Author's Note: I went ahead and changed the genre of this story from Adventure to Horror. I had originally planned to make it a horror story, but I wasn't sure if there were enough horror elements in the story to justify it. Sometimes it's best to go with your first instincts.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.
Chapter 5: Forbidden Offerings
"I'll start things off." Mick declared as he drew his first card to kick off the duel. "First I activate the Spell card, Terraforming and add a Field Spell to my hand. And then I play the Field Spell, Domain of Rituals!"
In an instant, the area around Jaden and the others transformed into a grey mountainous wasteland with a sky filled with dark clouds. In the distance, Jaden saw the same structure behind Mick that he had seen when he dueled Trent.
"I've never heard of this Field Spell before." Sheila spoke as she looked at their new surroundings.
"This must be the same Field Spell that Jaden told us about before." Atticus observed.
"I summon Cleric of the Dark Arts in Defense Mode!" Mick announced.
Appearing on Mick's side of the battlefield was a man with pale skin wearing black hooded robes with strange white markings on them. On the chest was the same strange star-like marking that was engraved on the top of the odd structure in the distance. The hood of the man's robes made it impossible to make out most of his face. Under his right arm, the hooded man carried a book with a brown leather cover.
"I end my turn!" Mick announced.
"Whatever that monster is, it looks like it might be connected to the Domain of Rituals." Yubel observed as she appeared next to Jaden.
"Yeah, and we don't know anything about its effects." Jaden quietly replied.
"Whatever abilities that monster has, it must have something to do with Ritual Monsters." Yubel assumed. "Just be careful."
Jaden nodded and drew his first card. "I activate Polymerization and fuse Elemental Hero Avian and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in my hand to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"
Avian appeared on the field with a grey haired woman with light-grey skin. She had on a red tight-fitting bodysuit with a golden helmet. The two heroes jumped into a small vortex that had appeared in the air over the battlefield. Flying out of the vortex a moment later was a green and black warrior with a slightly deformed wing growing from the left side of his back. His right arm was red and had a dragon's head instead of a hand, and he had a red dragon-like tail as well.
"Flame Wingman, attack Cleric of the Dark Arts!" Jaden commanded. "Flame Shoot!"
The fused hero took aim at the wicked cleric with his dragon's head and shot forth a single fireball. The dark cleric was destroyed in a small explosion of fire and smoke.
"That's not all!" Jaden continued. "Because Flame Wingman destroyed your monster in battle, you take damage equal to its ATK!"
"Big deal." Mick responded with a smug expression. "Cleric of the Dark Arts only had 700 ATK."
Flame Wingman took aim at Mick and shot another fireball at him. Mick was struck in the chest and his life points dropped to 3300.
"Because Cleric of the Dark Arts was destroyed in battle, I can add a Ritual Monster and a Ritual Spell to my hand!" Mick announced as he took two cards from his deck.
"Fine. I end my turn." Jaden announced.
Mick grinned as he drew his next card. "I activate a Ritual Spell known as War-Lion Ritual! By using Sacrifice Maiden Freda from my hand as an offering, I summon Super War-Lion!"
A young woman with pink hair tied in a ponytail wearing a white Roman-style dress appeared on the battlefield. Her face looked as though she was in some kind of trance. Suddenly a yellow specter in the form of a lion came down from the sky and devoured her, causing a pillar of yellow light to erupt from the ground. The pillar faded, and standing on the battlefield was a humanoid lion with a body of tan fur and a long red mane. The lion roared as his body glowed briefly with a white aura and his eyes flashed red.
"That monster you used to summon War-Lion… that was one of this missing girls, wasn't it?" Jaden quickly realized.
"Oh, you mean Freda?" Mick replied. "Yeah, you figured it out. Ritual Monsters gain incredible powers when summoned with a human sacrifice. So I used the powers granted to me to turn Freda into a card!"
"She's not the only one though, is she?" Jaden deduced.
"Right again. I've got plenty of lovely sacrifices waiting in my deck." Mick revealed. "The fun parts were the ceremonies used to turn them into cards. That Freda sure had a tight ass."
"I never knew that Mick was such a creep." Sheila remarked from the sidelines.
"Well he could be brainwashed, so isn't acting like himself." Atticus pointed out.
"Are you responsible for all those students who've gone missing?" Jaden asked.
"Hey. I'm flattered you'd think that, but I can't take credit for all of 'em." Mick admitted. "A good chunk of 'em, yeah. The rest were taken by the other members of the order."
"And just what kind of order is that?" Jaden asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Mick replied. "Now, I think we were in the middle of a duel. And a last time I checked, my War-Lion has 2300 ATK, making it stronger than your hero. War-Lion, slaughter Flame Wingman! War Claw!"
The man-lion roared and charged at Flame Wingman. With one slash from the large claws on his right hand, Flame Wingman was cut to ribbons. The remaining pieces of the hero shattered into bits of light. Jaden's life points dropped slightly to 3800.
"War-Lion's not done yet." Mick continued with a mad grin. "Thanks to the power he got from Freda, each time War-Lion destroys a monster in battle he deals damage equal to half that monster's ATK!"
War-Lion roared again as his eyes flashed red. The beast charged at Jaden and slashed him in the chest with the claws of his left hand. Jaden was knocked to the ground and his life points fell to 2750. The attack had also made cuts in the front of the black shirt Jaden was wearing under his jacket.
"Jaden, you okay?" a concerned Atticus asked.
"Yeah, I'm good." Jaden assured him as he got back to his feet.
Mick began laughing madly. "And this is the guy who just beat David Rabb? I gotta say, this is kind of a letdown. I didn't think you'd be this easy to beat."
"This duel's far from over!" Jaden pointed out.
"Maybe. But you have no idea what's still in store." Mick told him. "I end my turn!"
Jaden drew his next card. "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in Defense Mode!"
Appearing on Jaden's side of the field in a kneeling position was a large warrior covered completely in smooth yet bulky dark-grey armor. His face was covered entirely by a red mask.
"I'll lay down a face-down and end my turn!" Jaden announced.
"Well that was pretty pitiful." Mick remarked as he drew from his deck. "I activate the Ritual Spell, Novox's Prayer! By offering Sacrifice Maiden Debbie from my hand, I summon Skull Guardian!"
Appearing on Mick's side of the field was another young woman with short dark-brown hair and hazel eyes wearing the same kind of dress that Freda was. Also materializing on the field was another young woman with short blue hair wearing a hooded red cloak. The bluenette was on her knees and her hands were clasped together in prayer. The bluenette began chanting something and suddenly a pillar of light-blue light consumed Debbie. The light faded and bluenette vanished, and standing in Debbie's place was a slender warrior clad in strange dark-grey armor. His forearms were a pair of blades. Skull Guardian gave off a brief white glow and the eyes hidden behind his mask flashed red.
"Ah Debbie, another one of my loyal fangirls." Mick fondly recalled. "She actually played a little hard to get, but sometime the chase makes the conquest all the more fun."
"Didn't you care about any of those girls?" Jaden asked.
"Of course I did." Mick responded. "After all, it's thanks to them that my deck has gotten so strong."
"What a jerk!" Sheila declared from the sidelines.
"I have to admit, I kind a want to kick this guy in the balls." Atticus responded.
"War-Lion! Tear Clayman to shreds!" Mick ordered. "War Claw!"
"I activate a Trap, Hero Barrier!" Jaden quickly announced as the beast began to charge. "This card let's me cancel War-Lion's attack!"
Just as War-Lion moved in for the kill, a grey metal staff appeared in from of Clayman and began to spin around. The spinning rod repelled the man-lion's claws. With the attack over, the staff vanished from the field.
"You may have blocked one attack, but my Skull Guardian's ATK is still fifty points higher than your hero's DEF." Mick pointed out. "Skull Guardian, attack Clayman with Guardian Blade!"
Skull Guardian leapt high into the air and came back down on Jaden's side of the battlefield. With one slash of his right arm blade, Clayman was cut down the middle. The two remaining halves shattered into bits of light.
"That's not all." Mick continued. "Thanks to the effect Skull Guardian gained from Debbie, you now take damage equal to Clayman's level times 400!"
Skull Guardian charged at Jaden and slashed him across the chest, nearly knocking him to the ground. His life points fell again to 350.
"I set one card on the field and end my turn!" Mick announced. "Let's see you bounce back from that, Supreme King."
Jaden drew his next card. "I activate the Spell card, Miracle Fusion! By removing Avian and Burstinatrix from the Graveyard, I now summon Elemental Hero Great Tornado!"
Dropping down onto the battlefield was a warrior in green, dark-brown, and yellow-tan armor. He had on a tattered dark-brown cape over his left arm. Great Tornado's appearance caused a huge gust of wind to sweep through and knock War-Lion and Skull Guardian onto their backs.
"Hey! What just happened?" Mick demanded to know.
"When Great Tornado is summoned, the ATK of all my opponent's monsters is cut in half." Jaden explained. "But I'm not done yet! I activate the Spell card, Parallel World Fusion! By returning Avian and Burstinatrix to the Graveyard, I summon Elemental Hero Nova Master!"
Appearing in a burst of flames was a warrior clad in ornate red, orange, and yellow armor. On the hero's back was a red flowing cape.
"Great Tornado, attack Super War-Lion!" Jaden commanded. "Super Cell!"
Great Tornado raised his arms and a massive twister of wind appeared around War-Lion. The lion was torn to shreds by the strong winds in an instant. Mick's life points dropped down to 1650.
"Nova Master, take down Skull Guardian!" Jaden ordered. "Supreme Flare!"
Nova Master raised his arms forward and blasted Skull Guardian with a stream of intense flames. Mick's life points plummeted to a mere seventy-five.
"Since Nova Master destroyed a monster in battle, I get to draw a card!" Jaden announced.
"Whoa! This duel's even more mind-blowing than Jaden's duel with David Rabb." An impressed Sheila declared.
"It'd be more fun if this guy wasn't using cards made using people." Atticus pointed out. "Still, I doubt that Mick can bounce back after an attack like that."
Suddenly Mick burst into another fit of mad laughter. "Nice move, but because you've destroyed two of my Ritual Monsters in battle I activate the Trap, Rites of Vengeance!"
A pillar of blue flames suddenly burst up from the ground and burned Nova Master to ashes, greatly surprising Jaden and the others. Soon after, Mick's body glowed with a white aura and his life points rose to 2675.
"What just happened?" a confused Jaden asked.
"Rites of Vengeance allows me to sacrifice the weakest monster my opponent controls and gain life points equal to that monster's ATK." Mick explained. "Not only that, I get to add another Ritual Monster and Ritual Spell to my hand."
"What the…? How the hell did he manage a move like that?" a shocked Atticus wondered.
"Well, Mick is one of the top students at this school." Sheila pointed out. "Plus he's using all those weird cards."
"I end my turn." Jaden announced.
Mick's grin widened as he drew his next card. "I've saved the best for last! I activate the Spell card, Zera Ritual! I offer Sacrifice Maiden Sophie from my hand to summon… Zera the Mant!"
Two things appeared on Mick's side of the battlefield. One was a warrior sitting on a dark throne wearing a green helmet with short red horns. The other was a young blonde woman that to Jaden and Sheila's horror looked exactly like Sophie. The warrior sitting on the throne shot Sophie in the back with two beams of light from his eyes, causing her to be vaporized. A mass of black energy then erupted from the throne, completely consuming the warrior. The energy faded and standing on Mick's side of the field was a large blue demon with a dragon-like head wearing a red cape. The demon's body glowed briefly with a feint white aura and his eyes flashed red.
"So… it's true." Jaden realized. "You really did turn Sophie into a card."
"She was my first." Mick admitted. "That girl was willing to do anything for me."
"You bastard!" Sheila cursed. "How the hell could you do that to Sophie? She was head over heels for you, and you do this to her? Didn't you care about her at all?"
"Of course I care. Sophie's actually quite special to me." Mick admitted. "Out of all the girls I've collected for my deck, the ability that her card grants to my monsters is perhaps the strongest. Let me show you what I mean. Zera, attack Great Tornado! Demon Dragon Claw!"
"But Zera and Great Tornado both have 2800 ATK." Atticus pointed out. "A battle like that will destroy them both!"
Zera charged towards Great Tornado, and the hero responded by raising his arms up and trapping the demon in a twister. The twister soon died down, but Zera was unharmed by the attack. His body was glowing with a pink aura. Zera continued his changed and slashed Great Tornado in the chest with his large claws. The hero of wind shattered into bits of light and vanished.
"What the…? How is Zera still on the field?" a confused Sheila wondered.
"You were right about Sophie, my dear Sheila. Thanks to her effect, Zera can no longer be destroyed in battle." Mick explained. "Right now her love for me is protecting Zera and giving me a huge edge."
"You really are disgusting." Jaden told Mick with a glare. "Sophie truly cared about you, and all those other girls you took admired you. And all you've done is use them for your own pleasure and to get ahead! How can you call yourself a duelist?"
"Oh please! I don't need you to give me a lecture." Mick told him. "Since coming to this academy I've been considered one of the top duelists at this school. But I've always been in the shadow of greats like David Rabb and Reggie Mackenzie. No matter what I did, I was always considered second best to them. But now I have true power! And I shall become a king in the new age that is to come!"
"I don't think so!" Jaden told him.
"Oh yeah? Well I have news for you. Because of Domain of Rituals, Ritual Monsters like Zera can't be destroyed by card effects." Mick revealed. "And thanks to the effect he's gained from my lovely Sophie, he can't be destroyed in battle either. Which means he's completely indestructible! There's no way you can defeat me now!"
"Watch me!" Jaden told him as he drew his next card. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman to the field!"
Materializing on Jaden's side of the field was a warrior clad in a blue bodysuit with gold armor. He had a yellow stripe running down his arms and legs.
Mick burst out laughing. "What the hell are you planning to do with that thing? It only has 1600 ATK."
"I activate the Spell card, Super Polymerization!" Jaden announced. "I discard one card and fuse Sparkman with the Zera the Mant to summon Elemental Hero Escuridao!"
"What?" a shocked Mick exclaimed.
A giant vortex appeared in the sky above and pulled in both Sparkman and Zera. With a flash of lightning, the vortex disappeared and a new warrior dropped down to the battlefield. The new hero had a slender body covered in pitch-black armor. Two long forked and jagged blades jutted out from the hiss back, and in place of his right hand was a weapon with three jagged blades. An unearthly blue aura emanated from the dark warrior's body.
"H-how can this be?" a stunned Mick asked.
"Escuridao gains 100 extra ATK for every Elemental Hero in my Graveyard." Jaden revealed. "Right now there are seven, which means Escuridao's ATK goes up from 2500 to 3200. That's more than enough to take you down!"
"But… this can't be!" Mick denied.
"Escuridao, attack Mick directly!" Jaden commanded. "Dark Diffusion!"
Escuridao blasted Mick in the chest with a ray of blue light from the weapon on the end of his right arm. Mick was knocked to the ground by the attack and his life points dropped to zero. With the duel at its end, Escuridao vanished and the area around jaden and the others returned to normal. Jaden walked over to check on Mick.
"Well?" Atticus asked as he and Sheila walked over.
"He's out cold." Jaden revealed. "It's just like what happened with Trent."
"What about Sophie and those other girls?" Sheila asked. "You think that… that they might've returned to normal?"
"That girl Ronda is still missing, isn't she?" Atticus reminded them. "That probably means that Sophie and the others are still gone too."
"But… what about those cards?" Sheila asked. "Maybe if we have those…"
Jaden took the cards from Mick's duel disk and looked through them all. "The Sacrifice Maiden cards are gone. So are a lot of the other cards that Mick used like Domain of Rituals."
"So what does that mean?" Sheila asked. "Does this mean that Sophie and the others are gone forever?"
"No! There has to be a way to get them back." Jaden declared as he got back to his feet. "And whatever that way is, I'll find it."
Electra opened the door to Principle Mackenzie's office to find him sitting behind his desk doing paperwork. Principle Mackenzie quickly noticed her arrival and took a break from what he was doing.
"I have news about Jaden Yuki." Electra reported. "He's just defeated Mick Silver."
"A shame. And he was one this school's top duelists." Principle Mackenzie recalled.
"The good news is that thanks to him we've collected more potential sacrifices." Electra continued. "I'm sure a few of them will be useful in reviving the master."
"Yes, but Jaden Yuki could continue to be a problem." Principle Mackenzie pointed out. "The time of revival is drawing very near. The sooner we get rid of the Supreme King, the better. Perhaps we should send David to take care of him. I'm sure he's eager for a rematch."
"Actually, I was thinking that daughter of yours would be a better choice." Electra replied.
"If you think that's best." Principle Mackenzie agreed. "I'm sure that Reggie will do a fine job."
Author's Note: So when I did the outline for this story, I thought I'd just do the duel between Jaden and Mick in one chapter. The when I did the outline for the duel itself it seemed like I'd have to split it up. But then when I got to where I was going to cut things off in the actual chapter, it ended up being too short. So I went back to my original plan. Again, sometimes it's best to go with your first instincts.
Please review and let me know what you think.