Chapter 2: Infinity Rising
Kyo stepped back into the arena, much to the happiness of the crowd within. They cheered and wept, his fangirls tossing flowers from the stands to his feet, whilst the boys looked on, waving around giant foam fingers. Kyo stepped up the short flight of stairs onto the elevated arena, looking to the opposite side for his opponent. The dazzling lights above the arena forced Kyo to raise a hand to shield his eyes, as the crowd's cheers grew ever-louder.
Then silence fell.
There were collective gasps as the overhead lights dimmed. Confused, Kyo dropped his hand. On the other side of the arena, a cloaked figure seemed to be ascending the stairs, hood covering his face. His duel disk was the same model as Kyo's, but black. One could only presume it had been painted that way, but something felt wrong about the whole situation.
"Are you pretending to be a Shadow Duelist?" Kyo called over. "Because it's not funny! Now drop the act!"
"This is no act, sir." The figure whispered back, his voice carrying over the entire arena, giving everyone chills. Kyo visibly shuddered, then snapped - his duel disk was ready. He spun it around to his chest, and his deck appeared to gleam. A trick of the light - holograms ensured that special effects were seen by both the participants and the audience, and gave a certain flair to the duel.
"Then if it is no act, let's begin already and get this over with!" Kyo bared his teeth, annoyed to be fighting such an opponent. A virtual dice appeared elevated in the centre of the arena, its faces large enough to be seen by even those at the back of the crowds. It spun around, whilst an arrow appeared on the floor next to the hooded man. Then the dice slowed down and stopped.
"Five." The man declared. Then the arrow moved next to Kyo, and the dice spun again. A bead of sweat dropped down Kyo's forehead, but he brushed it away as quickly as it had come. Surely this mere hooded man couldn't be causing him to lose his composure already? But he was thankful when the dice came up with the number six.
"It's six, and I'm going first!" Kyo declared. The dice vanished along with the arrow, and the hooded man nodded. Both ensured their duel disks were ready, then the crowd once more burst into shouts of encouragement.
GAME START.
Drawing five cards, Kyo balanced them carefully in his left hand, deciding almost instantly what he wanted to play. He summoned Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior: ATK 1850. Then he set Glorious Illusion and ended his turn.
His hooded opponent calmly drew six cards. He summoned Gladiator Beast Bestari: ATK 1500. Then he played Smashing Ground, destroying Garoth. Kyo only muttered to himself, wondering of the competence levels of his opponent. They continued, attacking with Bestari, for a direct attack.
"Not so fast!" Kyo declared, flipping Glorious Illusion, allowing him to summon back Garoth. It was much like a Call of the Haunted, but for Lightsworns only - and allowed him extra milling at the end of each of his own turns. With Garoth back on the field and a higher ATK of 1850 than Bestari's 1500, the hooded man could no longer continue his attack unless he wanted to lose his own monster and some of his life points. He calmly set two spell/trap cards, and ended his turn.
Kyo drew a card. Tributing Garoth, he summoned Celestia, Lightsworn Angel: ATK 2300. Glorious Illusion destroyed itself, given its part of the effect that allows the card to leave the field should what it revived, also leave the field. As Celestia's full body hovered in front of Kyo thanks to the holographic projectors in the arena, he declared that he would use her effect to send four cards from the top of his deck to the graveyard in order to activate her removal ability, whereby he can destroy two cards on his opponent's side of the field.
"Do you really think I would be so unprepared?" Kyo's opponent chuckled to himself. "I always knew that I'd never be able to beat your Garoth. By allowing you to summon back Garoth and tribute it for Celestia, I've caused you to lose two cards at the expense of my one Smashing Ground."
"What are you talking about?" Kyo asked, bemused. Then his opponent's strategy revealed itself much like a lightbulb moment. They flipped over Gladiator Beast - War Chariot, negating Celestia's effect. Grunting in frustration, Kyo still knew he had to pay the cost of Celestia's effect, and so four cards were sent from his deck to the graveyard - Lumina, Lightsworn Sanctuary, Aurkus and Ryko. Celestia shattered into holographic pieces, as per War Chariot's effect. Unable to do anything else, he ended his turn.
The hooded man smiled under his hood, drawing a card. Playing Gladiator Proving Ground, he searched his deck for one level four or lower Gladiator Beast to add to his hand. He chose Gladiator Beast Laquari: ATK 1800, immediately summoning it. Entering his battle phrase and knowing that Kyo had nothing on the field to stop him, he attacked with both Bestari: ATK 1500, and Laquari: ATK 1800. Kyo yelled as the two monsters made contact, falling backward. He lay for a minute as his life points dropped from 8,000 to 4,700, a small cut appearing on the back of his right hand where he'd used it to defend himself. Breathing heavily, he considered the implications of the situation. Never before in this tournament final set had he been attacked and damaged, but he'd not known that the damage was possible. Before the finals, all he had experience of was tabletop dueling, but it appeared that the presence of these holograms meant that the duelists within the arena were able to be physically damaged. Were they truly holograms...?
Grunting as he stood up, the audience fell to a hushed silence. They'd not seen Kyo damaged before, either. Normally, he had a trick up his sleeve. However, the forethought of his current opponent seemed to be overwhelming the hundred-sponsor holder. Their gaze turned to the hooded man, who licked his lips with glee as he set one spell/trap, bringing his number of set cards to two, and his monsters remained at two. He didn't switch out the Gladiator Beasts, suggesting heavily that he planned to summon Gyzarus next turn, should Kyo attempt to mount some sort of defense. His two set cards were likely to be some sort of event-prevention triggers too... The situation seemed hopeless.
Groaning with pain, Kyo drew a card. He bared his teeth, looking at his hand full of effect monsters. Then he looked at his opponent. Games in the finals were determined by sudden death, the winner of one game took it all. The organizers had determined this would be the best way to do things, given the potential increase of excitement levels, knowing that one game could make or break someone's dream. The event was knockout as well, meaning that only winning all the games would guarantee you victory.
Completely out of ideas, but figuring he could take one more attack if Herakilnos wasn't summoned next turn, Kyo summoned Ehren, Lightsworn Monk: ATK 1600. Stretching out a hand, he signaled for the monster to attack Gladiator Beast Bestari: ATK 1500. The hooded man covered his face with his hand as the monk kicked Bestari's face, shattering it into a multitude of holographic pieces, and causing him 100 damage to take him to 7900 life points. His attack and turn finished, Kyo declared that he'd use Ehren's effect to send the top three cards of his deck to the grave at the end of his turn. However, predictably, the hooded man flipped over another War Chariot. He sadly sent Ehren to the graveyard.
Kyo's opponent drew a card, audibly gnashing his teeth. Kyo relaxed. It obviously wasn't what he was looking for, and he potentially had some time to sort out the situation as a result... If only he could have a couple more turns. The hooded man declared an attack with Laquari, dealing 1800 points of damage, taking Kyo to 2900 life. This time, Kyo stayed on his feet, defiant. The man then tagged in Laquari, sending it into his deck. He brought out Gladiator Beast Hoplomus: DEF 2400, in face-up defense.
Seeing his chance, Kyo drew a card. It shimmered as it left his deck and entered his hand as he brought it around his body in a dramatic gesture. The audience gasped, sensing the silence between now and when they'd been cheering before. Kyo's opponent was giving him a run for his money, but what would be the consequences, should either lose?
Kyo looked at the card.
Solar Recharge.
"I choose Minerva!" He shouted, discarding Minerva for Solar Recharge's cost. Minerva's effect triggered, sending the top card of his deck to the graveyard - Smashing Ground. Then he drew two cards, and sent two more from the deck to the grave - Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and Dark Resonator. Satisfied with the two additional cards he had in his hand, Kyo slammed a card down onto his duel disk with such force he almost bent it. The heavens metaphorically tore apart, holographic projections of light streaming through the arena's sky. Claws descended through the gap, followed by legs, a body, and finally, a head. The wings on the body separated, revealing its majestic glory.
"JUDGEMENT DRAGON!" Kyo yelled with glee, his ultimate monster finally revealed. Without hesitation, he paid the 1,000 life necessary for its effect, destroying all the cards on his opponent's field - the face-down being Call of the Haunted, and the monster being Legendary Ju-Jitsu Master. He then played Foolish Burial, sending Wulf, Lightsworn Beast: ATK 2100, from his deck to the graveyard, consequently summoning it. Because Judgement Dragon was a Special Summon, as was Wulf, this left Kyo with one more card to play. He normal summoned Vylon Prism, a level four tuner.
"There are many things that we can take from our past." Kyo muttered, looking through his extra deck for the card he needed. "Sometimes, we need to look to our past, rather than summoning those who may be more sentimental to us."
"What are you blabbering about? Surely you can't do seven-thousand, nine-hundred damage to me in one turn!" The hooded man chuckled weakly.
"I don't aim to beat you this turn..." Kyo pulled out a monster from his Extra Deck, slamming it onto his duel disk. Vylon Prism and Wulf were sent to the graveyard, to reveal Stardust Dragon. Its wings shimmered as it faded into life on the battlefield, then letting out its primal cry. "But I can get close. Vylon Prism, activate. I'll pay five-hundred life to attach it to Judgement Dragon, thereby raising its attack points by one thousand when it attacks. As a result, I only have one thousand, four hundred life. But it's enough."
Staring in horror at Kyo's comeback, the hooded man stumbled backward. The attack of Judgement Dragon would be 4,000, and Stardust's would be 2,500. That would be 6,500 damage, destroying most of his remaining 7,900 life points. Even if he did manage a comeback, he wouldn't be able to destroy the Dragons, given that Stardust was on the field, and its special ability was the ability to negate any card that destroys card(s) on the field, at the cost of it leaving the field for one mere turn. The exception was a counter-trap, but he'd have to summon a Gladiator Beast, and activate War Chariot, whilst also trying to destroy Stardust. It just wasn't feasible.
"I surrender!" The hooded man gasped, stumbling backward and attempting to leave the arena. However, his back thudded into the holographic wall behind him. He turned around in horror, touching it with his hand. Somehow, the holograms were - or had become - solid-vision.
"What are you doing?" Kyo called out. All he could see from where he was, was that the man was stepping backward, and suddenly stopped and turned around, his back now facing Kyo.
"It's nothing..." The man began, but then turned back to Kyo. "I suppose I've been resigned to this fate. Come, attack me twice - I will skip my next turn." He grabbed the end of his hood, lowering it. Kyo frowned, his victory turned from a turnabout to a merely easy one. Doing as he was told, an in an effort not to upset his sponsors, he declared the attacks.
Stardust Dragon went first, rearing its head, then snapping it forward to fire a white beam of light at the defenseless man. His cape billowed in the wind, but he held fast onto the tip of his hood, keeping it over his features. Then Judgement Dragon went next, flapping its wings to fly into the sky of the arena, performing a similar action to Stardust, snapping its head forward to fire a beam of golden light at the man, sending him flying backward. But rather than smacking against the holographic walls of the arena, he flew straight through, out and down the stairs. The audience went wild, screaming and yelling in joy.
"Wait a minute!" Kyo yelled out, packing away his cards, causing his monsters' holograms to vanish. He dashed over toward his fallen opponent, his mind running through the possibilities of having just damaged him to a great deal. As he descended the steps, he began to notice a dark, almost shadow-like aura about the man. His cloak covered up all of his features, but Kyo imagined he could not be doing much more than writhing in agony. As he stretched out a hand to check if the man was alright, he was briskly grabbed by a security guard and pulled back. Two medics came pouring in with a stretcher, lifting the man onto it and taking him away.
"Well done, your sponsors will be proud." The security guard tapped Kyo's shoulder, clenching it tightly then letting go. He then began to leave through the door the hooded man had been taken through.
And that's when things began to go wrong.
A dark shadow appeared to fill up the corridor, and the lights within seemed to flicker out and die. The darkness seeped over the walls, spreading like liquid. Kyo stepped back cautiously, and the shadow followed. A black mist hung in the air, growing with every heartbeat.
Then the darkness suddenly lashed out at Kyo, striking him in the chest and sending him flying backward into the stairs, where he landed in a crumpled heap.