Chapter 52: The Legendary Dragon Hunter

"Where the fuck am I?"

Kaiba glanced around at his surroundings, which appeared to be a war-torn city. Scattered debris littered the streets, with buildings crumbling around him.

"Enough games! Show yourself, now!"

"Impatient, are we? Very well!"

His opponent materialized right in front of him, glaring into his soul.

"It's time you pay for your sins, Kaiba!"

"What are you blabbering about? I've never met you before in my life."

"Enough talk! Time to duel!"
Kaiba snorted, but raised his duel disk.

"At least we can agree on something."

"You can call me Alister. Remember it, because it's the last name you'll ever hear."

DUEL!

Kaiba: 8000

Alister: 8000

"I'll start with Melody of Awakening Dragon! By discarding one card from my hand, I can add two Blue Eyes White Dragons from my deck to my hand. And by revealing one of them, I can special summon Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon! Next, I summon The King of D, and activate Flute of Summoning Dragons! Come on out my Blue Eyes! Now, I'll end my turn, which activates the effect of The White Stone of Ancients from my graveyard. Since it was sent there this turn, I can now special summon the last Blue Eyes from my deck!"

Alister scoffed.

"Typical. Quantity over quality."

"Shut up and make your pathetic move."

"Fine. To start, I activate the spell card Emblem of Dragon Destroyer! This lets me add Buster Blader from my deck to my hand."

Kaiba's eyes widened, making Alister smirk.

"Regretting summoning all of those Dragons now?"

"It doesn't matter! You need two tributes to summon that monster, and I count zero."

"Are you sure about that? I summon Buster Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman (400/300) in attack mode! Since he was summoned, I can add Destruction Sword Memories from my deck to my hand. Next, I can tribute Buster Whelp to summon Buster Blader (2600/2300)!"

"Shit."

"Shit is right, because for every Dragon you have on the field or in your graveyard, he gains 500 attack points (2600-5100)! Attack his King of D!"

Kaiba: 4100

"Don't think you're in the clear yet, I activate the spell card Power Collapse! By decreasing the attack of Buster Blader by that of the monster he just destroyed, he can attack again (5100-3900)!"

Kaiba: 3200

"I'll end my turn with one card face down. Scared yet, Kaiba?"

"Please, this is nothing. And to prove it, I activate Dragon's Mirror! By banishing my three Blue Eyes White Dragons, I can call forth Neo Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

"No! Buster Blader doesn't gain any attack points from Banished Dragons (5100-4100)!"

"Sucks to be you. Neo Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack Buster Blader with Neo Neutron Blast!"

Buster Blader tried to block the attack with his sword, only to be disintegrated easily.

Allister: 7600

"Don't think you're in the clear just! By sending Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon from my Extra Deck to the graveyard, Neo Blue Eyes can attack again!"

Alister: 3100

"And I can do it again, so end th-"

But before he could, he was blinded by a flash of light.

"What the-"

When the light died down, Kaiba was surprised to see the war torn city was now significantly less destroyed. While it was no shining metropolis, the buildings that were before rubble were now once more standing.

"What the hell?"

"Hey Alister, slow down!"

"Catch me if you can, Mikey!"

Just then, a younger version of Alister came running past him in a game of tag.

"Hey, no fair! You're bigger than me, you can run faster!"

"But if I go easy on you, where's the fun in that?"

Suddenly, the sound of airplanes flying overhead was heard, and five of them flew by as the kids waved to them. But the joy didn't last long, for bombs soon began dropping from them.

"Get down!"

Everyone ducked for cover, Alister just barely managing to jump behind a barrier as the bombs exploded.

Once the dust had settled, Alister peered from behind his cover, looking for any survivors. But more importantly, he searched frantically for his younger brother.

"Mikey? Mikey!"

But when he found him…

"MIKEY!"

With another flash of light, Kaiba found himself back in the war torn city with Alister.

"What was that?"

"After your direct attack, I activated my trap card Flashbang. This immediately moves your turn to the end phase, meaning my life points are safe."

"But that vision-"

"Was my childhood. Those planes destroyed my village, my home, and killed my little brother! And do you know where those bombs came from?"

He pointed a finger accusingly at Kaiba.

"Kaiba Corp! They were testing a new kind of bomb, and used my village for no reason other than they could! And they never faced any repercussions for it, until now."

"Look punk, I won't argue that my stepfather is an ass and deserves all of the hate you have for him, but that happened years before I was adopted. I had nothing to do with your brother's demise, so stop hating me for Gozoburo's sins!"

"Shut up! I activate the trap card, Destruction Sword Memories! By discarding a Destruction Sword Card from my hand, I can special summon another Buster Blader from my deck (2600-4600)! Next, I activate Polymerization, fusing him with the Dragon Buster Destruction Sword in my hand to summon the true legendary hunter of Dragons! Come on out, Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman (2800/2500)! This is the beginning of the end for you, Kaiba! First, as long as my Destroyer Swordsman is on the field, all Dragons are forced into Defense Position."

Alister's Warrior slammed his sword into the ground, sending a shockwave that forced Kaiba's Ultimate Dragon to kneel.

"And for every Dragon on your field and in your graveyard, he gains 1000 attack points (2800-6800)! And even though your monster is in defense mode, you'll still take damage! Let him have it, Buster Blader!"

With a single swipe of his sword, the Fusion monster beheaded all three of the Ultimate Dragon's heads and destroyed it, the shockwave sending Kaiba into a wall.

Kaiba: 200

"I end my turn. You should know: any Dragon you summon will be forced into defense position, and you can't use any of their effects. You're finished, Kaiba!"

"Are you done yapping? You're not the only one who's lost somebody."

"Oh, please! What do you know about loss?"

"My parents, for one thing! I was orphaned when I wasn't even 10!"

"And you got adopted by the biggest weapons manufacturer in the world! You expect me to believe you had it rough?"

"You think my childhood was a fantasy? I was worked to death every day studying until my brain wanted to explode! But I kept at it to keep my brother safe!"

Alister momentarily reeled at that.

"Your brother?"

"Mokuba was always there to cheer me up, and the only bright spot in my life. Until my greedy stepfather decided he was a distraction, and sent him back to the orphanage! I haven't seen my brother in 10 years!"

"Kaiba, I…"

"But I earned my place in life! I stole the company out from Gozaburo, and changed it into what it is now! So don't give me any bullshit about not knowing what it's like to lose anyone!"

"...Take your turn."

Kaiba grunted, eyeing the card he had drawn with cold indifference.

"I pass."

"I activate Monster Reborn to summon back the original Buster Blader. Buster Blader…finish him."

Buster Blader charged, sword at the ready, only to be blocked by the staff of a suddenly appearing fairy.

"What the-"

"Surprised? You activated the effect of Goddess of Sweet Revenge in my hand. When you declare a direct attack and she's the only card in my hand, I can discard her to destroy every card on your field!"

"What?"

With a single swing of her staff, both Buster Blader and his evolved form shattered.

"But that's nota all she does! Now I can special summon any monster from my deck. Come on out, Deep Eyes White Dragon (0/0)!"

"No attack points?"

"Not for long. When Deep Eyes is summoned, she takes on the attack points of one monster in my graveyard, like Neo Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (0-4500)!"

Alister could only gaze in horror as Kaiba's monster roared. Nothing he had in his hand could save him.

"I end my turn…"

With a mix of pity and fury, Kaiba nodded to his dragon.

"Deep Eyes, put him out of his misery."

Deep Eyes roared, sending a blinding blast of light at Alister, knocking him into a wall and destroying it.

Alister: 0000

As he lay there amongst the rubble, Alister felt his body begin to disintegrate. Knowing what was coming, he let out a weak smile.

"Mikey…I'll be seeing you soon…"

With one last sigh, his body completely vanished, leaving Kaiba alone.

"Alright, I've had enough of these cheap tricks! Show yourself, whoever you are!"

A door appeared in front of him, as if the universe was answering his call. With an annoyed sigh, Kaiba opened it, ready to face whoever was on the other side.