Here's chapter twenty of my Yu-Gi-Oh GX fanfic. Finally, broke twenty chapters, epic win! Last time we met probably the main villain, Crypt. Now that he is here will things undoubtedly get worse for Destiny and the rest, and what is Crypt's real goal in all of this?
DISCLAIMER: ALL THE CREDIT FOR YU-GI-OH GOES TO KAZUKI TAKAHASHI AND SHONEN JUMP. I OWN ONLY SOME OF THE OCs AND THE DECKS USED BY THEM.
Duel XX: Crusade of the Academy; Cosmos v. Cryptid-Species, Part 1
"BEEP…BEEP…BEEP," the monitor sounded as it had been attached to Lance's weakened body.
Still in a coma from his duel with Crypt Lance was found on the roof of the academy after a maintenance worker found him still unconscious. After rushing him to the hospital the doctors concluded that he had been put under a large amount of force and stress causing this temporary form of seizure and coma. The people in the waiting room of the hospital, most of the Obelisk Blue students in the same area of the dorm as him including Jason, Trish, and Mori, all waited anxiously for the doctor's results as they were given.
"I don't think there's anything to worry about," he said much to their relief. "But if he is put under more stress he will die from cardiac arrest."
Snapping Jason grabbed the doctor by the coat collar and began losing his cool. "You don't know what you're talking about, idiot. Lance was the most calm person in the dorm. He didn't know the meaning of the word 'stress.' So stop lying and tell us what's wrong!"
"Jason!" Trish shouted as he put the doctor down.
"I want the truth," Jason said. "After what Lance did for all of us, we need to make sure any sacrifice he made was not in vain. And this crackpot isn't giving us anything but the trash that every corrupted doctor gives us."
Sighing depressively the doctor rubbed his eyes with his fingers and then sat down. "Fine, Jason, you win," he said turning everyone's head. "Lance was placed under this kind of stress through dueling with someone who removed any kind of safeguards off of his duel disk. The first thing I checked for was internal bleeding. I used to work for KaibaCorp and saw this kind of thing all the time, but they woke up from it with minor concussions, so I didn't want to worry you anymore than I had. Forgive me."
Walking out of the doctor's office with rage taking over his mind Jason hit the wall beside when Mori and Trish joined him and the three of the nodded in agreement.
Later that night the lightning continued its ruthless attack on the world below it and almost followed Jason, Trish, and Mori as they walked throughout the forest. Searching for several hours through bushes and climbing trees the three regrouped but never seemed to tire from the search but began to get even more motivated. The three walked out of the forest to regroup when a mysterious figure in front of them in a long brown overcoat looked at them with an evil grin.
"I take it you're looking for me?" the figure said.
"Who are you!" Mori shouted asking through the lightning which then illuminated the figure's face. "Tao?"
"No," the figure replied walking into view. "I am Crypt, Tao's and now Lance's murderer. And after tonight, yours."
"Fat chance!" Jason said activating his duel disk as the two behind did in kind.
"Three to one odds," Crypt observed. "Interesting…"
Activating his duel disk Crypt shouted through the night and lightning. As the storm raged on a shadow-clad monster similar to his cards used against Lance Crypt commanded it to attack for what he called a "final time." A large roar was heard and Jason fell to the ground on his knees as Mori and Trish had already done with almost no strength left.
"…Pathetic," Crypt said placing his hands over the three of them. "You're turn…"
Chanting the same words he did after defeating Lance and finished shortly after when the three fell unconscious on the spot with Jason muttering a few words as he fell.
"…You…won't…get…away…with…i-" he said before falling receiving no reaction from Crypt who simply turned away and sneered into the night with the monster behind him disappearing into a shower of light.
The next day the doctor examined the three kids and gave the same results that were given for Lance's results. Destiny, Locket, Amun, Rose, Fate, Yukie, Gaia, and Kazuya were among the students who met with the doctor. The doctor sighed and looked at their depressed faces upon hearing the news.
"Is it true that this was caused by dueling?" Amun asked.
"Yes," the doctor said looking at his test results. "Why do you want to know?"
Standing up from his spot Amun bolted from the hospital and out to the main academy city. From there Amun was followed by the other students to the red dorm when he walked in and locked his door behind him shutting them out.
"Locket?" Destiny said holding out her hand.
Locket shuffled through her bag and pulled out a master key set to the dorms and handed them to Destiny who casually searched through the keys until she stopped at one labeled, "Amun." Fitting the key inside destiny the key but found it stuck and then banging on the door.
"Changed my locks last night!" Amun called out from inside the dorm.
"Then we'll break down the door!" Gaia said.
"Be my guest!" Amun shouted. "But do you think you would afford to? That's hand-carved mahogany, the good stuff; they don't make this stuff anymore. Not to mention I reinforced it," he said as he heard a thud from the other side he assumed was Gaia.
"…I'm gonna kill that kid," Gaia said as a small note was shuffled underneath the door.
Upon reading Gaia popped a vein in his forehead, "Not funny!"
The note became visible to the others when they fell over on a leg. The note read, "If you're going to kill me can I request the following methods; Cyanide poisoning, flash freezing, gunshot to heart, or any other form of instantaneous or painless death. ~Amun"
"A real comic genius, huh?" Kazuya said sarcastically when the door handle jiggled and opened to reveal Amun with a paper in his hand.
"Okay, what gives Amun?" Rose asked with her arms crossed.
"The doctor said that all four cases so far have been caused by sudden shock seizures from dueling, right?" he asked rhetorically. "Well, for centuries to millennia people have experienced similar symptoms after entering a supernatural situation called a Shadow Game; a game in which your very soul is put on the line. Assuming that the people who have been put into comatose states were dueling then we can also assume that the perpetrator has the power of the Shadow Games at his disposal. We can't stay here."
"What!" Yukie exclaimed.
"This person can almost destroy a person's soul," Amun warned. "We have to evacuate the academy. I'll explain to the Chancellor, you guys relay this news to everyone who hasn't been personally affected by this, including teachers."
"But Amun," Locket started.
"I'm sorry, Locket, but there isn't any other way," he said running to the main school building.
"He's right, Locket," Destiny said placing her hand on her shoulder. "Let's go."
Later the same night a series of boats arrived and students boarded in a mass panic after hearing the truth of the attacks. The only who had yet to board were the people who delivered all the news about the severity of the situation. Rose began to move up onto the runway when Amun ran up and pulled her off.
"What gives?" Rose asked angrily when a random bolt of lightning passed by them and destroyed the runway.
In a panic the boats left leaving the eight of them behind. Amun panted looked back at the academy. Sighing disappointed by the situation Amun walked back to his dorm room and left the door allowing the other seven to come in.
"This wasn't some random occurrence," he said sitting down in front of the rest of them. "Whoever did this wants to keep us here isolated from the rest of the world."
"Why us?" Fate asked with a hint of fear in her voice.
"My guess is that it has to do with Tao," Kazuya said sitting back in his seat. "Tao knew all of us somehow, whether it was on a separation degree or a direct relationship. Think about it, if someone was after Tao wouldn't holding a few hostages be a good way to do it."
"What do you mean hostages?" Destiny asked.
"It's simple," Gaia said. "When you lose a Shadow Game you don't die, but you experience it to a point where you wish you were dead. But by defeating the Shadow duelist you can bring back all the people affected by the shadow game."
"So our only option is to defeat this perp, huh?" Yukie asked.
"Yes and no," Amun said. "Until we know anything about our enemy we shouldn't do anything rash to the point where any one of us could be next."
"…What if it were me to go?" an old voice asked.
"Ninomiya?" Destiny observed. "Why aren't you on the boat to get the heck out of here?"
"And leave you noble students behind? No way!" he answered. "As I said; if you need someone to sacrifice let it be me. I need to protect Tao."
"We can't ask that of you," Yukie said.
"She's right," Rose agreed.
"I wasn't negotiating it. See you on the other side," he said leaving the dorm into the forest.
The eight stayed silent when Destiny broke down and screamed out of frustration.
"Keep calm, Destiny," Amun said focusing on a point on the ground.
"How can I keep clam when our teacher is risking his life for us?" Destiny asked approaching the door which slammed shut in front of her.
Turning around the face Amun whose eyes were dripping tears at a slow rate. Looking up at Destiny Amun stood up and took a small notebook and began writing.
"As long as we're stuck here with no backup support we're gonna have to sustain ourselves," he said looking up from notebook. "Given how things are now we should always be in pairs that way no one goes in alone. I've chosen the groups based on how I think they'll operate well with each other," he said showing them the book.
Destiny read off the names of the people and who they were paired with, "Okay, Rose is with me, Yukie's with Fate, Kazuya's with Locket, and Gaia's with Amun."
"Also," Amun noted. "At night we'll stay in two of the blue dorms. It'll have to be a connected room to have quick access to each other. No co-ed rooms, got it?" he asked looking up at the group with cold eyes. "Yukie, which of the conjoined rooms is closest to the master key set?"
"I can think of one," Yukie said leading the group out of the dorm.
As the sun set Amun looked out the window and into the forest with a depressive look on his face as he turned to help the others make up their futons. As the day turned to night completely Gaia stayed outside staring into the black scenery when he heard a large shout. Shaking out of supposed fear Gaia left the spot in front of the doors and deeper into the dorms. Reaching the waiting area of the dorms Gaia stayed out of sight when he saw an elderly figure in the forest falling to his knees.
Widening his eyes in realization Gaia left the dorm and ran to the forest his path only lit by the moon and stars. Panting as he ran in multiple as the figure left the scene and the elderly man in the night Gaia found the old man as Ninomiya, but with a peaceful expression on his face. Screaming in frustration Gaia ran towards the figure and tackled him and punched his face.
"Good to see you too," the figure said with a hysteric voice.
"…Crypt," Gaia said in contempt. "Why now do you choose to show up after almost ten years?"
"To finish what I started," Crypt said activating his duel disk with the blade almost cutting through the night.
"Fine by me, but now you'll really die," Gaia declared. "And finally end my grief."
"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Crypt replied. "My move, draw! I summon Cryptid-Species Kraken (?/?) in attack mode!" he declared as a large pool of water appeared below him and a large monstrous squid with a claw necklace rose from it almost snarling at Gaia. "You of all people should know how my deck works; every end phase my monster gains a certain amount of attack and defense points determined by its growth rate specified on the card itself."
"And if I remember correctly that card has a growth rate of 600 every turn," Gaia said by memory.
"Aegis serves you well," Crypt remarked. "Yes, the Kraken gains 600 attack and defense every turn it remains on the field. The monster that truly was…" Crypt said solemnly.
"True," Gaia said. "Supposedly in Scandinavia this monster would attack ships as they would come to meet their doom by the tentacles this monster would lash at them. But that monster has a hidden effect that doesn't frighten me in the slightest."
"Aegis' memory is a good one," Crypt complimented. "Yes, so long as Kraken remains on the field all Cryptid-Species monsters gain attack points equal to their growth rate during the battle phase. I set two cards face-down and end my turn," he declared as the shadows underneath the large squid engulfed it for several seconds raising its attack and defense from 0-600.
"Then it's my move!" Gaia declared drawing a card. "I summon DFF-II Firion (1600/800) in attack mode!" he declared summoning a warrior with black and blue armor, a blue cape, and silver hair covered by a blue, orange and white bandana. "Next I attack your overgrown piece of calamari, Straightarrow!" he ordered as the warrior lined an arrow at the Kraken and fired. "Now I role a die and then my monster gains attack equal to the roll times 100," he explained throwing a die from his pocket onto the field.
The die spun on its corner and landed on a four making the arrow fly faster as the power grew from 1600-2000 piercing the squid and destroying it. The arrow continued flying and struck Crypt reducing his life points from 4000-2600. Crypt chuckled as he snapped his fingers revealing one of his two face-downs.
"I activate the trap card Bermuda Triangle!" he declared as a large open space appeared beneath both his and Gaia's feet, neither of them making a movement or look of surprise. "Perhaps you will explain it to me, my memory isn't as good as yours."
"Bermuda Triangle is a continuous trap card that allows the player to send up to two Cryptid-Species from their deck to the graveyard every time another is destroyed on the field. After sending the two the monster that attacked is destroyed, no questions asked and the monster sent to the graveyard with the lesser of the two growth rates deals damage to me equal to that growth rate," Gaia recited. "Well, how'd I do?"
"Much better than I expected," Crypt said shuffling through his deck and then picking out two random cards. "I send my Cryptid-Species Chupacabra and my Cryptid-Species Ogopogo to the graveyard. Chupacabra has a growth rate of 500 and Ogopogo has a growth rate of 1000. So I guess you'll have to settle for the 500, sorry for the inconvenience."
"Don't be," Gaia said as a serpentine monster shot from the card called Ogopogo and chomped down on his monster who simply made a defensive stance in the spell and trap card zone. "Keep in mind that any DFF monster sent to the graveyard can be placed in the spell and trap card zone instead."
"But that won't save you from this," Crypt said as the beastly figure of his monster lashed at Gaia reducing his life points from 4000-3500. "Does that end your turn?" Crypt asked.
"It does," Gaia said after placing two face-down cards. "I can ensure you that you will fall today whether it is by my own or by another's hand."
"Then I draw!" Crypt shouted as he snickered manically and then into a full-on laughing fit holding the card he drew in his hand. "I activate the ability of Ogopogo in the graveyard; I can change its attribute to any I choose from the cards in my hand, and by selecting my Mongolian Death Worm he becomes an earth attribute in the graveyard."
"Hmm, why waste playing an ability like that?" Gaia contemplated. "If it were Aegis dueling he would've figured this out, but the little sneak has withheld information I need should I ever have to face him again and what he did to me. He has the Bermuda Triangle trap card out which is almost specified to bring out a certain Cryptid, albeit not one that's relatively close to the area. From the limited information that Aegis has been willing to share with me I know that there are three different cards running around in Crypt's deck that are based around three ideals, reversals, tricks, and finally overall destruction, but he would never tell me which one was which."
"Since I have exactly three Cryptid-Species monsters in my graveyard and they all have different attributes I am allowed to summon this level eight monster with no charge to me," Crypt explained breaking Gaia's train of thought. "Let me tell you a story; a man swimming in a river many centuries ago was attacked by a vicious monster that was stopped by the man known as St. Columba. Since then it has been reportedly sighted many times over, most famously in what we know as the 'Surgeon's Photo' taken in 1934 when a young surgeon pictured it as it arose from the water. Gaia Cehack, and if you're watching us Aegis Cehack, I introduce you to Cryptid-Species Niseag (?/?) in attack mode!" he declared summoning a large monster appearing out of a pool of water underneath it. The creature had a long neck and a large body that seemed to be a large hump and gnashing teeth that stared Gaia in the face.
"'Niseag?'" Gaia asked almost mocking the name.
"It's Irish Gaelic for a monster that is known to live in the waters of Loch Ness, otherwise known as Nessie. Niseag just sounds more threatening than the aforementioned name," Crypt explained looking a bit angry. "But if you insist on making a fool of it try this on for size, Niseag's growth rate is equal to the combined growth of all Cryptid-Species in my graveyard giving him a total of 2000 points every turn, and the best part is his growth is during the battle phase, attack Ancient Fury!"
The monster reared its head back and shot a continuous stream of murky water towards Gaia who looked at it head-on.
"This better work, for all our sakes," Gaia thought closing his eyes waiting for the attack to connect.
Chapter twenty complete. Well, how do you guys like my little cliffhanger bit? Please don't kill me. And I'm sorry for the late update but I've been otherwise engaged. Until next time, ja nee.
Next time: Gaia's duel with Crypt takes a turn for the strange and weird as Crypt and Gaia continually talk about a past unknown to most other people, but what if that same past was unknown to even the one their talking about. Next time: Crusade of the Academy; Cosmos v. Cryptid-Species, part 2.