocked by the massive anchored chains.
"Bi... Br...th..." The Ojamas cry to Manjyome weakly, as their stats fall to 0/700. Ojama King's stats fall to 2100/2100. The massive Green Ogre groans at the weakened Ojama King. Manjyome looks scornfully to Ramirez who grins widely at the pain of Manjyome's monsters. Manjyome sets 1 card, and ends his turn.
Ramirez draws and waits. The clang of thick, heavy, iron chains shaking and crashing together fills the air. Manjyome searches all around, but can't find the source.
"Bro..." Ojama Green utters weakly. Manjyome looks to his impaled Ojama and notices that all of the chains hanging out of his monsters are being jerked on; causing them to rattle. Manjyome squints into the dark mist. A bright red triangular eye shines through the mist. Manjyome reals back, nearly falling again. He watches the mist as it is sucked down the hole in front of him. The details come into view, as it gets closer. A slender human shaped creature with six arms; three on each side, rises up the chains. The entire right side of its body is bound in heavy iron chains, with all three right arms bound to its right leg; forcing the creature to lean to its right. Its main left arm is crossed over its chest with its hand on its shoulder, and the arm is wrapped in chains and chained to its body. The chained right leg dangles uselessly with a massive anchor, as large as the creature, hanging from it. Its two extra left arms are wrapped around the chains extending above it; the chains embedded in his Ojamas. It rises one inch at a time, in a hand over hand fashion. Its eery movements mimic a medieval elevator as it rises and comes to a jerky stop on each floor, before continuing. Despite climbing up the cliff head first, its face is the most obscure part of it.
Manjyome leans back as the two massive slender arms rise high over his body and land beside Manjyome. Several more anchored chains fire into the sky and grip in the clouds. It climbs those chains, until its body has fully emerged, and its massive anchor hangs over the ground like a swaying guillotine. Its human like face is revealed to be a mask with its entire left side of its face being a huge downward facing curved horn, while its entire right side of its head above the small triangular eye is a curved horn pointing upwards. The creature's left leg is missing entirely. Ramirez marvels at the creature. "The Chained Beast, of the Asylum." He utters in awe. His face wavers between evil smiles and the verge of crying.
The creature's moans of anguish are muffled by the mask. It's stats rise from 0/0 to 2500/2500. With his newly summoned creature, Ramirez declares his attack on Ojama King. The six armed creature grips the chains over it in its two free hands, and it rocks itself until it truly is swaying like a guillotine. It releases over Ojama King, cutting the monster in half and plunging through the ground. It comes to a jerking stop by grabbing the chains in the Ojamas they squeal in anguish. Manjyome is hurt by the cries as well. His life points fall to 1700 points. Manjyome gasps as the creature rises over him once more. He terrified by the massive head, more than twice as large as him, rising before him. It's stats recalibrate to 1000/1000. Ramirez declares the attack of his Green Baboon. The beast smashes through Ojama Green; shattering a chain in the process. The beast clings to a single chain with stats of 500/500. Ramirez ends his turn.
Manjyome draws once more. He activates the newly drawn Pot of Greed. Then he follows it with Dark Factory of Mass Production to recover his Ojamas. Manjyome summons Ojama Yellow and activates the quickplay spell, Ojama Blitz to special summon Ojama Green. With the 3 Ojamas on his field, Manjyome activates his last card, Fair Advantage. For each non-effect monster he controls, Manjyome is allowed to draw 1 card. He draws 3 cards for his Ojama threesome. His eyes glimmer with hope at the sight of his new cards. "Ojama Delta Hurricane!" He declares. The chained anchor in Ojama Black holds firm as he joins his brothers in their special attack.
"This is for Mama!" Declares Ojama Yellow.
"And for hurting my brothers!" Cries Ojama Green.
Ojama Yellow and Ojama Green shout out their ultimate technique. "Ojama Delta Hurricane!"
Their special attack destroys all of Ramirez's monsters, but Ramirez only laughs at Manjyome's attempt. The three Ojamas are torn apart, as the chain in Ojama Black jerks him to the ground once more. He screams in pain. The Chained Beast of the Asylum holds firm, awaiting its time to ascend the chains once more. Manjyome scowls at the monster. "Shit!" Manjyome curses. He has no choice but to activate another card. "Ojama Break!" The 3 Ojamas turn into spheres of light and return to his deck. The final chain falls into the ocean below, along with the Chained Beast of the Asylum. Manjyome draws 3 cards and gains 1000 life points. His life points rise to 2700 against Ramirez's 1800, and he fans his hand out to reveal 4 cards against Ramirez's 4 cards. Ramirez is undeterred by the loss of his monster. Manjyome examines his new cards. Amidst his mess of cards, he may see the light. He sets two of his cards and ends his turn.
Ramirez draws. He activates the spell card, Gift From Hell. By revealing and discarding Ojamagic, Tenacious Badger, and Twinheaded Beast, he is able to draws 3 new cards, which he reveals to Manjyome. 1 card is Mystic Wok, the other is the trap, Hell's Idle, and the other is Manticore of Darkness. The trap is discarded as well, but its effect lets Ramirez draw a new card for it. He grabs his 3 Ojamas from his deck and pays 800 life points to special summon Tenacious Badger to his side of the field.
He immediately sends the Ojamas to the graveyard with another Gift From Hell, along a spell, Hell's Sacrificial Treasure. He draws 4 cards and reveals them to Manjyome. He smiles sadistically at the sight of his newly drawn cards. He is forced to discard Threatening Roar and another Hell's Idle, but he doesn't care. Nothing can rob him of his joyous draw. He uncaringly draws a new card for his discarded Hell's Idle. Again, his eyes widen,a nd his long grim grin curls up. Ramirez activates Mystic Wok, to wipe out Tenacious Badger; bring his life points to 2800. "Its time. It's time!" He declares eagerly. Breathing heavily, he activates the spell card, Alchemic Beast. He reveals Manticore of Darkness and Exarion Universe in his hand, and selects 4 beasts in his Graveyard; Twinheaded Beast, Savage Mandrill, and two of the three Ojamas. He laughs as the 6 cards vanish into a swirling mass behind Ramirez. The two Ojama spirits squeal as they are torn from Manjyome's deck and sucked into the swirling mass. Ramirez pays 2400 life points as well, dropping him to 400 life points. A massive shadow appears behind him.
Manjyome is awed by the monster's appearance. From the swirling mass, descends a mountainous beast that towers over Ramirez and the field. The 8-legged centurion rears up on its two pairs of back legs. The enlarged torso of Manticore of Darkness is fused to the horse's body and legs. The huge lion head now has two sets of animal horns. It's impossibly large and hairy wings open as billowing flames, and its scorpion tails coil at its end quarters. "Your humiliation, has not, yet, ended..." Ramirez breaths. A small cry draws Manjyome's gaze to the massive beast's chest. Ojama Black and Ojama Yellow's faces are stretched across the beast's chest like small pimples on the mass of muscle. Their skin and bodies is fused gruesomely into the creature. "Behold Manjyome, The Ultimate Beast - Hell Chimera!" The massive Beast Warrior roars into the night sky.
Ojama Yellow tries to plead to Manjyome, but his mouth is a fused piece of skin in the creature's chest. The monsters stats calculate at 4900/7000. "Not yet..." Ramirez breaths. "It's not enough." He activates Wild Nature's Release. The monster bursts into flames and roars fearsomely, shaking the trees around them. It's attack skyrockets to 11900/7000. Ramirez is overwhelmed by its immense power. He cries in awe and orders its killing strike. "Ultimate Beast - Hell Chimera, one turn kill!"
Manjyome, activates his set card, Hell Bell. A single bell falls from the sky and hits the ground with a ring. Then it explodes in a cloud of dust. "Hell Bell will end any phase of this turn, at the cost of two of the same phases on my turn." Manjyome explains. He sacrifices 2 of his future Battle Phases to ensure Ramirez has no Battle Phase this turn. The dust of the bell floats in front of Ramirez, creating a barrier of tiny shards of glass.
Ramirez doesn't care. He utters to Manjyome, "Hell Chimera, holds the effects, of all its components... No matter how, you stall, you will die." Manjyome contradicts him, stating that his monster will die at the end of this turn. "You think so?" Ramirez smiles wider. "Turn end." Just as Manjyome predicted, the monster goes insane; bucking and kicking with 2 pairs of legs at a time. The ground splinters and quakes at its feet. Ramirez takes one of his beasts from the spell/trap zone of his duel disk and sends it to the graveyard. Hell Chimera reacts. Manticore of Darkness's head turns down and bites the little Ojama Black pimple, popping it in his mouth. Ojama Yellow shrieks as the small blood splotch on Hell Chimera's body, where his brother once was. Hell Chimera regains control of itself, and it's defense drops 1000 points. "Hell Chimera will survive, as long, as it has, sacrifices!" Ramirez laughs while tears continue to fall down his cheeks.
Manjyome is horrified by this grotesque disgusting creature. Ojama Green weeps for his brother, even as his spirit reappears beside him. While intact, Ojama Blacks spirit is hollow; almost devoid of vitality. Ojama Green hugs him tight, but he can only stand in his arms and weep.
"You've become a monster." Manjyome states.
"No." Ramirez contradicts. "I've become, human." He leers miserably under the shadow of the massive fiery beast.
Manjyome draws. After examining his card, he turns his head away from Ramirez. "Trap card, open." He declares in a hollow voice. Hell Ring flips face-up. A massive spiked ring wraps around Hell Chimera's neck. Hell Chimera roars and grips the spiked collar as it bursts into flames. Manjyome explains. "Select 1 face-up monster on the field. Both players will take damage equal to the monsters attack."
"What, do you intend, to do, Manjyome? Die with me?" Ramirez asks in an empty hiss.
"No." Manjyome replies. "This is the hell created by your own hatred. Only you, sacrificed all hope of salvation." Manjyome reveals his spell from his hand, Ring of Defense. Ramirez's bleeding red eye bulges, at the site of the card. The flaming spiked ring drives its massive spikes inwards before exploding; sending flames raining down over all of them. Ramirez and his ultimate beast are consumed by the flames, while Manjyome is protected by the spinning Ring of Defense.
As the flames rain down over the duel field, the cliff tears in half and falls away. Ramirez and his ultimate beast fall with it. His screams vanishes into the crashing waves below. With Ramirez's loss, the black mist dissipates. Judai and Kenzan run to help Ramirez.
"Big brother! There's a way to the shore here!" Kenzan shouts.
Despite hearing the urgent shouting from the others, Manjyome doesn't move. He stands alone at the new cliff edge; looking down. For a brief instant, he sees Ramirez's in the black ocean as he is slammed into the canyon wall with the crashing surf, before being dragged into the ocean by the waves. Manjyome's face is empty as he watches. He has no intention of helping Judai and Kenzan.
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At the infirmary, Emi Ayukawa examines Ramirez, while Judai and the others wait to hear her report. James, however, doesn't need to a report to declare the boy's fate. "Between his injuries and all the rules he has broken, he's going to be sent home, indefinitely." James states. Judai and the others try to explain the situation to Chronos, but James dismisses it as their imagination. "It was a traumatic experience watching him fall from the cliff." James states. "While none of you should have been out there, it wasn't anyone's fault the cliff collapsed. You had no control over it."
"It's true!" Kenzan protests. "Manjyome! Tell them what happened."
"Yeah Manjyome!" Judai agrees. They try to get Manjyome to confess what really happened, but he doesn't say a thing. He simply remains at the back of the room, with his arms folded across his chest.
James dismisses their claims again. "Look, we've been over this. It was dark, and it happened very suddenly. I know you all must feel guilty, but you can't make up stories to try and explain it. It's not healthy."
"He's right." Miss Ayukawa agrees; turning her attention to them. "This isn't any of your faults." Judai and Kenzan try to protest once more, but James urges Chronos to control his students.
Chronos nods frantically. He demands the boys stop their non-sense and return to their rooms at once. "Whatever more that needs to be said can wait until tomorrow." With that, Chronos ushers them out of the infirmary. Manjyome turns and leaves of his own will.
Emi calls to them as they are forced out the doorway. "Please, if any of you feel the need to talk, don't hesitate to come to me. I'll be here."
With the kids all gone, Chronos turns to come back, but this time, James urges him to leave. "These kids are under my supervision, professor. I can manage without you for the evening."
"Oh?" Chronos breaths in surprise. With nothing more he can do, Chronos leaves as well.
James stays behind to talk with Emi Ayukawa. Looking over Ramirez, Emi explains, "Miraculously, his wounds are mostly superficial. I don't understand it. A fall like that should have killed him, but he is alive and almost unharmed. There are no broken bones, nor any apparent signs of head trauma. It's as though he was protected. Like... he was guarded by an angel."
"Perhaps, a devil." James quips. His comment draws her concerned glance. "Is that it?" James asks; ignoring her gaze.
"Well, yes, but no. I can't find anything else wrong with him, but he hasn't regained consciousness yet, and I haven't been able to wake him up."
"I doubt he'll regain consciousness anytime soon." James remarks. Again, his remark draws her concerned gaze. "Stress, and all that..." James adds, to turn her attention away. "If that's all, I'll leave him in your care for the night."
"Yes." Ayukawa agrees. James spares her a curious glance as he watches her rub Ramirez's scarred bald skull. "He's so scarred." She breaths.
"Practically a monster." James adds with a slight smirk.
"No." She retorts. "He's not a monster. He may look like this, but the only monsters are the ones who would do these kinds of things to a child."
"The way I understand it, his brother and their friends did most of the damage."
Ayukawa's eyes soften. "That's so terrible."
James finally leaves. As the door closes behind him, he states firmly to himself, "Yes. Children can be so cruel." He smiles at his own words and begins laughing out loud as he leaves Ramirez under Emi Ayukawa's care.
Chapter 6 - End
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Author Notes: Hopefully this chapter came out well. I really hauled ass to get it done in a timely manner, and I think it turned out well. The only notes I have for this chapter are on the Hell cards. They were rather hard to make, because they were meant to be intentionally weak, underpowered, or over costed, to mimic the real Hell cards. The TCG/English Hell cards are all named Chthonion or Inferno, but I chose to stick with Hell, as censorship pisses me off.
I also drew up a few quick rough sketches behind the ideas in 2 of my monster cards. Those card pics are linked in the card description below, and in the story as they appear. Sorry if they are unpolished and very unfinished, but I gave up drawing a lifetime ago, and only wanted the sketches to give an idea of what I was trying to convey.
EDIT: This site doesn't allow links to pics, unfortunately, so you'll have to ask me for the links if you want to see the pics. Sorry about that.
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Author Cards: These are my cards, minus a few cards that may be here to remind people of what they do (mostly in the event of anime only cards).
Hell's Sacrificial Embrace
Spell
Effect: Tribute 1 monster on your side of the field, to inflict damage to both players Life Points, by an amount equal to half the original ATK of the Tributed monster. After this card successfully resolves, as long as this card remains in your Graveyard, increase the ATK/DEF of all monsters on your side of the field with "Hell" in their names, by 200 points.
(Art: Six naked gray-skinned women with demon horns lounge on top of each other in a pile, holding a man's dried up corpse. Each smiles seductively, while the dead demon girl in the front licks her bloody nails.)
Hell Pact
Spell
Effect: Select 1 monster in your Graveyard with "Hell" in its name, and Special Summon it to your side of the field. Effects of the selected monster are negated for as long as it remains face-up on the field, and when the selected monster is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, it is removed from play instead.
Hell's Ruthless Summon
Quickplay Spell
Effect: You can only activate this card when a monster with an ATK of 1500 or less with "Hell" in its name is Special Summoned to your side of the field. Special Summon all copies of the Summoned monster from your hand or deck to your side of the field. When this card resolves, for each copy of the Summoned monster in your Graveyard, you take damage equal to the original ATK of the Summoned monster.
Hell Idle
Trap
Effect: This card can only be activated, when a card with "Hell" in its name on your side of the field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. Add the destroyed card(s) to your hand. When this card is sent to the Graveyard without being activated, draw 1 card from your deck.
Hell Bell
Quickplay Spell
Effect: This card can only be activated during your opponent's turn, select any of your opponent's Game Phases (Draw Phase, Standby Phase, Main Phase 1, Battle Phase, Main Phase 2, or Battle Phase), and skip them this turn. During your next 2 turns, you must skip all Phases you selected.
Ojamandala
Spell
Effect: This card can only be activated while you have an "Ojama Yellow", "Ojama Green", and "Ojama Black" in your Graveyard. Pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon an "Ojama Yellow", "Ojama Green", and "Ojama Black" from your Graveyard to your side of the field.
Magic Shard Excavation
Spell
Effect: Discard 2 cards from your hand to add 1 Spell Card to your hand from your Graveyard.
Ojamama
Light, Beast, LV 6, 1500/1500
Effect: When this card is summoned, destroy all cards on the field with "Ojama" in their names, other than this card. You can only have 1 "Ojamama" in play at a time. When this card battles with an opponent's monster, by removing 1 "Ojama Yellow", "Ojama Black", or "Ojama Green" in your hand or Graveyard from play, skip the damage step. Afterwards, your opponent's monster is destroyed and removed from play. When this card destroys a monster with its effect, it may attack once more in a row. When this card attacks your opponent's Life Points directly, by removing 1 "Ojama Yellow", "Ojama Black", or "Ojama Green" in your hand or Graveyard from play, increase the ATK of this card by 1000 points, for the damage step only. Only 1 of each of the above named cards may be removed from play by one of this card's effects per turn.
Ojama Blitz
Quickplay Spell
Effect: You can only activate this card when you Summon an "Ojama Yellow", "Ojama Green", or "Ojama Black". Special Summon an "Ojama Yellow", "Ojama Green", and "Ojama Black" from your hand, until you have 1 of each on your side of the field. Change all monsters on the field with "Ojama" in their names, to attack position. At the End Phase of this turn, all monsters on the field with "Ojama" in their names change to defense position.
Ojama Break
Quickplay Spell
Effect: Return 1 "Ojama Yellow", "Ojama Green", and "Ojama Black" on your side of the field to your deck, and shuffle your deck. Increase your life points by 1000 points, and draw 3 cards from your deck.
Forest Guard - Green Baboon
Earth, Beast, LV 7, 2600/1800
Effect: When a Beast-Type monster on your side of the field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you may pay 1000 life points to Special Summon this card from your hand or Graveyard.
Anchored Chains of the Beast
Continuous Trap
Effect: This card can only be activated by sending 1 "Chained Beast of the Asylum" from your hand or Deck to the Graveyard. Shuffle your Deck afterwards. As long as this card remains on the field, monsters with Chain Counters on them cannot attack or have their positions changed.
(Art: Similar to Shadow Spell, but each chain is lead by a massive arrowhead like anchor, and the background is a black mist.)
Chained Beast of the Asylum
Dark, Beast-Warrior, LV 9, x/x
Effect: When this card is sent to the Graveyard without being destroyed, put up to 5 Chain Counters on face-up monsters on your opponent's side of the field. Decrease the ATK/DEF of a monster with a Chain Counter on it by 300 points for each Chain Counter. During your Standby Phase, while this card is in your Graveyard, if there is at least 1 Chain Counter on the field, you can Special Summon this monster to your side of the field. The Original ATK and DEF of this card is equal to the number of Chain Counters on the field times 500. When this card destroys a monster with a Chain Counter on it as a result of battle, inflict 300 points of damage to your opponent's Life Points, times the number of Chain Counters on the destroyed card.
Savage Mandrill
Fire, Beast, LV 4, 1400/1200
Effect: This card is unaffected by the effects of Trap Cards that do not target. When this card battles a monster, increase the ATK of this card by 400 points during the damage step only.
Tenacious Badger
Earth, Beast, LV 4, 1600/1800
Effect: When this card is sent from your hand, Deck, or field to the Graveyard, without being destroyed, you must select and activate 1 of the following effects:
Pay 800 Life Points, and Special Summon this card to your side of the field. Pay 800 Life Points, and add this card to your hand from your Graveyard.
Shuffle this card into your deck.
Alchemic Beast
Spell
Effect: Select Fusion Material Monsters in your hand, on your field, or in your Graveyard that are listed on a Beast or Beast-Warrior-Type Fusion Monster Card in your Fusion Deck. Pay an amount of Life Points equal to the sum of levels of the Fusion Material Monsters times 100 points, and send all selected Fusion Material Monster Cards on the field or in your hand to the Graveyard. Special Summon the Fusion Monster. This is treated as a Fusion Summon. At least 1 Fusion Material Monster used in this Fusion Summon, must be sent to the graveyard from your hand or your side of the field.
Fair Advantage
Spell
Effect: You cannot activate this card if you control an Effect Monster. Draw 1 card for each face-up Non-Effect Monster (excluding all Tokens).
Gift From Hell
Spell
Effect: Reveal and discard any number of cards from your hand. Then, draw the same number of cards you discarded, and reveal them. From the drawn cards, add the same number of each card type to your hand that you discarded, and the rest are sent to the graveyard.
Hell's Sacrificial Treasure
Equip Spell
Effect: This card can only be equipped to a monster on your side of the field. When this card is activated, put 1 Counter on this card, if the equipped monster's level is 5, 6, 7, or 8, or 2 Counter's on this card, if the equipped monster's level is 1, 2, 3, or 4. During each of your Standby Phases, remove 1 Counter from this card. During your Main Phase, when the equipped monster on your side of the field has no Counters on it, by Tributing the equipped monster, add 1 card from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand, and shuffle your deck).
The Ultimate Beast - Hell Chimera
Fire, Beast-Warrior, LV 12, x/x
"Manticore of Darkness" + 2 or more Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Bird-Type monsters
Fusion/Effect: When this card is successfully Fusion Summoned, place 1 "Manticore of Darkness" used in the Fusion Summon of this monster into your Field Spell Zone. Also, select any number of Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Bird-Type monsters from your Graveyard that were used as Fusion Material Monsters in the Fusion Summon of this card, and equip them to this card as Equip Cards. The original ATK/DEF of this card is equal to the sum of original ATK/DEF stats of all Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Bird-Type monsters equipped to this card. This card gains the effects of all Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Bird-Type monsters equipped to this card. As long as "Manticore of Darkness" exists in your Field Spell Zone, when this card is destroyed and would be sent to the Graveyard, send 1 Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Bird-Type monster equipped to this card to the Graveyard, and this card is not sent to the Graveyard at this time. Also, when Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Bird-Type monsters equipped to this card would be destroyed by a card effect, send 1 Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Bird-Type monster equipped to this card to the Graveyard, to negate that card's effect, and destroy it.
Hell Ring
Trap
Effect: You can only activate this card while your Life Points are less than your opponent's. Select 1 face-up monster on the field. Inflict damage equal to the ATK of the selected monster to both players.
