Yu-Gi-Oh!:

Guardian of Death

DUEL 3: Obstacle

Patrick Kingston stared out a window. He was in a helicopter he found at Cairo International airport. Anubis's shadow powers hotwired it and were piloting it across the ocean. Since entering the chopper, Anubis and Patrick had not spoken.

Patrick gazed out at the ocean. He saw an island rising in the distance. He recognized it instantly. Every duelist on god's green Earth knew it by heart.

"Duelist Kingdom," Patrick muttered. Anubis looked over at his Aibou. He knew why Patrick agreed so readily to take on a duelist the caliber of Maxamillion Pegasus. Anubis and Patrick both knew who had a better chance of winning one-on-one. Patrick wanted revenge. They both knew it.

The chopper began its descent. Patrick readied himself. He was disappointed that he was still in his work attire; Tight khakis that barely stayed at his ankles and a blue button-down t-shirt with a red "Kc" symbol standing in for Kaiba Corp. is what he would wear as he charged an enemy stronghold.

"I'm such a tool," he said looking at himself. He retrieved his dueling deck from a cabinet on board the chopper. He then withdrew four "Duel Monsters" cards from his pocket. He stared at the three spells he held. They were his three copies if the Black Illusion Ritual Spell Card. Patrick knew he had been given a chance to reunite with Relinquished. He would take it.

The fourth card is the one from the young man in Egypt. He slid it out to take a better look at it. "Lava Golem" was its name. It was 8-stars and held unbelievable power. Its attack was 3000 and defense 2500. It was Ultra Rare. "Why would he give such a card to a complete stranger?" he thought.

He slipped his dueling deck in a pocket as the chopper finally touched down. Patrick arose and looked around. His Aibou was gone. Anubis had been using his powers to fly the chopper.

"Looking for me?" Anubis asked inside Patrick's head.

"Yeah. I forgot how this worked." Patrick stepped out, his partner hiding in his head, to face his enemy. He began to walk through a wooded area when a mansion arose in the distance. Patrick whispered as Anubis spoke in his head.

"Pegasus's castle," They began to pick up the pace toward the castle when the ground began to shake. The ground opened up beside Patrick. He watched on with amazement as a large, inactivated dueling arena rose out of the ground.

"Goin' somewhere?" a voice said. A large man with odd hair and a weird trench coat emerged from behind it.

"Who wants to know?" Patrick demanded.

The man smiled, "A player killer with something a little boy wants really bad…"

"Player Killer, eh?" Patrick asked, "You just look like an ass to me."

The Player Killer merely grinned, "Ha! I've accomplished more working for Mr. Pegasus than you'll ever have at Kaiba Corp." The Player Killer said pointing to Patrick's shirt. Patrick grimaced.

"Why are you even here?" Patrick scowled.

"Maxamillion Pegasus is paying me to eliminate you like I did to other punks at Duelist Kingdom's tourney. He even trusted me with a prize possession of yours."

"I can't wait to see what an ass has that's so valuable to me," Patrick mocked. Player Killer grinned and held up a copy of Relinquished; Patrick's Relinquished. Patrick was infuriated. He balled up a fist getting ready to knock The Player Killer's head off.

"NO!!" Anubis screamed from a corner of Patrick's mind. He stopped cold. "You can't get physical. Listen, Pegasus would not be so bold if he didn't both take you lightly and still want to meet you. Show him what you're made of."

Patrick growled and looked at the dueling arena. "I take it you want a duel, eh? And if you win I leave? Fine. But if I win, I get back Relinquished. We'll even bet one extra card, our rarest. Fair?"

"That's the plan," Player Killer agreed. The duelist posts rose into position. The arena's panels got in place. The duelist platforms activated and lowered. Patrick stepped in on the blue side, his opponent, The Player Killer in the red. The platforms rose and locked in place.

Hologram posts arose from each corner. Player Killer grinned. Both players put their decks where they belonged and drew five cards.

"You'll never defeat my darkness deck!" Player Killer bragged.

"Hmph," Patrick responded nonchalantly. (I'll cripple him with my "Gravity Bind" deck) he thought. The Life Point counters rapidly rose to 2000. Player Killer drew his first card. He placed one card face down in an area five spaces from the Graveyard. It wasn't in the arena field and Patrick wondered what it was.

Player Killer gloated, "Oh yeah... you weren't in Duelist Kingdom. Well you'll learn soon. Next I summon a monster in defense!" Player Killer threw down a face-up card sideways. From a holo-panel a large warped castle arose. It had a ring around it with the kanji "Yami" in blue. Player Killer was happy to introduce, "The Castle of Dark Illusions!"

Patrick was impressed, "Not the same elegance as a shadow game, eh?" Anubis echoed

Patrick began to laugh[[Elegance in a shadow game? He drew a card, Dust Tornado. He added it to his hand and was shocked to discover, he had no monsters! He set his Dust Tornado then activated a spell. An elderly looking woman arose.

"This is Dian Keto the Cure Master! She raises my life to 3000!" Patrick announced, mocking Player Killer's excitement. He set the rest of his hand face-down and ended his turn.

Player Killer laughed. "No monsters, eh? Ha ha ha!" Player Killer drew. He looked out from behind his card with an evil glow to his eyes. "Now, my rarest card in attack mode! Reaper of the Cards!" A vile entity arose from the dueling arena. It brandished a large sickle or scythe like that of...

"The Grim Reaper?!" Patrick exclaimed.

"Yes, and he can still destroy a trap. I pick the one on the far left!" Patrick looked over to his right where Reaper was heading. Patrick knew he got the only trap he had set. "Bye-bye Dust Tornado!" Player Killer gloated. Patrick drew a card.

"This is for Dust Tornado!" he shouted, "Hinotama!" Fire balls arose, rocketed across the field, and struck Player Killer directly, bringing him down to 1500. He didn't seem to care.

"That all you got?"

"Nope," Patrick replied, "I'll activate a face-down spell, Change of Heart!" Patrick flipped his spell face-up and a half-angel, half-demon being arose on the dueling arena. Reaper of the cards disappeared and reappeared on Patrick's side of the field.

"What're you thinkin'? Reaper can't beat Castle of Dark Illusion's defense! Especially when I activate my face-down card Yami!" Player Killer flipped over his card. The entire field was engulfed in darkness. Castle of Dark Illusions and Reaper of the Cards' attack and defense points rose by 200.

"Not enough to save you," Patrick said, shaking his head and flipping over his own card, "'cause I activate Rush Recklessly to add 700 more attack points to my Reaper. Now the Stats are Castle of Dark Illusions at 2180 defense and Reaper of the Cards at 2230 attack. I win the exchange. Reaper of the Cards, Scythe of the card killer!" Reaper flew towards Castle of Dark Illusions. It sliced the castle in half destroying it. Patrick ended his turn and returned Reaper of the Cards to Player Killer's field.

Player Killer didn't expect this kind of competition. He drew his card and liked what he saw, setting his monster face-down in defense and ending his turn. Patrick has less luck. He draws a monster but can't play it because it's too weak. Servant of Catabolism stays in his hand, the only card there. Player Killer quickly draws keeping his card in one hand. He flips his face-down card up into attack mode. A fiend covered in eyes arises into the arena.

"What is that?" Patrick asked

"The Big Eye, and since it's been flipped, I rearrange the top 5 cards on my deck." Big Eye's various eyes open allowing Player Killer to do just that. He rearranged them in this order:

5-King Fog

4-Witty Phantom

3-Dark Titan of Terror

2-Succubus Knight

1-King of Yamimakai

(Little does this twerp know that when I draw King of Yamimakai on my next turn, he'll be finished!) Player Killer thought to himself. "And while you wait, I'll summon Spikebot in attack mode!" A large machine man rose into the arena, his arms were two spiked maces.

Patrick drew, praying for an end. You can only go three turns without playing a monster before you are forced to forfeit. He looked at his card and smirked. "I activate Ookazi! You lose 800!" Player Killer's LP counter went down to 700. "And now you lose!"

"No way! None of your puny spells are takin' me out!" Player Killer responded.

"True, but this is no spell!" Patrick summoned the weak Servant of Catabolism. Player Killer rolled with laughter. "Servant's attack is 700 points, and it can attack directly."

Player Killer froze. He looked at his glowing LP counter reading the 700 about 20 times. He looked at Patrick, "Y-y-you mean y-y-you c-c-can-"

Patrick gave Player killer a little golf clap, "Congrats. The last horse finally crosses the finish line. Servant of Catabolism! Direct attack!" A weird gel was produced by the strange creature. It surfed through Player Killer's monsters and struck him, knocking him off of the arena pedestal. Patrick retrieved his deck and exited. The holograms faded and the arena returned from where it came.

Patrick stood over the fallen Player Killer, "What do you want, punk?" Player Killer asked.

"My cards. Your Reaper of the Cards and my Relinquished."

"No way!" Player Killer started to move but couldn't.

"Tell me," Patrick asked in a strange voice, "Do you remember your last trip to the Shadow realm?" The Player Killer began to quiver, "Why don't you go se if anything's changed?"

In his castle, Maxamillion Pegasus heard Player Killer's blood-curdling scream. He looked out a window at his kingdom.

Patrick is still standing at the duel arena, But Player Killer has vanished. Patrick leans down; retrieving the two cards Player Killer had been nice enough to leave him. He put them with his other spare cards and stared up a Pegasus's castle

"You're next..."