Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.
A/N: Hey, I finally got another chapter out! Yay me! Anyway, I'm sorry this took so long, but life at boarding school is very busy (Compounded by a weird glitch that made it so I couldn't log in). I'm well aware this chapter is also pretty short, but I really wanted to get it out. Also, it's not the same chapter I said would be coming out, but the fact that that chapter was boring the crap out of me is one of the reasons that this chapter took so long. Well then, on with the fic!
Yu-Gi-Oh GX – A New Duelist Legend
Chapter 20 – Night Assailant
A figure, obscured by shadows, stood in the center of a dark room. "I'm busy." The figure snapped. "Why did you call me all the way here? There are easier ways to talk."
A second figure, clad in a red vest, black pants and a sleeveless black shirt walked into the room. He adjusted the sunglasses that obscured his eyes. "I called you here because I have something to give you." He tossed a card to the shadowed figure.
The figure caught the card and looked at it. "Why the present? We both know it isn't my birthday, or anything."
"You might need it." The red-vested man replied. "I'm sending you after someone that looks like he could be a major handful." The man clicked a remote, and the smiling face of Jaden Yuki appeared on a large screen.
The figure frowned. "…Are you sure it has to be him?"
The man in the vest nodded.
The figure's frown deepened. "…Fine. I'll do it." The figure pointed at the vested man. "You know, someday I'm going to kill you." With that proclamation, the figure vanished in a surge of darkness.
The man in the vest turned around, revealing a spider tattoo on his left arm. He sighed. "What in the name of god were we thinking, creating something like that?"
Jaden blinked. "…a camping trip."
"Yeah!" Syrus said, "It'll be fun!"
Jaden scratched his chin. "Well, it would be relaxing… sure, why not."
"Alright!" Syrus yelled, jumping into the air.
Jaden grinned. "While we're at it, let's invite, well… everyone!"
Syrus blinked. "Who's 'everyone'?"
"Let's see…" Jaden said, "Alexis, Bastion, Chumly, Chazz, Tsukanna and Rita, I think."
"Sounds good to me." Syrus said.
Jaden whipped out his PDA. "Let's see here…" He fiddled with it and sent messages out to everyone they were inviting.
"Alright," Jaden said, "Now that that's done, let's go pack."
A couple hours later, Jaden and Syrus met with Alexis, Rita and Tsukanna at the edge of the forest. Jaden looked around. "Hey, where's Chumley, Chazz and Bastion?"
"Well," Syrus said, "Chumley said he didn't want to miss grilled cheese night, Bastion said he had to study and Chazz chased me out of his room."
"Well," Jaden said, "I guess it's just us then."
"Yep." Tsukanna said. "Ah well. I don't mind."
"All right!" Syrus yelled, "Let's go!" With that, the five companions walked into the forest, ready for a day of fun.
After a long hike, the five friends went fishing and swimming. They played hide and seek, and explored. They simply ran through the woods, laughing all the while.
Hours later, they all were sitting around a campfire, tired from a day of fun. Jaden grinned. "I think today's been the most fun I've had for a while."
Tsukanna grinned back. "Today's the most fun I've ever had. Camping is awesome!"
"Yeah, it is." Alexis said. "How many times have you been camping, Tsukanna?"
Tsukanna smiled. "This is my first, actually."
"Your parents never took you camping?" Jaden asked, disbelieving.
"Yep." Tsukanna replied. "Mom and Dad are all about studying and training, studying and training. Feh. Boring."
"Sounds kind of like my parents." Rita said. "They didn't really approve of my coming here. The wanted me to be a mathematician."
"Not like my parents at all." Syrus added, "They were really happy when I decided to go here. They wanted me to follow in my brother's footsteps."
"My parents didn't really care one way or the other." Alexis said, "As long as I'm successful at whatever it is I do, they support it."
"What about you, Jaden?" Syrus asked. "What're your parents like?"
His only answer was a snore. Jaden had fallen asleep.
Syrus sweatdropped. "Maybe we should get him into his tent."
Tsukanna yawned. "Yeah, and then go to sleep ourselves. I'm tired."
A few hours later, Jaden shifted uneasily out of his slumber. He shivered. "Why is it so cold all of a sudden?" He walked out of is tent, and his jaw dropped.
"What the heck is going on?" Jaden yelled, staring at the infinite darkness in all directions. "How'd we get here?"
"Could you keep it down Ja…" Syrus began, sticking his head out of the tent. He abruptly paused when he saw what Jaden was currently looking at. "AHHHH!"
"Calm down, Syrus." Jaden said. "Yelling's not going to help."
"Indeed it isn't." Jaden whirled around and faced down the source of the strange, echoey voice, a figure that was partially obscured by the shadows that surrounded their camp.
"Who are you?" Jaden asked.
The figure chuckled. "It wouldn't be any fun for either of us if I just told you, now would it?" The figure grinned. "It looks like your other little friends are waking up."
Alexis and Rita walked up to Jaden, the latter of which looked like she was on the verge of collapsing with fright. "Jaden," Alexis asked, "What's going on?"
"I don't know." Jaden replied, pointing at the figure. "But I bet he does."
"Oh, come on!" The figure said, "You still haven't recognized my voice? Fine, then I'll have my fun another way…"
The figure abruptly materialized behind Rita and yelled "Boo!"
"EEEEEKKKK!" Rita screeched and promptly fainted.
The figure stood back and laughed. "Man, I've wanted to do that for so long!" Alexis and Jaden just stared at the figure. "What, you were expecting someone else?"
"What he heck is going on?" Alexis demanded.
"…Tsukanna?" Jaden asked, half disbelieving.
Tsukanna, minus her Slifer jacket, laughed. "Surprised?"
"Is this some kind of bad joke?" Jaden yelled.
Tsukanna grinned maliciously. "Nope. I'm deadly serious." She cracked her knuckles. "With emphasis on the 'deadly' part."
Jaden just stared in openmouthed astonishment.
"It's very fortunate for you that I can't do this my way." Tsukanna said with a sadistic grin. "I gotta do this the boring way." The shadows that surrounded them briefly coalesced around Tsukanna's arm, forming a dead black duel disc.
"You want to duel me?" Jaden asked.
Tsukanna laughed madly. "This isn't going to be a duel. It'll be a Shadow Game of the highest caliber. And when all is said and done, you'll lose, I'll win, and you'll die."
"Then let my friends go!" Jaded demanded.
Tsukanna shrugged. "Whatever. I don't care." She gestured, and a hole appeared in the darkness, sucking everything but her and Jaden into it and depositing them just outside the dome of blackness that indicated a shadow game.
"Jaaaaddddeeeennnn!" Syrus yelled, running towards the hole. It closed just before he got to it, sealing Jaden and Tsukanna off from everyone else.
Tsukanna tossed Jaden a duel disc. "Let's begin, shall we? I'm getting bored."
Jaden caught the disc, strapped it on and slammed his deck into it. "I hope my deck is up to this. The changes I made make it stronger, but…" His eyes narrowed. "I don't know why you're doing this, Tsukanna, but I've never turned down a challenge! Duel Disc, ON!"
TLP: 8000
JLP: 8000
"My move first." Tsukanna said, drawing. "I'll start off with Gravekeeper's Curse in attack mode!" The dreadlocked Gravekeeper mage appeared on Tsukanna's field, chanting. (800/800)
"Now," Tsukanna said, "His effect blasts you for 500 points of damage!" Gravekeeper's Curse lifted his crook and shot a bolt of black energy at Jaden. When the bolt hit him, Jaden doubled over and screamed.
TLP: 8000
JLP: 7500
Tsukanna grinned cruelly. "Hurts, doesn't it? I'm putting my full power into this Shadow Game. It's as real as it can get! Which reminds me…" Tsukanna pulled off the glove she always wore on her left hand. "This thing's getting uncomfortable."
Jaden stared. "What… is that?" On the back of Tsukanna's hand, there was a mass of black flesh seemingly fused to her. A number of bulging tendrils extended from it under her skin like veins.
Tsukanna casually glanced at it. "Oh, this? It's my Dark Symbiote. It feeds off its host's life energy and multiplies their Darkness in return, making me twice as powerful as normal." She smiled. "I've had it since I was a baby, so it doesn't even hurt anymore."
Jaden shivered. "That… was a really creepy smile."
"Anyway," Tsukanna said, "I'll set these two cards facedown, then end my turn."
"Then I draw!" Jaden declared, sliding the top card off of his deck. He slammed it onto his disc. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!" The gold and blue suited hero appeared on Jaden's field in a blast of lightning, posing. (1600/1400)
"Sparkman," Jaden said, "Attack with Shining Surge Flash!" The electric hero began charging up a blast of electricity, but Tsukanna just wagged her finger.
"What makes you think I'd let you do that?" She asked rhetorically, "I'll activate my trap, Crush Card!"
Jaden's face paled. "Crush Card?"
Tsukanna sneered. "Yep. All I need to do is sacrifice a dark monster with 1000 or fewer attack points, and it wipes out every card on the field, in your hand, and that you draw for the next three turns that has 1500 or more attack!" Gravekeeper's Curse dissolved, and a black mist coated the field. Sparkman convulsed and shattered.
Tsukanna grinned evilly. "Let's see what's in your hand, shall we?" Holographic representations of Elemental Hero Bladedge, A Hero Emerges, Elemental Hero Clayman, Skyscraper and Wroughtweiler shimmered onto the field. The Bladedge shattered, and the representations disappeared.
With a snap of her fingers, Tsukanna's other set card flipped up. "I think now I'll activate Mind Crush! Now I get to name a card, and if it's in your hand it gets discarded. If I'm wrong, then I have to discard something… but I don't think I'll be wrong." She smirked, her eyes shining with malice. "I call Skyscraper!" A ghostly hand reached out of the card, and it grabbed the card and threw it into Jaden's graveyard.
"Hahahahaha!" Tsukanna laughed madly. "I just knew I'd be right!"
Jaden frowned. "Tsukanna… why are you doing this?"
Tsukanna frowned. "People always seem to need a 'why' when I do stuff like this..." She grinned madly. "Fine, you want reasons? I've got a boatload! I like dueling, and I like causing pain! This lets me do both at once! I hate people, my stupid-ass boss ordered me to…"
"Wait - what boss?" Jaden asked.
Tsukanna's eyes widened and she smacked herself in the head. "Shit. I shouldn't have said that." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "How about you finish up your turn and forget you heard that."
Jaden frowned and slid a card from his hand onto his disc. "Fine, then I'll just set this and end."
Tsukanna pulled the top card off of her deck and glanced at it. "Well, well, well, you already." She placed the card in her hand and selected another. "I'll save you for later. For the moment, I'll just play Necrovalley!" Tsukanna slid the card into her field slot, and the massive Egyptian valley sprang up around them, although the sky was still the endless black of the Shadow Realm.
"Next up, Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier!" Tsukanna called. She placed the card on her disc, and the spear-wielding Gravekeeper materialized onto her field. A dark nimbus surrounded it as Necrovalley increased its power. (1500/1000)—(2000/1500)
Tsukanna grinned manically. "Spear Soldier, show Jaden real pain! Stab him through the heart! Attack!"
"Not so fast!" Jaden yelled. "I activate my trap, A Hero Emerges! Now you select a card from my hand, and if it's a monster then I get to special summon it!"
"Fine!" Tsukanna said. "The left one!"
Jaden flipped around the left card in his hand. "Sorry, that's Elemental Hero Clayman!" The trap faded and was replaced by the bulky form of Clayman, who crouched defensively. (800/2000)
"Since my Spear Soldier would just tie," Tsukanna growled, "I'll just end my turn with a facedown."
Jaden drew, immediately placing the card on his disc. "Pot of Greed!" He pulled two cards off of his deck, and the images of Polymerization and Elemental Hero Wildheart appeared in the air above his head.
Tsukanna grinned. "Looks like you lose Wildheart to my Crush Card!"
Jaden just smirked. "Don't forget, Wildheart is immune to all effects of traps, even when he's not in play!"
Tsukanna sneered. "That may be true, but it won't help you for long."
Jaden slammed a card down on his disc. "We'll see! I activate Polymerization, fusing Clayman and Wildheart into Elemental Hero Earth Hammer!" The two named monsters disappeared into a vortex, and after a moment, a monster that looked like a leaner Clayman wielding a giant stone hammer emerged from it. (2400/1600)
"Earth Hammer's got a great effect!" Jaden continued, "When he's special summoned, one of your set cards is destroyed!"
Tsukanna smirked. "Too bad for you I don't have any. I'll chain my set card to his summon! Go, Rite of Spirit!" The trap card flipped, and Gravekeeper's Curse appeared once again, crouching in defense mode. (800/800)—(1300/1300)
"Now his effect goes off again!" Tsukanna cackled. "Taste some more pain, Jaden!" Gravekeeper's Curse powered up another blast of dark energy then launched it at Jaden. Once again, when the bolt hit Jaden doubled over screaming.
TLP: 8000
JLP: 7000
Jaden stood up, breathing heavily. "I'm… not… done… yet…"
Tsukanna just sneered at him. "You were done the moment you accepted this duel. Your body isn't used to Shadow Games like mine is! I also have infinitely more experience and far greater power then you do! You don't have a chance!"
Jaden just smirked. "Maybe not, but I'll still win!" Images of his duel with Vincent flashed through his head. "I've got a promise to keep! Earth Hammer, attack Tsukanna's Spear Soldier! Earthen Crush!" the massive hero slammed his hammer into the spear-wielding Gravekeeper, crushing it in an instant.
TLP: 7600
JLP: 7000
The dust from Earth Hammer's strike cleared to reveal a hysterically laughing Tsukanna. "Hahahahaha! You're just full of confidence, aren't you?" Her eyes widened madly, and they pulsed with black energy. "I'll enjoy ripping that confidence apart!"
Jaden frowned. "She's nothing like the Tsukanna I know. What could have happened?" He slid his last card onto his disc. "I'll set one monster facedown, then end my turn."
Tsukanna drew, and she laughed. "Hehehe. I guess it's time."
"Time for what?" Jaden asked warily.
Tsukanna just smirked. "You'll find out…" Tsukanna placed a card on her disc, and Gravekeeper's Curse vanished in a flash of light. "For now, though, I'll just tribute my Curse to summon Gravekeeper's Chief in attack mode!" The white-robed Gravekeeper chief appeared on Tsukanna's field in the place of Gravekeeper's Curse. He gestured, and Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier rose up next to him. (19001200)—(2400/1700), (1500/1000)—(2000/1500)
"Now," Tsukanna said as her monsters were consumed by a cloud of darkness, "I'll tribute both of them to special summon a monster that can only be special summoned by sacrificing two Dark monsters with at least 2000 attack each." The dark cloud that had consumed Tsukanna's Gravekeepers coalesced into a vaguely humanoid shape. The dark cloud opened its mouth and screamed. (2800/2600)
Tsukanna laughed, and her eyes widened madly. "Meet Cursed Spirit! He's a unstoppable spirit of pure Darkness, and I'm about to give him leave to rip you to shreds!" She pointed. "Cursed Spirit, attack Earth Hammer now! Dark Abyss!" The spirit flung out one of its arms, and a ball of black energy appeared in front of Earth Hammer. The dark ball produced a massive vacuum that sucked the stone hero inside of it.
TLP: 7600
JLP: 6600
Tsukanna smirked. "Cursed Spirit's effect activates now, dealing you damage equal to half your monster's attack, as well as giving me an equal number of life points!" Cursed Spirit let out an unearthly wail, causing Jaden to clutch his ears and scream. Tsukanna on the other hand, seem to enjoy the evil screech.
TLP: 8800
JLP: 5400
Tsukanna began laughing madly once again. "Face it, Jaden. With the power of Cursed Spirit combined with my expertise in Shadow Games, my victory is assured." She sneered at the winded Jaden. "You don't have a chance!"
New Cards: Elemental Hero Earth Hammer, Cursed Spirit
Changes: I may have botched Wildheart's effect, I'm not sure.
Next Time: Jaden is dueling for his life against one of his best friends! To make matters worse, he's dueling without the support of all his other friends, who he relies on so much. As if that weren't enough, Tsukanna might actually be a better duelist then he is, too. Can he unravel the secret of Tsukanna's motives, or will she destroy him first? Don't miss "Sectarian of Secrets"!