"If you are just tuning in with us, you have missed most of the second round." M.C. announced. "The three duelists that have moved to the semi-finals are Cray, Yukina, and Hebi. There is only one spot left, but who will take it? Will it be Felix, the man who has tamed the gladiators, or will it be Raika, the duelist that leaves destruction everywhere he goes?! Let's find out!" This next duel is sure to be a dangerous one, but Felix is trying to focus himself on winning this duel.
'It's not going to be easy to defeat, Raika.' Felix thought as he was mentally preparing for this. 'Life Destroyer can completely nullify an opponent's ability, drain half of their attack points to add it to its own, and has uncontrollable power. On top of that, Life Destroyer's ability can't be stopped when it's activated. It's not going to be easy to defeat an opponent like that, but...this card could do the trick.' He thought as he stared down at it. 'It's dangerous to rely on just one card, but I might not have a choice. I must win and stop Raika.' There's a lot on the line for Felix, but he has to fight...and he needs to win.
...
The Duel Field
The duel was about to begin. As it was set to start, Yukina and the others took to the stands to see their friend try and defeat Raika. Joining them was Henry and Cindy despite what happened before.
"Cindy, you doing okay after what happened?" Sylvia said.
"I'm fine. This is too important to miss." Cindy said.
"And what about you, Henry? You did sort of admired Raika for a while, didn't you?" Kent questioned.
"That's why I'm here. I need to see who the real Raika is." Henry said. Given what Henry has learned, he needs to see with his own eyes what Raika is really like or if he's just a victim caught in Diego's crazy plans.
"Understandable, but Raika has to be stopped either way." Yukina said. "Come on, Felix. You have to beat him." She said as she was hoping Felix gets out of this.
"Get ready because here they come!" M.C. announced as both duelists walked out to face each other. From the stands, you could tell Felix was getting more love. "Wow! I think we can tell by those signs who the fan favorite is!"
"What's the deal? Felix has his own cheering squad?" Kent questioned.
"He's always been popular with the girls back at school." Cindy said.
"Too bad that won't help him." Cray said. The two of them now stood on the field with both of them seem ready for this.
"Get ready, Raika! Here I come!" Felix said as he set his deck to face Raika.
"You're confident. I heard you've got some skill, but let's see how much I can drain out of you!" Raika said as he did the same. They were both ready to start and neither was backing down.
"Let's duel!" They both said as they were starting with 4000LP.
"I'm making the first move, Raika!" Felix said as he started. "Let's add a change of scenery! I activate Colosseum - Cage of the Gladiator Beasts!" He said as he played a field spell with the area changing into a colosseum-like area. "This field spell will gain one counter each time we special summon a monster from our deck! With that, my Gladaiator Beasts will gain 100atk points for each counter! With that done, I'm summoning out Gladiator Beast Lanista to the field!" He summoned out an eagle-like gladiator with it having 1800atk points. "I place two cards facedown and that ends my turn!"
"That's it? All that tough talk and that's the best you can do? How pathetic. My move!" Raika said as he drew his next card. "Let me show you how it's really done. I summon Malice Sorcerer to the field!" He summoned out a dark wizard in black robes and a curvy hat with him having 1500atk points. "Next, I activate his special ability! If I send the top two cards from my deck to the graveyard, I can add a ritual spell and a ritual monster to my hand!" He said as he discarded two of his cards and took the two cards he needed.
"Did you say ritual?!" Felix said.
"You got that right! I'll show you by activating my Oath of the Dark Arcane ritual spell!" Raika said as he played his spell. "With this, I'll offer my Malice Sorcerer and the Malice Ghoul that's in my hand!" He took both of his monsters and they both turned into purple flames. When that happened, a dark magic circle appeared right on the field with the two flames circling around it. "I ritual summon Malice Magician!" He called as a pillar of dark light shot up and a new monster was summoned. It was a magician with long black hair and dark robe that swayed in the back and carried a scepter with a crystal skull on it. His grin said this monster was menacing and had a total of 2600atk points.
"How did he do that?! What's ritual summoning?!" Cindy said.
"By using a spell card and offering monsters whose levels equal or exceed the monster he can wishes to summon, he can bring it out." Yukina explained.
"And it's going to be bad for Felix." Cray said.
"Malice Magician, attack his pathetic chicken with Magic of Evil!" Raika ordered. His magician unleashed a powerful blast of magic. It completely vaporized Lanista with Felix's life points dropping to 3200. "I expected more!" He said as he placed a face-down.
"Did you expect this! I activate my trap: Trojan Gladiator Beast! It allows me to summon a Gladiator Beast from my hand on your field!" Felix said.
"My field?!" Raika said as he didn't expect that.
"I'm giving you Gladiator Beast Augustus!" Felix called as he tossed his card and it landed on Raika's field. Augustus with 2600atk points.
"What a strange move. Felix just gave Raika a powerful monster."
"What's that about?" Raika questioned.
"You'll find out soon enough!" Felix said as he drew his next card. 'Here it is! This is the card! I have a chance!' "I summon Gladiator Beast Bestiari!" He summoned out Bestiari with it having 1500atk points. "Now I activate my second face-down: Gladiator Taming! This spell allows me to take control of a Gladiator Beast on your field! That's why I gave you Augustus!" He claimed as Augustus switched over to his. "Next, by returning Augustus and Bestiari to my deck, I can fusion summon!" He took his two monsters and the two of them began to fuse together. "I fusion summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus!" He summoned out Gyzarus with it having 2400atk points. "When Gyzarus is summoned, I can destroy two cards on the field! Say goodbye to your magician and your face-down!" He said as Gyazrus shot some feathers and they were used to destroy both of Raika's cards. "Now you're left wide open! Gyzarus, attack him directly!" Gyzarus unleashed an attack of a powerful wind and blasted Raika with his life points dropping to 1600. That was exactly what Yukina's friends wanted to see. The girls certainly went crazy over his move "I now activate Gyzarus' other affect! By returning it to my extra deck, I can summon two beasts to the field! I summon Augustus and Equeste!" He summoned out both of his monsters with them having 2600 and 1600atk points. "And since I just summoned two monsters from my deck, my field spell gains two counters and that gives them both a boost!" He said as his monsters were powered by the colosseum with them now having 2800 and 1800atk points. "There's more! When Equeste is summoned like this, I can take Lanista from my graveyard to my hand!" He said as he took the card and added it to his hand. "I place one face-down and end my turn!" 'Come on, Raika. Take my bait.'
"I have to admit that it was pretty good, but you still won't beat me!" Raika said as he drew his next card. "You thought destroying my magician would help you, but it did just the opposite. By destroying him, his special ability allows me to summon any dark attribute monster I want during my standby phase!"
'Here it comes.' Felix thought as he readied himself.
"I summon Malicious Fiend: Life Destroyer!" Raika called as the monster they've all been weary of rose to the field with it's 3000atk points. "This duel is as good as over! I activate..." "I activate my trap BEFORE you activate Life Destroyer's ability!"
"What?!" Raika said.
"I activate Blast From Within! By sending a card in my hand to the graveyard, this trap equips to Life Destroyer!" Felix said as he discarded his card and his trap fired a blast and was injecting something in Life Destroyer. "By doing that, Life Destroyer's special abilities are all negated! Since I played this before you activated Life Destroyer's ability, you can't stop it!" Raika and Diego couldn't believe it. Felix found a way to stop Life Destroyer's ability.
"That means Life Destroyer can't absorb any of his monsters' power!" Yukina said as she the others liked the sound of that.
"And there's more! The moment Life Destroyer is destroyed in battle, you'll take damage equal to its attack points!" Felix claimed. "That means the moment I find a way to destroy Life Destroyer, you lose!"
"Did you hear that folks?! It sounds like Felix has turned Raika's best monster into the ultimate weapon against him. If Life Destroyer is destroyed in battle, Raika will end up taking 3000 points of damage!"
"Pretty confident you can do that, but not if I crush you before that happens!" Raika said. "Life Destroyer, attack his centaur weirdo! Conquering Darkness Demise!" Felix braced himself as Life Destroyer called on its spear. Its dark power gathered around it and it slashed down with some destructive power. It destroyed Equeste with Felix's life points dropping down 2000.
"Oh boy. Felix might be in trouble. He may have stopped Life Destroyer's abilities, but Raika still holds the strongest monster. Unless Felix can find a way to destroy that monster to trigger his trap's second affect, he could be in trouble here."
"Do you think Felix really can do it?" Kent questioned. "He's got no cards in his hand and Augustus isn't strong enough to take on Life Destroyer."
"That might be true, but if Felix can draw card that could change that, he can win." Sylvia said.
"Whatever Felix draws next could make or break this duel." Yukina said as that is a lot of pressure, but there's a chance Raika could actually lose. While the others are hoping for that outcome, Henry has mixed feelings about this because he still isn't sure.
"Let's finish this, Raika! I draw!" Felix said as he drew his card and it's hopefully something that will help him win. "I activate Gladiator Beast's Battle Gladius to give Augustus 300atk points!" He gave Augustus a saber with his power now 3100, just strong enough to bring down Life Destroyer. This was something they all wanted to see. "It's over, Raika! Attack and end this, Augustus!" Augustus charged right at Life Destroyer with this duel looking like it was over and done.
"You did pretty good, but not good enough!" Raika claimed. "I play Black Hole Gate!" He said as he activated his trap. "By banishing a dark monster, all monsters who had original attack points lower than that monster are banished as well."
"No! I need Life Destroyer destroyed in battle or else my trap will lose it's hold!" Felix said. Raika had one last trick up his sleeve as Life Destroyer turned into a black hole. Augustus was pulled inside and was destroyed. That completely shattered any hope Felix had of winning. "No... That was my only chance... I've got nothing left..." He said as he and his friends feared what was going to be next.
"That's right, and now it's my turn." Raika said as he drew his next card. "Black Hole Gate has one other ability! If I remove it from the graveyard, the monster I banished comes back!" As a pillar of darkness erupted on the field, Life Destroyer came back with Felix having nothing to protect him now. "You put up a good fight, but it seems like you bet it all on one card. You should have known better, but I'll take great care of your energy!"
"No!" Felix said. Suddenly, he felt some pain as his energy was being drawn right out of him and being transferred over to Raika because of Life Destroyer's power.
"Don't give in, Felix!" Yukina called, but it was no good. Nothing could save him now. The power was too much for him to resist as Raika laughed like a maniac. Henry couldn't believe it himself.
"No... That's enough! Stop!" Henry called, but it was no good as Felix was in more and more pain and Raika loved it all. "How could you do something so terrible?" He questioned as he now sees who Raika really is.
"Time to end this, Life Destroyer! You had hopes to defeat me, but it all came crashing down! So, say hello to what we call despair! Attack him directly and end this!" Raika ordered. Life Destroyer ended up erupting with dark power that ravished the whole stadium. The one who received the worst of it was Felix with all his life points dropping to zero and the darkness exploding against him at point-blank. When it finally settled down, Felix was on the ground and wasn't moving.
"Felix!" Yukina called as everyone was shocked as to what happened to him. She and the others jumped down and hurried to him. "Felix! Felix, speak to me!" Yukina pleaded, but it didn't look good at all. Another friend is lost to the darkness.
"The... The winner is...Raika..." M.C. announced with fear. Yukina turned to him Raika and glared him down.
"Raika, you monster!" Yukina called.
"I like that look on your face, Yukina." Raika said. "Miss your friends? Don't worry about that. When I defeat you, you'll be reunited with them." Yukina can't stand him for what he did. After losing another friend, she wants to beat him even more. She wanted to take him right now, but Cray stepped forward.
"Don't forget, pal... Yukina and Hebi were already set to face each other in the semi-finals. That means it's you against me." Cray said. "You're gonna have to get through me first, and I will not lose to someone like you."
"I'm looking forward to it." Raika said as he sees it as more energy for him to steal.
"Excellent." Diego said as he enjoyed a nice drink with this victory. "The stage has been set perfectly for their hopes to rise and for them to crash down. I can't wait for the semi-finals myself." After all that, the semi-finals have been set with it being Yukina vs. Hebi and Raika vs. Cray. It's a mixture of hope and misery down there, but there is one thing that's for sure...this madness will soon come to an end one way or another. "Of course, there's still one other matter to take care of..."