I've actually decided to stop here for tonight. The next chapter sees the return of Max and the start of the final conflict of this book.
At this point in the story, John and the others don't really know how to use Destiny Draw. As their skills increase, they eventually figure it out, and they basically get the ability to draw whatever card that they want from their deck once per duel. This power is once per duel per Soul, so even merged with Hiro, John doesn't get two Destiny Draws or anything. However, merging with Hiro gives him better foresight to pick the right card, and gave him more reliable access to the power early in the series.
Chapter ThirteenHiro’s Assist;
Destiny Draw!
“This duel is over, Yami,” I said. I fingered the top card of my deck. I focused, and felt the energy of my Soul of Darkness merge with my cards, and I declared with absolute determination, “Destiny Draw!”
I pulled my next card, my Soul flashing as I did. I knew without a doubt that it would be just the card that I needed.
“Activate the Spell card ‘Graceful Charity’.” I continued. “I draw three cards and then discard two. Draw, and discard ‘The Fiend Megacyber’ and ‘Darkness Approaches’. Next I activate a second Spell card, ‘Monster Reborn’, letting me restore any fallen monster to life. The monster that I revive is, in case you can’t guess ‘The Fiend Megacyber’!”
In a flash of yellow static, the armored warrior returned to my side, his arms crossed defiantly (ATK: 2200).
“Now it’s time I turned this duel around,” I said. I looked over at Karen. She would know what my plan was. She looked up at me weakly and nodded. I nodded back, “Activate, ‘Heavy Storm’, destroying every Spell and Trap card on the field!”
The two ‘Ordeal of a Traveler’ cards were destroyed, but sadly, so was ‘Toon World’ and all of Karen’s monsters, each one disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Good move, said Yami, cockily, but you forget, my ‘Guardian Sphinx’ has twenty-four hundred Defense points. Even with your ‘Fiend Megacyber’, you can’t get past him this turn. And Soul spirit or not, your body will not survive the strain of this game much longer. You’ve lost already. Just give up and make it easier on all of us.
“You’re right,” I said, “my ‘Megacyber’ can’t get past your ‘Sphinx’, not on his own, and it is true that the two of us won’t survive for much longer as things stand, but even if this monster can’t penetrate your defense,” I declared, gesturing toward my ‘Fiend Megacyber’, “my next monster can. I summon one of the newest additions to my deck, the Interdimensional Sword-Wielder ‘D.D. Warrior Lady’!”
There was a swirl of light in the air beside ‘Fiend Megacyber’. Through that swirl of light a woman appeared. She wore a silver jumpsuit and carried a glowing katana. Her golden blond hair flashed brightly, even here in the Shadows (ATK: 1500).
“Whenever my ‘Warrior Lady’ battles,” I explained, “she has the option of using her sword to open a rift to the Different Dimension, pulling herself and her opponent out of play. I attack ‘Guardian Sphinx’ now, Dimensional Rift Blade!”
‘D.D. Warrior Lady’ leapt up, her katana held high, and the ‘Sphinx’ appeared once again (DEF: 2400). The ‘Warrior Lady’ slashed, catching her blade in the stone of the giant creature’s shoulder. My Life Points fell, but I barely even noticed.
From the point of impact, energy blossomed from the ‘Warrior Lady’’s sword, swallowing her and the ‘Sphinx’. The energy faded, and both monsters were gone, leaving Yami wide open.
“Now,” I said, “I finish this duel with one final attack. ‘Fiend Megacyber’, Megacyber Impact!” My monster rushed forward and punched Yami in the chest. His shadowy body dispersed and he cried out in frustration as his Life Points fell (1000-2200=0).
The darkness around Karen and I faded. Hiro and I separated, and he returned to the Soul, and Karen and I finally gave in and passed out.
I was awoken several minutes later by Tucker, kneeling at my side. “Bro, you okay?” he asked as he helped me up.
I looked to my left and saw Monty and Jen helping Karen awake. She seemed alright, and that made me feel better. “Yeah, Tuck,” I said, “I’m alright.”
“Good,” he said stepping back to stand by the others, “’cuz if not I was gonna kick your ass. Now tell us what happened to you.”
We walked back to the gazebo and sat down. Karen and I told the others all about our encounter with Yami. About how he had dominated us in the duel, dealing us serious damage and draining our life force with the shadow game. I told them that we won when I pulled a lucky card at the end, just in time. Karen noticed that I didn’t mention Hiro, and so she didn’t either.
“We’re sorry about this,” said Karen. Lawrence started to say something, but Monty cut him off, “We all are.”
“My team and I promise,” said Karen, “to do whatever we can to protect the Souls from Yami. That’s what’s really important.”
She looked to her friends, and they both nodded (a bit reluctantly in one case). Suddenly I got the feeling that something had physically become different, like someone had sworn an oath or signed a contract. Out of nowhere there was a flash of light, and three orbs of light, each a different color, appeared. An orb settled against each Karen’s, Monty’s, and Lawrence’s chests, becoming Duelist’s Souls. Monty’s depicted a silvery wave of cloth, like the outline of a robed sage, representing knowledge. Lawrence’s Soul depicted a draconic beast in forceful motion, representing strength. I looked at Karen’s Soul. There was no symbol, which was a symbol in and of itself, representing a truly open mind. The symbol of imagination.
“Well,” I said, easily as surprised as any one of my friends, “would you look at that, three more Souls.”
After the rather exciting events at the park the ten of us waited at the nearest bus stop for the vehicle that would convey all of us, even Karen, Monty and Lawrence, home. I could tell that the three of them were excited by the prospect. Jen and I had to pool our money to pay their way. Mine and Sarah's stop was one of the first on the route, then Tucker, Kimi and Karen’s right after that, then Rocky, and then Jen several stops later. Because my stop was less than fifteen minutes away I felt pressed to use what time I had to talk to Karen. She was sure to have questions for me.
“So,” I asked, taking a seat beside her, “you really okay?”
“I’m tired,” she said, “and a little sore, but I’ll be fine. So, are you gonna tell me what happened back there?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” I replied, “but I have an idea. When my original team and I entered the Burial of the Soul, a spirit appeared to me. He said that he was the guardian of the Souls, and that he was also the last remnant of the Forgotten Duelist, mainly his magical power and his gaming knowledge. He told me that his life force came from the Soul of Darkness, and that to leave the Burial and come with me he would have to keep living in the Soul, basically hanging out in the back of my mind. The Soul trusted him, so I agreed to let him tag along.
“The others couldn’t see him,” I explained, “so the Soul spirit, Hiro he calls himself, and I decided to keep him a secret, at least for now. It was pretty weird that you and Yami could see him. Maybe it has to do with base power. You, me and Yami are still a bit above the others”
“If that’s the case,” said Karen, “then as your friends get stronger, they’ll start to see him too. It could complicate things.”
“Yeah,” I said, “I got that. Anyway, one of the things that Hiro and I agreed on was that he would help out when he could. He tried to give me some of his power back there in the duel, but he and I somehow merged. Looking back, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience, but it was effective. But now he’s buried deep in there. Whatever happened drained him.”
I shook my head, and Karen and I sat together in silence until Tucker said, “Hey John, this is your stop!” I looked out the window. Sarah was already standing on the curb, watching me through the window with an annoyed look on her face.
I jumped up and ran for the door, yelling to the driver, “Whoa, wait for me!”
I walked the couple of blocks from the bus stop to my house, the uninjured Sarah quickly pulling ahead of me and out of sight. I climbed the stairs to my room, and sat back on my bed, my hands behind my head, looking up at the ceiling. I lay there for an hour, waiting, but after an hour I still hadn’t heard from Hiro. It had started to get dark out before he finally appeared.
Interesting ability that we’ve uncovered, he said. He was leaning back against the wall off to the left of my bed, his sudden reappearance startling me out of a doze.
“Yeah,” I said, “but not one we can use very often. It’s way too hard on you, and it could be dangerous for me too for all we know.”
True, Hiro replied, but this is too great a power to ignore. Despite the risks we may have need to use it again. Your concerns are well founded, however. Powerful as this ability is, we won’t use it again, unless we have no other choice.
I nodded, “Agreed.”
Then I rolled over, completely spent, and fell into one of my rare dreamless sleeps.
Card of the Day:
D.D. Warrior Lady
Played by: John
Not only is this a great monster with a great effect which turns the tables in this duel, it is also the first female monster that John ever uses offensively, and signifies a shift in his deck's theme, which will become more apparent during his duel with Max later.
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