"Welcome back to Duel Battlers! We're just about finished with the sixth match with it being Cray vs. the twins with Butch doing the dueling!" M.C. announced. Duel Battles continued on with only three matches of the first round left, soon to be two.
"Attack now and finish them!" Cray ordered as his Storm Dragon unleashed it's fierce power and finished off Butch. "You two weren't a match for me before, so you can't beat me now!"
"It's done! Cray wins and is advancing to the second round!" M.C. announced as another Black Ace duelist is defeated and another one of Yukina's friends advances. Everything has been going well for them.
...
Yukina's Friends
"Way to go out there, Cray." Yukina said as they were all gathered together.
"As if there was any doubt that Cray would be defeated." Kent claimed.
"I'm starting to see why Diego was cautious of all of you." Sabaro claimed. "Even Henry was defeated and he's the Black Ace's second strongest duelist. The others are dropping like dominoes."
"Not all of them. I couldn't beat Takato." Sylvia said as she was still rather sore about.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. We're all still doing rather well." Felix said.
"Felix is right. The only members of the Black Ace that are left are Takato and Raika." Cindy said. "Sabaro has to go against Raika in the first round, but all of us against those two shouldn't be a problem to defeat them." All of them agreed with what Cindy was saying as everything was playing in their favor.
"Well, I guess I'm up now." Hana said. "I'll try to defeat my opponent quickly so that Sabaro can get straight to Raika in hopes he'll defeat him."
"Speaking of which, did you find out anything about your opponent?" Yukina asked.
"Other than his name is Hebi, not much." Hana claimed. "Although, his name does translate to "snake", so I don't think he's a friendly guy. He's also got to be tough if he was able to make it this far."
"It doesn't matter. Just win against this guy and there's nothing to worry about." Cray said.
"You're right." Hana said. Hana felt like this was just going to be any other duel. Suddenly, she felt something off as a cold feeling came over her. It was like someone was watching her like she was their prey. She turned around, but there was no sign of him anywhere. 'What was that? Why did I get a shiver going down my spine?' Things might be going well for Yukina's friends, but perhaps it's only the calm before the storm.
...
The Duel Field
"It's now time for the seventh match of the first round!" M.C. announced as all of them were coming on to the field. "First, we have the lovely yet mighty Hana! Her opponent is the very mysterious Hebi!" Both of them walked out on the field, but they saw the truth on the screen. Hebi had the mark of the Black Ace with him.
"He's a member of the Black Ace too?" Hana said. This was rather strange as Yukina and her friends have never seen him before.
"Sabaro, how come you didn't mention this guy?" Yukina asked.
"I looked into the Black Ace database, but there was nothing about him in it." Sabaro claimed.
"I can't even find anything about him from the qualifying tournaments." Felix said as he looked through his DPA. "This is really weird. It's as if this guy never existed before now."
"It is unknown how Hebi managed to get the points needed to be here, but he did and we just might see how he did it." M.C. announced.
"It doesn't matter. I'll win all the same." Hana said as she wasn't backing down. However, right when she saw him smirk, something came over here. A dash of fear just splashed against her, but was able to shake it off. 'What was that? It was as if just looking at him, I got a bit afraid.'
"Ready?" Hebi said as he actived his duel disk as well. Hana just tried to brush any doubt or fear aside and focused on the duel.
"Let's duel!" Both of them said as they were starting the duel with 4000LP.
"I'll get us started." Hana said as she was going first. "I'll start by summoning X-Saber Ana Piranha!" She summoned out her female swordswoman as it rose with 1800atk points. "I'll also place one face-down and end my turn." 'I'll start out simple and see what he can do.'
"My turn." Hebi said as he drew his first card. Time to see what this guy can really do. "I'll start by playing the field spell: Venom Swamp." Hebi played his card and the whole field instantly changed into a swampy area and you could see some snakes slithering around. The whole place was just gross and creepy. It made Hana feel a little uneasy. "Welcome to the Venom Swamp. This is a fitting place for you to experience what I have for you." He said with Hana feeling her chest tightening for some reason.
"Anyone else getting the creeps from this guy?" Cindy questioned as Hana wasn't alone out there.
"Yeah. What's the deal with this guy?" Kent questioned.
"I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this." Cray claimed as none of them liked this.
"Next, I activate Dark Snake Syndrome." Hebi claimed. "This spell will deal us damage during each of my standby phases. It will start as 200, and the number will double during each turn."
"But you'll be taking that damage as well." Hana said.
"That's nothing compared to what you'll be feeling." Hebi claimed with Hana feeling nervous. "I place one monster facedown and set another card to end my turn. Now that it's the end of my turn, Venom Swamp's affect kicks in!" That was when this liquid snake emerged out of the swamp and jumped on Hana's monster. It bit down on her and her power weakened by 1300.
"What is that?!" Hana said.
"During every end phase, any non-Venom monster will gain a venom counter. As long as Venom Swamp is on the field, those monsters will lose 500atk points per counter. Once it reaches zero, it will be destroyed." Hebi claimed.
"That looks like one nasty swamp. I sure hope that Hana has a whole bunch of antivenom."
"It's my turn!" Hana said as she drew her next card. 'I don't know what this guy's deal is, but I'm not going to let it...' She thought, but then something happened. She was able to see the eyes of Hebi underneath his bangs and they didn't even look like human eyes. They were like a snake's eyes would. She suddenly had this overcoming feeling of fear. "Ana Piranha, attack his facedown monster!" A sudden attack like that was surprising to a lot of people. His monster still went through with the attack and the facedown monster ended up being another snake with 2000def points. Hana's attack just bounced off of it and hit her with her life points dropping to 3300.
"Ouch! Hana made a foolish mistake and just paid the price for it."
'What just happened? Why would I make a foolish mistake like that?' Hana thought. 'I didn't even use my trap At One With the Sword to give her a boost. What's wrong with me?'
"You're afraid." Hebi answered for her. "You acted completely out of fear and looked what happened. You can't escape that fear. That fear is irrational, one you can't escape from and you react out of it." Hebi was a snake himself and slithering around Hana. It was almost like she could feel it against her. She was too afraid to make another move. "I believe you're ending your turn, so it's my turn now! That means Venom Swamp's affect kicks in, but my Venom Cobra is immune!" Another snake bit down on An Piranha and she lost more power with her attack points becoming a mere 800. He made his move as he drew his card. "That now triggers my Dark Snake Syndrome! We now lose 200LP." A black snake coiled around the two of them and they both took some damage with Hana's life points becoming 3100 and Hebi's was becoming 3800. Hana could feel the pain coursing through her body and it felt horrible.
"What... What was that?!" Hana said as she was taking deep breaths.
"Do you feel that pain?" Hebi questioned. "The pain is only beginning. I activate my Coffin Seller trap!" He said as his trap activated. "Every time one of your monsters is destroyed, you'll lose 300LP. Next, I'm activating Venom Shot! By sending a reptile in my deck to the graveyard, you get two more venom counters. It's like your precious monster is being eaten alive." He said as he discarded a second Venom Cobra and two more counters were placed on Ana Piranha. Her power dropped all the way to zero. "Now that your monster has zero attack points, it's destroyed!" He declared as a series of snakes came at Hana's monster in the most horrifying way. Everyone was disgusted and freaked at what they saw. "Now Coffin Seller kicks in and you lose 300LP." His trap electrocuted Hana and she felt it with her life points dropping to 2800.
"Something is wrong." Yukina said.
"You said it. Hana looks like she's actually hurt...not to mention this guy is really starting to get to her." Felix said.
"What's with this guy?" Hana said as she looked at his eyes again and could see something insidious. "You... You don't duel to win! You duel to break your opponent!"
"That's right! There's nothing I enjoy more than seeing my opponent squirming around, begging for me to show mercy!" Hebi admitted as he takes pleasure in causing pain to others. "I now summon Venom Snake!" He said as he summoned out another snake with 1200atk points. "Attack!" His snake lunged itself right at Hana and Hana got a little freaked. As soon as the snake attacked her, her life points dropped to 1600, but there was more. She was holding her arm and was screaming in pain.
"What's going on?! That felt real!" Hana said. It didn't make sense that she felt real damage with Hebi smirking.
"He can produce real damage?!" Yukina said.
"How is that even possible?!" Felix said. None of them know how, but Hebi is somehow capable of making the damage real.
"You're... You're sick! You actually enjoy something like this?!" Hana said as she was getting freaked by all of this. "No way... No way can I lose to the likes of you!"
"Then please, go ahead and try to defeat me." Hebi taunted.
"It's my turn!" Hana said, but there was a problem. She wasn't acting like her normal self and it wasn't looking good for her at all.
"Hana is losing it out there!" Cindy said.
"I've never seen her act like this before!" Yukina said.
"It's that creepy snake." Cray claimed. "He's somehow able to cause real damage, but he's also gotten inside her head. She's acting completely out of fear."
"This is nuts!" Sylvia said.
"I never knew a duelist like this was in the Black Ace. He seems just as dangerous as Raika." Sabaro said.
"I'm going to start by summoning XX-Saber Boggart Knight!" Hana said as she summoned out her monster with 1900atk points. "And thanks to his ability, I can now summon X-Saber Fulhelmknight!" She said as she brought out her tuner monster with it having 1300atk points. "With these two, I'll now synchro summon XX-Saber Souza!" She said as she started the synchro process with both of her monsters and synchro summoned Souza to the field with 2500atk points.
"You must love to be in pain! Coffin Seller will still deal you damage!" Hebi said as Hana took more damage with her life points dropping to 1300.
"Next, I play my Double Summon spell to summon X-Saber Pashuul!" She summoned out another monster as it emerged with 100atk points. "Now I tune my level two Pashuul with my level seven Souza!" She started the synchro process again with her two monsters. "I synchro summon X-Saber Gottoms!" She summoned out her best monster as it emerged with 3100atk points. She still took damage as her life points were down to 1000, but she kept going. "I activate At One With the Sword to give Gottoms 800atk points!" She said as Gottoms power increased to 3900. "I will not lose to someone like you! Gottoms, attack Venom Snake!" She had Gottoms slashed against Hebi's snake and destroyed it with Hebi's life points dropping to 1100. "Since he destroyed a sword, my trap allows me to draw one card! I end my turn!" That means another snake emerged out of the swamp and bit Gottoms with its power dropping to 3400.
"The duel is nearly even, but now it's Hebi's turn."
"Here goes!" Hebi said as he drew his card. "First, Dark Snake Syndrome kicks in and we lose 400LP this time." Both of them were attacked with their life points dropping down to 600 and 700. "Now, let the real fun begin! I activate Antivenomous! This spell allows me to tribute a reptile and we both gain life points equal to its attack points. My Venom Cobra only has 100atk points." His cobra fell apart with their life points increasing to 700 and 800. "It might seem weird, but now I have three reptiles in my graveyard. Now that I do, I can summon out something truly horrible."
"No..." Hana said as she was starting to tremble in fear.
"Arise, Venom Deity Akurra!" Hebi called as he summoned one of the most horrifying monsters there was. It was like a cluster of snakes slithering together. It formed a giant with the arms and legs made of snakes and the head taking the form of one with glowing red eyes. It was like every part of is was made out of dark venomous snakes. As it towered over Hana who was trembling in fear, it stood with 2800atk points. "Now the real pain and torture can begin!" He said. That was when snakes came out the swamp and coiled around Hana as she kept her arms apart and restrained her.
"No! Leave me alone! Let me go!" Hana pleaded.
"I activate Akurra's ability!" Hebi said. "I send one card from my deck to the graveyard, you either lose 400LP or your monster loses 400atk points." He discarded one card from his deck and that caused the monster to stretch out some snakes and lashed against Hana with her life points dropping to 300. "The best part is that I can do it again and again." He said as he kept discarding cards. "This time, I will only use it to weaken your precious monster!" This time, the snakes lashed against Gottoms and his power dropped to 3000. "Once again!" He kept discarding cards from his deck and he kept having his monster weaken Hana's more and more.
"This is horrible!" Cindy said as everyone watched in horror.
"Why is he constantly using that ability?!" Kent said. "He just needed to discard one more card to end this!"
"He's deliberately avoiding to deal the final blow just to torture Hana." Cray said.
"That's twisted!" Cindy said.
"And he can't stop. As long as Hana still has life points, he'll keep it up." Cray said as this was getting out of hand. Hebi kept attacking Hana's monster until all of it's attack points were drained away.
"Oh no. It has no power left. That means that Venom Swamp will destroy it!" Hebi claimed. More snakes came out of the swamp and Gottoms was completely devoured. That means that Hana was completely alone with nothing to protect her from that beast. "Coffin Seller will finish the last of your life points, but I think it's more fun to have Akurra have it's way with you! Attack!" He called as Akurra attacked with the trap. Akurra came straight down on Hana with her screaming in terror that shook everyone to the core. Once everything cleared away, Hana lost the last of her life points and looked traumatized and in real pain.
"Hana!" Yukina screamed as that looked horrible.
"The... The winner is...Hebi..." M.C. announced as he too was terrified at what he witnessed. The only ones who loved this was Hebi and Diego. It seems that the Black Ace has a dangerous duelist on their side.
...
Later
Yukina and her friends hurried to help Hana. Once Yukina made sure she was treated, they took her to a room and closed the door on her.
"Is she okay?" Felix asked as they were all worried about her.
"I think so. She just needs some rest." Yukina said.
"That was horrible. I can't believe the Black Ace kept someone like him hidden." Cindy said. Just as they thought they were winning, Hebi showed up and spread some misery over them.
"We are now in the middle of the last match between Sabaro and Raika!" M.C. announced. Hearing that, all of them hurried over to see what was happening. All of them hurried out and saw it wasn't looking good for Sabaro. He had Gem-Knight Master Diamond, Lady Brilliant Diamond, and Zirconia; but Raika had Life Destroyer out.
"Darn it! I have my three best fusion monsters and it still isn't enough to beat him!" Sabaro said. As for Raika, he just grinned as he snapped his fingers. When he did that, Life Destroyer grabbed a hold of Lady Brilliant Diamond and was draining away all her power. This looks like this could be the end.
"You're finished now! Life Destroyer, attack! Conquering Darkness Demise!" Raika unleashed all that devastating power. It unleashed an explosion of darkness that blasted through Sabaro's field. Sabaro got caught by the blast with the field taking some damage.
"Sabaro!" Yukina called. When the dust cleared away, Sabaro was down and wasn't moving. "Sabaro! Sabaro!" She called as he rushed to him, but he looked in worst shape than Hana because he wasn't conscious. "Sabaro, speak to me!"
"It's no good!" Raika called. "Life Destroyer and I are even stronger than before! All of Sabaro's power has been drained now! It's all mine and I'm even stronger than before!"
"Raika!" Yukina called as the Duel Battlers tournament has taken a turn for the worst. Yukina and her friends have done well, but now the two most dangerous duelists of the Black Ace are still standing. If Yukina and her friends don't stop them, a lot more people are going to get hurt.