Author's Notes: Well it's been a year. A year since I posted the prologue, the beginnings of what would become a continuation effort of GX. A year full of twists, battles and heavy delays. Now we move into the second year, and with any luck, it's eventual completion. Happy (very late) Anniversary folks. Enjoy.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Emissary of Extinction
Chapter 29
Prelude
Ritan looked down at his hands, his laughter still reflecting off the walls of the cave. "Alive." His eyes closed. "Alive!" He threw his head back, roaring our to any who would hear. "I'm ALIVE!" His laughter continued for only a minute before he stopped. He lowered his head, the last of the emissions fading away. He smiled. "Hello...son."
"R-...Ritan." Xiaolang had turned around completely by now, but was backing away. The sight before him was impossible...but yet. "You're...You're-"
"Alive." He looked at the items he'd been clothed in, he smiled. A Demon clothed in the robe of his reaper (minus the tasteful decorations and hole). "How long was I dead?" Seeing his son's shock, and Judai's mirroring it he closed his eyes. He reached out to the world around him. He couldn't sense Draygor, but the creatures capacity for hiding made Ritan doubt the monsters death. He did feel something else however. "What is that? Four of them..." "heh" "He's picked out some servants then? I don't recognize that other energy they have mixed Draygor's with." "Well?"
Xiaolang found his tounge. "How long?...How long! You're supposed to be dead!"
Ritan shook his head. "You're no help to me. I'll be taking my property back though." He raised a hand.
"Wha-?"
Ritan's duel disk burst into flame. "AHH!" Xiaolang threw himself back, the fires jumping from his arm, rushing through the air in streams fire which travelled to Ritan's extended arm. Xiaolang looked at his arm, no damage.
Ritan grinned as his fire wrapped around his arm, forming the very disk that had left from Xiaolangs hand. He looked down at it. "The Demonic Warlords are back in my hand." He turned back to his son. "Xiaolang, you finally were of use to me." He looked up, turning his head towards Judai. "If I cant sense Draygor then that means you must have hurt him, Judai Yuki. I'm far from surprised, I know of your strength. But as someone has used my deck then one thing is clear; no one could completely stop him. Somehow Drayor has evaded his destruction. All the better..." He grinned. "All the better for me!" He threw up his arms.
Fire. Fire burned around the resurrected monster of a man, radiating from his very being. The fires began to obscure him, crawling up his body until they were just under his head. "Goodbye, Xiaolang. Judai Yuki. I know my son's feeling is mutual, but I hope we never meet again, Judai." Then at last his head was obscured, he was one with the blaze.
The blaze jumped forward.
"No you don't you bastard!" His chest blazed with the symbol of the six. "SHIEN!" Shien appeared, standing in front of Xiaolang with his blade already drawn. The Shogun raised his blade with both hands, preparing to strike down with all of his power.
The fire split, becoming two streams of fire that travelled past either side of Xiaolang and Shien. Xiaolang had time for only a single thought. "Which one's him?" He looked up past the fire. "Judai! Stop him!"
"I-" Judai froze up, his figure still as the fires came closer and closer.
The fires turned, they were about to cross, to fuse once more. "JUDAI!"
They passed, the two streams continued, passing Judai before leaving the cave, after the brief relief that Judai was not attacked Xiaolang realized the truth. For the second time, a monster had escaped the cave.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A short while later Ritan Kentai rose from the fire that had stopped near the volcano of duel academia. He was smiling. He had done it. He had crawled back from death.
"Everything is going as planned." He turned around, looking up to the volcano behind him.
"Some of Xiaolang's recent memories have been copied into my own. Glad it was him who fell for that trap. So Draygor lost his bones? Interesting." The fires ignited beneath his feet, letting him glide upon it. "As was your hiding place, Xiaolang."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Xiaolang was punching at the ground below him, his knuckles bleeding as he screamed out in frustration. "Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! DAMMMIT!" He hit even harder, and harder. After a few more strikes he calmed down, the pain in his hands becoming just a little too much noticeable, he looked at Judai, who was still frozen in place, in the eye. "What the hell Judai? You could have taken a shot at him! You could have gotten Yubel out here! What's the hell's with you!" Judai turned around, silent. "Don't you turn your back on me!" Judai started walking. "Judai!" He kept walking."JUDAI!"
He was gone.
The full weight of the situation hit him. This was his idea. He had dragged Judai here. He had used the Demonic Warlord deck, not throwing it away at the first moment it showed strange signs. Judai was still unable to fight. Last, but far from the least was the fact that Ritan was alive once more.
It was all his fault.
He screamed, his boundless fury filling the cave a heartbeat. It was a full minute before his howling stopped. He leaned down, shovelling in air. It had taken his full lung power to make that scream. He turned to his side, looking at his fathers clothing. Something looked strange to him. He stood up, walking over to it.
"What is it, Xiaolang?" The boy ignored his ally, crashing down to his knees as his hands reached into the other front pocket. He wrapped his fingers around something before pulling it out.
With a gasp he'd realized just what he'd found. It seemed not to have even aged a day since the memory.
"What have you found?"
Xiaolang pocketed the book. "Something interesting."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Kaiser sat outside the emergency ward as he waited. He could recall a time not too long ago when he'd been in that room himself. Right now a former mentor of his was in there, fighting for his life, perhaps even more so than Kaiser once had. He looked down at his hands, the blood had dried by now. He wondered for a second if it would ever be washed away. The clothes he wore now would be disposed of later, he had no desire to wear anything that had once been covered in a former teacher's blood. He'd seen the extent of his former mentors injuries himself, picked up the bleeding man and brought him in. Even after all that it seemed to surreal to him, like he'd somehow woken into a nightmare and that any second he was going to snap out of this twisted daydream. He'd seen death, violence, carnage. Stared down and fought against creatures that most would fallen against by their own fear alone. Yet even that didn't have this kind of impact upon him. Blood made the damage seem so much more real.
"A human being has to live their life to the fullest until the very end. That is a person's duty, and their right." He remembered Chronos' words well, they had been the driving force behind what was would have been his last match. "Can you say you did so, Chronos? If you die now, can you say you did?" He leaned back, "Can I now? When I see how much further I have to go?" He felt a sting of guilt over think about himself at a time like this. "Don't give up, sensei."
The sound of doors opening shattered his thoughts, and in the reflection of the window he could see someone entering. "Hello, Samejima. What's the news elsewhere?" He heard a sigh.
"Not good, though I suppose we can take some slight solace in that Chronos is the patient in the greatest danger."
"And the others? Who else has been injured?"
"The dorm heads Kabayama and Emi. I imagine Draygor intended for all the people in charge to be defeated in one fell swoop. Emi is currently locked up in complete isolation, at her own demand. She's fallen very sick with a virus she doesn't recognize or know how to treat. Thankfully it doesn't seem to have spread yet. Kabayama has become weak and frail, and is suffering from extreme hunger and thirst. We've tried to help both but so far..." He did not need to put into words what he trying to say. "I was also attacked. Kaiser turned his head slightly, his eyes questioning. "My opponent called the duel off in the end. But I have the feeling he would have defeated me." He walked over to the window, gazing out at the sea. "Bigger battles are ahead. Let us hope we have the strength we need to survive."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"You have done well. Three of you, anyway. Death, explain yourself!"
Kenji's expression was hidden well behind his mask, as intimidating as the Emissary was, the creature was obviously at least some what content with the days work. Even his failure could sneak by, if given proper excuse. "Destroying the authorities is one thing. However, the students would think that the authorities were at least once capable. So I thought why not leave one intact, and let the students watch him fail? Watching a leader fall to pieces on his own is a devastation much more lasting than watching them defeated by an enemy."
"Cunning, for a human." "Very well. But if your plan looks to fail you will fix it yourself. Or suffer punishment. The darkness of his shifted across the now dying trees. "We must begin the search for my-" The darkness stopped. "What...is that?" The darkness rose, reaching up to the very ceiling. "It cant be." He growled, first subtly, before it quickly grew into a roar.
Kenji was the only horsemen to not take a step back. "What is it you sense, Draygor?"
"Ritan LIVES!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Do I tell them?" Xiaolang was walking through the woods, making his way back to the school, or his dorm. He was still deciding on that. "I don't suppose I can hope Ritan and Draygor will kill one another." He shook his head. "Ritan just got back from the dead, he wont be looking to go back." He stopped looking up to the sky, the volcano was emitting a bit more smoke than than normal today, though variation in the volcano's emission was nothing out of the ordinary on this island. Xiaolang thought back to the duel, how he'd fought using the Demonic Warlord deck, and how slowly but surely it'd set the environment for Ritan's resurrection.
"How long had he been planning that? Did he intend to die and be revived? Or was it a precaution? And why...why did he leave me Oblivion?" He shook his head and continued walking, the past was past, he had to concentrate on the here and now. "If they find out they might go after him. They could get themselves killed. Ritan has never been defeated and he'll have no concern about killing anyone who gets in his way. Damn I've really fucked up." He sighed. "Well at least Ritan will likely work against Draygor now. At least some of their energies will be devoted to fighting each other." He finally reached the end of the woods, breaking out of the trees to overhear voices of his fellow students. It took him only a few seconds to draw a conclusion.
"Oh hell."
He ran towards the hospital, figuring what he'd named 'Judai's group' would be there.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"SHUT UP-SARUS!" The now shocked members of the Ra yellow dorm all turned to face a very angry Kenzan. News had gotten around quick, Kabayama had been attacked. Rumours were circulating. Ranging from Kabayama was in in a coma, to he was dead and many strange places in between. Fear had spread, the students wondered if they could be next. Kenzan was left to try and control his dorm. "I won't lie-don. Kabayama-sensei is in the medial ward but he's not in any immediate danger. From now on I'm in charge-sarus!" No sooner than the words had left his mouth than the rebellion started.
"Why should you be in charge?"
He could understand that question.
"I have the higher grades!"
He could let that one slide.
"I'm the better duellist!"
That one on the other hand...
"Alright-don! Anyone of you who thinks they can beat me get over here! Whoever beats me gets to be put in charge-sarus!" "I hope the others are having less trouble than me-sarus." He armed his weapon of choice, this was going to take a while.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Manjoume was approaching the end of his speech. "...now until Chronos-sensei can resume his duties or someone else," He took a quick breath. "takes his place. We have to do things on our own. Since I am a graduate I suggest advisory duties are dealt with by myself and my fellow graduates. Myself and Sho will handle the boys, Asuka the girls. Any objections?" As he looked down at the mixture of boys and girls that made up his former dorm he wished they had objected. Oh how he wished...
"PLEASE TEACH US TO DUEL MANJOUME-SENSEI!"
Their shouting managed to drown out Manjoue swearing.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The monster finally ceased it's mindless roaring, the darkness condensed, returning to the forest below.
"War! Famine! Pestilence! Scout out the enemy again! Death! Remain here, I may need a guard if that cursed mortal finds his way here. Go now! Scout them out and deal further damage!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Samejima and Kaiser turned to face the door as a sudden intruder broke their silence. "Xiaolang?"
"Principal Samejima, Kaiser Ryo. I overheard some gossip about attacks. How accurate is it?"
The principal answered. "Chronos, Emi and Kabayama are greatly injured. Where have you been? I'd have thought you would have already known."
"I've...let off a real shit bomb."
Now even Ryo was interested. "What do you mean?"
He sighed. "The day is about to get worse." He steeled his resolve, and began to speak.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Judai approached his dorm with heavy feet. He'd barely slept recently, he just wanted to rest. Rest and for some blissful moments forget how the world had gone to hell around him. Just for a moment he needed to rest, to forget. If only for a short while.
He stopped.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Johan had just left the red dorm, having just finished a short nap, not that it had been very restful. He figured a walk would have some affect on him mood. He was right, but not in the way he'd hoped he'd be.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The world seemed to find itself silent as two young men stared across at one another. No one else was present to witness this moment. Both minds recalled the last time they had met, and battled. The ending of a battle which ended in a way only they knew. They stood, just looking into eyes of the other across the distance that divided them. Whatever needed be said, needed be done, would not be so on this day.
Johan turned away, walking to whatever destination his feet would find. Judai continued to his room, opening the door silently. He quickly found his bed and slammed his body upon it. It took only moments for sleep to finally claim him, but not before tears had escaped his eyes. "Why can't things just be peaceful?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sosuke grinned as he looked at the poster for the now cancelled tournament before him. "I think we have our targets. Three students fought in that tournament, and there are three of us."
Jinn nodded. "You will be fighting Koyo Hibiki no doubt. Pestilence, which one do you want to face?"
She raised a hand to her mask, in thought. "Yaseimaru. I wanna see more infected animals." With that she walked off, leaving the two boys to converse amongst themselves. Sosuke was the first to speak.
"Her deck creeps me out."
"She creeps me out. Kinda odd. You'd think Death would be the creepy one."
Sosuke nodded. "We'll meet back at the base." He left as well, he had an opponent to find.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"...now I have no idea where he is or what he's up to. And Judai's still in no acceptable shape."
Once more silence found itself filling the room, each of the listeners short of anything to say. What could one really say to that? The day was bad enough, now it'd only gotten worse. How much more so was something time would tell, but for now a word had to be spoken to articulate this situation. That word was found by the Emperor.
"Shit."
XXXXXXXXXXX
The surface of liquid flame bubbled with the heat of itself. Smoke rose from the surface of the flame, making it's journey to it's exit. The area was empty, or so it would seem.
White rose from the surface of the fire, the white of bone. It rose higher, until it's full form emerged from the fire. Something was under it, flesh. A hand gripped the base of the skull as it's body rose, laughing as the fire dripped from it's bare body. Ritan Kentai looked at the skull and grinned. "Nice try, kid. But not good enough." Ritan walked across the lava below him as if it were ground, eventually reaching stone. "With this one piece, I can find the rest. And with the rest, the upper hand will be mine." The skull was suddenly aflame, but the fire would not harm this nigh indestructible bone. "Victory is MINE!"
XXXXXXXXXXX
Across the campus other victories were about to dawn. The Horsemen of War found his target, quite alone near the Obelisk dorm, scouting for opponents to test himself against. Famine had found his target alone in an empty classroom. Pestilence had searched hard, but she was eventually able to find her target experimenting with traps in the woods. Another wound was about to be struck at the body of good, to become the second drumbeat in the anthem of carnage that was soon to come.
Six duellists raised their weapons, but only three would remain standing. "Duel!"
XXXXXXXXXXX
The thuds of footsteps were the only sounds as Kaiser and Xiaolang walked towards the Obelisk dorm. Once again a meeting of the group that had formed around Judai was to take place. Later on Kaiser would realize with a smirk, that outside of such matters as this the group almost never met another member from it. Despite being a group of friends, they never met much, but sad to say such was growing up. You never got to spend as much time with your friends as you would like. He turned an eye to the boy who's membership status was ambiguous. "Don't blame yourself."
"Heh. Would you be saying that to yourself if you brought a Demon back from Hell?"
"Maybe not. But your intentions were noble. Sad to say Judai did not always respond to such pressures, I myself have tried it."
"No luck either?"
"None at all. Judai is...a complicated person. And his situation with Johan isn't helping."
"What's the story with those two anyway?"
Kaiser stopped, his face in frown, he held up a hand to his chin. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"I did ask. And I need something else to think about."
Kaiser nodded, the dorm was still a distance away. He had time. "It's a long story. I don't have it all. I will tell you all I know."
Xiaolang nodded, finally he was going to get the story. "I'm listening."
XXXXXXXXXX
Koyo took a step back (LP/400). "Crap." Terra Firma was the only defence he had left. (Attack position. ATK/2500)
Sosuke grinned under his mask. "CARNAL GLORY!" The card in carnation of War brought it's mighty blade slashing it's light into the Hero in an instant.
Wounding it's master an instant later. Koyo gave a gurgled scream,his mouth full of blood. He fell back, his glasses falling off as the wound brought him to what might have seemed to be a certain death. He gave one last breath as the world around him turned black. The young Hero user would not be fighting anymore.
Sosuke laughed. "All shall know the glory of battle!"
XXXXXXXX
Soho gulped, like another of the Horsemen's opponents she two had only her ace for defence. (Phoenix Gearfried. Attack position. ATK/2800) (Soho LP/100).
"Judgement of Hunger."
The ace of the Gemini tried to step back, but nothing would stop the judgement of Famine's scales. Soho looked on, frightened as her only monster began to reduce to a shadow of it's former self. Her fear, great as it was, was rendered as nothing next to the fear that quickly rose upon the the next phase of the attack. She screamed helplessly, the scream itself quickly becoming too weak to startle the few birds that remained and looked on, not understanding what their eyes beheld. Soho fell, too weakened to do anything more.
"I shall rob all my enemies of their strength."
XXXXXXXX
Yaseimaru fell against the tree behind him as the curse of his enemy bore itself upon him. He coughed pitifully as his body slumped down his new resting place.(LP/0)
Yuuka watched as her victim fell to the cursed plague that she administered.
"None shall escape infection."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
From inside the fortress where he and Draygor waited Kenji spoke aloud to no-one but himself.
"The weak shall perish."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Ritan walked up a hill to his next destination, his hands holding the now glowing skull. He took a glance at the ancient ruins around him, had he not been here on business he might have been interested in studying them, as a few students had come to before, only to be taken to a fight beyond the world he now stood in. Now this ruin was home to a more recent secret, he suddenly leaned down, removing a seemingly random tile.
He raised his arm, pulling out the same appendage of another creature with it. "Too easy."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
The crunch of gravel was the only thing that accompanied the now silent defenders of the island as they walked. Xiaolang's eyes were unfocused, his mind not quite where his feet were taking him. "So...that's Yubel's story. No wonder he never said anything. And this King...Judai...just how much are you really hiding from your friends?" He shook his head. "Guess I'm never gonna know." He stopped. "What..." His eyes traced along a stream of red that was now staining the ground. His mind stumbled, but the crimson of the stream eventually met another source of red. Familiar fabrics...worn by a familiar figure...
Kaiser gasped. "My god."
"KOYO!" Xiaolang dashed forward, coming to a sudden stop as he crashed to his knees beside his friend. He gently shifted the boy's damaged coat around the wound, suppressing the urge to flinch when he glanced at the gap in the boy's skin, the source of the stream was there. The boy was getting pale, there was no telling how long Koyo would have...
"Xiaolang, call for help. I'll carry-"
"Not fast enough!" His chest was suddenly aflame with a seal "Ebon!" Xiaolang picked up the boy in his arms, struggling to stand on his feet, he turned to Kaiser. "Help me with him!" He handed the broken duellist to Kaiser, before jumping unto his steed. He held out his arms to take his friend into them, resting the still bleeding body against him. "Find the others, Kaiser. Koyo will not be the only one, hya!" He kicked into the sides of the steed, ordering it forward. On other days he'd scream to try and slow the Steed down, but on this day speed was vital. As the steed beat against the ground, Xiaolang thought of this mess, quickly arriving at it's source. No doubt one of the Horsemen had done this, Sosuke by his guess. Even so, he was not the source. The real source was a much older evil, one that had brought an even older evil to this island. Even so, the real evil was one that was now his responsibility.
"Ritan..."
He could feel Koyo's blood staining his coat, making it more like the color he, as a first year ought to have been wearing. He gritted his teeth against the wind, the smell it now carried making this so much more real.
"..I'll..."
He lightly kicked the sides of his steed, silently ordering it go faster. He clasped his best friend closer. His hand tightened over Koyo's shoulder as he shook. He'd caused this, he was going to fix it. He was going to track down the very source of this entire mess. He threw back his hand and declared himself to the world, wanting all to hear his deceleration.
"RITAN! I'LL KILL YOU!"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Hours passed, and night came to find the island had gone under some changes. Almost invisible to the naked eye, but the air was thick with it.
Atop a hill a great evil stood, with the bones of another evil floating in the air around him. The demon grinned, he had claimed his first prize. "Now for the rest of my glory."
XXXXXXXXXXX
Judai walked out of his dorm, his heart heavy. This night, however, he would not be granted time to his sorrow. He leaned against the railing of his former dorm's upper floor. "How long before this gets worse?" "Likely sooner than you think, coward." This time, Judai would ignore himself.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A young boy sat with his eyes down, reading a book he had claimed that very day, and he could not but help speak aloud something he had just read.
"Darkness fell, but the dawn of chaos now shone upon us all." He snapped the book shut. "But I would not turn back from it."
The dawn of chaos had indeed come, and the start of it's day would come far sooner than all but few could have imagined.
That very night.
XXXXXXXXXXX
End of Chapter
XXXXXXXXXXX
Today's Strongest Card
Cyber Ogre 3
Monster
9
Earth
Machine/Fusion/Effect
ATK/3000 DEF/2300
"Cyber Ogre+ Cyber Ogre+ Cyber Ogre"
A Fusion Summon of this monster can only be conducted with the above Fusion Material Monsters. This Monster can attack all Monster's your opponent controls once each. This card gains 500 ATK for every monster your opponent controls.
Commentary: Samejima
"The stronger my opponent is the more powerful this creature becomes. This is my pinnacle in the Cyber Style."
Author's notes: Still ain't saying who won the Judai/Johan duel, and considering how long I've made you wait I should be jailed for cruel and unusual punishment. Have heart people, it will be revealed in time. It's part of the plot after all, but until the time the plot point must be used...-evil laughter-
Before anyone asks/suspects, I ain't doing a Yaoi between Xiaolang and Koyo.
You've all waited long enough. The time for the story to leave the island of Duel Academia is close at hand. The beginnings of a darker turn in this story have come.
Reviews make me work faster, so get reviewing! Seriously though, it helps to know if people are actually reading and interested in my work, slow though it is to update.