A heavy rain storm has arrived upon the land. Bringing with it a harsh wind and a relentless stream of rain from which none can escape.
Unsafe to travel during this condition, Drifter dismounts off his nearly acquired bike, and looks for shelter to wait out the storm.
Pushing the bike up the hill, he spots an old cottage in the woods. Hoping for the best, he pushes the bike towards it, moving up the trail. The closer they get, the more he notices the clear state of the building. The windows are filthy, with the roof having seen better days. Ivy grows up the outer walls, with the paint peeling off the sides of the house.
Regardless, pushes the bike underneath a piece of shelter to stay dry before trying the door. He knocks first before letting himself in, the door being unlocked.
Entering the house, he finds everything to be normal. Despite the exterior, the interior itself looks to be lived in. As if the owner had just popped out for a few minutes and hadn't returned yet.
He continues in, letting himself inside, and closes the door. Everything looks fine. Clean floors, functional furniture, and nicely decorated and painted walls. It feels homey with a warmth to it.
However, Drifter can't help but look around and feel an ill tension in the air.
Approaching the table, he pulls out a chair only to hear rattling from a nearby set of drawers. He stares at it, keeping his distance when suddenly the drawer springs open, and a barrage of silverware comes flying. Kicking the table, he defends himself from the flying knives, and forks as they stab into the woodwork.
Feeling something behind him, he grabs the chair he pulled and throws it in that direction. He only hits a wall as the presence moves again, keeping just out of his frame of sight.
Standing by the windows, the curtains come alive. Becoming like stripes, they try to grab him, wrapping around his body. He pulls a card from his deck, and slashes them, cutting the curtains to ribbons. Again, he feels the presence.
Coming to the center of the room he finally sees the truth. The house is in ruins. The disrepair of the outside matches the interior with everything being broken, torn apart, and decayed.
Turning around, the presence makes themself known, allowing themself to be seen by him. "You are trespassing."
"And you are a terrible host," Drifter remarks, knowing full well that this figure before him isn't human. Not anymore.
Seeing that he is a duelist, the Ghost offers him a chance. Pulling out a deck of their own, they create a duel disk from nowhere and challenge Drifter to a game, one he can't refuse as the door locks itself.
Ghost 4000 LP
VS
Drifter 4000 LP
The ghost takes the first turn. Drawing from their deck, they pull a monster from their hand and summon it. "I summon The Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams in attack position and end my turn," a restless spirit seeping out of a sleeping person appears on the field. [L4/Dark/Fiend/ATK 1300]
"It's my turn, I draw!" Drifter draws from his deck and carefully chooses his first monster. "Luster Dragon, come on out!" The beautiful sapphire dragon comes to his side. [L4/Wind/Dragon/ATK 1900] "Attack!" With their powerful breath attack, they destroy the ghost.
[Ghost 3400 LP]
"I set one card face down on my field, and end my turn," Drifter plans smart, setting a trap card behind Luster Dragon for emergency.
Ghost draws, "First I normal summon the Headless Knight in attack position." [L4/Earth/Fiend/ATK 1450] "Next, I activate Double Summon. Now I tribute Headless Knight to summon the Earl of Demise." [L5/Dark/Fiend/ATK 2000]
"Earl of Demise, attack Luster Dragon!" The Ghost's monster takes up arms, and slashes the dragon down the middle with their sword, destroying it.
[Drifter 3900LP]
"You just activated my trap card, Michizure. When my monster is destroyed, I can destroy one of yours, and I choose Earl of Demise." A hand comes out of the ground, and grabs Earl of Demise, dragging them to the graveyard.
"I end my turn then. It's back to you," the Ghost smiles behind their cards. Drifter notices, but doesn't say anything just yet.
"Draw! I summon Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts in attack mode." [L4/Earth/Beast/ATK 1500] "Attack him directly!" The beast king swipes for the Ghost, taking a hefty chunk of their life points in one attack.
[Ghost 1900 LP]
The Ghost starts their turn. The room starts to feel colder as the windows start to freeze up, concealing the outside world from them.
"Now that I have three fiend monsters in the graveyard, I can remove them from play to summon this. I remove Gross Ghost, Headless Knight, and the Earl of Demise, to summon Dark Necrofear!" With the three monsters as tribute, the Ghost summons a demon holding a cursed doll. [L8/Dark/Fiend/ATK 2200]
"That monster?" Drifter feels a twitch of fear in his soul at the sight of this monster.
"Necrofear, attack Gazelle!" A pair of hands grabs Gazelle by the legs and holds them in place as Necrofear fires beams of dark light into the monster's chest, destroying it.
[Drifter 3200LP]
With that, the Ghost ends their turn, leaving their monster unguarded. Drifter takes notice of this. They can't help but question if this is arrogance or a calculated risk. Looking over the cards in their hand, they only have one monster that can stand up to it right now, but he can't play it just yet.
Drawing for his turn, he pulls something to help. "I activate Card Destruction. We both discard our hands and draw a new one equal to the cards we discarded," discarding four cards, Drifter draws the same amount, including his saving grace. "I activate Monster Reborn to revive a monster from my graveyard. Revive, Beast of Talwar!" [L6/Dark/Fiend/ATK 2400]
Now with a monster to beat Necrofear, he calls his attack. "Attack Necrofear!" With their twin blades, Drifter's monster slices Dark Necrofear to pieces.
[Ghost 1700LP]
"Your strongest monster is defeated. You have nothing now that can stop my mine," Drifter boasts, although the conviction in his voice is shallow, almost like he's playing a part.
"During the end phase of the turn Necrosfear was destroyed," Necrofear's spirit returns to the field and takes hold of Beast of Talwar. Changing sides, the monster now belongs to the Ghost, "I can gain control of one of your monsters."
With no monsters left on his field, Drifter is left wide open for the Ghost to counterattack, and even defeat him.
"I set a monster face down, and now I call Talwar to attack your former master!" Taking two curved swords for their trouble, Drifter drops to his knees, on the verge of losing it all.
[Drifter 800LP]
Dusting himself off, he gets back on his feet. He glances over at the set monster Ghost just played. He draws for the turn. "I activate Dark Hole. This destroys all monsters on the field, mine and yours. Since my field is empty, yours is the last to go." A black hole opens above the players, engulfing all monsters. Beast of Talwar is destroyed first, before the set monster is sucked in, revealing itself to be The Portrait's Secret.
Drifter is now more than confused. "His set monster had more than enough attack points to defeat me, but why did he set it?" He thinks to himself. "I summon the Obnoixous Celtic Guard in attack mode," regardless, Drifter summons his elf swordsman to the field. [L4/Earth/Warrior/ATK 1400] "Attack him directly!" With one swing of their sword, Ghost nearly loses the rest of the life points, however they hang on by a thread.
[Ghost 300LP]
"I end my turn with one card face down. It's your move. This is your last chance to defeat me. If that is what you want after all," Drifter calls out Ghost for their how they've been playing.
"What do you mean?"
"You're intentionally trying to give me the win. You could have won the last turn, but you chose to defend yourself. You also kept summoning your monsters in attack, wanting to lose life points. You want to lose. You wish to be sent to the shadows."
Ghost goes silent for a moment before finding their voice. "It's true. My spirit is bound to this house, forever trapped within this tomb, I can't leave. My only salvation lies in defeat. I don't care if I am sent to the darkness, what matters is I am freed."
"I will happily grant you that mercy. However, I still expect you to duel with all your heart and soul. I don't care how cold it is, when two duelist battle, they give it their all. So come at me with everything. Make your last duel one to be proud of."
Ghost nods, "Be careful what you wish for," he draws. "Because after this you won't stand a ghost of a chance. I activate Silent Doom to revive Portrait Secret." A possessed painting appears on the field. [L4/Dark/Fiend/ATK 1200] "Next I sacrifice my monster to summon Dark Ruler Ha Des in attack position!" The demon ruler of hell bursts onto the field in an avalanche of fire and brimstone. [L6/Dark/Fiend/ATK 2450]
"This is my strongest monster. Unless you can withstand this attack, it will also be the last one you'll see. I know your monster's ability to protect itself from monsters of certain attack points, however, your life points are a very different story. Ha Des! Send him to hell!" Had Des conjuries fire in their hand, launching it at Celtic Guardian.
Drifter's monster withstands the attack, using their sword to parry the flames as the remainder of the attack hits Drifter. His face down flips up before he gets hit by the attack.
[Drifter 250LP]
"You survived?" Ghost asks before seeing the face-up trap card, Reinforcements. "I see. You powered up your monster to take a little less damage. Regardless, your guardian survives, and I call the turn back to you."
Patting down the excess flames that stick to Drifer's jacket, he looks up from the cards in his hand to face Ha Des. Tightening his scarf, he draws from the deck and smiles at the sight of his monster.
"If you battle me with the dark, then I shall bring you into the light with this. I sacrifice Celtic Guard to summon Silent Swordsman LV5 in attack mode!" Drifter's new monster is a warrior with a long blue jacket, long hair, and a large sword. [LV5/Light/Warrior/ATK 2300] "And that's not all. I also have this card in my hand. The spell card Level Up! Silent Swordsman is an LV monster, meaning he can evolve further. Come forth, LV7!" Drifter's swordsman increases in power and presence, growing taller and more experienced as a warrior. [L7/Light/Warrior/ATK 2800]
"This will be your final end! I grant you mercy, and your freedom!" Silent Swordsman leaps into the air. Sword held strong, they cut Ha Des down the middle, destroying it, and the rest of Ghost's life points.
[Ghost 0LP]
Ghost drops to their knees with a smile on their face and closed eyes. They don't say anything besides a hushed thank you before dissolve into nothing. As Ghost fades away, the atmosphere in the room changes, the ice on the windows disappears, and the natural heat of the room rises to a normal temperature once again.
Drifter grabs one of the fallen chairs from the side and stands it up to sit down on. Within a few seconds, he passes out asleep, tired from the miles he's traveled, and the duels he's endured. Even now, he can never truly rest until he's completed his task, and maybe not even after that.
