The Dark Knight:
Inside Ville Maurel, the Freeman Leader General Maliphant watched as his remaining men were defeated by the small group led by Fairbanks using his magical crystal that allowed him to see what was going on. "Those fools!" he growled to himself "How could they allow themselves to be defeated!" He looked around the room he was in which was the treasure room which held a supply of rare cards given to the Freeman by the Venatori which included new XYZ and Synchro monsters. "No matter, I'll deal with them myself and thanks to the Venatori, I have what I need to build myself the best deck of Dark Warriors. I should prepare for when they come in." Maliphant began searching through the piles of cards to find the right ones for his deck.
...
Meanwhile, Jaden along with Theorn, Chazz and Fairbanks had entered Ville Maurel but they were confused to find out that the Freeman Headquarters was just a messed up house. This place was once lived in by wealthy people because the house was well decorated but now that decoration was ruined. Vases from the shelves and windowsills had been smashed on the ground and paintings had been torn off the walls.
"Man, this place has seen better days." Jaden commented
"What happened to the people that once lived here?" Chazz questioned "Surely the owners of this place would not allow their valuables to be lost."
"My guess is that the Freeman must have kicked them out or turned them into crystals with the help of the Venatori. There have been fights here which I can tell thanks to the blood here" he looked at some blood on the walls. "This is either from the owners or from training or punishment that the Freemen used on their men."
"This place is huge" Theorn stated "How are we supposed to find General Maliphant here?"
"Maybe we should split up" Jaden suggested "We can cover more ground."
Fairbanks looked a bit concerned at that "I don't know" he stated "Maliphant may have set some traps here for us; we don't want to fall into one of them."
"Searching this place will take a long time and we don't have a lot of time" Chazz stated "A duel is one on one so we don't all need to be together."
"Chazz is right" Theorn agreed "I don't like the idea of going alone since we don't know who else is here but we have to find Maliphant. If one of us catches him then we'll find you. Also, while we're here, we should try and gather supplies for both Fairbanks' camp and for our journey."
"Right" Jaden commented "So we should start searching then."
"Good luck all of you" Fairbanks stated "And be careful."
...
The group split up and began searching for both General Maliphant and also for supplies that they could take with them. They looked around slowly so that they didn't fall into any traps that the Freemen could have set for them or any more Freemen members that were waiting to ambush them. Fairbanks was searching the area near the entrance trying to see if he could find any supplies that could help his people. So far he found several wardrobes that had been smashed and most of the clothes that had been in them were torn and so he was only able to salvage a few bits of clothing that would be able to help his people but he did manage to find some lanterns and oil which would be useful for Jaden's group when they were travelling.
Chazz meanwhile had found an old dining room and kitchen. Whoever had lived here had been wealthy as he found silver knives and forks as well as silver plates and silver cups so the owners of this place must have been wealthy. All of this silver was useless to them and Chazz was not a thief, he was looking for the Freeman or supplies they could use, he wasn't looking to get rich. But he did find some food in some of the kitchen cabinets such as bread, it wasn't the best but it was still better than nothing so he began packing it into some bags.
Theorn was on the other side of Ville Maurel where he found what looked liked the bedroom. The bedroom was well furnished and the master bedroom was still in good condition so it seemed that Maliphant was using this room as his personal sleeping area. Most of the other furniture had been smashed such as the bedside tables and chairs but the beds still had good blankets which they would need for sleeping in the cold so Theorn decided to bring a few of them so he began selecting a few for the group to use when they started travelling to find the rest of their friends.
Jaden had the final part of the Villa to search. After going through the courtyard, he found an area that was cut off from the rest of the Villa and quickly went in to see if he could find supplies. But to his dismay, it looked like he found the main study as there was a desk at the far end of the room and several bookshelves filled with books.
"Oh man!" Jaden groaned "I hate reading except for cards!" he walked over to the desk and began opening the draws on the desk to see if there was anything inside but he found nothing. He carried on searching but then he started hearing a loud noise like something smashing coming nearby so he activated his Duel Disk and began looking around.
Then out of nowhere, the wall nearby was smashed apart which made Jaden step back and activated his duel disk and look at where the noise had come from and saw a massive hole in the wall where there was a hidden room and standing in the middle was a muscular man who was much older than him but Jaden saw the crazy look in his eyes "Who are you boy!" he growled "You're not Fairbanks!"
Jaden narrowed his eyes at him "The name's Jaden Yuki and I'm a friend of Fairbanks! I take it that you're General Maliphant, where are the rest of the Freemen?"
The name narrowed his eyes more which made his eyes glow red "I am indeed General Maliphant and as for the rest of the Freemen, they all went with Ser Auguste or decided to leave here. No matter, you don't look that though, I will take you down and then take my revenge on the ones who betrayed me including the Warrior Faction and the Venatori and the best part will be because it will be thanks to the powerful crystals that the Venatori gifted me!"
Jaden just narrowed his eyes more and held his arm out ready "Alright, get your game on!" he hissed and then Maliphant activated his own Duel Disk.
"DUEL!"
Jaden: 8000
Maliphant: 8000
"Since I'm the oldest, it means that I'm superior so I'll go first" Maliphant stated as he drew his sixth card "And I'll start by summoning Dark Blade in attack mode" a tall knight dressed in black armour appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1800 Defence 1500). "And since I control Dark Blade, I can special summon Dark Swordsman in attack mode" another black armoured knight but with lighter armour appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1500 Defence 1200). "That will do it for me" he stated
Jaden drew his card "My draw" he stated and smiled when he looked at his hand "I play the spell card Polymerization which allows me to fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman." A red and green hero with a dragon head for a hand appeared on the field (Level 6 Attack 2100 Defence 1200). "And now Flame Wingman, attack Dark Blade with Skydiving Scorcher" Flame Wingman jumped into the air and swooped through Dark Blade and destroyed him.
Jaden: 8000
Maliphant: 7700
"And there's more" Jaden smirked "Because now my Wingman's ability activates so you take damage equal to the attack points of the monster I just destroyed." Maliphant gasped as Flame Wingman appeared in front of him and then blasted him with the dragon hand which threw him back.
Jaden: 8000
Maliphant: 5900
"And now I will end my turn" Jaden finished
Maliphant narrowed his eyes as he drew his card "My draw" he stated "And I play the spell card Reinforcement of the army which allows me to add a level 4 or lower warrior type monster to my hand and I choose my Armageddon Soldier which I will now summon" a small black haired man with black armour and armed with two swords appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 1200 Defence 800).
Jaden noticed that the monster looked familiar "Wait that looks almost like Marauding Captain" he stated as the monster had the same face.
Maliphant sneered "This is a dark version of that very monster and it has the same effects so now I can summon another level 4 or lower warrior monster from my hand and what better than another Armageddon Soldier." A second soldier appeared on the field.
This made Jaden gasped "But it they have similar effects, does that mean..."
Jaden didn't finish as Maliphant finished for him "That they protect each other?" he finished "Yes you do, you cannot attack any other warrior monsters with Armageddon Soldier on the field so they protect each other so now I'll end my turn."
Jaden sighed "I guess there isn't much I can do for now but boast my defence." He said to himself and he looked at his hand 'Flame Wingman is the strongest monster on the field but he can't attack thanks to those Armageddon Soldiers and diffusing him will just give Maliphant the upper hand, so I guess I'll have to go with something else.' He took a card from his hand "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in Defence mode" a clay golem warrior appeared on the field kneeling down with his arms crossed (Level 4 Attack 800 Defence 200). "That will do it for me." He finished 'Clayman still has more Defence points than all of Maliphant's monsters.'
Maliphant laughed "You think that just because your monsters are stronger means that you have the upper hand?" he questioned "Well you're wrong." He drew his card "I play the spell card Monster Reborn which allows me to bring my Dark Blade back to the field." The Dark Blade monster returned to the field "But he won't be around for long, because now I'm going to overlay my Dark Blade and Dark Swordmaster."
"Wait, overlay?" Jaden questioned "This must be a new summoning method just like Synchro."
Maliphant smirked "Yes, it called XYZ summoning, now by overlaying two level 4 monsters, I can summon a rank 4 XYZ monster from my extra deck like my Dark Headsman." A tall scary looking man wearing the robes of an executioner and wielding a massive axe appeared on the field (Rank 4 Attack 2300 Defence 1000). "And now you're about to see the power of XYZ, now by using one overlay unit, I can destroy one monster on your field, and the monster I pick is Elemental Hero Clayman." Jaden gasped as he watched one of the beams of light surrounding the Headsman get absorbed by the axe and then he slashed and destroyed Clayman. "And now he will attack that birdbrain of yours" the Headsman swung his axe again and cut Flame Wingman in two.
Jaden: 7800
Maliphant: 5900
"And my Armageddon Soldiers still have their attacks so now they'll attack you directly" Maliphant added and the two soldiers slashed Jaden with their swords which made Jaden yell out in pain and fall to his knees.
Jaden: 5200
Maliphant: 5900
Jaden groaned "I felt that?" he stated "That's just as bad as all the other Shadow Duels that I've been in."
"I get that power from the Venatori" Maliphant sneered "At least they did one good thing but watching those weaker than me scream in pain shows just how skilled I am since it shows that I'm more powerful. Well there isn't anything else I can do for now so I end my turn."
...
Meanwhile in the other parts of the Ville, Chazz, Fairbanks and Theorn met up in the courtyard. "So what did you find?" Fairbanks asked "I managed to find some oil lanterns."
"Well I managed to find some leftover blankets in the bedroom" Theorn stated as he showed the blankets which were tied to his back.
"I managed to find some leftover food in the kitchens" Chazz stated "So where's Jaden?"
A loud cry interrupted them "Wait that sounds like him!" Theorn gasped
Fairbanks widened his eyes "It seems Maliphant has found him. We must get to the North Wing, that's where he was searching." The three of them ran over to the North Wing and gasped when they saw Jaden on the ground and he was losing the duel.
Jaden: 5200
Maliphant: 5900
"Jaden!" Theorn yelled as Jaden managed to get up.
Jaden groaned as he pushed himself up and looked at them "Hey guys" he greeted
This made Chazz sigh "Jaden, you were suppose to alert us if you found Maliphant!" he hissed
"I never got the chance, he ambushed me" Jaden protested "Anyway I have got a problem now, I can't attack because of those Armageddon Soldiers, they block my attacks."
Maliphant laughed "Which means you stand no chance of winning this duel!" he sneered "So why don't you make things easier and surrender."
Jaden glared at Maliphant "I never surrender, no matter how difficult the situation is. I always stand strong." He may look brave but he was worried on the inside 'I just don't know what I can do, those Armageddon soldiers block my attacks and anything I summon will just get destroyed by that Headsman.' He sighed as he drew his card "My draw" he looked at the card he drew, it was a risk but it was the only chance he had "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode" the blue aqua hero with the water pistols appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 800 Defence 1200) "And when he's the only monster out, I can draw two cards from my deck" Jaden drew two cards and then looked at his hand before adding "Then I'll end my turn by throwing two cards facedown."
Maliphant sneered "That's it? Well I guess there isn't anything you can do. But for me, it looks like this duel is over, I summon Dark Axe in attack mode" a warrior dressed in black armour just like Dark Blade appeared on the field only this one wielded an axe instead of a sword (Level 4 Attack 1900 Defence 200). "And now I use my Headsman's ability which allows me to use his last overlay unit to destroy your Bubbleman" the Headsman swung his axe and destroyed Bubbleman. "And with no monsters on your field, this duel is over, now attack him directly!"
Theorn, Fairbanks and Jaden gasped in shock "Jaden!" they gasped
Jaden smirked "I's not over yet!" he yelled "Because I have a trap card out, Negate attack which cancels your attack and ends your battle phase."
Maliphant growled that his attack had failed "Well then I end my turn but next turn, you're through!"
Jaden narrowed his eyes 'He's right' he thought as he looked at his deck 'I need to draw something good otherwise this duel is over.' He then drew his card "I play the spell card Graceful Charity which allows me to draw three cards as long as I discard two" Jaden drew three cards and then discarded two from his hand, one of which was Elemental Hero Necroshade which would be useful later. "And now I will use the cards I drew starting by playing the spell card Warrior Returning Alive which returns Clayman to my hand. Next I activate Fusion Sage which adds a Polymerization from my deck to my hand which I will use to fuse Elemental Heroes Clayman and Sparkman in order to summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant." A large golden golem with lightning in his hands appeared on the field (Level 6 Attack 2400 Defence 1500).
"What good will that do you?" Maliphant sneered "You still can't attack."
Jaden smirked "I wouldn't be too sure about that" he stated "You see, once per turn, Thunder Giant can destroy one monster on your field who's original attack points are less than Thunder Giant's which means I can end this defence. Thunder Giant; destroy one of those Armageddon Soldiers." Thunder Giant sent a blast of lightning which struck one of the soldiers and destroyed him. "And he still has his attack so destroy the other soldier." Thunder Giant then blasted the other soldier and this time dealt damage to Maliphant.
Jaden: 5200
Maliphant: 4800
"And to end my turn, I summon Wroughtweiler in defence mode." Jaden finished and a small mechanical dog appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 800 Defence 1200) "It's your move."
Maliphant growled as he drew his card "I may not be able to use my Headsman's effect but that doesn't mean that I can't do anything. Your Wroughtweiler is completely defenceless which means my Axe can take care of it, so go!" Dark Axe ran towards Jaden's field and swung his axe which cut the mechanical dog in two which then shattered.
Jaden smirked "There's a reason he's a Hero's best friend" he stated "Now I get an Elemental Hero and Polymerization back to my hand and I choose my good buddy Sparkman." But then he groaned in pain and fell to his knees.
Jaden: 4500
Maliphant: 4800
"Jaden!" Fairbanks, Theorn and Chazz yelled at the same time.
Jaden groaned "What was that?" he demanded
Maliphant laughed "That was my Dark Axe's special ability which deals piercing damage to you when he attacks a monster in defence mode. I will end my turn by throwing one card facedown."
Jaden groaned as he drew his card "I can still use my Thunder Giant's effect to destroy that Headsman of yours." Thunder Giant blasted Headsman with lightning and destroyed him. "And now he will attack that Dark Axe."
Theorn noticed something was wrong "Jaden wait, this might be a trap!" he yelled
Maliphant smirked "Your friend is right, I do have a trap, the trap card Sakuretsu Armour."
"Oh no!" Chazz yelled "That destroys Jaden's monster!" and he was right as the armour equipped itself to Thunder Giant and destroyed him.
This made Jaden groan "Then I guess I summon Sparkman in defence mode" the yellow and blue lightning Hero returned to the field. "Then I end my turn."
Chazz groaned "Jaden really needs to watch out sometimes" he stated "He just walked right into that trap."
"Hey!" Theorn snapped "Everyone falls into traps sometimes."
"Yeah but if Jaden loses then Maliphant will seal him in a crystal" Fairbanks stated "He really needs to be more careful in the future."
Maliphant drew his card "I'll start by summoning Dark Assassin in attack mode" an assassin warrior dressed in black leather armour and wore a hood to cover his face and wielding two daggers appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 1000 Defence 800). "And now my Dark Axe will attack that Sparkman and remember you still take damage even when he's in defence mode." Dark Axe swung his axe and cut Sparkman in two which dealt damage to Jaden.
Jaden: 4000
Maliphant: 4800
Jaden smirked "I play my facedown card which I place a while ago, Hero Signal. Now since you destroyed an Elemental Hero monster, I can summon a level 4 or lower Elemental Hero from my deck and I choose Elemental Hero Ocean." A dolphin like warrior wielding a trident appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1500 Defence 1200).
Maliphant smirked "It's not really going to stop my next attack" he stated. "Because Dark Assassin can attack you directly." Dark Assassin vanished in a puff of smoke and as Jaden was looking around, he felt himself get stabbed in the back as Dark Assassin appeared behind him and stab him before jumping over Jaden back to Maliphant's field as Jaden fell to his knees.
Jaden: 3000
Maliphant: 4800
"Ow!" Jaden groaned "That hurt."
"And it will hurt more next turn" Maliphant sneered "I end my turn"
Jaden groaned as he drew his card "My draw" he stated 'I need to find a way to get back into this duel' he though and he looked at his card and smiled as now he had a plan "I play the spell card E Emergency Call which allows me to add an Elemental Hero to my hand and I choose Elemental Hero Shadow Mist. But he won't be in my hand for long because now I play Polymerization again to fuse Ocean and Shadow Mist together." Ocean and a black stealth like warrior were sucked into a portal "Power of Shadows and the strength of a Hero, when they come together, they form a Hero that blends into the Shadows, I fusion summon Elemental Hero Escuridao in attack mode." A black shadowy like monster with claws was created (Level 8 Attack 2500 Defence 2000). "And Escuridao gains 100 attack points for every Elemental Hero in my graveyard, so with ten in my graveyard, that's an extra 1000 attack points." More shadowy spikes grew from Escuridao's body as he gained power (EHE Attack 2500-3500). "And now Escuridao, destroy that Assassin!" Jaden ordered and Escuridao fired a shadowy spike from her body which impaled the Assassin and destroyed him.
Jaden: 3000
Maliphant: 2300
"And there's one more thing" Jaden stated "Since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can add Elemental Hero Woodsman to my hand. Now I end my turn."
Maliphant drew his card and laughed "You think that just because you've got a monster with more than 3000 attack points that you have the advantage?" he questioned "Well you're wrong, I'll start by playing the spell card the Warrior Returning Alive which gives me back my Dark Blade from my graveyard. But there's more, you're not the only one who can Fusion summon, I fuse Dark Blade in my hand with Dark Axe on my field" the two black armoured warriors were sucked into a portal "Highly trained soldier, trained to fight for darkness, I call upon the most dangerous Warrior around. I fusion summon Dark Blade Master Swordsman in attack mode." A new black armoured warrior appeared on the field only this one had much heavier armour than Dark Blade and his sword was also an axe on the other side and he also wore a long cape (Level 7 Attack 2700 Defence 2100). "And while he may not be strong enough to take out your Dark Hero, his ability will, since he was fusion summoned using Dark Blade as materiel, he can destroy one monster on your field."
"But that will leave Jaden defenceless!" Theorn yelled
"Which makes him vulnerable" Maliphant smirked "Now destroy that Dark Hero." Dark Blade Master Swordsman swung his sword and the axe part impaled Escuridao and destroyed her. "Now attack him directly!" the warrior charged forward again and slashed Jaden so hard that he cried out in pain and collapsed forward and lay on the ground.
Jaden: 300
Maliphant: 2300
"I end my turn" Maliphant stated "But I don't see any point in you carry on this duel. I have a powerful monster and more life points. You stand no chance against me."
"That's not true!" Chazz yelled "Jaden has faced worst than you and he's found ways to full through before even when the odds were against him. He can do the same here."
Jaden was indeed able to push himself up but groaned in pain. He had been able to hear every word said "Chazz is right" he stated "I may be in pain from that attack but a duel is not over until the last card is played so while I still have cards and life points, this duel is not over. My draw"
Maliphant laughed "Fool! You should have just run when you had the chance."
Jaden looked at his hand "Well I have a chance to get the cards I need with this, the spell card Pot of Greed which allows me to draw two cards" he looked at his hand 'I'm have to draw something good otherwise this duel is over for me.' He then drew his cards and smirked when he looked at them "I'll start by summoning Elemental Hero Bladedge to the field in attack mode." A golden armoured warrior appeared on the field (Level 7 Attack 2600 Defence 1800).
"Wait, how did you summon that with no sacrifices?" Maliphant demanded "A level 7 monster requires two sacrifices."
Jaden smirked "It's thanks to a Hero known as Necroshade which I sent to the graveyard a while back with Graceful Charity, it allows me to summon an Elemental Hero without sacrificing. It may not be strong enough but I'm not done, I play Fusion Recovery which gives me back Polymerization and Elemental Hero Ocean in my graveyard. Then I will use Polymerization to fuse Ocean and Woodsman together." The Dolphin Hero and the Tree like hero appeared and were sucked into a portal "Created from the stars of space, I create a Hero that can travel throughout time and space, I fusion summon Elemental Hero Terra Firma in attack mode" a glowing white warrior with a red chest appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 2500 Defence 2000).
Maliphant laughed "What good will that do?" he demanded "Neither of those monsters have the strength to defeat my Master Swordsman."
Jaden smirked "Not right now they don't but just like you did with your Master Swordsman; my Terra Firma has a special ability which allows him to absorb the attack points of my Bladedge."
"He can!" Maliphant gasped and he watched as Bladedge faded and was absorbed by the large crystal in Terra Firma's chest (EHTF Attack 2500-5100). "No, this can't be, I can't lose!"
"You just did!" Jaden smirked "Terra Firma, attack Master Swordsman!" Terra Firma jumped into the air and then shot towards Master Swordsman at supersonic speed and zapped straight through and through Maliphant which knocked him back.
Jaden: 300 (Winner)
Maliphant: 0000
"All right!" Theorn cheered
"He did it" Fairbanks smiled "He defeated the Freeman leader.
Maliphant stood up and glared at Jaden with hatred in his eyes "Just because you've beaten me doesn't mean that I'll let you go. I have other ways to defeat you!" he pulled out a large red crystal from his pocket and held it in front of him. The crystal emitted a bright red light which made everyone cover their eyes and they all heard Maliphant laughing like crazy. But then the crystal exploded and the light faded which made Jaden and the other look at Maliphant and saw that the crystal had exploded and now Maliphant was glowing red "No, no!" he yelled "This can't be happening!" they all watched in shock as Maliphant began to disintegrate and fall to the floor into a pile of red ash as he screeched in pain.
When it was over, all that was left of Maliphant was a pile of red ash "What was that?" Chazz asked
Fairbanks stepped forward "What you saw was a power source that the Venatori gave to the Freemen to make them more powerful. This was a way of making them more powerful but it is also very dangerous." He then looked through the hole where Maliphant had busted through before "That was how he broke through the wall and there is more of that stuff in here. I'll have to shut this area of the Ville off when my people move here. It's not safe." He went over to Maliphant's ashes and found a key in the pile "This key must open that other door; I want to see what's in there."
Fairbanks walked over and unlocked the door and when he opened it, Jaden and the others gasped when they saw a stash of rare cards hidden.
"Looks like we've found the Freemen's stash of rare cards" Theorn stated
Fairbanks smiled "These will surely be able to help my people if the Venatori decide to return." He stated
...
Far away from the forest, Solona along with the survivors from Redcliffe were still making their way across the land. They had been travelling for days and many of them were tired.
"How much further now Evangeline?" Solona asked "My feet are starting to get sore from all the walking."
Evangeline sighed "Not far now" she then looked ahead and smiled "In fact, that's the fortress just over there."
Solona looked ahead and smiled when they saw the remains of the fortress they had been looking for. After days of travelling and the fear that at any time they could be attacked again, they were finally here and were safe from the Warriors for now and they had the chance to warn the Spellcasters of the upcoming threat.
Chapter end:
Notes: Another chapter down and next chapter will have a major part of the plot, something I have planned for a while. The Freemen are mostly defeated now and won't return for a long time. This will be the final chapter I upload for a time since I'm going on holiday so I won't be updating until I return. The deck I used for Maliphant was one I created using the Dark Blade card.
Created Cards:
Dark Swordsman: Level 4, Dark Attribute, Warrior Type, Attack 1500 Defence 1200: You can special summon this card from your hand if you only control 1 Dark Blade.
Dark Axe: Level 4, Dark Attribute, Warrior Type, Attack 1900 Defence 200: When this card attacks a monster in defence mode, deal piercing damage.
Dark Assassin: Level 3, Dark Attribute, Warrior Type, Attack 1000 Defence 800: This card can attack your opponent directly.
Dark Headsman: Rank 4 XYZ, Dark Attribute, Warrior Type, Two Dark Warrior Level 4 monsters: Once per turn, remove 1 overlay unit to destroy 1 monster your opponent controls.
Dark Blade Master Swordsman: Level 7 Fusion, Dark Attribute, Warrior Type, 2 Dark Warrior type monsters. If this card is fusion summoned using Dark Blade as a fusion materiel, destroy one monster on your opponent's field.