So yeah, seriously, I've been pretty joky in my comments on these chapters so far, but I want to get serious for a minute, because this is probably the darkest book that I've written so far. It still isn't too dark. You get a sense early on that the good guys are all gonna be okay. However, I tried to do the reveal of the evil being Blackheart justice by making him disturbingly evil, and calmly so, like saying the things that he says is nothing to him, just part of who he is. What really made me want to take the comment on this chapter seriously, though, is the presence of Christopher Johnson in it. Unlike most rivals to the main character in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Christopher only shows up a few times in my books. In fact, this is only his second appearance, his third if you count the first Special. And Blackheart basically intends to eat him.
Chapter SevenUnexpected Cooperation
Lawrence
I’ll admit that I was surprised when Jen’s seemingly ridiculous strategy came to fruition, destroying all of the enemy’s cards. Not monsters, cards. His key card, ‘Skill Drain’, was gone as well.
Not bad, I thought. I underestimated our opponent a bit, but I seem to have underestimated my ally even more.
I looked over at Jen out of the corner of my eye, She’s distracted our opponent, drawing his fire, and she’s angered him. She must be sacrificing her own Life to leave me an opening to attack later. Gutsy. Not that it matters. This guy’s Shadow Game can’t be very strong. Jen’s lost nearly a third of her Life and she isn’t hurt at all.
“I finish up,” Jen concluded, “by playing ‘Premature Burial’ (2700-800=1900), reviving my ‘Insect Queen’, and I tribute her a second time in the same turn to activate ‘Insect Imitation’, summoning a monster with one higher Level from my deck. I choose one of my strongest cards,” a giant insect, twice as big as even the largest monster played so far, with sharp forward legs and a steel shell appeared, towering over the entire field, “the ‘Metal Armored Bug’ (ATK: 2800)! And I attack directly!”
The bug reached over its master’s head and slashed Three across the chest. He gritted his teeth and struggled to catch his breath (5500-2800=2700).
“I end my turn,” Jen declared, and I noted the smugness in her expression. Either she’d decided to take a page out of my own book of attitude, or she was actively trying to piss this guy off as part of her strategy.
I smiled, This girl’s got guts and style. I think I’m starting to like this one.
“You destroyed my monsters!” Three cried, completely losing the cool that he’d managed to retain since we’d met him. I laughed at him and his pathetic, amateurish reaction. He ignored me and declared, “I play ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive ‘Fusilier Dragon’ and I play ‘Limiter Removal’ doubling his attack but destroying him during the End Phase.”
The mechanical red dragon reappeared, sparking and sputtering, and roaring and thrashing wildly (ATK: 2800 -> 5600).
“My monster attacks the bug,” Three commanded hastily, “destroying you!”
The machine fired its beam, piercing the giant bug through. It dissolved, and Jen’s remaining Life disappeared.
I didn’t think anything of the fact that Jen had lost. After all, after I won, we’d both go free of the Shadows. It wasn’t like Three’s Shadow Game had been strong enough to actually hurt her, or so I thought until I saw her collapse, falling heavily to her knees. It was at that moment that I realized just how much pain she was actually in, and how well she’d managed to hide it. It was also at that moment that I began to feel something I wasn’t used to feeling toward others: respect.
Jen looked over at me and said weakly, “I set everything in motion. You’ve just gotta finish up. Everything’s in place except a couple of cards that I know you’ve got. Finish him, Lawrence.”
As she spoke, Three finished his turn, “To avoid having no monsters at the end of this turn, I play the Spell card ‘Equal Exchange’, tributing the Level Eight ‘Fusilier Dragon’ for the Level Eight ‘Barbaros’ in my Grave!”
There was a roar, and ‘Barbaros’ reappeared, his spear held ready (ATK: 3000).
It was at that moment that Jen fell unconscious. I looked our opponent in the eyes fiercely, Until now I was fighting to destroy a minion of Blackheart, but from now on, until the duel ends with my victory, I instead fight to save Jen, a worthy ally!
I drew my card, looked at it, and I smiled.
“Your monster may look tough at first,” I taunted, “but he’s really just a weakling, no better than any other monster, and I’m gonna prove it with just one card.”
I placed my card on my Disk, “Set a card. Turn end!”
By now Three was seething, “‘Barbaros is a superior monster. You won’t get away with insulting him. My ‘Barbaros’ destroys you pitiful ‘Black Dragon’!”
“Never!” I declared. “Reveal ‘Shadow Spell’, ensnaring your monster!”
As ‘Barbaros’ moved to attack his shadow formed a net of chains that wrapped around his arms, legs and body, preventing him from moving. He lost Attack (3000-700=2300).
“I told you,” I said. “Just one card, and your monster can’t even move. How strong can he be? Or maybe it says more about you and how, in your haste to attack, you failed to protect him.”
I drew my last card of the duel, smiling pridefully, making sure my opponent could see in my eyes how inferior he was to me.
“I finish this duel,” I told my stunned foe. “I play the Spell card ‘Inferno Fireblast’, allowing my ‘Red-Eyes’ to immediately attack you directly outside of the Battle Phase!”
My dragon launched a fiery blast from his mouth, hitting Three and tossing him through the air (2700-2400=300). He picked himself up, just in time to see fire envelope my dragon, transforming him into a more metallic-looking version of himself his glowing red lines across its body.
“I tribute," I explained, "the ‘Red-Eyes’ to summon ‘Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon’, a monster that gains Attack for every Dragon in my Graveyard!”
My monster roared (ATK: 2400 -> 3300).
“Attack,” I commanded, my monster breathing a barrage of fireballs, “Darkness Black Fire Bullet!”
The flames reduced ‘Barbaros’ to ash and carried through, blasting Three, sending him toppling through the air. He landed hard and struggled to move, our monsters and the Shadows fading around us.
I helped Jen to her feet, and the two of us walked over to stand over out fallen opponent.
“You’re pathetic,” I told a whimpering, frightened Three, “and the fact that you would follow Blackheart proves that you don’t deserve to exist.”
My Soul of Power flashed, and in an instant Three was gone. Jen managed to stand on her own, and after a few minutes’ rest, we were on our way, ready to continue our search.
Blackheart
I stepped out of the Shadows in another part of the city, careful to hide my power, to keep my enemies from finding me. When the time came, I would find them. I reached out with the power of the Soul of Darkness, searching for the source of the high Duel Energy that I’d sensed earlier. As I did, I looked around. I searched through my host’s memories for the information to identify my location. I was in the parking lot of an apartment complex, which is like an entire village-worth of hobbles stacked on top of each other. I grinned at the sheer absurdity of such a thing.
The stolen Soul pinged, and I turned in the direction it indicated. A short walk later, I found myself behind one of the apartments watching three Duelists fight one Duelist who was clearly the source of the Duel Energy I was sensing. I took note of the similarity between his situation and the situation in which I’d found myself when I first awoke. The difference was that this Duelist was facing down stronger monsters, and he wasn’t struggling the way that my host had been.
The single Duelist, a youth roughly the same age as my host, with light brown hair and eyes that were almost yellow, and a look somewhere between frustration and disappointment on his face, was facing down ‘Black Tyranno’ (ATK: 2600), ‘Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest’, supported by two face-down cards (ATK: 2600), and ‘Dark Blade’ equipped with the Union monster ‘Kiryu’ (ATK: 2700), supported by one set card, and he was doing it with only a half fiery red and half icy blue dragon surrounded half by fire and half by ice, the ‘Polarity Dragon’, in defense mode (DEF: 2000), and two face-downs of his own. Despite this, however, his Life Points were untouched, while his opponents were more or less one good attack away from defeat.
I marveled at this Duelist and his skill. He was even stronger than my host. Not as strong as me, though, of course. I leaned against the wall of the nearest apartment building and watched, marveling even more at the fact that I found the Duelist in my host’s memories, and that my host had actually managed to defeat this Duelist known as Christopher Johnson.
“Come on!” Christopher Johnson cried. “We’ll never win the national title if you idiots keep dueling like this!”
He looked at the Duelist controlling ‘Black Tyranno’, a tall male with long dark hair and a stupid, reckless look on his face, “James, I get it, you can summon big monsters easily, but they won’t last without support! I play ‘Creeping Cold’, freezing your monster and allowing me to attack directly past it this turn. If you had any Traps in your deck that didn’t summon more monsters you coulda stopped it!”
As Christopher spoke, the giant black dinosaur was completely encased in ice, unable to move an inch.
“Jason,” Christopher said, speaking with greater respect, turning to the controller of ‘Green Baboon’, a more average-looking boy with shorter brown hair, “I play ‘Sweeping Fire’. It allows me to discard my ‘King Pyron’ in order to burn away fifteen hundred of your monster’s attack.”
“Reveal,” Jason countered, “my ‘Fairy’s Hand Mirror’ Trap, redirecting your Spell back at ‘Polarity Dragon’.”
“Good,” Christopher said, “but I reveal ‘Dark Bribe’.”
“Counter,” Jason interjected, “my ‘Seven Tools of the Bandit’ (1900-1000=900).”
Flames swept toward the giant armored ape, but a magic mirror appeared, bouncing them back at Christopher’s dragon, singeing it (ATK: 2000 -> 500).
“Very good,” Christopher told him, “but when I refilled my hand with ‘Card of Sanctity’, I drew plenty of other ways to beat you. I play ‘Monster Reborn’, reviving ‘Pyron’,” a man made of flames appeared (ATK: 1500), “and I Second Summon him, allowing him to deal one thousand damage to one player each turn.”
‘Pyron’ summoned up a fireball, throwing it at Jason, burning the rest of his Life Points away.
I smiled with admiration, as one might admire a pet, mind you, as Christopher turned without skipping a beat to his third opponent, another male, this time with blond hair, wearing a plain tunic and the garment that modern mortals call “jeans”, “Good job, Mike. Summoning a Union monster affords your monster extra protection from battles. But it doesn’t protect him from my ‘Offerings to the Doomed’.”
Mummy wraps rose up from the ground, threatening to wrap Mike’s black-armored knight and drag he and his red dragon mount to an early grave, but Mike was prepared.
“Reveal,” Mike countered, “with ‘Interdimentional Matter Transporter’, removing my monster from play until the End Phase. And because I still have all of my Life, not even your weakened dragon and your ‘King Pyron’ attacking together can defeat me this turn (LP: 3000).”
“And I’m safe too,” James added indignantly, “unless you waste both of your attacks on me (LP: 1700).
“Sorry,” Christopher said, his demeanor as a mentor giving way to a strong competitive spirit, “but I thought you guys knew me better by now.”
He looked down at his last face-down, a cold, calculating look flashing in his eyes, “I reveal ‘Reverse Trap’, and I chain the Spell card ‘Icy Shackles’, decreasing the Attack of my own ‘King Pyron’ by five hundred until the End Phase.”
Chains made of ice appeared around ‘Pyron’’s wrists, weighing him down (1500-500=1000). “‘Reverse Trap’ resolves,” Christopher announced, “changing all Attack decreases into increases!”
I watched, even more impressed, as the power of Christopher’s monsters climbed (1000 -> 2000/500 -> 3500).
“I change ‘Polarity Dragon’ to attack mode,” Christopher commanded, “and attack for the win!”
The dragon blasted ‘Mike with fire and ice together, and ‘Pyron’ threw a fireball at ‘James’. The monsters on both sides disappeared, and James, Jason and Mike looked disappointed, but not surprised.
“Good practice, all things considered,” Christopher told them. “Go do some test draws.”
The three wandered off, into one of the nearby apartments, leaving Christopher (mostly) alone with his thoughts. I smiled wickedly, Sorry, I really like you, but I need your Duel Energy. Oh well, I’ll leave you alive so you can entertain me again later!
I took a step toward Christopher. His back was to me, so I was a bit surprised when he said, “I don’t know who you are or what you want, but whatever it is, you won’t get it from me. I can feel how evil you are. I don’t help evil guys.”
He turned to face me, “Anyone ever tell you that you look like a pale version of my rival?”
I shot him an evil, toothy grin, “Foolish human mortal. I want your Duel Energy, the power that makes you so strong, and I don’t need you to help me. I’m going to take it.”
Christopher smiled, “You’re welcome to try.”
I laughed out loud and summoned the Shadows up around us, This is going to be an interesting duel!
Card of the Day:
Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon
Played by: Lawrence
At this point of the story, Lawrence doesn't typically use anything other than the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", so seeing him make the final attack with something else is rare enough. Add in the fact that this card is pretty awesome, capable of increasing its own power to some pretty phenomenal heights in a deck like Lawrence's, and I'd say it deserves a place here.
Original Cards in This Chapter:
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