Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.
Yu-Gi-Oh GX – A New Duelist Legend
Chapter 24 – Ogre of the Black Shadow
Jaden and Vincent appeared back on Academy Island, in the middle of the forest. It was late afternoon. Jaden looked up at the sky and squinted. "Ah, good old sun."
Vincent snorted. "It's a giant ball of fire. Hardly worthy of reverence."
Jaden laughed. "Come on, Vincent, don't be so gloomy. We're back. Everything can go back to normal now."
"Hey, I see him! There's someone else, too!" A voice called.
Jaden looked in the direction of the voice. "Hey, isn't that a teacher?"
A couple hours, some tearful reunions and an explanation later, Jaden and Vincent were sitting in Chancellor Sheppard's office.
"I see…" Sheppard said. "Let me see those cards you got from this 'Coram'. Jaden handed them to Sheppard, who leafed through them. "Hmmm… Now boys, if it weren't for Vincent's presence and these cards, I wouldn't be inclined to believe you. But…" He sighed. "I'll have to think about this. Vincent, I presume you'll want a boat back to West Academy?"
"Actually," Vincent said, "I'd like to enroll in your school."
Sheppard blinked. "Why?"
"I have burnt my bridges. I can no longer go back there. Plus, I believe that I can get stronger here."
Frowning, Sheppard said, "I'll have to think on that matter as well. You two are dismissed for now."
After the two of them left, Sheppard sighed "What on earth should I do?"
About this time, Bastion was sitting on the beach, basking in the sunset and leafing through his cards. He smiled. "This new strategy is perfect. Simple and elegant. There's no way I can possibly lose."
As he was sitting there, the shadows lengthening, a man walked out of the forest near the beach. He walked up to Bastion, who turned and regarded him curiously. "Who on earth are you?"
The man, who was dressed in a black bodysuit with a full face mask, chucked. "You can call me Darksword. And…" He lifted the black duel disk on his arm. "I want to duel for your darkness, meat."
Bastion blinked and picked up his disk. "You want a duel? Alright. When I beat you, you'll tell me what you're really doing here!" Bastion slid five cards off of his deck. "And, you'll serve as the perfect test for my new strategy!"
Darksword also drew his starting hand. "Meat… you will soon know fear."
DLP: 8000
BLP: 8000
"The first turn is mine, meat." Darksword declared. "I will summon Skittering Abomination in defense mode!" In a flash of light, Darksword's monster appeared. It was a human torso, arms and head, with pallid white skin and mechanical parts sticking out of seemingly random locations. It had six mechanical, insect-like legs that held it just above the ground. (500/1200)
Bastion looked revolted. "What… is that?"
"You'll see." Darksword replied. "I'll set one card, than end my turn."
Bastion drew, and examined his hand. "I'm afraid I can begin with a much stronger move! I activate the spell card Summoner's Art! This adds a level five or higher normal monster from my deck to my hand. Then, I'll use the spell card Ancient Rules to summon that monster! Go, Spiral Serpent!" An ancient tablet appeared on Bastion's field, which shattered to reveal a massive blue sea serpent. (2900/2900)
"Next," Bastion continued, "I will normal summon Gene-Warped Warwolf!" Bastion placed the card on his disc, and a twisted, multi-armed werewolf appeared on his field. (2000/100)
Pointing at the Skittering Abomination, Bastion yelled "Warwolf! Crush that… thing!" The werewolf rushed forward, and slashed Darksword's monster, shattering it.
"Spiral Serpent, attack directly with Spiral Wave!" Spiral Serpent breathed deeply, and then shot massive gout of water at Darksword. Despite the power of the attack, Darksword didn't even budge as it hit him.
DLP: 5100
BLP: 8000
"Are you done, meat?" Darksword asked derisively.
Bastion frowned. "Yes, I'm done. Once I play Heart of the Underdog and set a card, at least."
Darksword drew, than selected a card from his hand. "First, I'm going to activate the continuous spell Card of Safe Return. Now, I get to draw whenever I summon a monster from my graveyard." He gestured, and his facedown flipped up. "Now, I activate my Call of the Haunted. That brings back my Skittering Abomination. His effect lets me draw a card whenever he's special summoned, so I draw twice." The repulsive creature dug its way out of the ground, and screeched. (500/1200)
"Don't think my turn's done, meat." Darksword continued. "Next, I activate Machine Duplication."
"Wait…" Bastion interrupted, "That thing's a machine?"
"You bet it is, meat." Darksword placed the card on his disc, and two more of the Abominations appeared. "Since they were both special summoned, I draw twice more."
"Next," Darksword said, "I tribute two of my Skittering Abominations to summon Goregrinder." Two of the Abominations vanished, and a massive, hulking form appeared. It had pallid, grey skin and random bits of machinery sticking out, but it also rippled with muscle and had a massive, whirring shredder where its mouth should have been. (2600/2200)
Bastion grimaced. "It's still not strong enough to beat Spiral Serpent!"
"But it's more than enough for your Warwolf, meat! Goregrinder, attack!" The massive monster lurched forward, grabbed Warwolf and shoved him into his shredder. The Warwolf was ripped apart in a matter of seconds.
DLP: 5100
BLP: 7400
Bastion looked like he was going to be sick after he saw Goregrinder's attack. He shook his head to try and clear the image of his monster getting torn apart.
"Oh, by the way, any monster destroyed by Goregrinder is removed from play." Darksword took another card from his hand and set it on the field. "Your turn, meat."
Bastion's hand shook as he drew. He flipped the card around, reveling Frostosarus. "By revealing this normal monster, my Heart of the Underdog lets me draw again!" He slid another card off of his deck. "This isn't a normal monster, though."
As Bastion looked through his hand, he asked "What are you doing here anyway?"
Darksword laughed in response. "I'm here to devour as many of you as possible, meat."
Bastion's eyes narrowed. "Devour?"
"You'll see, meat."
Frowning, Bastion took a card from his hand. "I play another Ancient Rules to summon Frostosarus!" A tablet appeared on his field, and it shattered to reveal a giant, blue ice dinosaur. (2600/1700)
"Spiral Serpent!" Bastion yelled, "Attack Goregrinder with Spiral Wave!"
"Not so fast, meat!" Darksword's set card flipped up. "I activate Death Blast! By sacrificing a zombie on my field, I can destroy your monster and do damage to you equal to its attack points!"
"You're sacrificing Goregrinder?" Bastion asked. "I thought it was a machine!"
"It is." Darksword replied, "But I'm not sacrificing it. I'm sacrificing Skittering Abomination!"
"What!" Bastion yelled, shocked. "How?" As he yelled that, the Skittering Abomination jumped in front of Spiral Serpent and exploded, destroying the massive monster. A cloud of green gas wafted from the explosion site to Bastion, where it set off a fit of coughing and hacking.
DLP: 5100
BLP: 4500
Once his coughing had subsided, Bastion asked "How did you do that?"
"Simple, Meat," Darksword replied, "Most of my monsters are very rare monsters called 'Spliced' monsters. They have two creature types, in this case, zombie and machine."
Bastion gulped, but then shook off his nervousness and flipped up his set card. "Regardless of your little trick there, I still can't lose this duel! Birthright activates, bringing my Spiral Serpent back in attack mode!" The massive sea serpent roared, than blasted Goregrinder with its Spiral Wave, shattering it.
DLP: 4800
BLP: 4500
"Now, Frostosarus, attack!" Bastion continued "Ice Age!" The ice dinosaur blasted Darksword with frost, but he didn't even flinch.
DLP: 2200
BLP: 4500
"Hahahahaha! I like you, meat!" Darksword said. "I think you're worthy of a bit more of my power!" An aura of darkness sprang up around Darksword. Bastion could feel the power in the aura, and he started shaking.
Licking his lips, Bastion placed a card from his hand onto his disc. "I'll set this card on my disc, and end." He licked his lips again. "There's no reason to be nervous. My Justi-Break will take care of any attackers, than I can win the duel. No reason to be nervous at all…"
Darksword slid a card off of his disc. "I activate the continuous spell Call of the Mummy! Now, whenever I have no monsters on my field, I can special summon a Zombie from my hand! I think I'll use it to summon Power Gorger!" A monster that looked like a grey-skinned insect with some metal legs, some flesh legs and spikes all over it appeared. (2000/1200)
Bastion gulped. "And what does this abomination do?"
Darksword chuckled. "When it's special summoned, it destroys all spell and trap cards on the field, than this turn gets 200 attack points for each one destroyed."
Bastion's eyes widened, and the spikes shot off of the Power Gorger's back. They hooked into Bastion's set Justi-Break, face-up Birthright and Heart of the Underdog, as well as Darksword's Card of Safe Return and Call of the Mummy. The cables attached to the hooks dragged the cards back to Power Gorger, and it devoured them. As soon as Birthright was gone, Spiral Serpent shattered. (2000/1200)—(3000/1200)
"Power Gorger!" Darksword yelled, "Go! Devour his dinosaur!" Power Gorger shot his hooks out at Frostosarus, and dragged it back to his waiting mouth.
DLP: 2200
BLP: 4100
"I'll set two cards, and then end my turn. Let's see if you can survive, meat."
Bastion took a card off of his deck. His hand was shaking so badly he almost dropped it. He looked at the cards in his hand, then selected one. "Only one chance." He thought to himself. "I activate the spell card Swing of Memories! This summons a normal monster from my graveyard, but I have to sacrifice it at the end of the turn. Return, Spiral Serpent!" The massive sea serpent returned to the field in a flash of light. (2900/2900)
"I then summon Vorse Raider!" Bastion continued. He placed the card on his disc, and the snarling beast-warrior appeared. (1900/1200)
Bastion pointed at the Power Gorger. "Spiral Serpent, wipe out that abomination with Spiral Wave!"
Darksword laughed. "Sorry meat, but that's not going to work. I activate my trap, Wall of Undead! This card special summons a level four or lower zombie from my graveyard in defense mode, then redirects your attack to it!" A Skittering Abomination crawled out of the ground in the path of the Spiral Wave, and was instantly smashed. "Of course, I still get to draw a card for its effect."
Bastion grimaced. "He can't finish me next turn. I still have a chance!" He gestured to Darksword. "I end my turn." As he passed the turn to Darksword, Spiral Serpent shattered.
"Fine by me, meat. I'm getting bored with you, so I'll finish it this turn." His dark aura swelled as he drew, and Bastion's stomach rolled. Darksword laughed as he saw the card. "Oh… I can't wait to see the look on your face, meat!"
He slipped the card into his hand and selected another. "But that comes in a moment. I summon Mad Doctor!" Darksword placed the card on his disc, and a man in a tattered, dirty lab coat appeared. He had mechanical parts all over his body, and his right hand had been replaced with an assortment of surgical blades and tools. (0/0)
"Now," Darksword continued, "I'll activate Mad Doctor's effect. By tributing it…" He waved his hand and Mad Doctor vanished. "I can summon two other Zombies or Machines with 500 or fewer attack points from my graveyard!" Two Skittering Abominations crawled up out of the ground, and Darksword drew twice again.
"My Book of Life also brings back the third Skittering Abomination." Darksword drew, and third of the monstrosities crawled out of the ground. "Oh, and I think I'll remove your Spiral Serpent from play with Book of Life's other effect." The card slid out of Bastion's graveyard, and he grimaced.
Darksword lifted a card from his hand, and laughed. "Get ready, meat, here it comes. I tribute my three Skittering Abominations to special summon my Gearwork Vampire!" The three monsters broke into dark particles, and formed into a single, tall figure. It looked like a twisted Vampire Lord, with metal plates, protruding gears and a pair of drills for fangs. The beast roared, as much in agony as in rage. (0/0)
The creature was producing such a powerful dark aura that Bastion fell to his knees. His whole body was shaking. "What's… going… on…?"
Darksword laughed. "You've got no real power, meat. You've got potential, though. That's why I'll devour you!" The Gearwork Vampire was surrounded with an aura of power, and its attack shot up. (0/0)—(3000/3000)
"My Vampire gets 500 attack and defense points for each Zombie and 500 points for each machine used in its special summoning." Darksword roared, "Not only that, but I activate Limiter Removal to double its power!" (6000/3000)
"You're defenseless! Gearwork Vampire, attack!"
A high-pitched scream echoed across the beach.
DLP: 2200
BLP: 0
Darksword walked up to Bastion's prone body. He raised his hand over it, and darkness began to stream out of Bastion's body, and into a gem on the gauntlet. After a few seconds, the darkness stopped, and Darksword chuckled. He checked a screen on his wrist. "First goes to me. I'll bet I get the most, too."
"Chancellor Sheppard!" Doctor Crowler barged into the conference room, where Sheppard had called an emergency staff meeting. "What is the meaning of getting us out of bed at one o'clock in the morning…?" He trailed off when he saw the grim look on the Chancellor's face. "What's happened?"
"Nine students have gone missing in the last seven hours." The Chancellor said. "Three of them have been found, comatose. And I'm unable to contact the mainland."
Crowler frowned. "I see…"
Sheppard looked slowly around the room. "I'm authorizing the use of any and all methods to discover and apprehend the people who are doing this. The students' safety comes first." Sheppard's eyes narrowed. "We'll show them that East Duel Academy is far from helpless."
Next Time: The war has bugun. Two girls on opposite sides of the conflict are about to find each other... and that meeting may not be pretty. Don't miss "The Unhappy Girl"!