Ba-Ku-Ra!
By: Miss-DNL & RenagadeRexRider
Chapter 28: Duel in the Graveyard
The King of Thieves looked around the modern gravesite with some intrigue. It was unusual for him to see graves not only so numerous in one place but ones that were above ground. They were oddly done as well, most simple but others not so much. Clearly there were still some status differences, the majority around him likely those of commoners. He shrugged the facts off; as mildly interesting as it was, they weren't here to sight see.
Huffing as he continued monitoring their surroundings, Akefia spoke evenly, "Watch your step. They'll try and take you by surprise." He chuckled knowing they were dealing with amateurs, "One will catch your attention. Ignore him. The attack always comes from behind."
Ryo nods curtly hearing his yami, trusting the thief knew more than enough about ambushes. The walk through the graveyard was utterly quiet as to be expected from a cemetery, Ryo didn't even spot anyone else as he walked. No doubt the culprits he was after were hiding, so he kept alert as he walked.
When he reached the center of the graveyard Ryo looked around, still he spotted no one. The white haired duelist stopped looking around however when he heard something faintly shift. This was it.
Three people in zombie masks then jumped up out of the ground, doing their best undead groan. Startled, Ryo briefly tensed before remembering what the thief had instructed him to do in this situation. Jumping out of the way the guy coming from the front rammed into the two other guys that were coming up behind him. The three of them fell to the ground with a slightly pained groan.
Heart beating Ryo turns around and looks at the mess. It only took a brief look for him to confirm they were indeed Bandit Keith's thugs. For whatever reason, they were wearing zombie masks that looked like their actual faces.
"So, it is you guys." Ryo stated while they started to get up.
Akefia laughed at the sad attempt to mug his host, "So damn predictable for slum rate street vermin!" He snorted in an unimpressed manner, "Child's scare tactic."
Stripping the mask from his face Bonz looked at Ryo and gasped in realization, pointing to him, "Hey, you're that guy from Duelist Kingdom!"
'Wait. They didn't notice it was me before?' Ryo questioned mentally. He was honestly stunned; most only need a glimpse of his long white hair to recognize him! It was basically his trademark after all. Ryo sighed, sweat dropping, as he vaguely nodded, "Yes, it's me."
Inside the Ring Akefia face palmed, "Oh Ra, they can't be that dim witted!" He groaned dully, "This will be either satisfying or unbelievably sad…"
'Might as well ask them if they know about the Rare Hunters or where Keith is…' Ryo decided, mostly to himself. Looking to the trio of cheaters he asks the latter, "Do you know where Keith is?"
The red headed Sid twitches irately upon hearing the name and snaps, "We don't work with that bastard anymore! So no. We don't know where he is and we don't care!"
"Bastard tossed us aside after Bonz lost to you," The taller, bulkier Zygor huffed dryly, "by that I mean he beat us to a pulp and took our star chips."
The Thief King gave the two thug's faces a glance over to gauge whether they were lying or not. Judging from tone and truthful anger, the thief grunted deciding they weren't, "Give them a bone. They're telling the truth." He shrugged indifferently, "Matters little."
'I doubt they know what the Rare Hunters are up to then…' Ryo figured sounding a bit disappointed. Had Bonz and his friends knew something then at least they could have gotten some sort lead.
Spotting the Duel Disk attached to Ryo's arm Bonz quirked a thin brow, asking, "So did you come here for a duel?"
"I am," Ryo answered turning his head back to the short teen, his voice turning serious yet blunt, "and if I win I get the cards you took from that duelist you attacked."
The skull faced teen appeared to be briefly surprised he knew what they were doing, but deciding it didn't matter he huffed with a slight shrug, "Fine, but to be fair," grinning deviously he pointed to Ryo's deck. "If I win we get the same amount of cards from you."
Akefia snorted at the boy's words, "He's one to talk about fair." The Egyptian thief then chuckled lightly, "But then I don't have much say myself."
The comment earned a sweatdrop from Ryo, his thoughts having more or less come straight out the thief's mouth. Turning his attention back to Bonz, Ryo thought over his deal carefully out of habit, but taking into consideration he beat him before he nodded, earning a cackle from Bonz which was mostly ignored.
Moving a few steps over, the sliverette activated his Duel Disk, the card slots lighting up briefly, "Very well," he answered, "Let's get started then."
A small grin on his face Bonz got into to position, lights of his Duel Disk likewise flashing momentarily as it was activated. Ryo however took the initiative and drew a card after collecting his initial hand, "I'll go first."
Getting no protest from his opponent he went on and a summoned a monster, "I summon the demon Kryuel in attack mode."
Immediately a demon with skin that looked like exposed flesh, or perhaps it was its flesh, appeared in front of Ryo; Curled ram-like horns adorned its head above three glaring green eyes. It hovered above the ground wielding a gruesome double-headed spear, uttering a growl and flashing its demon wings signaling it was ready to fight.
|| Kryuel: Attack: 1000 Defense: 1700||
"I set one card face down and end my turn." Ryo finalized as he placed a card in one of his spell or trap card zones.
Akefia chuckled to himself as he looked at the gory appearance of his host's monster, 'Never ceases to amaze me this boy's likes.' Musing over the fact only a moment more, he then turned his attention to the sickly boy his host was dueling and crossed his arms waiting to see what he'd do.
Bonz looked at the monster intently a moment recalling Ryo's similar taste in creatures; the demon looked familiar. Did it have an effect?
Dismissing the thought Bonz started his turn, after drawing his card he summoned a monster of his own, "Alright my turn. I summon Medusa's Ghost!"
In a flash, a green skinned woman dressed in an worn blue cloak appeared on the field; She had a cruel smirk on her face emphasizing the sharp fangs that pointed over her lips, fingers tipped with fine claws and her hair a nest of hissing snakes. Despite the name, however, she didn't seem very ghost-like.
||Medusa's Ghost: Attack: 1500 Defense: 1200||
"Attack! Turn the demon to stone!" Bonz ordered pointing sharply at Ryo's Kryuel. The snake woman's eyes suddenly turned a deadly red and held her hands out in front of her. The snakes that made up her hair faced forward, mouth's open and hissing, eyes a glowing red as well. Kryuel cringed and began turning into stone. Once the demon was solid stone cracks began appearing in the monster but to Bonz's surprise the monster didn't shatter.
"Hey what's going on!?" Bonz yelled in confusion, was the hologram system glitched? His opponent's life points had gone down but his monster was still on the field. What was going on?
||Ryo LP: 3500||
"You activated Kryuel's special ability." Ryo explained normally. The short ghoulish looking Bonz stiffened; he knew the demon had an ability. He should have listened to the gut feeling he'd had about it.
"When he's destroyed as a result of battle he can take one monster to the grave with him." Ryo explained as he pulled out a coin, "It depends on a coin toss. If I call correctly I can destroy one of your monsters."
With the effect explained, Ryo tossed the coin up into the air. Catching it the sliverette laid it on the back of his hand, covered by his other, the result hidden. There was a slight moment of silence as Ryo decided on his choice. Bonz had his fingers crossed as he tensely waited, hoping that his opponent would call incorrectly. With a fifty-fifty chance Ryo made his call, "I call heads."
Uncovering the coin, Ryo hummed then showed it to Bonz, and to his dismay, announced, "Kryuel's ability activates! Take Medusa to the grave!"
With a shrieking roar Kryuel bursts from the stone and immediately lunged at the opposing monster. Medusa's Ghost cried in agony as the demon impaled its spear through her stomach. The snake woman monster writhed in pain unable to free herself, a sight that was soon covered by Kryuel's leathery bat wings as they enclosed Medusa. Finally Kryuel shattered from the previous attack it endured, taking Medusa with him.
A pleased hum came from Akefia as he watched the successful counter move play out. Looking to Bonz he chuckled as the short duelist looked stunned, "Move one down, now let's see if this grave has learned anything."
"My turn," Ryo stated as he drew his card, "I activate my face down Shallow Grave."
The face down card he had played in his first turn flipped over revealing a magic card, which depicted two monsters crawling out of a grave. Ryo took his Kryuel out of his graveyard and continued to explain, "We can now both summon a monster from our graves in defense mode."
Both only having one monster in the graveyard, Kryuel and Medusa's Ghost returned to the field in defense mode. The demon's return to the field was short however as Ryo made his next move, "I now sacrifice Kryuel to summon the Earl of Demise."
The fleshy demon Kryuel dissipates into light and is quickly replaced by the undead Earl of Demise, a frail looking gentlemanly undead fencer who despite his appearance was twice as strong as the fiend it had replaced, if only by attack points.
||Earl of Demise: Attack: 2000 Defense: 700||
"Earl, destroy Medusa!" Ryo ordered pointing to the revived snake woman. Without a moment's hesitation the ghoul lunged forward slashing the female monster in half with his rapier, once again Medusa shirked and shattered into pieces.
Bonz gritted his teeth seeing his monster destroyed for a second time. Swallowing his frustration he draws his card to start his new turn. Bonz blinked his sunken eyes, a pleased grin sprouting on his face seeing what he drew. Immediately he played the card in the magic/trap card zone, "I play Premature Burial! Paying 800 life points I can bring back Medusa's Ghost!"
|| Bonz LP: 3200||
Once again the ghostly snake woman Medusa's Ghost appeared onto the field. The King of Thieves laughed at this, "Déjà vu." He mused, given a few moments it would likely be more so. But to his mild surprise, it wasn't so.
The ghoulish duelist's move wasn't over yet as he played another magic card, "Now I use Polymerization to fuse Medusa's Ghost with Dragon Zombie to create Golden Demon Elephant!"
The rotting Dragon Zombie appeared next to Medusa's Ghost and the two were pulled together into a swirling vortex. From the vortex emerged a golden elephant skeleton with a cycloptic skull and huge tusks. Despite being skeletal the undead elephant let out an eerie trumpet as it stood ready to attack Ryo's monster.
||Golden Demon Elephant: Attack: 2200: Defense: 1800||
"Since it's a fusion monster it can't attack this turn. So I'll place one card face down and I end my turn." Bonz said with a smirk feeling he was in control since he had the stronger monster on the field. Once the face down card appeared on the field behind Golden Demon Elephant, Bonz's turn officially ended.
Seeing the fusion form Akefia growled slightly, particularly when he saw it was stronger than Ryo's monster. "A might beast. Seems he has some skill without his fool leader…" He looked to the boy, "We need to strengthen up quickly."
'He has to be at least a rank five duelist to enter,' Ryo held his thought for a moment as he reached for his deck. Considering why they were dueling Bonz he added, '…unless he stole that Duel Disk.'
"Trust me," Akefia scoffed half amusedly overhearing his host's comment, "that was not obtained by his skills as a duelist."
As soon as Ryo drew his card Bonz activated his face down card, "I activate my trap card Skull Invitation!" A card with a beckoning skull-faced fiend is revealed, glowing as it activates. "Now whenever a monster is destroyed that person loses 300 life points!"
This move changed the thief's tune, to one more akin to annoyance, "Regardless, he's doing rather well…for now."
Looking his hand over Ryo frowns, 'I can't do much this turn.' Having nothing else to do he decided to minimize possible damage to his life points, "I switch Earl of Demise to defense mode and end my turn."
Seeing the undead fencer kneel with his arms crossed in front of him Bonz grinned, he had the upper hand now. Once he drew his card Bonz went straight to attack phase, "Golden Demon attack! Flatten him!"
The mammoth elephant trumpeted loudly before stampeding forward. Rearing up it brought down all of its digital weight onto the fiend, crushing the fencer instantly. Completing its order the golden skeleton moved back into place. Even though the monster was in defense mode Ryo still lost life points due to Bonz's trap card bringing them to a tie. For the moment Bonz had the advantage but Ryo wasn't about to give up just yet. He was certain he could find a way out of this.
||Ryo LP: 3200||
Drawing an extra card from his fallen monster, Ryo drew two at the start of his turn, brightening at his draw he played a magic card, "I play Pot of Greed."
The iconic green pot appeared on the field then immediately shattered causing the LP number on the Duel Disk change to "Draw Two". It changed back soon as Ryo drew his two extra cards. He then played a second magic card, "I activate Change of Heart to take control of the Golden Demon Elephant for this turn."
Now having the powerful beast on his side, Ryo now held the upper hand, if only for a turn…however, Ryo didn't keep the elephant for long, once it was on his field he immediately made use of it, "I sacrifice Demon Elephant in order to summon Diabound Kernel!"
"Well played!" Akefia praised with a loud laugh; to be sure, the play had been cunning fit for a thief. Ryo couldn't help but feel a small smirk tug at the very edge of his lips, if only slightly at his yami's praise.
The mammoth skeleton vanished and the proud visage of Diabound appeared in full glory with a short roar upon his summon, ready for battle. Spotting Bonz, Diabound growled angrily recognizing the one that had dared try and turn him against his master. The growl was cut off when he heard Ryo speak,
"Diabound direct attack to player!"
Seeing his Ka appear Akefia couldn't help but greet him, "Welcome to the duel, old friend!" He then smirked at the issued order, "Enjoy this attack immensely" Akefia added smoothly with a grin.
Diabound growled eagerly, that was an order he was more than willing to carry out. Lunging forward in a startling rush, the white fiend slashed both of his claws through Bonz who reflexively flinched upon Diabound's attack, but felt no actual pain-luckily for him, the attack dealing a total of 2,100 life points, 300 extra for when the Golden Elephant Demon was destroyed. Diabound then returned back to his place, looking rather pleased with himself.
"Nice work." Akefia praised his Ka, getting an almost thankful hiss from the snake head.
Gritting his teeth Bonz growled to himself, in one turn Ryo had put him on the defensive again, again he was losing, 'Of course he still has THAT damn card with him…'
||Bonz LP: 3200 2900 1100||
Seeing the look on Bonz's face Akefia gave him an unseen taunting smirk, inwardly mock challenging him to try to turn the tables.
"I end my turn." Ryo stated evenly.
"My turn..." Bonz said slowly. Despite looking and even sounding defeated, he wasn't about to forfeit, he had more pride than that. In a sad effort to stall for better cards he summoned a monster to act as a wall for a turn. Unfortunately zombie monsters had notoriously bad defense in trade for naturally high attack. "I summon Zombie Dragon in defense mode."
The familiar rotting dragon appeared on the field. Though instead of his rank mouth being open ready to spew its noxious fumes it was basically sluggishly hugging the ground, the tattered sad excuses for wings were hung limply at its side, eyes drooping. It look more like it was giving up than trying to defend itself… A sight truly deserving a 0 defense stat.
"I end my turn." Bonz basically muttered.
||Zombie Dragon: Attack: 1600 Defense: 0||
Despite being known for his kindness and empathy, Ryo ignored his opponent's despondency; this was a tournament and one he needed to succeed in like last time. Further he was more than certain Bonz had gotten into Battle City through illegitimate needs. Either he'd lose to him now or get caught later and booted out forcefully later. Putting those thoughts aside Ryo began his turn, "I summon Nightmare Horse in attack mode!"
In an instant a horse made of blue flames appeared onto the field; red, angry, ethereal eyes peered through worn bandages. Despite this intimidating appearance the monster wasn't even half as strong as Diabound. It was still, however, strong enough to defeat a monster with no defense, "Nightmare Horse destroy Dragon Zombie!"
||Nightmare Horse: Attack: 500 Defense: 400||
The burning spirit wasted no time charging right at the dragon corpse. The dragon having no means of defense simply sat there as the horse impacted with it setting it ablaze in blue fire, the dead dragon quickly burning away into ash before shattering. Order complete, Ryo's monster manifested itself back next to Diabound.
With no more wall monsters there was only one thing left for Ryo to do, "Diabound attack Bonz directly!"
Gathering swirling energy between its clawed hands Diabound fired a Spiral Blast at Bonz, depleting the last of his life points; a rather Thief King-like smirk on his lips as their foe's points dropped to zero.
"You lost Bonz!" Ryo declared as Bonz let out a groan once his life points reached zero.
|| Bonz LP: 0||
Akefia shook his head with a huff, "That was sad indeed…Feh." He looked to his Ka and got a slight smirk on his lips, "Well, at least Diabound got a couple revenge shots in for trying to turn him against me..." Diabound let out a pleased trill in agreement before vanishing now that the duel was over.
His Ka gone the King of Thieves looked back to Ryo, "And we benefit quiet handsomely." At the mention he narrowed his eyes as he looked at Sid and Zygor carefully, warning his host, "Just keep your guard up..."
Ryo habitually gave a nod, though managed to keep it vague to avoid rousing suspicion from the thieving trio lest they attempt to accuse him of cheating. He blinked to alertness when he saw Bonz heading over to him. Glancing to the two others Ryo was surprised to see them remaining where they were, still he kept an eye trained on them. Hearing a tired sigh the sliverette looked back to Bonz and was surprised to see him pull out two locator cards.
"Here..." Bonz said handing over the two transparent cards. A moment later he got the stolen cards from Sid as well. Ryo merely blinked in surprise as he took them. Lastly, Bonz gave the white haired duelist his Golden Demon Elephant, "As per the deal here are the cards we took from that guy and the ante card."
"Right…" Ryo said carefully, placing the Elephant into his deck case that was at his hip. Somewhat tensely he waited to see what the group would do next, but to his pleasant surprise the trio left him be, chatting about what they should do next. Ryo blinked saying aloud, "That was surprisingly simple."
The result surprised the Thief King as well, "It was actually," he snorted, "good enough though. Now to finish the job off." He stated as he gestured to gate, to which Ryou nodded and proceeded to leave. Though he sounded calmer, the thief only fully settled when the trio of lowly street rats were out of his sight.
Exiting the graveyard Ryo met up with the group that was waiting outside. They seemed a bit surprised when he returned but the teenager ignored it as he held out the small stack of cards that had been taken, "Here, I got the cards back as promised." He said with a friendly smile.
The duelist looked through the cards in a brisk manner and nodded when he saw all of his missing cards were present. He smiled at Ryo returning his cards to his deck, "Yeah, this is all of them. Thanks dude."
Ryo nodded to him, "It was nothing." There were brief waves before the group made their leave. Once gone, the sliverette looked at his three locator cards partly saying to himself brightly, "Half way there."
His yami nodded in agreement, "A good start to say the least." Akefia looked up almost reflexively, ready to move onto the next thing, "Now to continue," he then bristled recalling what they were to look for during the tournament, his voice becoming grating as their winnings came to mind, "There is still some bastard out there with the rest of my Ka!"
Expecting the thief's anger Ryo looked to him and nodded, 'We'll find him.' He assured confidently, the yami looking to him briefly with his lavender eyes before looking forward again with a nod, earning a determined look from Ryo as he continued.
Heading off into the city, Ryo looked around the groups of people intently, 'Kind of hoping their wearing the cloaks so it'll be easier to identify them…'
"Probably wishful thinking to some extent," Ryo looked to his yami as he began to talk, "I'm sure that lap dog is a bit smarter than that. Regardless," The Thief King looked around, scanning the crowd that milled around the streets, "I don't doubt it'll be too difficult to spot them. Especially if he takes command."
Ryo sighed a bit; sadly this made sense, 'Yeah.' He looked around a little more as he walked, 'You mean the glowing eye that appeared on Keith when he took over?' Ryo asked somewhat curious.
The white haired thief nodded, "Yes, that mark usually appears when the shadows are involved. Few can see it, mostly just item wielders," he paused momentarily, as if for effect, "or those unfortunate enough to be marked for punishment…"
Ryo takes the knowledge in as he hears it, as it could likely be useful later. He was taken from his thoughts when he heard a loud distinct revving noise. Ryo blinked, 'A motorcycle?' He turned his head in time to see a red Harley motorcycle speed past them heading down the street. Thinking nothing of it he turned his head forwards heading the opposite way. Shrugging it off Ryo says to himself, "Don't see American motorcycles often."
"Not a bad looking ride…" Akefia admitted, that was until he caught a glimpse of who was driving the bike making him stiffen immediately, "ISHTAR!?"
Hearing the distinctly angry yell Ryo immediately knew which his yami meant and snapped his head back to the motorbike, 'Malik!?'
First duel of Battle City down! Ryo completely owned it~. Well, at least in this version Bonz and company got to keep their souls lol. Duel aside Ryo, Akefia and Malik will get to have a meeting...let's see how that'll go. In the next chapter!
Chapter written by me edited by Renagade Rex Sphinx
Me-Ryo, Zygor, Sid, Diabound, Bonz
Renagade-Thief Bakura
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