Armed with new knowledge about his family's past, and with a new sense of purpose that has come with it, John returns to confront the mystery Duelist and discover who, exactly, he is. Their Duel begins, and it becomes clear that what Depre said about the two of them being equals could not be more true.
This is the chapter where we actually discover the mystery Duelist's motivations. I wanted them to make sense, but in a way that comes off as overly obsessive, and riddled with broken logic. Someone let me know how I did.
Chapter Thirty-One
The Foe's True Intentions
I reappeared from the Shadows in the middle of the mystery man's arena. He was sitting casually on the arena's edge, leaning back against the rail.
"Ah, you're back," he said, sitting forward and clicking his remote, switching the anti-magic field back on. I felt myself become disconnected from the magic of the Soul of Darkness again.
"Did you learn anything interesting?" the mystery man asked.
"I learned enough," I told him, "to raise a few questions about you. Who exactly are you? How do you know more about my family than I do?"
The mystery man slid down from the edge of the arena, and planted his feet firmly on the floor, smiling, "Years ago, your father and some of his allies were challenged by a group of Shadow Duelists. They became aware of your father's group's heroics, and set out to end them."
"I know," I replied, "I heard all about it."
The mystery man nodded, "Then you'll have heard about their leader, a man named Darius Curran. Your father beat him in a Shadow Game, and took his best card. His entire organization collapsed after that. All of the power that he had amassed was divided among his remaining subordinates. Power which should have one day been mine. The leader of that group, the man that your father defeated, he was my father."
I shrugged, "Yeah, that was my first guess. And it makes sense. You're out for revenge. I figure you probably found out what happened to your dad well after mine was already missing. That made me the most obvious target. Stop me if I'm wrong."
The mystery man laughed wickedly, "No, no, you're right, at least mostly. I do want revenge against you, and the defeat of my father at the hand of yours is a part of it, but there's so much more to it than that."
He started pacing his end of the duel arena, "In researching who it was who defeated my father, I learned something interesting about you. I discovered the myth of the Duelist and his Souls, and of the ones who would released those Souls into the modern world. I learned that you were one of them. And I learned that it was your Soul which had the power to bring the others together. That, if you wanted it, as the barer of the Soul of Darkness, you could have every Duelist's Soul for yourself."
"What does any of this have to do with your revenge plans?" I wondered sternly, silently urging my opponent to get to the point.
He smiled, "In learning all of those things, I also learned which traits bind each Soul to its respective barer. Which traits in a Duelist might serve to initially draw the Soul to them. In the case of the Soul of Darkness, it was said that it would bind itself to someone with a strong sense of balance as a gamer. Someone who fights with the darkness. Someone with a fierce darkness in their heart. Someone who is aggressive toward their enemies. A description which fits you to a t, but fits me even better."
He met my eyes, and the look he gave me practically radiated hatred. I could almost feel it. "After my father's death, I was left broken for years. I didn't find new purpose until after you had already awoken the Duelist's Souls. I have always been a good Duelist, but that lack of purpose prevented me from reaching my full potential.
"If my father had survived his duel, I would never have lost my sense of purpose, and I would have reached my full potential long before the Souls chose their wielders. I, Damien Curran, would have been chosen by the Soul of Darkness as its barer. And with its power, I would have drawn all of the other Souls to me, and made their power my own. I would have become the new Legendary Duelist, and ruled this world! But now that I have you here, forced to play my game, I will defeat you and earn the Soul for myself. And once I do, I'll make up for lost time!"
"So let me get this straight," I asked, utterly flabbergasted, trying desperately to get my thoughts back in order, "you're saying that this is all about getting revenge against me for being the barer of the Soul of Darkness instead of you, because you think that my dad screwed up your chances of earning the Soul by beating your dad, who was the aggressor in their Duel? Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?"
"It's not ridiculous," Damien Curran spat. "I know, in the core of my being, that I should possess the Soul of Darkness. That I should be able to possess all of the Souls should I wish it. I know it. And you're the only one standing in my way."
"Okay," I said, my patience officially gone, "this is stupid. I've had enough of this. I'm just going to go."
"Even if you could," Damien said with a sneer, "I wouldn't, if I were you."
I raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "Why's that?"
He turned to face the direction of the corridors leading to the duel rooms, "Haven't you wondered where your allies are?"
I inhaled sharply, feeling a heat build in my chest, "What did you do?"
"Nothing," Damien replied, "yet. I've just trapped them in their duel rooms. They're my hostages, to ensure that you won't try to back out on me. It's simple. I may have my ambitions, but I'm not unreasonable. If you manage to defeat me, and actually prove that you are more deserving of the Soul than I am, then I have no intention of keeping you here. As soon as my Life Points drop to zero, the entry and exit doors to every duel room will open. You'll all be free to go."
I felt my blood beginning to boil, "You should tread lightly, Damien Curran. People who threaten my friends tend not to be able to threaten anyone for much longer."
Damien laughed, "Oh come on. This is about you and me. It's personal. The others, they're just insurance. They always have been."
I glared at him.
"Will it help if I cross my heart?" he asked, mockingly.
"What's to stop me from kicking your ass, taking that controller from you, and saving my friends myself?" I asked.
"This," Damien replied. He removed his Shadow Sword from his belt. I thought that he meant that he would use it against me if I attacked him. Then he did something truly unexpected. He tossed the control box into the air, and sliced it in half with a single swipe of the blade.
"There," he said, "now you have the ultimate insurance. Now the only way for me to leave this place is to go through the front door with you."
I walked to my end of the duel arena, and held my Duel Disk at the ready, "Let's just get this over with."
My opponent stepped to his end of the arena as well, and he grinned wide as a pair of shackles spring from the wall at each end of the arena and ensnared our legs. I struggled, just long enough to be sure that there was no way to free myself. Damien laughed, "Oh, I'm sorry, did I forget to mention this little aspect of our game? This place did used to be a training ground for the most ruthless organization of Shadow Duelists in history. It's simple. If my Life Points drop to zero, your shackles will release. If your Life Points drop to zero, my shackles will release. The winner will get to leave, with the Soul of Darkness, but the loser will be trapped here until he dies."
Things kept escalating. It's like every one of his contingencies has a contingency. I'd be willing to bet that this one isn't even the last of them.
Damien laughed again, "Now hurry up! I'm anxious to see you duel first hand."
"Alright," I agreed, smiling darkly, "if you want to see my strength so badly, then I'll show it to you."
I drew my six card opening hand, and looked them over.
"I summon," I began, "the dual-wielding warrior, 'Twin-Sword Marauder'."
A warrior in padded armor, with a three-pronged blade strapped over each hand, appeared at my side (ATK: 1600).
"I set one card," I concluded, "and end my turn."
Alright, you obsessed, self-important jerk. Let's see what you've got.
"Interesting move," Damien said condescendingly. "You summoned a pretty threatening monster in the first turn of the duel. It's like you're posturing. Staking a claim. The fact that you included a set card, you're ensuring that the average Duelist will hesitate to attack you yet, giving you another time to put whatever strategy you have in mind into motion. It's an impressive move, but not enough so to impress me."
"Whoever said I was trying to impress you," I told him. He'd been able to see the intention behind my play, to put him off balance, but he was far from the first Duelist that I'd fought who was capable of that.
Damien ignored me, "Let's see about dismantling your turn, shall we?" He drew, "I play 'Dark World Lightning'. I destroy one set card on the field, and then discard a card from my hand."
A bolt of lightning hit my face-down 'Divine Wrath', vaporizing it. Damien discarded a monster.
"When my 'Ceruli, Guru of Dark World' is discarded from mt hand by a card effect, he's Special Summoned to my opponent's side of the field in defense mode."
His monster, a gray, armored, horned demon wearing a blue cloak appeared beside my warrior. Suddenly, I felt uneasy. This move reminded me of...No way, he can't be.
"Now," Damien declared, "because you control two more monsters than I do, I can summon my favorite monster."
Lightning that I can only describe as the photo negative of regular lightning struck the ground at Damien's side, and there was a flash of black and red static. Within that flash, I saw a silhouette, that was both familiar, and unlike anything that I've ever seen. He had the same basic shape as my favorite monster, with a horned helm, and spiked pauldrons, but his pauldrons were less pronounced, and the plates of his armor were thinner, but more numerous.
He had curved red shapes on his breastplate where my 'Fiend Megacyber' had black lightning bolts. He wore no battle skirt, making it even more obvious that circuitry glowed red within the gaps between his armor pieces. As the flash of red and black faded, the figure flexed his arms, and a pair of black wings spread from his back.
"Come forth," Damien announced, "and face my foe, 'The Archfiend Megacyber' (ATK: 2200)!
"I told you," Damien explained, "that I should have been the one to receive the Soul of Darkness. I'm you, only better, and this monster proves it. This demonic upgrade to your 'Fiend Megacyber' has the same summoning condition as yours, except that I must also discard two cards from the top of my deck. However, once he's summoned, he destroys any one card on the field!"
Damien pulled the top two cards from his deck and discarded them. As he did, his monster flapped his wings once, and rose a few feet into the air. Then he folded his wings, and fell, punching the ground. Red and black lightning burst forth from the point of impact, surging toward 'Ceruli'. The demon guru lasted less than a second.
"And would you look at that," Damien exclaimed, excitedly, as a card ejected from his Graveyard, "one of the cards that I discarded from the top of my deck just happened to be one that, when it's discarded from the deck, is instead added to my hand."
He picked the card up, and immediately inserted it into the Spell zone of his Duel Disk, "I play that card now. This is my monster's favorite weapon, the 'Archfiend Sword Decimation Blade."
The 'Archfiend Megacyber''s arm armor peeled back, and a thin, jagged, black and silver double-edged blade slid from beneath it. The armor closed around it, mounting the blade in place. 'The Archfiend Megacyber' swung his sword experimentally, and his power rose (ATK: 2200 -> 3000).
The weapon became part of the monster's armor, I marveled, just like my 'Fusion Sword'.
"And now," Damien commanded, "my 'Megacyber' destroys your 'Marauder', Megacyber Slash!"
Red and black energy poured into his monster's blade, and he swung it, slinging that energy as a wave at my warrior. The energy wave sliced 'Marauder' in half. I simply stared at his monster, shocked silent. I don't know how long I would have stayed that way, though, because suddenly I was shaken from my stupor by a painful electric shock, sent up my body from the shackles around my legs as my Life Points fell (8000 -> 6600).
"How do you like the electric shocks I set up," Damien asked. "They go off each time one of us takes damage, and the intensity is based on how much damage we take."
"Quite invigorating," I gasped. I took a second to catch my breath, and then I willed my stiff arms to move, as I drew my next card, "It's my turn. And I begin with 'Pot of Greed'."
I pulled two more cards, looked them over, and smiled.
"Damien Curran," I announced, "you've made a mistake. By summoning a monster so similar to my signature card, you've challenged me to remove it from the field. And I intend to meet that challenge. This turn, I'll summon my own 'Megacyber', and I'll use him to destroy yours. But first, I summon 'D.D. Guide' to your side of the field."
A man in silver armor, and a black cloak, appeared at the 'Archfiend''s side (ATK: 1400).
"And now," I declared, "because you control two more monsters than I do, I can Special Summon my favorite monster," yellow lightning struck the ground beside me, spawning the warrior in yellow plate armor, with a yellow metal collar, and a helm with a spiked chin, curved spikes affixed to his over-sized pauldrons, "'The Fiend Megacyber'. And I equip him with his favorite weapon," the armor over my warrior's right arms stretched out, past his hand, and grew into a thin, irregular blade, "the 'Fusion Sword Murasame Blade' (ATK: 2200 -> 3000).
"But that's not all," I continued. "I activate 'Against Overwhelming Odds'. Because my 'Megacyber' is outnumbered at least two to one, he is able to attack one more time after all of his normal attacks have been completed this turn."
'The Fiend Megacyber' glowed with a burning aura, and he launched himself forward, toward the 'D.D. Guide'. He sliced the monster in half vertically. My opponent lost Life (8000 -> 6400), and was met with an electric shock that ran from the shackles around his legs, all the way up to his head. He gasped, and hung his head.
"Now," I commanded, "attack 'The Archfiend Megacyber'!"
Damien looked up again, and declared, "Counterattack!"
As one, he and I called out, "Megacyber Slash!"
The two monsters' blades met, electricity surging from the point of impact, neither of them giving an inch.
"Kill it," Damien and I called out, "with Megacyber Impact!"
The two monsters charged their free fists, and punched under each others' guard at full strength. They stumbled back away from each other, and they were both destroyed. Damien gritted his teeth, "You destroyed your monster, just to destroy mine?"
"I did," I told him. "I told you that I would meet your challenge. There was no way that I was going to allow you another turn with that monster on the field."
My opponent sneered at me. I guess I'd managed to impress him after all.
I ignored him, "I set a card, and I end my turn."
Card of the Day:
The Archfiend Megacyber
Played by: Damien Curran
For the shock value alone. Sorry about the low resolution image. I had to tweak it myself to get it just the way I wanted it. It looks good at the size of an actual card, at least.
Original Cards in This Chapter:
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